Crinan Canal

As expected we woke the following morning to a damp boat covered in condensation so a happy hour was spent wiping windows and generally trying to dry everything out. We do have hot air heating on the boat but the skipper is convinced that this diesel powered heating system simply adds to the condensation issues so we rarely use it!

Unlike the Caledonian Canal the Crinan Canal does not have locks manned by canal staff and it is expected that crews will operate the locks themselves on the way through, and needless to say they are all manual so there is much pushing of heavy Victorian lock gates and winding of sluice gates! After some thought and talking to folks that we met on the way we decided that we were not agile enough to manage the locks on our own so we decided to pay for some help through the canal. This would mean that we could motor into the locks and instead of me hopping off the boat (if going down) or clambering up a slimy ladder (if going up) to secure the boat there would be a friendly face on the lock side to take our lines and secure us. We were due to meet our helper at the next lock at 9:30am so at 8:30 we chugged off along the canal.

I had read before our trip that after the Caledonian Canal the Crinan is a “toytown miniature version” and I now know why! The canal is very pretty but also very narrow and I’m not certain that in some places two boats would be able to pass. The bridges are all hand cranked by Scottish Canals staff who respond to blasts on the foghorn - although in our case the sea lock staff had already called ahead to say that we were leaving so I didn't get the chance to play with the fog horn.

After some delays at the first “up” lock - we are quite chubby and couldn't fit into the lock with the two other boats that were booked with us so the skipper had to reverse out - quite a difficult manoeuvre - we eventually started to climb up through the canal. The scenery is quite spectacular and the canal really pretty although we were a little concerned to see “deciduous tree” appear on our chart in the canal! The previous days rain was cascading down into the canal from the surrounding hills through the thick vegetation making splashing noises which initially worried us as we weren’t certain where the sound was coming from. Initially the canal runs along the side of Loch Crinan  and it is quite strange to be chugging along on the edge of the lock and beside the road. 

We completed the first lock flight in the dry with even a few flashes of sunshine however as we began the downward lock flight the rain started and got heavier as the time went on. We finished the second major flight by mid afternoon in Cairnbaan and decided to tie up for the night - largely because there was a gap on the pontoon beside an electricity hook up and the potential to dry out was too tempting! The rain continued relentlessly all night and into the following morning - and so we set off again in full oilies in a steady drizzle. However amazingly as we approached the final few locks the rain stopped and the sun came out! By the time we arrived at the first lock to meet our helper the sun was shining and we were beginning to boil in our wet weather gear.

We went through the final few locks with no problems slowly lowering to sea level at Ardrishaig, however as the lock gates were heaved open by the crew of a training vessel with whom we were sharing the final lock word rapidly spread that there was a problem! Apparently the sea lock keeper was nowhere to be found and so nothing was moving in the basin! We put the kettle on and settled down to wait in the lock. It transpired that the heavy rain the night before had washed some of the hillside down into the drains which help to maintain the canal depth and because of the amount of water pouring off the hillsides it was imperative that these were cleared so he was out performing “Dyno-Rod” duties along the canal. After about 45 minutes things returned to normal and the sea-lock was operational allowing boats waiting in the basin out into Loch Fyne (yes it does exist!). We decided to spend the night in the lock basin and have a look around the pretty little town of Ardrishaig while the sun was shining.

The following afternoon in  bright sunshine we locked out of the basin for the short passage down the loch to Tarbert and true to form as we sat in the lock black clouds started massing over the hills and as we entered the loch so the rain began. With the rain came some the wind freshening up from a fairly lacklustre F2 to a fresh F5/6 and we managed a run down to Tarbert under genoa surfing along at 5-6K in a steady drizzle.