We weren't particularly good at operating the locks to start with, but after 4 or 5 of them we seemed to be getting into the swing of things. We did the first couple of locked together and were then joined by a 15 foot boat and a Contessa 32. Having a bigger team made things work better although the locks were a bit small for all three boats. This issue was resolved when the contessa 32 decided to hold back as they were concerned that one of the other boats were going to scratch their paint work. I can only assume that they were not concerned about Cervisia as our boat handling was pretty exemplary. We worked really well as a team with the small boat, basically having a boat crew and a land crew with the land crew running ahead to prepare the locks. It was all a hive of activity. The girls did really well sorting out the lines, throwing lines ashore, throwing them back aboard and securing them to the boat. It was a real team effort.
One thing that seemed strange about our passage was that the wind really picked up. It was a steady force 6 and gusted up to force 8. This made getting into the locks quite exciting but also raised questions about what we would do at the other end. We were a bit worried that we wouldn't even make it out of the canal before it closed, but we achieved this with about 30 minutes to spare. We said our goodbyes to our helpers at the Crinan sea lock (they then walked back to the start of the canal) and we motored out into strong winds and a choppy sea. We had decided we weren't going to get anywhere that night and just picked up a mooring buoy round the corner at Crinan boatyard. We spent the night watching a climbing video and listening to the coastguard organising lifeboats for yachts and kayakers that had got into difficulty in the conditions. Based on this and the forecast for further strong winds, we decided that Sunday might be a good day to go climbing.
On Sunday we rowed ashore in the inflatable dinghy and then set off on the pretty long trek to Creag nam Fitheach which sits in forests to the south of Crinan. We were successful with hitch hiking both there and back for some of the way. This was really kind of the drivers and was a huge help. They couldn't help us with the final stiff climb to the crag.
The crag was a windy little spot. This made climbing a little tricky and meant we had to moderate our ambitions. The crag was made of epidiorite which is an amazing rough rock with sharp cut features. It was a joy to climb on, with fatastic views over Loch Sween out towards Jura. The best route we did was the first one we did called The Razor's Edge. Royston led it in the strong winds. It was a really exciting route in a really exposed position. Oveall we climbed 4 VS routes before it was time to head back. We were really happy with our day.
Part of the way back we walked along the Crinan canal with views out towards Jura and the lovely local rolling hills of the Crinan area. Once in Crinan itself, we went to the hotel for a beer and inner before rowing the dinghy back to Cervisia. We have watched an amazing sunset over the mountains of Jura and Mull and have made plans for tomorrow. We're aiming to go up through the Sound of Luing and then into Loch Tarbet on the west side of Jura. If we do this, it should be a really stunning day. Fingers crossed.
I love all this talk about locks and canals!
ReplyDeleteI thought of the extreme narrowboating adventure when we were on the Crinan canal. It was nowhere near as mad as that, but it was well festive. The crew in the little boat next to us were tipping back the cold ones on their boat. It's not the way we do things on Cervisia, but it did look kinda festive.
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