We chose the Caledonian Canal to avoid strong westerly winds in the north. The canal has 27 locks (!) often in steps where you go from one lock into the next one. With Bosse en Jager, our 3 boats fit exactly in one lock together, so we quickly got into the system! Part of the canal is Loch Ness but no monsters were found. The scenery is amazing, although unfortunately it was still pretty cold, around 5-10 degrees. We spent the night halfway through, at Fort Augusta. When you leave the canal, there is a great view of Ben Nevis! Our first stop on the west coast was Oban, where we had our first distillery tour and whisky tasting- more would follow...

From Oban, we had a short trip to Tobermory with the colourful houses. With the Bosse and Jager crew, we took a Puffin tour, getting really close up to the large colony on Lunga Island, and visiting the rock formations on Staffa Island. We then sailed on between the islands where you have to really calculate the tides with sometimes over 6 knots of current and "boiling" waters.. we passed one of those spots in dense fog which was very spooky. On Islay, we rented a car with the Jager crew and drove around the island, visiting more distilleries and eating lots of seafood. After a stop in Campbeltown, it was sadly time to leave Scotland behind and sail to Ireland. With all the beautiful places we saw and so much more still to see, we will certainly come back one way or another!