16-17th August and Cale canal

With the lock due to open for us at 0845 we just had time to squeeze in a bacon and egg breakfast before weighing anchor. We set up for starboard side to in the Lock, went in and were joined by a motor boat with Black Lab as second mate. We went up without issue and chatting to the lock keeper he told us that the fuel station at the marina wasn’t open until Monday. This was a shame, the one at Caley marina may or may not have been but probably not. Anyway we proceeded through the second lock and railway bridge to the marina and berthed on the hammerhead at one pontoon 4,  once a big cat had vacated it to proceed to the lock, ignoring Sue’s calls until we’d safely berthed. Once secured we tidied up a little  I went to the loo and told Sue we were on pontoon 4. It was just past ten O’clock by now and Sue rang asking me to wave to giver her a clue as to our whereaboats, this seemed pointless if she couldn’t see the boat, I , correctly, thought she may not be at the right marina, she’d had a lift from her friend Karen to ‘Inverness Marina’ assuming that this would be correct  without thinking to check whether this was on the canal or the sea. Women! Anyway once she’d phone once or twice and I’d shared my location with her she managed to track us down, missing the entrance to the basin and driving down towards the lock. Eventually they managed to turn around and get to the basin entrance and dropped Sue and the dogs off whilst Karen and friend dashed off to choir practice. We gathered the paraphernalia involved with dogs and made our way to the boat. Manus had been gathering his stuff together and was ready to leave by this time, I’d hoped Karen might be able to give him a lift to the station but hadn’t actually asked Sue so, with Karen speeding to choir Manus left to get the bus on his own and we settled down on the boat.

The previous day I’d noticed a drip from the final fuel filter going to the fuel pump on the engine and wanted to change the filter to try to stop it. I thought I’d do this before getting cleaned up as diesel is smelly and persistent. Sue went to the shops to get milk, eggs and bread, I changed the fuel filter, actually bothering with all the ‘o’ rings this time and whilst removing one noticed a half washer which had disintegrated on a banjo fitting - this was almost certainly the problem, not the filter and I had no spares. As it seemed pointless to re assemble it and bleed it through I went and had a shower at this point and, once Sue was back we thought we’d go for a walk and have a look for copper washers at the same time. Once out on the road and looking at her telephone for hardware stores, we’d settled on BM bargains as the closest place which might possible have washers, a very kind chap in a white van asked us where we were looking for, when we started saying BM stores but went on to say we were looking for copper washers he said he might have some in the back. It turned out he was a mechanic, waiting to pick up a new van and had selections of copper and bonded steel/ nitrile washers in the van. He thought we’d be better with the bonded ones and very kindly gave us a selection. We were about to re start our walk but I now wanted to get the job finished so we returned to the boat, fitted them, bled the diesel through and started the engine which worked fine. By the time I’d had a shower it was lunch time so Sue made sandwiches and we had them in the cockpit.  We then went for a walk down the canal to the sea lock and spotting a possible pub for dinner at Clachnaharry went to investigate. It seemed fine and we booked a table and went back to the boat for a dog’s dinner and gin and tonic. Unfortunately the ice seemed less enthusiastically frozen than expected and I feared the freezer had gone off. We returned for another pint and fish and chips for me and pie for Sue which, disappointingly, came with mash so she had to have one of my chips.  The dogs were fussed over and given treats by the landlady and we left after our meals for a walk. We found a nature reserve sandwiched between the basin, sea and a council estate and had the odd experience of walking through lovely country with ponds waders, woods, walkways across marshy bits before emerging into a council estate with accompanying litter, abandoned shopping trolleys and so on. Such a change from Scandinavia where even the ‘have nots’ take a pride in their environment, or at least go with the flow don’t drop litter.

Back on the boat it was time to address the ‘how to get Drizzle down below’  issue. We put him in his lifejacket as this adds a handy handle to his back, I passed him to Sue and then came below myself to take him from her and put him on the cabin sole. Apart breaking my glasses, again, this worked well and soon we were all snoring away.

The following morning I heard people booking themselves into the first convoy up the flight after the road bridge so jumped in and added ourselves to the booking. After a bit the nice lady came back on the radio to say we should go in first port side to with everyone else getting the order of arrival too from her. Sue took the dogs off to meet us at the lock, ready to catch lines and I let go, hoping that I’d run the engine long enough for any signs of inefficient bleeding to become apparent the previous afternoon, and we pottered along towards the bridge. The nice lady chivvied us along so as to ensure we were lined up for when the bridge opened, as it’s a busy road, and soon we were going into the lock, Sue caught the lines, and we were moored in the lock along with 4 other boats. The boat beside us had 9 Polish people aboard, it was a 45 ft Jeanneau and I suspect may have been a little crowded down below. Soon we were ascending the flight of 4 locks, with our experience on the various canals we seemed to manage it all a bit easier than the others for whom a certain amount of excitement now and again appeared.  Once clear of the final lock the Polish boat pulled out but was going very slowly, I thought he may be about to stop but he said he was going on to Loch Ness, so we carried on following him but soon got fed up at 3 knots and overtook just in time for the next bridges the first of two which was open and the second one was waiting for us all to go past the first bridge. We pulled into the second pontoon, the Polish boat to the first and a French boat hovered in the middle, once the bridge had re opened we carried on, it was a beautiful day and it was relaxing pottering along under engine in the sunshine. At the final set of Locks prior to Loch Ness we had a bit of a wait as there was the ‘Lord of the Highlands’ cruise boat coming down the two locks first, she was either built to the size of the Locks or serendipidously just fitted into them all. If built for the locks the Naval Arch didn’t know his business as she has a fair bit of tumblehome at about the place the fenders need to be so needs enormous fenders to stop her rubbing in the Locks, anyway she went past and soon we were heading into the Lock. In the top one, Sue said that there was only one spot to stop at after the Lock and, as we’d decided to stop here for the afterrnoon,  once she’d let me go she took the dogs down to meet us there. I came slowly out of the Lock, saw a possible berth just astern of a Loch Ness monster day trip boat and having dithered a bit decided to have a go getting into it, this involved stopping going back a bit, waving the other boats on past me and squeezing myself into the gap. It worked quite well or would have, had Sue been there to meet me. I shouted for her, thinking she couldn’t be far away. She didn’t hear me but a nice chap on the monster boat did and offered to take my line which was brilliant and soon we were berthed and secure and not all that long after this Sue and the dogs joined us having waited further down for us. We had sandwiches for lunch, I glued my glasses together, Sue transferred stuff from the freezer into the fridge and we prepared to go for a walk. There are gardens at Loch Ness, as my glasses were waiting for the glue to set Sue was in charge of map reading and declared that they were less then an hours walk away at about 3 miles. We set off along the canal path by the road but this soon ran out. There was an estate opposite, one who’s grounds I’d often admired in the past and we went to the gate which had big, Private house, no access to Loch Ness, CCTV operating, go away,  sort of notices on it. However the road was very busy and unappealing so we thought we’d try walking through a corn field on the estate, it was by now stubble, and see how we got on.