Caledonian Canal

by SV Taipan on 15 Sep 2017 Caledonian Canal runs 97km, is 5.5m deep and two thirds of its length passes through several Lochs in the Great Glen. It has 29 Locks, four aqueducts and 10 bridges. Neptunes Staircase is the biggest flight and comprises 8 locks rising 20 meters.

The famous Canal Engineer Thomas Telford was commissioned to survey, design and then build the Canal in 1803. It was conceived of as a plan to reduce unemployment in the Highlands after the Highland Clearances, a period of over 100 yeas during which Landlords removed tenants from their lands in order to farm sheep. The tenants who had no security of tenure were evicted on mass and as a consequence lost their homes and livelihoods.

The Canal would also provided a safe passage for ships from north east to south west Scotland. The canal finally opened in 1822 after many unforeseen difficulties and a big blow out in the budget. The shipping traffic never really eventuated because in the intervening time steam ships were invented and were too large for the canal. It was closed for a while between 1843 and 1847 for repairs after defective materials caused Corpach Lock to collapse. In 1962 the locks were mechanised. Now a Scheduled Ancient Monument the Canal attracts over half a million tourists each year.

Corpach Sea Lock at the south western end of the Canal near Fort William, on loch Linnhe, was our starting point. We had anchored in a neat little puddle with the occasional sea otter coming for a look. The magnificent Ben Nevis towers over Loch Linnhe and Fort William. To approach the first sea lock we had to coordinate with the lock master and prebook a locking in.

Once through the sea lock we arrived in the basin at Corpach where we met Rex and Susie Whistler old friends from Asia who drove up to meet us. With so much to catch up on we didn't go any further that day and renewed acquaintance and had a fair few ales and some of the local brew with a group of Scottish and Dutch crews.

Next morning, leaving their car in the care of the Lock keepers, we set off up the eight locks of Neptunes staircase. This involves about two hours of line handling whilst steadily moving upward as each lock fills and we moved forward to the next. Its a pretty intriguing process and was made all that much easier with extra hands. The first day we did the locks and then called it quits again. We had travelled about 500 meters!

All our days were short and pleasant with good wine and food and friends to share it with. In Laggen Lock we met David and Andrea McKay, Australians on Diomedea, and we all had a great night together. In Girloch we bumped into Zen Again with Mike and Nicky Reynolds who we last met in Bermuda and who are also Australians from WA, We go back a long way. The Splash in 2002 from Fremantle to Darwin was where we first met!!

In Fort Augustus, the only town on the canal, our friends Jane and Bill on Vagrant, who we met in Stromness a short time ago, were just taking a stroll up the locks and spotted Taipan proudly flying the OCC flag they gave us. Can you believe our luck. Two wonderful line handlers to help us down the 5 locks and into Loch Ness. Another fun night aboard before we went our opposite ways the following day, with us to help them up the locks.

In all we spent seven days transiting the Canal and Rex and Susie left us about half way. We had such a great time with them and were sorry to see them off at Laggan Lock. There is good public transport following the Canal so they were able to grab a bus back to pick up their car and head home.

Each Lock is manned by Canal Staff and they were all extremely helpful and the whole locking process was stress free. The locks of Holland and Sweden on the other hand, were pretty stressful because there was no assistance and the bollards we had to tie to were recessed into the lock walls making them very difficult to get. They were also designed for ships so were spaced too far apart for smaller boats.

The scenery is fabulous and for the most part the weather was really good. No wind and some nice sunny days. The mountains were just blooming with the purple heath and the wild flowers often lined the canal. There is the occasional castle and Loch Ness has been sailed down but Nessie wasn't spotted.

Overnight pontoons are provided at very regular intervals along the route. They are often equipped with power and water but because you motor through the canal power is not such a big deal. We paid 3GBP per night for power where we used it.

The cost for us to spend eight days in transit was 283GBP and this included all pontoons overnight and water. There was no free wifi but we had a moderate signal with the cellphone most of the way. Inverness at the northern end of the Canal has a marina called Muirtown in which we spent the final 2 nights and were able to walk to the supermarkets for provisioning.

Looking at the season, the shortening days and with the East Coast of Scotland and England to tackle we have decided to get moving rapidly south. Check back and see how that goes.

This article has been provided courtesy of the SVTaipan.