“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.”
C.S. Lewis
We knew we were sailing on borrowed time in the Scottish Islands. When you venture up north of the Irish Sea toward the end of September, the weather is bound to be cold; storm systems can become more prevalent. Luckily we were graced with an amazing second summer for our last two weeks of sailing.
Not wanting to press our luck, we decided to take the Crinan Canal rather than sailing down through the North Channel between Northern Ireland and the Kintyre Peninsula. We could cut straight to the Fyrth of Clyde and take four sheltered days and travel the interior of Scotland. We could see new places and not have to navigate a potentially dangerous section of the coast if the weather against tide turned bad.
In the back of our mind was our experience last year at the end of September. We had booked a berth for the winter in the Clyde Marina located in Ardrosen, Scotland. We never made it there as we had to shelter in Bangor due to horrible weather. A series of three named storms barreled through this area, making it impossible, or at least very unpleasant, for us to sail from Ireland to Scotland for several weeks. We finally gave up and stayed in Bangor for the winter. If history repeated itself, we didn’t want to be trapped in the reverse scenario, not able to return to Bangor.
Our sailing repertoire has grown over the last three years. We have traveled the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) from New England to Florida. We have navigated strings of islands in the Caribbean. We even sailed to Cuba. We have crossed the Gulf Stream 5 times and crossed the Atlantic Ocean. What do these 11,000 miles of sailing have in common? Other than a few locks in the ICW, all operated by professionals, we have never been through a self-operated lock system.
Our only knowledge of European locks (other than 1 to enter a marina in Wales) has been from our family members who rented barge canal boats to travel around Europe. My parents and Dan’s parents rented a barge together when they were in their late 60’s and had no problem going through the locks. My sister, Carol, and her grandchildren have even done a self-rented barge canal trip.
We knew the Crinan system was a bit different, but we thought to ourselves, “how hard can it be?”
If you have been following my posts, you know that we get very lucky with being in the right place at the right time. Our string of good fortune continued as Dan went online to reserve a spot to transit the canal. Only a limited number of boats can enter the lock daily from either direction.
As Dan filled out the forms and paid the $200 transit fee, I heard mutterings and expletives (not all that uncommon I might say). I asked him what the problem was.
“There’s no problem,” he replied. I was instantly relieved.
“What’s wrong then?”
I had been trepidatious about the exterior route around Scotland. I was so relieved when Dan presented the option of taking the ‘safe’ route through the canal. I breathed a sigh of relief that we could take our last week of traveling home leisurely and not be looking over our shoulder for rough weather and storms.
“This is the last weekend they are allowing boats through the canal,” Dan informed. “It closes for the winter to do repairs. If we hadn’t gone through this weekend, we would have had to go around.”
While we had looked up lots of information about the canal, we didn’t know that it was closing for the winter. That tidbit was not in any of the information we read. If we had tarried a few more days in any of the harbors or on any of the islands we visited, we would have been going around the long way.
History of the Crinan Canal
Scotland boasts some of the most scenic canals in the world. We planned on transiting the Caledonian Canal this past spring before Covid interrupted our plans. God willing, we will be resuming our voyage to the Baltic next spring and take the Caledonian Canal which travels through the heart of Scotland, from Fort William on the west coast to Inverness on the east coast. It is known for its famous string of locks called Neptune’s Staircase, the longest string of locks in Scotland. It also goes through the middle of Loch Ness – the home of ‘Nessy’.
There are also the Lowland Canals which features the world’s only rotating boat lift. The Forth & Clyde and Union canals can take you to the heart of Glasgow and Edinburgh. You can safely venture through some of the most beautiful parts of Scotland, all via canal.
For us, the Crinan would not only take us safely around the Mull of Kintyre but would give us a little canal experience in our own boat. We figured it would be a learning experience to do the 9 miles of the Crinan before tackling the 60-miles of the Caledonian.
Built over 200 years ago, the Crinan is 9 miles long. Within that 9-mile stretch, there are 4 operating bridges and 15 locks. Numerous locks are needed because the elevation changes 70 feet in height from the sea level at each end of the canal. In the first half, you will be going up, the second half, down. A constant supply of fresh water is needed as each lock takes 66,000 gallons of water supplied from 7 reservoirs in the surrounding hills.
Crinan was originally built for commercial vessels. No commercial vessels currently use the canal, but lots of fishing vessels, cabin cruisers and sailboats take passage. Built in 1794, there have been several collapsed areas that have been renovated and redesigned over the years. Many great architects contributed to the canal we know today.
