A pleasant stop on the
Forth and Clyde Canal
CRUISING
36 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com APRIL 2016
20-litre plastic diesel can that we’d lashed
to the pulpit was washed over the side,
hanging off the bow. With the sea too
rough to risk going forward to retrieve it,
we left it until, an hour later, it was washed
back on board by another wave. We were
the only visiting boat to make it into
Stranraer that day, and we stayed an extra
day to let the weather pass.
Through the North Channel
The fi nal leg of our journey was to take us
through the North Channel and into the
Irish Sea proper. Thursday required an
0500 departure, to enable us to sail back
up Loch Ryan and around the headland
into the North Channel, in order to gain
maximum benefi t from the spring fl ood
tide. Our timing was spot on and we
fl ew along, exceeding 10 knots over the
ground on a number of occasions. Despite
being thrown around most uncomfortably,
we arrived at Peel on the Isle of Man in
the early afternoon.
The marina at Peel has a half-tide fl ap
gate that is only open two hours either
side of High Water. We were planning to
depart the following morning, four hours
before the gate was due to open, so we
were advised by the harbour keeper to
moor alongside the breakwater with the
fi shing fl eet, under the watchful eyes of a
couple of seals.
We settled in for the evening and all
was well until midnight when we were
woken by the pounding of the boat against
the breakwater. A swell was steadily
building, and as much as we adjusted our
lines and fenders, we eventually had to
concede defeat at 0100. We telephoned
Douglas Harbour Control, who remotely
opened the footbridge, allowing us into
the marina. It was a good job we’d read up
in Reeds Almanac as part of our passage
planning to fi nd out about the out-of-
hours access, or we might have been
dashed to pieces in the night. We
celebrated our survival with a scotch
before falling into our bunks.
The extra delay of waiting for the
marina to open again meant we
were out of time for the trip south,
so we reluctantly had to leave Tzu
weatherbound in Peel and head
home. The rest of the journey became
rather piecemeal at this point. We
collected Tzu two weeks later but
had a very rough 12-hour trip to
Holyhead, with waves breaking over
the bow and sending buckets of spray
Via Forth and Clyde Canal
Distance: 450 miles
Toll: £120 (including mast craning
at both ends)
Max boat length: 19.2m (63ft)
Max boat draught: 1.83m (6ft)
Max air draught: 3.0m (9ft 10in)
Time: 2 days
Via Caledonian Canal
Distance: about 690 miles
Toll: £180 (no craneage)
Max boat length: 45.72m (150ft)
Max boat draught: 4.11m (13ft 6in)
Max air draught: 27.4m (89ft 8in)
at Kessock Bridge
Time: 3 days, plus an extra week
getting there and back
Via Cape Wrath
Distance: about 820 miles
Toll: Free, but extra berthing fees
along the way
Time: At least an extra week,
weather dependent
Road Transport
Quotes: £1,200-£2,000+, plus load
and unload cranes, mast lowering
and stepping, and launching fees
estimated at £400-£500
East coast to
west coast options
Rounding Cape Wrath
in March could have
been challenging
PHOTO: ALAMY
The Dalmuir Drop Lock is the only one in Britain