This morning, we ventured into salt water, leaving the Caledonian Canal behind. The gales and rain of yesterday had departed, leaving a mild morning with a hint of sunshine. The ship moved out of the canal and into Loch Linnhe shortly after breakfast, sailing to our day’s destination at Oban.

Oban is our last town of any size before the end of the expedition. It’s a bustling town of about 8,500 people that provides a transportation hub and stores for the surrounding area. We were fortunate to be there on the day of Oban’s Highland Games, a panorama of competitions from races to dancing to bagpiping.

The finale of the day was a whisky tasting, an opportunity to taste and compare whiskies while learning a bit about the distillation process.