Crinan canal pilot recommendation

[ctva]

@tyce, take your time and enjoy the canal. Stop at Oakfield bridge for Lochgilphead shops, Cairnbaan for the pub and if you like antiquities, the cup and ring marked stones, Dunardry has lovely Forrest walks and so does Crinan. As others haves said, it’ll be easy with your crew.

 

[ctva]

We are planning to use the canal at the end of July heading North
How far in advance do we need to book as I see the conditions state non-refundable.

Just turn up and lock in. Phone the Ardrishaig office the day before or when you arrive. Helen is ver helpful.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I used Micki and his son back in 2019. They are not sailors (I think work in forestry) but got me through both directions quickly with no problems. I'm single handed so I stayed on the boat and they caught the lines and worked the locks. (07917 622553 back in 2019)

We went through with Micki and his son and had a very smooth and easy passage. He knows his stuff and for two of them the charge wasn't high. He had already been booked by another boat with whom we locked in so I rang him and set things up - I gather that does not, understandably, like having second boats sprung on him.

 

[JumbleDuck]

You'll be fine. 2 people on the boat and 2 on land will see you through quickly. No doubt you will be travelling through with a single hander, so they will commandeer one of your offspring from time to time - seems to always happen that way!

Much better to have one person on board and three on land. Unless there is something odd about the boat, there is only work for one person afloat but you can never have too many ashore.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The canal is dee-ee-ay-dee dead. We came through on Sunday in a group of four, one of which dropped out to overnight near Bellanoch and was replaced by a Bellanoch boat on its way out. No boats locked into Crinan Basin from the canal after us on Sunday and I believe that only two more (one of them our friend from the day before) locked into the basin on Monday. So that's five westbound transits in two days. In Ye Goode Olde Days there would have been four boats arriving every hour.

The operations manager for SC was visiting Crinan on Monday but unfortunately I did not get a chance to ask him, nicely, what they were smoking when they decided to close two days per weeks (effectively three since locking in on a Monday is unwise).

Crinan Boats' visitor moorings were completely full, which would have been unusual but probably shows that people are visiting Crinan without using the basin.

 

[Ink]

Nothing that appropriate midge deterrent products can't control.

Appropriate midge control = full body armour! ?

 

[SaltIre]

Much better to have one person on board and three on land. Unless there is something odd about the boat, there is only work for one person afloat but you can never have too many ashore.

I saw lots of odd things about boats when I worked as a lock-keeper. A rope around the prop with a following breeze was somewhat challenging for the bloke who'd sent all his crew ashore.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I saw lots of odd things about boats when I worked as a lock-keeper. A rope around the prop with a following breeze was somewhat challenging for the bloke who'd sent all his crew ashore.

Just as challenging if he hadn't, and one less person ashore to catch ropes, fend off and so on. The single biggest failing I see in boats going through the canal is failure to send as many people as possible ashore. One time we crawled through after a classic yacht who flatly refused to allow anyone else to lock with them and who were going through with three men aboard and one woman ashore.

Fastest trip I ever had was lashed alongside a fishing boat with two people on boar and ten, with three cars, ashore. Three and a half hours, if I recall correctly. Rules may have been broken ...