Caley Holiday vs transit.

[aquaplane]

We are looking at having a holiday in the Caley canal. The 8 day license looks to suit us with a couple or 3 days each side to get to and fro from Tayvallich.

The Caley Cruisers WWW site seems to think that a 7 night cruise is enough to "do" the full length of the canal.

It would be nice to have time to look at other things than water and lock gates and of course scenery, is a week and a bit enough time for a good look round?

It's only £10 a day to add days so we can take it a bit slower or not go the full length.

Any one done the trip as a holiday instead of just as a transit?

[claymore]

There was an episode of Coast on recently which suggested you could easily spend about 8 months wandering around. At a tenner a day, a budget of around £2.5K should suffice.
Of course, with your abiliies Roberto, you wouldn't really need a boat to skim across they waters - it might be cheaper to go B&B?

[Pete Cooper]

I heard a rumour that Aquaplane can walk on water - or at least try to:)

[cpedw]

We rented a Centaur for a week in the late 70s and found it nicely matched going from end to end of the canal and back. We didn't venture far from the water though (we were a bit younger then) but found plenty to do. We enjoyed it so much we repeated the adventure a year later.

More recently, I've whizzed through by boat and motored past. It seems to be much more developed so there must be lots more diversions. Whether it's improved, I can't say.

Derek

[claymore]

I heard a rumour that Aquaplane can walk on water - or at least try to:)

Seen it myself an if Dougie wass here he'd tell you hisself.

[aquaplane]

I don't have to come here to get the piss taken you know, I get it everywhere

Thanks for that Derek. We aren't as sprightly as we once were either but I might just get on with the "do more eat less" system I have been prommissing to do for a while. A wander about instead of sitting reading could be just the thing.

[aquaplane]

There is loads of info on options for eating out when cruising the canal. I can't find anything about shops. Even if we eat out every evening we will want fresh bread and milk, sandwich fillings and stuff, and we won't want to eat out every night either.

Anyone know if there are shops between Corpach and Inverness?

[cpedw]

Anyone know if there are shops between Corpach and Inverness?

I'm fairly sure there is a shop by Loch Oich http://www.sevenheadsstore.co.uk/ and Fort Augustus is a positive metropolis - well more than 1 shop I think. Not much else I don't think that's close by the water.
Lots of gory history at the well of the seven heads.
Derek

[marisca]

I heartily (despite the cholesterol!) recommend the butcher on the south side of the Fort Augustus locks. The Eagle barge at Laggan Locks has an interesting time warp - pop in for a quick pint and when you come out several hours may have passed - transit the lock before entering is my advice. The Well of the Seven Heads and, I believe, the chalets on the south side of Loch Oich offer provisions.

[aquaplane]

Well we been and done it.

You can indeed go there and back easily in 7 days.

They don't like boats hanging about @ Corpach but there is a CO-OP and a pub there.

There isn't much to do at Banavie but taxis are available to get to Fort William.

Loch Lochy would have been nice to sail down but we didn't set off North until 19:00 due to cold wet rain, we had lots of that all week.

The Eagle barge @ Laggan was good entertainment for one evening, on the way back.

Loch Oich is said to be very picturesque, I think the sun came out for a few seconds and it did look as though it could be nice for someone not suffering from exposure.

Fort Augustus is good and worth a night or two. It's about half way, we got there on our third night.

Loch Ness is OK if it's not blowing freezing rain down you neck I would imagine. There is one place to stop at Drumnadrochit, one place in a 20 mile loch?

We had a very nice meal out at a pub beside the railway a 20 min walk from Seaport Marina Inverness.

The wind was on the nose all the way back and felt even colder than on the way north so the engine was on all the way.

The weather wasn't kind, I realise that.

There aren't enough shops/pubs to encourage folk to dawdle, so they don't.

Two more Fort Augustus' are needed and some public jetties on Loch Ness, and the other two come to that.

We could have taken two or three more days and sailed more if there were places to stop.

[Nick]

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There is a lot of information on the excellent West Highland Sailing website.

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