Now available in colour

Our motto has become ‘if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.’ On Sunday morning it alternated between light showers and sunshine. We motored round from Inverness marina to the sea-lock at Clachnaharry, which is the entrance to the Caledonian Canal. Until now the colour-scheme of the trip has been based on grey: the grey North Sea beneath (usually) grey clouds, the coastline grey and dotted with grey buildings. At sea the wildlife mostly chooses its palette mostly from the grey tones, too, with only the delicate yellow of a gannet’s head or the occasional multicoloured flash of a puffin’s bill to relieve the monotony: even the whale we saw a few days ago was grey. But once inside the Caledonian Canal, suddenly the scenery switched from monochrome to vivid colour. At the lock the sun came out, lighting up the intense green of the hillsides and picking out the vivid yellow gorse and other bright hues.

Kessock Bridge at Inverness

The lock-keeper at Clachnaharry was immensely friendly and helpful, as was the man at the swing-bridge a little way along the canal. At Seaport we did some victualing at the local supermarket before carrying on to the Muirtown Flight, a chain of five locks. We were joined at these locks by a number of other boats: a large motor vessel and two yachts run by the Sea Cadets, plus a couple of other sailing boats. As you enter these locks the walls tower up on either side of you; the trick is to get a crew-member or two ashore so they can take your lines. Once the boat is through the first lock of the series the crew can then walk the boat through to the next one like a dog, helped by a lock-keeper who, as the lady in the boat behind us remarked, wasn't there the day they did charm school. Working your way through the complete flight takes a good hour.

Then we were in the canal proper: green banks and views of the softly rounded hills and mountains. A slower, gentler pace of life. We stopped at Dochgarroch and had dinner at Oakwood Restaurant, a little place that is unlicensed but does not charge corkage if you bring your favourite tipple. The food was excellent here, and the skies cleared by evening. For the moment...