It was a quiet start this morning as the boat was booked into the afternoon locking up at Neptune Staircase as the mighty Lord of the Glen had precedence on the morning passage up.
Once the Lock Keepers had signalled to us, we dropped lines and followed two yachts into the chamber of the first lock. We climbed Neptune’s Staircase’s eight locks, as the longest staircase lock set in Britain, it lifted the boat 64 feet.
We were limited to overnighting at the top in Banavie as there are no other suitable mooring locations before Moy Bridge, a swing bridge which is manually operated by the lock keepers and was closed for the night by the time we would have reached it.
It was decided the shore crew would move location, to find a better camping spot where there might be some power for Geoff’s motorhome, to power vital equipment.
Using the contacts James and Elspeth have built up on their numerous visits along the Great Glen, we ended up at the stunning Laggan Lock, with the dream team at The Eagle Barge Inn providing the much required power.
Whilst it might not have been the days for getting miles under the bow with a grand total of 1.2 miles it has been a highly encouraging day with the friendliness and kindness shown to the team by the people of the Highlands that we have learnt to expect.
Special thanks to Barry from Scottish Canals and Vicky and Will at The Eagle Barge Inn for their help today. Always welcoming with a smile and friendly word, and working to help us out of the situation we found ourselves in.