Day 13 started with an early alarm at 4.30am. We needed to be at the Crinan Canal entrance by 8.15/30 for our booked entry time of 8.30. When we were very close a smaller yacht worked very hard to overtake us to enter into the sea lock harbour entrance. When we got there we realised why, there was a load of boats all waiting to enter the canal. So many that we could not safely enter. So it looked like we were in for a long wait. The good news however was that the canal authority does things by the book, so we were called on the radio to enter as the number 3 boat exactly at 8.30. Our “overtaker” was not allowed in 😁.
The canal is in need of a fair bit of refurbishment and there is a lot of work underway. It was though a great experience going through the locks and very pretty scenery . A bit odd, doing it in a sailing yacht. None of us had been in canal locks before, it is a bit daunting as the locks are very high and noisy. You also have to coordinate the lines carefully, keep the other boats at bay and it is different when going up to going down.
We arrived at the Crinan Basin around 4.30 pm. Pretty tired but we all agreed this had been a highlight of the trip so far. Fortunately there is a pub there, but the restaurant was full. So we had a drink and Paul gave us another of his great creations for dinner. Tofu noodle stir fry!
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