Crinan Drying up

[Quandary]

The powers that be have noticed that it has not rained here for some time ( since the end of April) and that a consequence is that the Canal is short of water. The solution, in addition to mending the big hole in lock 4, is to insist that boats locking through do it in pairs, threes or fours, solo boats arriving may be asked to wait for an hour or so until another boat turns up. The consequence is that instead of five hour transits they are taking about seven or eight. The usual solution of half tide locking has not been introduced yet which is strange as with lw springs in the morning this week, the Ardrishaig sea lock is consuming a basin full of water before they can get enough pressure to mitre the dodgy gates.

So if you are coming this way be prepared for some delays though with such light winds the C'town-Gigha route might be an attractive alternative.

Meanwhile Nicola has given them some money to fix the Forth and Clyde bridges and complete the timber exporting pier extension at Ardrishaig. Nothing for yachties though.

 

[Slipstream 34]

Thanks very much for the heads up.

 

[Gwylan]

Well wasn't like that when we were there.

Sweltering in Youghal.

When this weather breaks it will be with a bang I suspect.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Thanks very much to Quandary and Hugh for a nice easy transit on Sunday. It's been a while since sunburn has been a summer problem there ...

 

[Quandary]

Wednesday update
Today they are holding boats at Cairnbaan and Dunardry for thee hours while they run water for an expected deep draughted yacht, after that they are going to be very short of the stuff so expect imminent restriction to half tide sea lock operations and perhaps a limit on draught above 2.2m.
Half tide locking at Ardrishaig is not really a problem, just a delay but there is a pontoon available, but it is a pain at Crinan where passage tides are strong, plenty of anchoring options though and I can recommend the moorings at Cullipool as a pleasant place to wait. Not much chance of making Tobermory on one tide though.
Perhaps round the Mull is the answer.

 

[Quandary]

Well wasn't like that when we were there.

Sweltering in Youghal.

When this weather breaks it will be with a bang I suspect.

You were really unlucky last year when you should have gone the way you have now, it might be a year or two before the weather we have had here this year is repeated, if in doubt go south?

 

[stevepick]

Wednesday update
Perhaps round the Mull is the answer.

The Crinan is pretty, but unless you want to sail it as a "destination", I have never understood the view that it is a short cut. Clyde marina to Ardrishaig then canal to Crinan, is almost always going to be slower than going around MOK? I avoid the Crinan now, done it numerous times with friends boats and once using my own, but a bigger draft now would make me nervous of using it. Going around the Mull is also considerably cheaper!

 

[Quandary]

Just finished bringing a junk rigged Westerly down from Lock 14 to Ardrishaig, went up there at 08-30 as the boat was there overnight, they were running water until 12-00 to accommodate an approaching 47' yacht with claimed 2.5m. draught, (takes 16,000,000 gallons to raise the reach less than a foot). Finished at 16-30, four hour transit, after four hour wait, not worth the hassle. Could have been worse, the canal thought our companions were Russian usually lazy and morose ( my national stereotyping) but they turned out to be Polish, young, strong and energetic. After running all that water out of the dams the rain will need to come soon.

 

[Aja]

That's criminal taking or allowing a 47' boat through. The owner should be taken aside and told to head to the Mull. Astonishing that they let water be wasted in this way, possibly denying smaller vessels safe passage in a couple of weeks when holiday season really kicks in. I know you said it was pre-booked, but surely transit should be within reason.

Donald

 

[Quandary]

Trouble is that the Canal did not face the approaching problem sooner so had not given notice of temporary restrictions, even worse when most of the water was down the guys said they were thinking of changing plans to go down the outside. You can not blame the customers, someone from Poland or the other deep boat today which was Dutch regard the Crinan as an interesting destination to be stroked off, they know nothing much else about it.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The Crinan is pretty, but unless you want to sail it as a "destination", I have never understood the view that it is a short cut. Clyde marina to Ardrishaig then canal to Crinan, is almost always going to be slower than going around MOK?

Last weekend I left Port Bannatyne at 8.30pm on Saturday and arrived in Crinan Basin at 2.30pm on Sunday. I don't think going round the Mull would have been faster, particularly if I wanted some sleep.

