14th June 2016 – Day 29 –Bellanoch Bridge, Crinan canal to above the locks at Cairnbaan, Crinan canal

The second day saw us tackling the up-going locks and that’s when the work began. There were 4 sluices per lock and all had to be wound up and down by hand. 4 gates per lock had to be shifted opened and then closed and then opened again, ropes had to be thrown, hooked and tightened on board, then wound in as we ascended. We lost control of the boat a couple of times with the hull taking a few blows and bruises. Wind was having an effect on the boat as we entered each lock.

After mooring up to a little 7.5m boat and then swapping places so that he was tied to us and we were tied to the pontoon, Mark went fishing and caught a brown trout which he ate for breakfast the next day.

Fishing!

 

At the end of the day, we ate at the Cairnbaan hotel and met a French man - Jeffery - tackling the locks by himself. He had sailed his little boat all the way from Nantes in France and had called it Roshven after the Roshven House on the Moidart peninsula, somewhere he visited as a student. He was taking his boat to its namesake. We later heard he had caught his rudder on one of the locks. I hope that hadn’t ended his journey. We sat up into the night drinking whiskey with Jeffery and swatting midges.  

We fell into bed exhausted!