After a few false starts we finally made it to Falkirk and on a beautiful warm sunny day were introduced to our new home for the next week, “Sonya”.
She may only be narrow but has all the comforts you could want including wi-fi, central heating and plenty of storage. We did a shop at Tesco and stocked up so that we could have most of our meals on board, which meant we could tie up in the countryside and not crowd in with the other boats in the town
We were given a brief run down at Falkirk and then it was straight into the first lock up to the Falkirk Basin. Being Easter it was crowded with holidaymakers who lined the rails taking photos – talk about a baptism of fire! On the green light we motored across the basin and into the gondola where the Scottish lock people positioned us for our ride aloft. Ed did extremely well with his steering and we rose in the air in great style! Two more locks and a long tunnel and we were on our way along the Union Canal.
We decided before we left that we were going to take things at a slow pace as we had been on the move for the previous couple of weeks. This meant a leisurely breakfast, tidy up before motoring off down the canal and mooring again about 4pm for afternoon tea followed by a brisk walk along the canal, drinks and nibbles followed by dinner and bed around 9.30pm
As the boats only go at walking pace (we had numerous children on the tow path racing us – and winning) you have plenty of time to see the scenery and watch the various birds and animals on the way. We were extremely lucky with the weather and only had one cold day. The rest were sunny and pleasant though the winds were cool and we welcomed the central heating in the evening.
Over the next week we got to know Sonya well, including all her peculiarities, as we crashed into banks, ran aground and tried to moor with the wind against us. By the end of the week we were dab hands at steering a straight line through narrow bridges, mooring on canal banks with shallow edges, rafting off other boats to reach the elusive water taps and turning a 58 ft boat in a 55 ft turnaround.
In Scotland the Scottish Lock Authority handles all the locks and swing bridges. In Wales you have to do it yourself . The fact that Ed is now pretty good with a long boat and Lyndal can steer (except when she panics at narrow right angle bridges and puts the boat under low lying branches and nearly knocks Ed off) will be a great help.
Ed :
A 58’ / 17.6m canal boat with a small diesel engine is a very peculiar marine beast. The whole thing is built like the proverbial in something like 10mm steel – it must weigh a gadzillion tons. I have learnt the hard way that slower is better most of the time ! Momentum is king ! When you put the rudder over and it starts swinging you better be ready to put the rudder the other way to stop it otherwise it just takes over and carries on regardless into the bank, particularly if the wind is blowing against you. It has been great fun learning anyway, and we are finding more and more use for the barge pole in turning the thing around – no wonder they put one on board as standard equipment. (most of the canal is much narrower than the length of the boat – you have to continue along some miles until you find a turning basin the right size).
We leave the Sonya behind tomorrow and head for Inverness. Before we go we are off to see The Kelpies at Falkirk. These are giant sculptures of the mythical horses that are supposed to haunt the lochs and waterways of Scotland and loom over the beginning section of the Forth and Clyde Canal. They are lit at night and quite spectacular
