Toucando: Eastern Scotland: Inverness to Lossiemouth

Friday, 28 June 2013

Eastern Scotland: Inverness to Lossiemouth

It's been quite busy since leaving Inverness. To begin it is worth noting the transition from canal to sea. We had spent four nights on fresh water. We got to the final lock. The cheery lock keeper gave us lots of advice as we waited to make the descent of one metre. The wind was blowing from the north west. When the lock gates opened the waves rolled into the lock. Suddenly Toucando was a sea boat again. We allowed the Norwegian boat ahead of us to motor well clear before we set off. The sea was pretty choppy off the lock entrance: there were some major changes of depth. We followed the lock keeper's pilotage advice, heading first for a field of oil seed rape, then staying on the north shore before turning for the River Ness. We got into the marina and were warmly welcomed by the staff there.
We sorted ourselves out and then went into Inverness which we were impressed with. That is covered in a previous post.
On Tuesday we headed out of Inverness. We enjoyed seeing bottle nosed dolphins and colonies of seals around Fort George. The photographs don't really do it justice.
We managed to do some sailing as we progressed east along the coast. As we approached Lossiemouth we were welcomed by a flypast of military jets. We motored into the very well protected harbour and found a good mooring. Out of hours the Steamboat Inn takes the harbour dues and hands out the welcome pack. We stayed for a pint; it would have been rude not to. An officer of the local sailing club chatted to us and gave us some useful tips for our onward passage.