Western Isles

We spent ten days transiting the Caledonian Canal from Inverness to Oban. It can be done in three days, but the outer sea lock at Corpach, Fort William, had to be closed for repair for five days while we were in the canal. We didn't mind at all. The trip was a pleasure. Slowly motoring down the man-made sections past fields and hills with the banks covered in a profusion of wild flowers. The Canal is sixty miles long, 22 miles dug by hand and the other 38 miles made up of natural bodies of water (Lochs) created by a split in tectonic plates and later carving and scouring during the ice ages. The longest loch is Loch Ness famed for the often-sighted, never-captured Loch Ness Monster. The Canal, with 29 locks and 10 swing bridges,took 40 years to build. Initially it's purpose was to speed movement of Navy Ships during the Napoleonic Wars. That didn't happen. But later it was much used by fishing fleets chasing the herring and also for the shipment of coal and general cargo from southern ports to NE Scotland. Today it is for tourists and for small boats and yachts seeking to avoid the long passage around northern Scotland.

We arrived back in Oban four days ago in lovely warm late summer weather. After three days of the usual shopping, laundry etc. and some end of season boat maintenance we have set off for some leisurely, not too ambitious cruising in the nearby Western Isles. Tonight we are anchored (in dripping Rain) in the land-locked Loch Aline, ten miles from Oban and tomorrow we'll likely head NW heading for the islands of Coll or Tiree.