There is a flat, well-maintained path the entire length of the canal. A biker or runner can easily travel the entire length in a single day. Towns and villages along the canal are popular destinations for vacationers who walk along the canal and watch the flurry of activity in the locks. Many of them jump in and help push the lock arms when they see a mariner struggling.
Off to a Great Start
The thing about sailing is you have to wing any new experience. Any time we enter a new harbor, sail in unfamiliar areas, enter a new marina, there is a lot to figure out on your own. When you drive somewhere in a car, you usually have no problems finding a parking lot. You get out, lock your doors, and you are good to go. Every time we anchor in a new place, we have to figure out where we can take our dinghy, if we are allowed to tie it up there, how will the tides affect it (15 feet of tide change can cause some interesting issues), and can you physically climb from where you tie up your dinghy to where you want to go. For example, we had to climb 10 ft. seaweed encrusted rocks on Skye Island that nearly ended in broken limbs for both of us.
For the Crinan, we read information and asked questions but didn’t get the fine execution details. Our plan was to anchor just outside the entrance to the Crinan the evening before our scheduled lock entrance at 10:00 AM the next morning. We sailed into a large harbor and saw several options for anchoring. As we cruised by the mouth of the canal, we saw a few colorful mooring balls bobbing on the surface.
Mooring balls can be private, can be owned by a business or marina, or they can be public. You never really know unless there is specific information posted somewhere. We saw the Crinan Hotel perched on the hillside near these mooring balls. We decided to assume they were owned by the hotel. We could pick one up and then go to the hotel and see if there was a mooring fee. Mooring is a lot easier than anchoring so we choose that option when we can.
When we moor, I do the driving, Dan hangs out over the edge of the boat, grabs the line, and secures the boat. We have a good system that works well when the wind and or currents are not blowing us around. We had a smooth pick up and Dan was working on doubling up the lines when a boat passed by next to us. They had all their fenders hanging as if they were docking and were standing on the deck. Dan and I looked at each other, as we both figured out they were going to enter the lock at the canal entrance.
Since we knew nothing other than we had an appointment the next morning, Dan yelled over and asked if this boat, “Shearwater” was entering the lock. We had a brief communication via shouting. We learned we could in fact enter the lock the night before and stay in the basin to prepare for the journey the next day. We just had to radio the lock operator and ask permission.
The thing about locks is that they open and close quickly. You are either ready, or you are left out. Considering we didn’t have lines ready, or our fenders out, in a superhuman effort, we cast off the mooring lines and scurried to get ready as soon as Dan obtained permission to join Shearwater in the lock (these locks can only accommodate 2 boats).
Shearwater pulled in, and we followed behind a few minutes later. I had to throw the lines about 25 feet up to the lock operator because Dan was steering the boat. I was already breathing hard and a bit flustered as our plans had changed so drastically in about 10 minutes. The man was not amused when I missed my mark with the toss.
“Yah, that’s not how its dun,” he glared down at me. I wanted to respond, “no shit,” but I held my tongue, gathered the line, and tossed it again. He caught it and gave me another tip, which I didn’t know. “Ya need to have a bowline at the end!”
We finally got a bow and stern line secured as the giant gates behind us started closing and 60,000 gallons of water started flooding into the lock. We had our bumpers on the wall side of the boat. The turbulent, rushing water, rocked the boat violently and pushed us toward the center of the lock – right into the other sailboat. Horrified, I ran to the bow to fend us off. The women on Shearwater was prepared. She had a fender in hand to jam between the boats, as well a whole set of fenders along both sides of their boat. I was mortified, smiled apologetically, and thought these people were not likely to get into a lock with Equus again!
Meanwhile, the boat was rising quickly. The lines on the boat have to be shortened as the boat rises to keep us tightly against the wall. Dan was yelling at me to get back to the bow line and keep it taught. Let’s just say my inexperience in locks was a handicap. If I had to grade myself, I would have given me a D minus.
When the water calmed and we raised 20 feet and the world smoothed out. A peaceful basin came into view. The doors on the top side opened. Equus drifted out gently. We only had 50 feet to go to tie up to a dock lining the basin. Shearwater communicated they were going through one more lock and tying up at the docks a level above to prepare for the next day’s passage. Her captain kindly offered to have a chat about transiting the next day together through the locks. It’s easy to manage with more people and wastes less water to put two boats in a lock. All the interior locks would have to be operated by us. No more assistance from the Crinan staff.
As we tied up to the dock, I realized how much could change in a very short amount of time. We were not anchoring or moored, we were inside the lock. We had a buddy to go through the locks with. We survived the first lock so the rest should be piece of cake. What we failed to realize is that experience is a cruel teacher. It gives the test before presenting the lesson and tested we were.
Stay Tuned For Part II