Caledonian Canal here we stay

 Well things haven’t quite gone as planned.  We did indeed enter the Canal on 20th June and made the journey up ‘Neptune’s Staircase’, a flight of 8 locks in a continuous rise.  It was rather more exciting than we would have liked, as part way up we lost reverse gear, which as going into reverse is the way to stop the boat, was very difficult.  We bumped Hilda ahead of us but thankfully no boats were damaged.  That night, tied up in the canal, we tested the gears again - reverse definitely wasn’t working.  The next day, Ron from Hilda came to help us investigate.  It worked perfectly.  A relief but still unsettling, as we don’t know if it might happen again. 

Our plan was to continue up the Canal into Lock Lochy but this was not to be.  We were told to stay in the Banovie Top Basin as the key swing bridge - Gairlochy Bridge - was not working. We did as we were told but were taken aback and indeed angry, that later that day, six yachts and a large pleasure cruiser came up the canal from the opposite direction. The bridge had been opened. Apparently it broke again immediately afterwards. We felt unsure we were being told the truth. 

Yesterday we were told the bridge would definitely not be opened (and this was the case), so we decided to walk up to the bridge to see what was going on for ourselves.  It was a good decision. It was a lovely walk - the scenery is glorious.  It gave us some good exercise (12 miles total there and back) and we were able to talk to one of the Scottish Canals staff at the bridge. He explained the problem was with the gearing system. The gear has been removed and is being worked on but engineers from Nottingham. They hope to have it back for testing at the weekend and the most optimistic outcome would be for the bridge to be in use on Monday. This sounds a little too optimistic to us and Tuesday may be more realistic. 

All this while Bev and John have been staying nearby and have been a fantastic support , doing our shopping, taking us back to their place for dinner and much more. We also all had an ‘Alan special’ curry on the boat. 

Rachel and Alan leave the boat on Sunday to go to Inverness for their flight to Athens.  They will be rejoining us in two weeks (although who knows where!).  Steve is joining us on Monday and we are really looking forward to seeing him.  The original plan was for him to join us at Inverness and sail with us to Peterhead but it now looks like he will be with us on the canal (which includes some sailing on Loch Lochy and Loch Ness).  When we know when we can set off again, we can make a new plan, but it’s too early for that yet. 

This morning most of the very small boats in our fleet left us for the bridge where a crane was being provided to help them get their masts down.  Although our mast does come down, it is much larger and heavier and we not at all clear that we could get the rigging right when it was restepped. Losing your mast in the North Sea does not appeal. 

I’ve found this situation quite hard to deal with. I find uncertainty difficult and our dealings with Scottish Canals have been frustrating - there is no clear communication and a lack of urgency on their part. I shall try to develop patience and an ability to live in the moment - but it’s not going brilliantly so far.

Stay tuned for updates! 

Photos of Neptune’s Staircase and the views on our walk 

Corpach Marina to Banovie Top Basin        1.49 nms