Friday 2 July 2010 Lossimouth N57 43.362’ W003 16.768’

We set out from the Seaport Marina, Inverness at 1045 hours to go through the last two locks of the canal and under the swing bridge – a railway bridge operated by Network Rail in consultation with the lock keepers but trains take precedence and hence getting an opening is less than straight forward. Alcyone finally left the Caledonian Canal at 1130 bound for Lossimouth.

As Alcyone came out into Inverness Firth, we noted Jim Prentice in Circe circling to guide us out through the narrows. It was great to sail in company with him, albeit only for a mile or two out under the bridge. The shallowness of the Inverness Firth had come as surprise to me – the majority of the area is less than 2m CD. The channel out is not well buoyed and somewhat tortuous.

For most of the day we enjoyed sunshine and brisk force 4 to 5 occasionally 6 breeze from the south west giving us a run or broad reach – not only is it unusual for this cruise to have wind but to have it from behind coupled with sunshine is a bonus. Throughout the afternoon it did die but came back again and we arrived in Lossimouth at 1900 hours in a sparkling force 6.