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Gary and I had signed on for a mile-builder and a half.

John Wetton who runs a sailing school and charter business (http://www.wetstuff.org.uk/) out of Gosport had gone walkabout with Prime Evil, his Sigma 400 and had been out cruising for 6 weeks in three sections, up to Oban, around the Western Isles, up to Orkney and down to Inverness

We were joining him for the final leg, to get the boat back to Gosport, via the Caledonian Canal, the irish Sea, Lands End and up the English Channel.

I’m doing it for the experience, including the chance to do more night sailing. Gary, who I have been training up as my crew finds out that I’ve also signed him up for a Competent Crew course during the trip… 

For the trip south we will have John and six crew (but two of them only can stay for the first week).

We join the boat on the Caledonian Canal, just south of Inverness, but about 6 locks up from the sea.

Early on the Monday morning we set off down the Canal and up into the Highlands.

And up it is as from where we joined the boat there are 23 locks, 8 swing bridges and 3 Lochs to pass through before we reach the sea again.

John hopes to get through the canal in a day, I’ll wait and see as I reckon it will take the best part of two days.

Along to Dochgarroch Lock and up we go. The lock-keeper gives us a warning notice about the fact that there is going to be blasting on the coast of Loch Ness later in the day but we work out that we should be well past Fort Augustus (at the sothern end of Loch Ness) by then.

Now we are at the level of Loch Ness and motor onto the loch hoping to be able to sail the next 25 miles. No such luck, wind is on the nose (well in the Great Glen it usually is going to be either South Westerly or North Easterly, the mountains restrict it a bit!)

Ok so its motor along with a bit of drizzle on the wind, and yes we get to Fort Augustus in plenty of time. Moor up and go to report to the lock-keeper and he says "they are blasting on the Loch this afternoon so we have shut the locks to stop boats entering the Loch". But we want to go the other way.. Sorry no movements until 16:00… So much for John and his through in one day.

Late afternoon and we watch them set of their blasting, 1 tonne of HE according to the BBC but looks a bit of a fizz from where we are watching (about three miles away!), then its back to the boat, through the swing bridge, up the flight of five locks and we are underway again.

Two more locks and we reach Loch Oich and the summit of the canal, it will be all downhill from now on, once we get to the end of Loch Oich, but its getting near dusk and the Laggan swing bridge has already closed so its time to moor up for the night.