Thursday July 4

No matter how many times you update the forecast it doesn’t improve. However just on the odd occasion the actual weather is not as bad as forecast. So was it this morning, we dressed in oiles, the lock keepers in their waterproof trousers and cagoules as together we tackled lock 10 in the sunshine. With lock nine complete we said goodbye and headed along the top pound off the short distance to the first flight of downward locks at Cairnbaan.

At lock eight another set of friendly canal staff greeted us. There were boats coming up so we would go down this lock then wait til they were up the next. The wind was very gusty when the gates opened. Passing two boats and getting into lock seven was a tussle but managed without any major issues. Sporadic heavy rain showers now became a feature of the rest of the day, each one heralded by strong cold winds. Afterwards the sun may or may not put in an appearance and the canal would return to a mirror calm surface with swallows darting back and forth feasting on the midges that in turn were feasting on us.

Lock six we were left to untie ourselves once the gates were open so the lock keeper could deal with the road bridge which lies across the entrance to lock five by the desolate Cairnbaan Hotel. Bridges take a while, flashing lights, barriers to stop the traffic then the bridge opens. Temptress passed through and into the final lock of the day. Once through we swiftly lowered the fenders and adjusted the lines so we could tie up on the port hand pontoon. Some six locks and we were just one nautical mile further along the canal by 11am.

Canal pontoons aren’t floating but fixed platforms jutting out into the water so that deep draft boats can moor up without running aground, though actually Temptress often does. The canal level goes up and down for a whole variety of reasons but mainly midchannel is just deep enough for our 2.2m freshwater draft (the maximum preferred by the canal authorities). At the sides or at least by the pontoon it’s frequently 1.5m which in salt water would mean we are aground, here in the canal that’s roughly means the keel is sinking in the bottom 10cm !

The pontoons too are often half Temptress’ length. We have devised a system to cope. Springs from bow and stern to the pontoon cleats and then lines ashore to the posts provided on the bank itself.

It was not yet lunchtime so we had a mug of hot chocolate to warm up and sorted out a meal plan and hence a shopping list for the next few days. After lunch we’d cycle along the towpath to Lochgilphead and the co-op between the showers. It’s less than two miles away and we were back onboard mid afternoon. We did attempt to do our shop in the Spar at a garage on the main road by the canal but they had a poor selection of meat and little fresh bread so we pedalled on the few hundred metres further toward the town centre. There we filled two baskets with bread, milk, chicken, pork, veg, bananas, OJ, yoghurt and most importantly gin. Both rucksacks and another shopping bag were filled to capacity for the return trip. The latter was strapped to the carrier on the skippers bike.

Enroute to the shops a wee dark creature ran across the towpath almost under my front wheel then turned back. I stopped thinking I’d squished it but no, it sputtered along the grass towards the hedgerow. With no tail and a plump but teeny body it was almost certainly a mole.

Back onboard we hunkered down again as the wind howled and Temptress rocked a bit. The skies darkened as a warning of yet another shower. Any idea of going exploring and finding the local rock carvings or cycling over to Dunadd Fort the former seat of Gaelic kings was soon discarded. Knitting, reading, snoozing became the order of the day, perhaps tomorrow we’ll going for a cycle.