On July 24, we entered into the Caledonian Canal near Fort Williams on the west coast of Scotland to take a short cut and to avoid the sometimes treacherous trip across the northern coast. The canal, with its 29 locks and 10 swing bridges, was an incredible engineering feat when it opened in 1822 and it is still quite impressive. Although the canals are partially man-made, most of it passes through the natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands via the three major lochs along the way; Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. Although it is possible to transit the 100 km canal in two days, we spent about 6 days before exiting the east coast near Inverness. After a short stay for provisioning the boat, we were off to Norway.