The Crinan Canal was opened in 1801 to provide a navigable route between the Firth of Clyde and the Sound of Jura. Basically, it cuts across the top of the Kintyre Peninsula so boats do not have to travel the 60nm around the Mull of Kintyre. This short-cut, sadly meant we could not sing our way around the 'Mull of Kintyre' so we made do with the 'Crinan Canal Song' (and having planted that ear worm firmly in a previous blog post, we will not make you suffer it again in this one!)
That red line is where the canal is and it cuts out a lot of travel around the bottom of Kintyre
We traversed the canal from SE to NW
The canal has 14 locks, eight up-locks and 6 down-locks and two bridges when travelling from Ardrishaig to Crinan as we did. The locks are all manual and require the opening of a sluice gate to let the water fill or empty the lock before the gate is opened, the boats enter and the process is reversed. When we say manual, we mean manual. Opening the locks involves pushing on a wooden bar attached to the gates. Working the lock gates and managing the boat is a bit of a challenge for two - particularly when one has limited mobility.
Lock 2 - Once the water level on both sides of the lock gates is the same, push hard, very hard on the white section and the lock gate will open
So to the rescue comes Stuart and Emma from Evolene! They, having already transited the canal, left Evolene on a mooring and spent the night aboard and helped us through locks 1-4. Thanks for your help and we loved getting to know you and hearing your stories.
Stuart and Emma working the locks with us
As it turned out, the canal staff worked the locks but having additional hands was invaluable. Particularly when there was a lost key, a lock wouldn't close so the next one couldn't open and all the sorts of shenanigans you hope to avoid at the beginning of the season.
Definitely not 'The wild raging sea'!
Our canal licence gave us four nights on the canal. And while five days to transit nine nautical miles is not required, we decided to make full use of the nights allowed! We pulled onto the pontoon at Lochgilphead - yes, literally (in Gaelic) the town at the head of the loch named Gilp! - and enjoyed several days of canal life. We rode our bikes along the towpath to Crinan, explored around Lochgilphead, Kate did a couple of trail runs and, of course, we ticked off a few boat jobs.
Chinook at rest ... in fresh water!
This was the view from the road near Lochgilphead. It isn't something that is commonly found in the forest.
One of the marvellous features that canals have is most have retained their tow paths on at least one side. This allows people to travel (walking, cycling, skateboarding, etc.) alongside the canal, which is level ... except for the occasional few metres up or down beside the locks. We took advantage of this when we were tied up and brought out our bikes and previewed the full length of the Crinan. Cycling turned out to be a wonderfully effective rehabilitation for Sean's sore knee.
Gloriously flat.
'Lovely and calm while you're slicin' your ham, or makin' a nice cuppa tea.'
We loved the interpretive placards along the way.
We had a chance to see other boats transiting the canal, too. Most of them were smaller (than Chinook) motor or sail boats, but there was an exception.
Here is a Clyde puffer - one of the traditional steamships that used to carry freight and passengers around western Scotland - berthed outside of Crinan. It is now carries paying passengers up and down the canal and can take you on a day trip or an overnight stay.
The Clyde Puffers were steamships that moved goods and passengers all over the western Scottish isles and this canal was built specifically with them in mind. They J-U-S-T fit into the locks!
Calm at sunset
We even had enough liesure time to create a fun time-lapse video clip of going up and down the locks and a cool fly-past of Chinook.
Marie (she of the Fastnet crew fame) joined us and we spent another two days working our way along the canal. Because it was early in the season, the canal was not busy so we had the locks to ourselves (just as well, another boat simply would not have fitted) until we got to Crinan and the lock master followed us along with his bike operating the locks for us. Despite his help, it was still quite a tiring process.
A wee bit of Scottish mist, but we don't have to worry about crashing waves!
So many lovely, quaint cottages along the canal.
Never, EVER try maneuvering this close to land if you are in tidal waters.
Bringing Chinook across water like this was surreal.
Surreal, but pleasant. There would be no spilling of your tea under passage here.
The final lock before tidal waters.
As we left the last lock and said "Goodbye" to Crinan, we started towards the Sound of Jura. After four days of no tides and no currents, this should continue to be a cinch, right?
RIGHT?
(cue the ominous music ...)
And please remember that Blogger posts your comment as anonymous if you don't have an account, so please sign off with your name so we know who you are!
.jpeg)
Careful about the trees ! Just saying ;)
ReplyDelete