It was touch and go whether we would sail at all this morning. A severe weather warning had been issued for gale-force winds and these were much in evidence as we awoke at the top of the flight of locks in Fort Augustus, the Captain’s concerns being the tight fit of the ship in the sequence of locks ahead as well as manoeuvrability in the narrow channels of the Caledonian Canal. A decision was made to head for Inverness with a few potential stopping places identified if we ran into difficulties but thanks to some very skilful navigation by the Captain we arrived in timely fashion at the Muirtown Basin in Inverness by mid-day, close to the sea lock at Clachnaharry that sees the Caledonian Canal enter the North Sea.
Sailing across Loch Ness was quite dramatic, with waves and whitecaps aplenty making Nessie-spotting particularly difficult. Sunshine and dry conditions enabled us to get on deck for fine views of Urquart Castle, a strategic location at mid loch that has changed hands many times over the centuries. The ruins of a large Norman castle with its keep and bailey were seen to particular advantage from the water. It was at this spot, in the year 565 according to his first biographer, that St Columba performed a remarkable miracle by bidding a monster in the loch to descend to its depths when it threatened to impede his passage on mission to convert the Picts of eastern Scotland, the first recoded sighting of Nessie. On arrival in Inverness, Columba succeeded in converting King Brude of the Picts by explaining that Christ was his druid.
In the afternoon, we took a short coach ride to the site of the Battle of Culloden where its award-winning interpretation centre helped round off the story of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 that has surfaced many times on our itinerary this past week. We then moved on to the late Neolithic burial site of Clava Cairns to investigate three burial chambers and associated megalithic monuments. In the evening the Captain’s Farewell Reception was followed by a festive meal, with lashings of haggis, followed by local Scottish Highland dancers demonstrating their artistry in the lounge, all to the accompaniment of local bag-piper.
