At the time of the early morning forecast it was still not clear whether we would be able to move from Crinan. The coastguard forecast suggested the wind would be force 4 from the northwest becoming southeasterly force 6 to 8. Where as it would not be good to leave if the force 8 was going to hit after only a few hours it was not clear how long the lighter wind would last.

As I visited the sea lock my decision to stay was almost made. That was until I read the fresh MetFax that the lockkeeper was pouring over. It showed a perfectly round low-pressure system over the north Atlantic with very tightly packed isobars. This was on route to Scotland in the next day of so. However, the forecast for Wednesday was a lot more detailed showing the stronger winds only coming in later in the evening.

With this the only weather gap that we were likely to get for the next few days, so it was time to make run for it! Shortly after midday we left the sea lock and said good buy to the lockkeepers who had thought we would never leave!

Today’s passage was to take us to Corpach just north of Fort William and the entrance of the Caledonian Canal. Of all the passages to date this is the one that required us to get the tides just right. The trip was to include at least four areas were if the tide were against us it would be very hard going if not impossible.

First we motored out towards to small chain of Islands and rocks northwest of Crinan using the first of the northwest tide to push us through. Once we were through the last of the rocks (which are all over the place) we sailed north between the Islands of Luing and the imposing sides of Scarba. The pilot warns to keep to the east of this passage as the tide through the Gulf of Corryvreckan south of Scarba can pull you in. Even as we headed close to the eastern shores it was clear that Scarba was getting rapidly larger!

The Gulf of Corryvreckan in fact comes with a large warning on both the chart and pilot. Running between Scarba and Jura to the south the tide can reach 8 knots running through the large sound. Apparently this is because the tidal range on the western side of Jura is one metre greater than on the east side. This volume of water therefore has to move through this relatively small space.

I am pleased to report that this was not our route and we simply needed to sail north through a narrow sound with hidden rocks on either side. With a large lighthouse on each side it was easy to stay on the correct transit lines as we reached through the passage at ten knots (including four knots of tide) – a record for the trip and not even on spring tide!

That was the micro-navigation done for the day and we were now in open water. It always surprises me how the scale of a chart can mislead the mind. Once we were in the middle of the islands it became clear that they where all a lot closer than I had visualised in my head. This was not helped by the fact I purposely had five charts of differing scales spread around the boat for this stretch (thanks to Tim Harrison for lending me the Admiralty charts for this stretch which were essential). The rest of the day was a race against time, the weather and darkness.

I was happy that if the wind got up we would be well on our way to our destination and would not have to sit it out for long. However, the tide was not going to wait for anything and we needed to be in the upper half of Loch Linnhe before the tide changed at the Corran Narrows. This gave as a dead line of about19:30. Again, like the passage south of the Crinan Canal, mountains, hills and untouched moorland on all sides dominated.

At every junction it was often hard to believe that we were not going to be sailing into a mountainside. The wind held for most of the trip but like a calm before the storm it was clear that it was not going to be enough. We therefore motor-sailed up through the lochs, clocking a speed of ten knots again past Duart Point but averaging five. There were two major thoughts for the day; one was whether we had enough fuel. The second whether it would be safe to navigate the upper part of Loch Linnhe in the dark with no navigation lights on the chart. The first of these questions was answered shortly before the Corran Narrows as I calculated we would have easily enough fuel. In any case the wind started to pick up and race us towards the narrows.

We passed Corran, just behind the ferry, just after 19:30 and on time. We now had seven miles to go before Fort William but only a few minutes of daylight. The plan was (as it had been for a number of hours) to motor-sail as close to Fort William before the light faded. We were four miles off Fort William at 8pm with the light now completely gone. I was nicely surprised at this point to be able to clearly see the first channel buoy even against the town lights.

We lost the sails at this point, as the wind had died away and we gingerly motored up the loch avoiding the mooring buoys. Although it was hard to make out the banks of the loch on both sides the odd house or streetlight allowed us to stay on course. For the last mile or so it was hard to see the west bank as the town lights blinded your eyes to the darkness of the west bank. After following the small number of channel markers around the head of the loch we were soon tied up alongside the small pontoon outside the sea loch.