Days 54 to 56 Passages 24 to 26
Finally left Oban.  Said goodbye to some new friends on their boat Yinzi and wish them all the best for their onward passage.
Left Oban at 5.00 and of course it was raining, however we had a good wind and tide with us.  Tide was quite fast so we actually made good passage to Crinan.  Wanted to fill up at Crinan and the fuel station was some dodgy rubber platform on which to moor the boat - not for the feint hearted. Got into Crinan canal and tied up.  Arranged to have "assisted passage" i.e. someone to help us with the locks, for the next two days. No wifi or mobile phone signal at this point!
Following day because it was not easy at all!  Unfortunately, Bertie was ill during this passage and had a very badly upset stomach.  There was nothing I could do while we were wrestling with the locks, but as soon as we had a slight pause, I had to clear up a rather nasty mess and look after him.  We finally tied up about half way along the Crinan - and yes, it was still raining.  Difficult to get things dry. Still no wifi, but at least we had mobile signal.
Fortunately today it has been dry all day, so we managed to get our oilies dry and set off to continue with the locks on the canal, and our helper.  Outside of the canal some very strong winds were blowing, so for once we were in the best place.  We are now tied up in the basin at the east exit of the canal and should be leaving tomorrow for our onward sail to Tarbet.  Bertie is still not quite right, and I have been giving him his medicine (which I had packed in advance). It did get very tiring getting up every two hours during the night to take him out. Forecast for tomorrow looks ok, but just for one day.  So that's almost the end of our canal work on this trip, only one more lock to go, so that we can get out.
Just thought I would mention that we had a heron about two feet from the boat this morning, but as soon as we got a camera ready, off he flew.  Yesterday we saw a deer swimming across the canal.