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Published: July 28th 2009
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On Sunday we filled some diesel at the marina, and went on our way to Loch Ness. We anchored up outside urquart castle, fired up the grill and drooled for some biff and sosauges. But unbelievably we had the German boat from the first lock beside us, some 20 meters away. They didn't like the grilling apparently, one guy came to the bow of their boat and complained that the grill could damage his rolled up genoa. We quickly decided that his request for us putting out the grill, and missing out on our dinner was unacceptable, ignoring him worked just fine, and the food was great. Afterwards we had a little whisky tasting with some 5cl bottles Olav had bought and when they were empty we went over to the big bottles.
The morning after we inflated the dingy and went in to urquhart castle, a nice ruine that once were the largest castle ever built in Scotland. Though on the 13th century its own garrison blew it up to prevent it falling into Jacobite hands. Later after visiting the castle we found out that you usually have to pay quite a bit to visit it, but as we
came in the back way with our dingy, we missed that part of the attraction. Olav left us there, he tock a bus from there to Oban, spending a few days to see more of scotland.
We were now three on board as we headed over to Fort Augustus in the other end of loch ness. We had a great sail down the loch under the genaker, until the very scottish wether sat in, it was raining for 10 min and sun for 10 min over and over again. When the rain really set in, while Arne and I was hiding under the spray-hood, Jørgen found the opportunity for washing the deck.
When we had moored up at the marina at the bottom of the locks, I went to have a shower ashore, and washed my hair in cold water until I found out that there actually where hot water, the taps were just very confusing! In Britain nearly every shower tap is different, and a small pusle to figure out.
The next morning we were up early to get in one of the first lockings that started at about eight. They took all the rented boats
before any of the other yachts, good thing too, as a danish guy from a boat called "Ulven" said, "they do not know where the breaks are". And looking at the boats as they stumbled into the locks, we were glad we weren't amongst them. We went through quite a few locks and bridges this day and arrived in a full marina in fort william, on top of the "neptuns staircase". We moored outside another boat, a brand new Irish boat, that they had just collected in Sweden. They stayed outside us at the previous stop, and returned the favor gladly, they had even ordered a space for us in the lock for the next morning before we got there, a verry nice gesture! They had remembered our name and told the lock keeper to book us a place with them.
We left the boat to find a restaurant, and while we walked from the harbour we heard the danish couple from "Ulven" trying to get our attention, they told us they had ordered a place for us at the first locking down in the morning. So we now had two spaces. We ate at a family restaurant next
to the canal before we went back and visited the "Ulven" to thank them for getting us a space in the lock. They were nice people and they were also on their way to join the whisky cruise.
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