Yachting Monthly - April 2016

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