CRUISING
APRIL 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 35
The mast was down and onto makeshift
crutches in no time and we were off again.
Waterways staff escorted us along the
entire 31 miles of canal to help operate the
locks and get us through as efficiently as
possible. While we waited on the pontoon
next to the new sea-lock that was being
built to bypass the Kerse Road and M9
bridges, we admired the 30m tall (100ft)
horse-head sculptures of mythical kelpies.
39 locks to Glasgow
The lock men arrived promptly at 0830
and started working us through the 20
locks by which we climbed to a peak
of 83m (275ft) above sea level, almost
certainly the highest Tzu had ever been.
Two pairs of men worked the paddles,
lock gates and bridges along the route,
leapfrogging each other in vans along the
towpath to get our next lock ready for
when we arrived. Their help saved us
much time and sweat, but the quick
pace they set soon wore us out with
continual heaving and recovering of
lines and holding the boat steady in
the swirling water of the locks. The
only casualty was the radio antenna
bracket, which protruded from the
front of the mast. It clipped a bridge
and was bent back at a ugly angle.
From the summit, Glasgow
beckoned below and a new team of
lock men helped us descend. Part
way down we passed through the
middle of the Clydebank Shopping
unless ortherwise statedPhotos: Mike Cooke and steve tibbetts
Centre. It would have been rude not
to visit the world’s first sail-through
fish-and-chip shop for a well-earned
lunch. When the canal was reopened as
a Millennium project, the old Dalmuir
swing bridge had been replaced by a fixed
bridge with only 30cm clearance under
it, blocking the canal. The problem was
solved with the UK’s first drop lock. When
emptied, the clearance increases to just
over 3m (10ft), enabling a boat to pass
underneath. We reached the end of the
canal at Bowling Basin in torrential rain
on Sunday afternoon. Re-stepping the
mast was booked for the next morning, so
we headed off to find warm showers.
The morning brought brighter weather
and with the mast restored to the vertical,
we locked out into the salt water Firth of
Clyde. The many large commercial vessels
made a daunting sight for two sailors from
the quiet of Cardigan Bay. We kept out of
the main channel to avoid them and their
wash. It was a glorious day and the scenery
on the way to Largs rivalled that of
Snowdonia. Ferries criss-crossed the
Firth on their way to nearby islands
and peninsulas and a few yachts
bobbed in the distance. By the time
we reached Largs we’d missed the
shops, so our next leg would have
to be to Stranraer, rather than the
smaller harbour of Portpatrick.
The passage south began
peacefully enough and we hove
to off Ailsa Craig, admiring the
spectacle of the thousands of birds
wheeling around, but the sea soon
lumped up as we slogged into
a strengthening headwind. The
‘We quickly ruled out going via
Cape Wrath or the English Channel’
We admired the huge
horse-head sculptures of
kelpies at Carron Sea Lock
RIGHT: You have to
lower your mast to get
through the Forth &
Clyde Canal. The lowest
bridge has 3m clearance
Sail-through fish and chips at Clydebank Shopping Centre
Photo: alaMY