Thursday morning started with a knock on the window from the lockkeeper. Fifteen minutes later we were in the sea loch and quickly made our way through the first couple of internal lochs. No fuss here as all the paperwork had been sorted at Crinan.

It soon became clear that the Caledonian Canal was going to be somewhat easier than the Crinan. Unlike the Crinan the locks here are all hydraulically operated and are therefore each manned by lockkeepers. It is also worth noting that the locks are a lot larger here than in Crinan, made more for ships than small yachts.

The plan here was to move Silverwind through the first ten locks up onto an open stretch of canal were there is plenty of space to moor up. After the sea lock and a double lock we were set on our way along a short stretch of water before entering the first loch of “Neptune’s Staircase”. This is a line of eight locks in a row that take you up to the Banavie Basin.

The principals here are much the same as on the Crinan canal but the water flow can be a lot greater. In this respect there was a large yacht “Larry” in front of us as we went through the locks and there were having a much harder time of things than us. Partly because they were at the front and partly because of there size they were being pushed all over the place. Silverwind on the other hand was easily handled single-handed.

Only on the top of the “staircase” there was just time to sort out the mooring lines before the heavens opened.

The afternoon was taken up with tidying up, finally having a shower (I wont say how long it had been!) and walking into Fort William to check my emails and sort out some shopping. It has got to be said that this is possibly one of the best places to moor a boat up. Weather depending there is a full view of Ben Nevis to the south and then to the west the view extends down Loch Linnhe. However, it does seem strange to have to walk up a steep hill to the mooring!

Friday was a bit of a rest day the highlight of which was walking into town and walking 3 miles back with 25kg of petrol!

Early on Saturday it was looking possible for a go at Ben Nevis however after looking at the forecast it became clear it was going to be a “no go”. The winds forecast for the top were between force 8 and 11 – a day off I think! Sunday and Monday did not see much change from the weather of Saturday with Sunday spent blocking up a leak in Silverwind that let water drip on my bunk!

Monday was spent exploring Fort William including visiting the Glen Nevis visitor centre at the foot of Ben Nevis. The centre seems to have had a large input from the local mountain rescue team. Unlike your average visitors centre the displays show people being carried off the mountain in stretcher and in various states of consciousness. In another effort to reduce call outs the local mountain rescue and police have placed noticed boards at the start of all routes up the mountain. This include an up-to-date weather forecast and instruction on what to wear etc.

Not sure if this is a good or bad thing! Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow long enough the get up Ben Nevis.