Cruising Scotland

Key "Smokey" Stage, Titan 37VT31

khstage@yahoo.com

After a very memorable wedding surrounded by many LNVT friends on a beautiful day in Edenton, NC my new bride and I left for our honeymoon.  We had given a lot of thought as to where we would go.  One idea that kept circling in our heads was chartering a canal boat through LeBoat.  LeBoat has canal cruises all throughout Europe, including France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and Scotland.  While the Canal du Midi in France was high on our list, we felt safer choosing Scotland as our first LeBoat cruise.

The price for a week of cruising was surprisingly affordable….less than $1500 for a full week.  The boats are very well equipped, diesel powered and include all arrangements and permits from British Waterways. No license is required.  Showers and heads are located all along the route at the main stops as well as a galley and shower aboard the boat.  Clara and I opted for a week on the Caledonian Canal in Western Scotland.

The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford, and is a sister canal of the Göta Canal in Sweden, also constructed by Telford.  

We left for Edinborough shortly after the wedding.  One checks in with LeBoat on Friday night and then returns the boat by the next Saturday morning.  Arriving early, we spent three lovely days in Edinborough immersed in the wonderful history at a quaint B&B.  As we were enjoying a leisurely Scottish breakfast on Friday morning, before catching our bus to Laggan Locks, I happened to look at my tickets.  At 0755, I was thinking our bus left at 1000, thus plenty of time for another cup of coffee…..but, that was the bus from Glascow to Laggan….our bus from Edinborough was leaving in just 5 minutes!  Quickly, the innkeeper got us a taxi to the train station, and we just made the train to Glascow, beating the Edinborough bus by a few minutes.  Close call, but we were soon en route on the bus from Glascow to Laggan.

We were prepared for any weather, and May in Scotland is quite a bit different from Eastern Carolina.  Sure enough, we had rain.  We checked aboard and took a required familiarity cruise with the dock master.  We then had our first experience with locks that afternoon, ending up secured above the lock at one of the numerous (and included in the package) docks, scattered all along the canal.  An enjoyable dinner at a converted German trawler …now a restaurant, and we left Saturday morning heading north to our first stop, Fort Augustus.  Enroute to Fort Augustus, our only “mishap” was getting caught by the wind inside the lock after losing the bow line.  Somewhat humbling as a boatload of Germans were snickering at us….one of them asked in broken English if I wanted him to come aboard and take the helm….I declined and corrected our situation.  

The canal is lovely.  Usually not more than 30 yards wide and it connects numerous lakes (“Lochs”).  Our custom was to cruise most of the morning, tie up to the dock, have our main meal in a classic pub warmed by a nice fire, and explore the small towns along the way.  We cooked light meals on board at night and in the mornings. One of the highlights was the impressive lock system at Fort Augustus.  This is a series of 5 locks one must traverse to enter the famous Loch Ness.  The entire transit takes about 45 minutes and we quickly learned the routine….Clara on the bow holding a line, and me on the stern with the other line.

We cruised a full day north on Loch Ness (no, never saw Nessie!) passing old castles and historic inns.  We spent the next two nights at a beautiful dock just outside of the city center of Inverness.  It was about a 30 minute walk to town, via a wonderful trail leading across three islands and the River Ness.  Inverness was wonderful and very historic with warm inviting pubs, shops, old castles and historical buildings.

Our return trip brought us back to Fort Augustus.  We locked through while next to a wonderful Scottish couple from Edinborough; we became warm friends.  Our last night was spent with them again at the converted trawler restaurant followed by a nightcap on board Morning Star.  As I had thoroughly enjoyed the fine Scottish local brews, our new Scottish friend brought his favorite beer aboard to share….Miller Lite!!

All in all, LeBoat is highly recommended, a first class operation.  Would we do it again?  Absolutely.  I even acquired a taste for haggis!  Next trip for us will be the Midi Canal and Southern France should be warmer!

Sláinte mhaith