Also, I've been through the canal into a F6 westerly. That would be a wee bit character forming by the southern route,no?

 

[stevepick]

Last weekend I left Port Bannatyne at 8.30pm on Saturday and arrived in Crinan Basin at 2.30pm on Sunday. I don't think going round the Mull would have been faster, particularly if I wanted some sleep.

Also, I've been through the canal into a F6 westerly. That would be a wee bit character forming by the southern route,no?

You were lucky to get through the canal in a day though , no? My trips are usually Ardrossan to Craobh, timed to hit the MOK at slack . Usually 15 hours, if that means sailing through the night then , that's fine with me, we sail the trip crewed for that. That's in a 40 foot AWB. Previously in several 30 foot AWB it was 20 hours Kip to Dunstaffnage, so I still think I would prefer the outside. Bad weather is a good point, but with 2.2m draft the canal is not really an option any more, and having done the outside west to east against F7 SE winds, it was fine as long as you avoid the lumpy bits by sailing a bit further .

 

[Quandary]

You were lucky to get through the canal in a day though , no? .

The every second decade Scottish drought excepted, a passage should take 5-6 hours, half an hour to lock in, 45 mins for 2, 3 and 4, 45 mins east reach, 2 hours over the top and 50 mins. to Crinan. However while we easily beat this early season it does involve starting in front of or more than an hour behind the family doing it with two young kids ashore.

 

[ctva]

The every second decade Scottish drought excepted, a passage should take 5-6 hours, half an hour to lock in, 45 mins for 2, 3 and 4, 45 mins east reach, 2 hours over the top and 50 mins. to Crinan. However while we easily beat this early season it does involve starting in front of or more than an hour behind the family doing it with two young kids ashore.

Apart from the old days of WHW or the Tobermory Race, the fad of seeing how fast we can get through is quite recent and I think you are missing the point of the Canal. Relax and enjoy it, sometimes we have gone through in 5 hours other times we have taken 4 days. We are all on holiday but as others have said, if you have a timetable, go round the Mull. Over the years we have heard stories of pushy pilots and harassment of the families that you mention.

Chill and try putting something positive about the Crinan Canal on the forum. I moan too about things but we all need to step back and enjoy life. That’s when you meet people and make friends.

 

[Quandary]

Thank you for the sage advice, Chris, why can I not see things the way you do. Perhaps when I get older I will wise up and become cheery. I am glad I don't have the same problems with 'locals' as you do, though.

Jumbleduck seemed quite pleased to get through moderately quickly, Stevepick avoids it because it is so slow so perhaps not everyone has the same amount of time to waste. We meet boat owners on transit every day and while we do accommodate some who want to overnight at Cairnbaan, most, if not all, want to see steady progress. What we get is split between two of us and we use two cars so a 10 hour passage would work out at well below £3 per hour, (many folk get more than that just for providing a vehicle), so there is an incentive for us to move on, even more so this year when help is scarce and there is usually some one else waiting for us. I do not do this for money, it is a way of meeting people and keeping fit in a productive and interesting way outdoors. We do not pressure boats in front who want to take three days, if they are not happy to let us by we simply have to abandon the transit for a day, not everyone appreciates that but it is the only solution.

I have an interest in the welfare of the Crinan Canal, I live beside it, keep a boat there, and spend a lot of time socializing with 'locals' many of whom work or have worked on it. I regret the ceasing of maintenance tasks for the last few years for what seems an easily resolved dispute and find the cosequent permanently broken landings and replacement timber rotting in the grass annoying and the threat of eventual closure unnecessary. So I get annoyed by waste and failure and find it hard to hide that, sorry if that upsets you but surely it would be easy to put me on 'ignore' Meanwhile I will continue to read what you post even if I may decide not to follow your instructions.

 

[dunedin]

Apart from the old days of WHW or the Tobermory Race, the fad of seeing how fast we can get through is quite recent and I think you are missing the point of the Canal. Relax and enjoy it, sometimes we have gone through in 5 hours other times we have taken 4 days. We are all on holiday but as others have said, if you have a timetable, go round the Mull. Over the years we have heard stories of pushy pilots and harassment of the families that you mention.

