Oban to Banavie
Still buzzing with the music from the concert last night and the lovely sunset, we woke up to a day with mixed weather: sunshine and rain, clouds and blue skies – it’s never boring!
Our sail today takes us past the island of Lismore (population 130) and then Castle Stalker. Nowadays in private ownership it used to be one of the favourite hunting grounds for King James IV (of Scotland).
Further along we enter the narrower part of Loch Linnhe at the Corran Narrows and watch fish farm cages being towed along. The Corran lighthouse points out the narrows. During lunch we pass Fort William, perfectly timed to get into the Caledonian Canal just after desert. And this is it: we have left the Atlantic Ocean and we are heading up the Caledonian Canal. During our ascent of Neptune’s staircase, the Jacobite steamtrain, coming back from Mallaig heading for Fort William, passes us. This train was used during the filming of a couple of the Harry Potter films. Finally we tie up for the night at the top of Neptune’s staircase, a series of 8 locks raising the water level by 21 meters.
After a talk by Konia on "Highland Life & Clothing", dinner and a meeting of all the travelers of the Orkney extension, we set off to the pubs in the neighbourhood or settle down for the night – another great day on board the Lord of the Glens.
Still buzzing with the music from the concert last night and the lovely sunset, we woke up to a day with mixed weather: sunshine and rain, clouds and blue skies – it’s never boring!
Our sail today takes us past the island of Lismore (population 130) and then Castle Stalker. Nowadays in private ownership it used to be one of the favourite hunting grounds for King James IV (of Scotland).
Further along we enter the narrower part of Loch Linnhe at the Corran Narrows and watch fish farm cages being towed along. The Corran lighthouse points out the narrows. During lunch we pass Fort William, perfectly timed to get into the Caledonian Canal just after desert. And this is it: we have left the Atlantic Ocean and we are heading up the Caledonian Canal. During our ascent of Neptune’s staircase, the Jacobite steamtrain, coming back from Mallaig heading for Fort William, passes us. This train was used during the filming of a couple of the Harry Potter films. Finally we tie up for the night at the top of Neptune’s staircase, a series of 8 locks raising the water level by 21 meters.
After a talk by Konia on "Highland Life & Clothing", dinner and a meeting of all the travelers of the Orkney extension, we set off to the pubs in the neighbourhood or settle down for the night – another great day on board the Lord of the Glens.
