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.

Tarbert and the Start of the Crinan Canal

The wind has at last dropped and we have been able to start our journey to the Western Isles of Scotland. We have been fortunate in being able to join Morrison and Margaret, who also have a Broom 38, for this journey. Their house overlooks the Clyde and they are very familiar with the area so we will be able to benefit from their many years of knowledge.

The first step was to head for the Crinan Canal, via Tarbert to refuel. The Crinan is a short cut between the Sound of Jura and Loch Fyne and saves coastal shipping a 100 mile journey around the sometimes dangerous long finger of the Kintyre Peninsular. The canal is 9 miles long and has 15 locks. Today we entered from Loch Fyne and reached Cairnbaan, where the two boats moored together. As you will see from the photograph, Ann managed to get back to her normally relaxed locking procedure very quickly.