Loch Oich - Scarlet's highest point above sea level!

Crew change – Ft Augustus was the changeover point for our Scottish Summer trips. On Wednesday we said goodbye to the first leg 9 crew, and said hello to the second lot. We now have a boatload of boys and our two youngest crew yet. We have Jo, Stewart, Brandon, Michael and Rauridh. It didn’t take long at all for the boys to settle in, and they have been running riot since… all good fun though, and it’s great having such a busy boat. We went off to see the Caledonian Ceilidh Trail again, who were playing in Ft Augustus. This time there was a proper ceilidh dance so we managed to get at least the older boys up and dancing. Young Jo and Stewart were quite happy just to cheer the others on. It was great getting involved with a bit of traditional Scotland and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.
On our first boating day with the new crew we wound our way through the canal to Loch Oich, going up a few more locks. Loch Oich is the highest point at 32m above sea level. It’s stunning, with beautiful mountains surrounding the loch, and forests huddling the loch shorelines. We stopped at Invergarry Castle ruins, but didn’t get to see much of them as they are closed off to public (dangerous!). It did make a perfect spot to go for a swim and it didn’t take long before Stewart was in the water. Slowly, one by one, the rest of us made our way in. A little chilly, but not quite as cold as Loch Ness. Unfortunately the Loch is a little narrow so we weren’t able to set sails. We got to Laggan Locks for the night, which is at the eastern end of Loch Lochy. We had to keep the boys on their toes with line handling, as for the first time in the canal we were starting to descend back to towards sea level again, so the boys had to ease out on our mooring lines to prevent us from being hung up on the canal wall.
After yesterday’s fantastic weather, it took a little bit of getting going out into the chilly wind today. We also woke up to rain ~(which is always a peaceful sound to wake up to). Loch Lochy is a little wider, and with the wind straight behind us we could got for a great little sail down the Loch. Jo did a fantastic job driving the boat, considering he has to stand up on the seat as the wheel is almost a head taller than him. We’re now at Garilochy Locks, the entrance to the final stretch of canal down to Ft William, but with some rather mucky weather around it’s down to card games for a bit, then hopefully I’ll be able to convince some of the crew that a walk along the canal (even in the rain) is a good idea. Ben Nevis is somewhere near, lurking in the clouds, but sadly we can’t see the top today.
Hillary Lister has also been doing incredibly well and is arriving into Ft William today. We’ll be seeing her somewhere on the canal tomorrow. It’ll be great to catch up with her and hear all about her adventures up the West Coast, and share some of our East Coast stories.
I think it might be hot chocolate time…..
Cheers, Cath