With younger son swapped for older, my crew change at Inverness was complete. Inverness wasn’t a bad place to do it, as the marina is just a short taxi ride from the airport, which both sons used. The disadvantage was that it was a fair walk into town, so I dug out my Brompton bicycle, which had languished deep in the cockpit locker for the last couple of years. It was none the worse for wear and I accomplished a decent shop. While crossing the Pentland Firth I had also put a call in with Majestic Wine, who kindly delivered to the marina to resupply vital lubricants.

Leaving Jonty to head to the airport, Tom and I headed round to the Inverness sea loch at Clachnaharry, where we were greeted by a friendly American member of staff who told us what to expect. The Canal was completed in 1922 and was constructed by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. 29 locks, four aqueducts, ten bridges and some 60 miles awaited us.

We soon got into the swing of it and adapted to the routine of going through the locks and waiting for bridges to open. Before long we found ourselves in Loch Ness. Often the prevailing winds make this an uncomfortable motor, but we had a fair wind for a while and managed a brief sail and a coffee anchored under Castle Urquhart. We also made good use of the drone to get some fine footage.

At the end of Loch Ness we ascended the locks up Fort Augustus, which seemed like a suitable place to stop for the first night.

After a quiet night we headed off from Fort Augustus, climbing up the locks until we met the mid point of the canal, from where we started to descend. For me this part was the most beautiful, as the canal wound through quiet upland countryside.

Once through the mid point, we headed down Lochs Oich and Lochy, past Invergarry Castle and eventually to Banavie, at the top of a series of lochs known as Neptune’s Staircase. The countryside changed, and Ben Nevis and its surrounding mountains appeared, with snow patches still clearly visible.

We arrived at the top of Neptune’s Staircase, and stopped for the night, enjoying the views and the engineering.

In the morning we took the first descent down the 8 locks, and moored shortly afterwards to allow Tom to run up and down Ben Nevis, which he did in a remarkably brisk time.

Tom’s rapid mountain bagging allowed us to head down to Corpach and exit the canal, with Spellbinder once more floating in salt water.

In increasingly poor weather we headed down Loch Linnhe through the Corran Narrows to the very friendly mooring field at Linnhe Marine, which is to be Spellbinder’s base for the next ten days. The next day the weather was foul, but we did motor down to Port Appin where we had an excellent celebratory lunch at the Pierhouse Hotel.

It was a really enjoyable transit, although very different from rounding Cape Wrath! I was impressed by the laid-back efficiency of the lock keepers and the general administration of the place. We were helped with sunny weather, which helped greatly, and the midges had not yet arrived.

Spellbinder will remain in Loch Linnhe for the next ten days while I return south, but her adventures will recommence in early July.