After climbing Nevis it was time to start moving along the Caledonian Canal. There is a bit of a rush on at the moment, as I need to travel south for a wedding over the weekend and have to find somewhere safe to leave Silverwind. According to the canal staff the only “secure” mooring on the canal is at Inverness fifty miles away. It is to be a race against time to get there as soon as possible.

At 9am we set off from our mooring above Neptune’s Staircase and were soon attracting the speed limit towards the next set of locks five miles on. Two hours later we were safely on the very imaginatively named Loch Lochy. The wind was from the west which made a perfect spinnaker run. Shortly after we were speeding don the Loch at 5 knots taking in the views of mountains that make up each side of the waterway.

The key to wind in these Lochs is that they are totally controlled by the shape of the valleys and are highly variable. We were going from a force 4 to no wind continuously. The final gust before we reached the north end of the Loch was up to about force 5 or 6, the spinnaker was brought down just in time but we were still travelling at up to 7 knots downwind under mainsail alone!

It is notable that in the fresh water the boat did not appear to be floating much lower than in saltwater (certainly not as low as the canal staff warn). However, the bow did seem to push down easier than in saltwater and the small waves on the loch surface did not take much to break.

At the end of Loch Lochy we headed through a further series of uphill locks to reach the highest point on the Canal as we entered Lock Oche. Being the highest Loch it is also the shallowest and it is important to stay in the channel. Having said that it is almost impossible to move out of the channel, as there is navigation marks every few yards. In fact I would say there are almost as many buoys in this small Loch as in the whole of Milford Haven (which is saying something).

For the next hour we started to descend through the locks towards Fort Augusta. The lockkeepers along this stretch clearly have a lot of time on there hands. Along the banks of each lock are beautifully looked after gardens and you offer need to retrieve the lockkeepers from their gardens in order to continue your journey.

On reaching Fort Augusta we were within sight of Loch Ness but it was still some time away as we had to descend the fight of lochs that travels through the middle of the village. Once through the final lock and the swing bridge we were allowed out onto Loch Ness. This was to be the end of our journey for the day, as it was now close to darkness. We moored up on the last space on the visitor’s pontoon and I went off to explore. After a quick visit to the canal visitor centre and a bite of tea, I went to find the laundrette. My clothes needed washing so there was at least a chance of having enough for the weekend! British Waterways kindly locate a laundrette at either end of the village but for this you pay. At £3 a wash and £3 a dry (£6 when the first cycle does not work) this is by far the most expensive wash you are likely to come across. It is not like you don’t pay for using the canal!

It was an early start on Thursday morning at 6am to race across Loch Ness. We had established the day before that the last train south from Inverness was leaving just before 1pm so it was truly going to be a race against time. With no wind it was motoring all the way, however that did give a chance to take in the unique views.

By 10am it was still looking possible that I might catch the train. We exited the Loch with the river flow pushing us at up to 8 knots. We soon travelled through the last few locks but then reached the main road bridge. There had been a road accident and the bridge had to remain open for emergency vehicles. As we finally travelled down the fight of locks before the Seaport Marina I had given up on the train. After sorting out Silverwind and the berth for the next few days I finally made it to the train station at 14:00! With luck there was one last train going south and after 10 hours of travelling I finally made it into Cambridge station in the early hours of Friday morning.