Day 11 – Start of the Caledonian Canal

• Corpach to Laggan Locks
• 32 kms

The dawn chorus was a mixture between the songbirds of the oak woods in which I camped and the geese and sea birds from the small island a few hundred metres away. I lay in my sleeping bag until the sun was up and I could feel the warmth.

It was a short paddle across to the entrance to the canal. I left my kayak at the bottom of the slip at the adjacent marina and walked up to request permission to use it.

Brian, in the marina office, was surprised by my entrance as he hadn’t seen any boat approach. He invited me in, despite my wet feet, and was happy to tell me all about the Corpach Community Marina that had been built from scratch only three years ago. There was no charge for my kayak, but a polite request to make a donation to the RNLI. As a long-time supporter and offshore member of the RNLI, I was only too happy to oblige.

I pulled the kayak up the slip, and Brian took a photo to be added to the marina socials.

By this time, the marina coffee shop had opened. I treated myself to the full Scottish breakfast, which I ate outside while watching the French crew of the yacht Tirozo organise their supplies. The yacht was on a nine month Nordic Odyssey with 12 other yachts arranged by GLY Rally.

I trundled my kayak on its trolley past all this action on the first few locks and then got a short paddle in before the bigger portage of the Neptune’s Staircase.

On the way up, I met Alex and asked him if he’d mind taking a short video of my efforts. He was happy to do so, and he accompanied me to the top of the staircase. He’d worked as a commercial fisherman and then in the north sea and further afield on an oil rig maintenance vessel. He now lives on the Moray Coast, so there’s an opportunity for our paths to cross again in about a week’s time.

The lovely coconutty aroma of the gorse was often strong as I paddled on the more sheltered sections. I associate this with Scottish hillside golf courses (the Braid Hills in Edinburgh for one) and the often fruitless search for a lost golf ball after a wayward drive. And also with my dad, though more often than not, it would be my ball we were searching for rather than his. I felt tears on my cheeks for a few moments as I paddled on – must be the north easterly winds.

I paddled this section of the canal last year with Paul, so when I got to the two locks and swing bridge at Gairlochy, I knew what to expect.

The canoe trail is clearly marked as going through this gate with a lock. But unless I missed the memo with the combination code when I registered my trip, there was some change to the route that had not yet been resolved.

One alternative option would have been to go over the swing bridge and launch from a pontoon on the other side of the canal. Unfortunately, the swing bridge currently had a hydraulic problem and was stuck in the closed to vehicular traffic position.

I therefore ended up doing the same thing as last year.

Only Loch Lochy lay between me and my camping spot for the night. A simple paddle of about 16 kilometres. The wind was coming straight down the loch, and it was difficult to tell if one side would provide more shelter over the other. I opted for the west side as it had the quieter road to paddle beside.

The yacht Tirozo, which I had left behind in the locks, passed me a few kilometres up the loch. It was good to see it in full sail, tacking its way up the loch. The other yachts that passed were just motoring down the middle.

The Tirozo was on a starboard tack heading towards the western shore when it passed me. When it was half  kilometre ahead, it did what I considered a very slow and poorly executed manoeuvre across to the port tack. I heard later from the two guys I was about to meet on shore that there was much shouting to be heard aboard the yacht at this time. I suspect there was an abrupt change in water depth they hadn’t anticipated that led to this hurriedly executed manoeuvre.

I went ashore to have a bite to eat and landed on a nice beach where a couple of guys with four dogs were camping and fishing. The dogs were a little wary of this strange object arriving from the sea but soon settled down and back playing ball with their humans again.

I didn’t stop again before arriving at Laggan Locks, where I could camp at an approved canoe and hiking trail site with toilets and showers.