Ft. Augustus to Laggan
A peaceful night turned into an early dawning day with the Lord of the Glens still tied up at Inveroich Pier. This is a place to dock while waiting one’s turn to enter into the staircase of five locks which pass smack-dab through the middle of town.
Fort Augustus is named for the original fort of 1729, built to maintain control of the Jacobites in the highlands of Scotland. In turn, the fort was named for a young boy of eight years old, William Augustus, the second son of King George II, who would later become notorious as the “Butcher Cumberland” when he ordered the slaughter of thousands of highlanders in a practice we would today call ethnic cleansing.
But today was bright and cheery, so no more of the dark past. For the moment.
By nine o’clock the first round of kayakers set off on foot to the top of the staircase in “downtown” Ft. Augustus to lower themselves gently into our steady inflatable kayaks and paddle off up the Caledonian Canal. Another group did the same half-way through the morning, and the wind really didn’t blow and the sun really did shine! Walkers around town explored the back streets and heard the history, while everyone at some moment or another made time to visit the Canal Museum.
We had lunch on board and soon enough lines were thrown off and the swing bridge opened. They fascinate me and, here in Ft. Augustus, it is most dramatic, for the bridge swings slowly to one side exposing the series of locks ahead, stacked up ahead of us, allowing us passage through.
Meanwhile, a bagpiper played alongside quite appropriately. At this point we are most definitely the center of attention in town, and loads of folks stand on the sides of the canal to watch us barely scrape through (not really, but it seems that way). This ship was designed to the last inch for passage through these locks (150 feet x 35 feet x 13.5 feet depth).
Half-way up inside the third lock, the Chief Mate and Captain allowed many of us to escape the ship in order watch the rise from on shore, and after a few takes, quite a few of us continued walking. The Lord of the Glens was left behind as we followed the tow path alongside the canal for two and a half miles to Kytra Lock. The blistering sun beat many of us down, so we happily boarded the ship once more at this point (yes, we ARE in Scotland), but a few daring souls continued another two and a half miles to Cullochy Loch! One daring soul, Bob Pike, took the long way home and covered eleven miles to meet the ship at dinner in Laggan.
Those who chose the easy way, cruised across Loch Oich – our highest point in this transit at 106 feet above sea-level – then continued down “Laggan Avenue,” a beautiful tree-lined man-made part of the canal.
By 5:30 pm we were “locked in” inside the lock at Laggan, and after dinner several of us went over to have a dram of whiskey in the Eagle, a local pub floating just off our stern!
