The rest of The Crinan Canal

Surprisingly took another 5 hrs, today, to reach the sea again. We made it to the sea lock at Crinan and and have stopped for the night. This is for 2 reasons. Firstly, the sea looked a bit less inviting than I'd imagined. Looked a bit rough and grey and rocky, to be honest. Hope it looks better tomorrow otherwise my trip is unlikely to progress. The second reason is the Portsmouth and playing the mighty Accrington Stanley at 1230 tomorrow and ......... It's on telly ! 

Of course, the only building of note at Crinan is The Crinan Hotel and, predictably, they have just confirmed to Sam and me that they will not be screening this event. We have, however, managed to infiltrate the lounge and have procured the wi fi password. Obviously we shall be popping in for a pint tomorrow and watching the mighty Pompey get their season off the ground. We then intend to depart the safety of the final sea lock, and strive for Oban. 

Lovely trip today. We teamed up with another boat and that made the locks a bit easier although a tight squeeze. Also bumped into the family from Patagonia again. Amazing people, really cool. Complete with big, happy golden Labrador. 

We arrived at 4 and, habitually, since embarking on this trip, I retired for a power nap. As I drifted off to sleep I heard young Sam say to his mum, "mum, I reckon dad could sail to Patagonia". I smiled before hearing a slightly more negative " I wish he flippin would"   Priceless. 

Popped to Hotel for pre dinner drinks. 

By pre dinner I mean pre pasta on boat because Im running out of loot. Also, have just had a fab seafood restaurant recommended at tomorrows destination of Oban and will definitely succumb to that. Got chatting to a lovely sailing family who, not only, gave me valuable navigation  advise  but also educated me about the subtleties of whiskey flavours. They even bought me one.and I now know not to buy whiskey in the Co Op. Single Malt from now on.   Delicious.