Saturday 22nd August

To make a change from yesterday’s frantic antics when we woke up, today was much more relaxed, as we were still asleep at nine (when we were supposed to be eating breakfast). It was a lovely breezy and sunny day, quite unusual for Scotland! The Tenacity gently motored down Dorus Mhor whilst teammate Beth steered and teammates Lizzie, Laura and Louise had a Connect Four competition on the deck (winner as yet undecided). Having to keep a careful eye on the depth brought an end to this wonderful competition! We then turned into the loch just before the Crinan Canal, where we saw Dolly the Dolphin, her friend, Harold the Heron and Doug the dragonfly (named imaginatively by teammates Lizzie and Louise). Meanwhile, teammate Phil was cooking leftover chicken thighs which made a surprisingly yummy coronation chicken (not for teammate Kate). Much to the team’s excitement, it was soon time to experience out first lock which was surprisingly easy to negotiate considering the lock keepers did it for us and we didn’t have to do anything. We were unpleasantly surprised to discover how difficult the locks were to operate when we had to do it ourselves (when trying to throw the ropes to the people waiting at the top of the locks, we learnt that ropes are affected by gravity and that wet ropes are just a bit gross). The locks were getting increasingly harder to operate (as teammate Lizzie discovered when she fell over when trying to push one open. Teammate Beth laughed.), and we were starting to get tired. But the sun coming out meant the teammates could, for the first time in the trip, shed their waterproofs (trousers AND jackets!) and sail wearing normal clothing, meaning that we finally didn’t feel hideously overdressed compared to the people in the boat next to us who were in shorts . Teammate George impressed the team with her headstand on a moving boat, possibly inspired by teammate Lizzie’s attempts at gymnastics (which failed miserably by the way). One of the funniest moments of the day came as Tenacity approached a bridge and someone had to sound a horn to let someone know to open the bridge. Teammate Beth sounded a sports horn which was so surprisingly loud that she was nearly knocked over. After several more locks, we finally moored up next to our new friends in the boat which had sailed alongside us all the way. Teammates Beth and Lizzie made a (in the words of team mate Catherine)a scrumptious Shepherds (sorry Cottage) Pie. Shockingly, it didn’t rain all day, apart from a few minutes when were we already moored! Hopefully the team will have time to play Articulate before bed! See you tomorrow shipmates! xoxo