Back to Salt Water

The canal to the left, the sea to the right

 After a week in fresh water, Maunie enjoyed the return to the salty stuff yesterday afternoon as we locked out of the Caledonian Canal and into Loch Linnhe.

Our descent of Neptune’s Staircase went very smoothly on Saturday afternoon, we’re glad to report. There wasn’t room to moor up in the Corpach Basin (the last section before the sea lock) but that suited us quite well as we had a very quiet pontoon on the Corpach Reach, just above the final locks, for Saturday night. Sunday was (at last!) warm and sunny so we had a relaxing time waiting for the next group of boats to come down the staircase so that we could join them for the final locks out to sea. Geoff, meanwhile, took a taxi into Fort William at lunchtime to catch his bus to Glasgow and then onwards to Dumfries and home. We really enjoyed his company aboard and were delighted to see him return to top form after a fairly prolonged period of illness. He says that a week on Maunie should be prescribed on the NHS!

Our final night's pontoon with Ben Nevis behind us

The Corpach Double Lock, the basin and the sea lock

The upper reaches of Loch Linnhe are shallow in places

The canal team is very short of staff at the moment so Angus, the Corpach lock keeper, had to help his colleague manage the Neptune’s Staircase operation which meant we couldn’t lock out into the sea until just after 4.00pm. However, an earlier departure would have seen us battling adverse tide, so it worked out pretty well for the 18nm passage down to a lovely anchorage called Port Ramsay at the north end of Lismore Island. 

The Swiss crew of the racy Sea Magix (an X-37) left with us and did a great job beating out of the narrow Loch Linnhe, giving us the chance to get some good action photos for them.

Maunie, on the other hand, had a dinner date to meet so we motor-sailed for best speed to anchor at Lismore just before 8.00pm. In the process we were delighted to discover that a week in fresh water, aided no doubt by the thrash to windward up Loch Ness, had killed the fine layer of furry weed that had started to adhere to the hull and propeller, so our boat speed is now restored to normal; we’d noticed it being a few tenths of a knot slower than usual as we came down from Orkney.  

Already in the anchorage were Colin and Ana in their new boat Celtic Spirit, a Rustler 36. They came over for supper on Maunie and it was wonderful to see them, albeit briefly. Family duties meant they left the anchorage early this morning to return home so we’ve missed out on cruising in company at least for this year.

We motored south in another flat calm to anchor in Puilladobhrain, arriving at 11.00am; last time we were here was a year ago with Adam & Cindi and Bravo. As predicted, a brisk southerly wind has now arrived but the anchorage is well sheltered and the holding is soft mud. We’re hoping that the breeze will reduce a little and veer to the west tomorrow to allow us to sail south.

We have about three weeks left of this cruise so, although we really don’t want to leave this beautiful part of Britain, we need to start planning the trip back down the Irish Sea. We certainly don’t want to repeat last year’s experience of motoring most of the way, so we’ll be watching for any signs of west or northwest winds to make some good progress back towards Dartmouth. The trip might involve a stop in the Republic of Ireland so we need to brush up on the post-Brexit regulations on clearing out of the UK and into Ireland. What a bloody palaver; thanks, Boris, for nothing!