Chill and try putting something positive about the Crinan Canal on the forum. I moan too about things but we all need to step back and enjoy life. That’s when you meet people and make friends.

We have done Crinan quite a few times, slowly with young family and or friends working the locks - and quickly to get through and on with a passage. We have also done the outside route many times, but sometimes the Crinan is faster and more preferable for a fixed time delivery compared to getting a bashing in a SW F6 round the bottom.

And can assure you that the “pilots” we have used have been perfect gentlemen, very efficient but never pushy to us other other canal users. Their assistance has saved damaging our already weak backs - and on occasion their fast transits have enabled us to catch a tide and get ahead of bad weather which has been much appreciated (Largs to Inverness in 4 days, sailing wherever possible including the Caledonian Canal lochs, the last time we did it).

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Going through quickly is not a new fad. The same discussions about transit times, how to achieve fast times, what caused slow times, is the MOK faster, relax it’s a trip in itself all happened in the early 80’s as well. I used to do a small circuit from Kip, Crinan, Gighia, Red Bay or Belfast Lch, Aran, Kip and usually guests enjoyed the canal sedentary pace. I think my record was 5 hours.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Going through quickly is not a new fad. The same discussions about transit times, how to achieve fast times, what caused slow times, is the MOK faster, relax it’s a trip in itself all happened in the early 80’s as well. I used to do a small circuit from Kip, Crinan, Gighia, Red Bay or Belfast Lch, Aran, Kip and usually guests enjoyed the canal sedentary pace. I think my record was 5 hours.

It's a question of what you want. For me, I'd only choose to go through the Crinan Canal if there was a clear time advantage over going round the MoK, or it was blowing old boots at the MoK! Therefore, for me a rapid passage is the priority; if the passage isn't fairly quick I will have wasted a day and have spent a substantial amount of money to do so! The one time I've used it, I was starting from Portavadie and made it to Ardfern in a day. That was a clear win in time terms, but if it had taken two days to go through the canal, it would have been a break-even in reasonable weather. In fact our return journey encountered exactly that; we were delayed first by a delay at the Crinan sea lock and then by the passage of a large vessel so it took two days to transit the canal and one member of our crew was on tenterhooks about getting home when he'd promised his wife!

I fuilly recognize that for some people the Crinan Canal is a destination in its own right, but I'd also suggest that for the majority of us, a fast passage is the priority.

 

[awol]

There is a strange temporal phenomenon of "canal time". Transit 'tween locks is at a leisurely pace and upping the revs just doesn't feel right. Lock operation, once the rhythm is found is a pleasure in itself - modern hominid against Victorian technology - and is where time can be saved, not by hurrying, but by efficiency of effort. There is pleasure and relaxation in smoothly crossing Kintyre.
Where I get frustrated, is not waiting for bridges or stalling while other boats are locking, it is with non-like-minded footering accompanying boats, those that leave gates open (or sometimes closed) and, dare I say it, some pilots (much younger than Quandary and a few years ago) who rush to prepare flights well ahead of their charges to the extent of removing the lock keys to prevent counter movement.
In the year of mandatory "assisted passage" I transited 7 times - I bought a 16 day ticket that year as it was <4x the hiked one-way price and I spent time in the Caley to boot. Those were my most frustrating transits ever with non-motivated "assisting" youths interfering with smooth passage with their lunch breaks, tea breaks, card school at Dunardry, discussion groups and general reluctance to get on with it. Mind you, I did 6 of those transits single-handed.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Apart from the old days of WHW or the Tobermory Race, the fad of seeing how fast we can get through is quite recent and I think you are missing the point of the Canal. Relax and enjoy it, sometimes we have gone through in 5 hours other times we have taken 4 days.

That's absolutely fine, as long as you (generic) don't hold up someone who has a good reason to go through faster. If I have arranged to meet someone at Easdale or if I want to get round Ardlamont before foul weather arrives it's a bit irritating to be stuck behind someone taking their leisurely time over it. Stopping for an hour in a lock to eat your lunch (this wasn't you, I'm sure) is not a friendly act.

By the way, I reckon passages were far quicker 30 years ago when more crews knew what they were doing. Then 3/4 of the boats would be from the Clyde and well used to the canal; now most seem to be visitors and the faff level is up.