Monster Loch

It took the whole morning to leave Fort Augustus, because the swing bridge was still broken.  The lock-keepers were full of confidence, less full of information.  They locked down 6 boats together: us, another yacht, an RNLI lifeboat bound for Dunbar, and 3 slugs (hired motor boats) It was crowded as we all walked forward from lock to lock down the flight.  Then we sat at the bottom while the Scottish Highways engineer (singular) worked on the bridge - and we sat - and we sat - in the blazing sunshine.  Eventually the bridge swung, to a cheer and round of applause, and we were released - the RNLI lifeboat roared away at 30kn leaving the rest of us trailing in his wake.

all queued up behind the non-swinging bridge

Loch Ness stretches on

There was a brisk NE F4 blowing down Loch Ness ... yep, as usual, right on the nose.  At least the sea state was Slight (small waves).  We were determined that Tim & Alison should experience some proper sailing, so having got a few miles up (it is 20 miles long), we put up the sails (with one reef in for ease of handling), and turned off the engine ... bliss.  Tim & Alison then both had turns at helming as we tacked up the Loch, doing 6kn into a 20kn wind.  Short-tacking (i.e. 10 minutes between tacks) is pretty hard work, so after an hour and a half we had a brief run downwind to illustrate how much more pleasant that type of sailing is  ... and T&A discovered it is harder to keep the boat on a steady heading with the waves behind pushing the stern around - even little waves.  Then it was engine-on, stow the sails, and back to motoring.  

perfect pontoon mooring

Loch Ness was a blue inland sea flanked by green & brown mountains, with a blue sky overhead - just exactly like the postcards.  Urquhart Castle looked beautiful in the afternoon sun, with a few tourist ants crawling around it.  There were only a few boats around, and at times we felt that we had the Loch to ourselves.  Finally we tickled our way through the narrow channel at the top of the Loch to Dochgarroch - and  we saw another golden eagle, soaring around the nearby hilltop.  Then we found one of the last pontoon places to moor, right in front of the Lock that we will descend in the morning.

A delicious dinner cooked by T&A was consumed in the cockpit, in the still-warm evening sun ... the first cockpit dinner this year.