Caledonian Canal South
We entered the Canal and paid the seven day licence of £330 before we continued on to the Quay just before the Muirtown Swing Bridge. Stopping off here we had showers, filled the water tanks and had a toasted sandwich at the loch cafe while waiting for the Swing bridge to open at 1500.
We motored on past the bridge and Caley Marina and into Loch Ness passing the red Aldourie Castle, which was an unusual sight! We anchored off Dores Beach looking forward to a nice meal at the Dores Inn Steakhouse - until we realised it was closed for renovations! We reverted back to the good old Frey Bentos - a sailing must have! Dad rustled up the pies with potatoes and tinned peas and we ate while watching the sunset. It was pond like conditions and we all slept soundly.
Day two in the Caledonian Canal began with sunshine and only the anchor windlass breaking the silence. After a quick coffee we had a twenty mile motor down Loch Ness towards Fort Augustus, passing Urquhart Castle on the way - I was very disappointed to see it in such ruins, it looked a lot better in the Johnny English movie!!
We kept a good look out for any signs of Nessie but other than the depth sounder dropping to five meters a few times there was no sign of her - she really is an expert hide and seeker! As we approached Fort Augustus a huge, and loud, four propped plane took off just beyond the town, turned on a six pence and took off along the loch leaving less clearance with the top of the mast than we had with the bridge in Inverness! We had lunch in the local tourist office cafe until Beth arrived and drove us up to Drumnadrochit to the Loch Ness Exhibition centre.
The centre is located in the original hotel where the searches for Nessie used to begin. The tour and centre were very good and explained the history of the loch and the expeditions that were held -including the attempt at the water speed record, and the probable truth behind the Nessie hysteria - you'll need to visit for yourselves! Next to the center is the Great Glen Distillery which is Scotlands smallest distillery with just one still in a room that would fit aboard Lia! We saw the process and various Gins they make, we even got to sample some - no complaints here!
We returned to the Lia and went for dinner in the Loch Inn, enjoying beautiful battered cod from Buckie and Dad tried the Cullen Skink - it was thoroughly enjoyed! We stopped off in the Bothy bar for a hot toddy ( Dad was disappointed there were no cloves!) and a local brew. Back on board we played a few games of UNO (which released everyone's competitive sides) and had a night cap.
Unfortunately Friday was crew change day, my Dad and Edin had to fly home. On the way to the airport we stopped at a bay on Loch Rannoch to skip some stones, then onwards to the Dalwhinnie Distillery and the House or Bruar. The distillery visit was a favourite experience for Dad, we even got to try a limited sherry cask whisky!
The week flew by and I’m looking forward to the next trip with the three generations onboard.
