Caledonian Canal to Fort Augustus
We woke to another magical morning with a clear blue sky and no wind. The view of our surroundings, which included Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain, looked awesome in the early morning light. Everyone seemed to be out on deck as we effortlessly cruised along the canal on glassy smooth waters. The constantly changing views of our rural surroundings held us all in trance-like wonder. All too soon the reach of the Caledonian Canal between Banavie and Gairlochy was behind us and we entered into Loch Lochy.
Rick Atkinson presented a personal collection of images from his sailing adventures around the West Coast of Scotland as we continued our journey northeast across Loch Lochy heading towards Laggan Lochs. The weather was clearly set fine for the day and the wild surroundings of the canal appeared truly magnificent. Once we had passed through Laggan Lochs we made our way along the narrow, tree-lined canal between Loch Lochy and Loch Oich. The ruins of Invergarry Castle on the northern shore of Loch Oich reminded us of the turbulent history of this area’s past. A variety of freshly painted channel markers kept us in the deep water as we made our way across this beautiful loch.
At the north end of Loch Oich we entered back into the canal and passed through Cullochy Lock. We were now on our way back down, having passed across the summit of our journey. Skipper the dog that normally is there to meet us at the lock gates was a bit slow of the mark this afternoon, but turned up as we went past his house and received his normal allocation of sausages from us. A couple of miles along the canal we reached Kytra Lock where we had lunch. The afternoon’s activities on offer included cycling, walking and kayaking along the canal to Fort Augustus. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Fort Augustus was alive with tourists enjoying the fine weather and watching the various boats ride up and down the flight of locks that are found here. We all seemed to enjoy the busy bustle of this little town and many of us went off to explore on our own later in the day.
After dinner the evenings activity was whisky tasting introduced by Jon---- a local expert. This presentation was surprisingly well attended!! A fine conclusion to another exceptional day on our wonderful ship Lord of the Glens.
