Crinan Canal

Today we were very pleased that we had paid £50 for a pilot. His job is to assist you through the locks and he was well worth every penny. He and his young mate arrived at 0830 this morning and they had already set up the first three locks so that we were able to pass through them quite quickly. The two boats were an extremely close fit. They would only go into the locks if the boats overlapped and almost touched each other. Care when opening the sluice gates was then necessary to prevent any damage to the boats. The locks were very old and water often poured over the tops of the gates, which made for an interesting photograph.

By lunchtime, we had reached Crinan and we were able to moor together in the canal basin. In Crinan Harbour, they had a meeting of wooden boats – some of which were out racing when we arrived. In the evening, they all assembled and we were able to admire the high quality varnishing that must have taken many, many loving hours to complete. As part of their entertainment a whisky tasting had been arranged for the evening and I am sure you will not be surprised to learn that Ann and I were able to arrange to join in. This consisted of the chance to try four different Bruichladdich, Islay whiskies supplied free of charge by an excellent host who explained the history of this Victorian distillery how it was rescued in December 2000.