It was in September last year, that Paul Nobbs (Nobby) commented on my post “Readying Buccaneer.” A fellow Tela-owner, he told me that he had sailed his boat, Kingfisher, through the Great Glen in the Sail Caledonia Raid event. Looking it up, I decided it would be great fun to take part in the 2023 (20th anniversary) event.

I set to, to prepare Buccaneer for her trip to Scotland, getting sails cleaned, her outboard serviced, giving her “a tickle” of varnish, fresh antifouling, and a new bowsprit. Flares, and other safety equipment were purchased, along with plentiful supplies of snacks and some items to dress the boat – of which more later.

My very good friend, Craig, kindly agreed to join me, which was all the more generous of him, given that he had a couple of major family events coming up just after the end of our adventure. Many thanks are owed to his wife, Mandy-Jane, for loaning him at this particular time.

With launch in Fort William being set for Saturday 27th May, we left on the preceding Thursday, stopping overnight near Penrith, and completing our journey on Friday afternoon. We were able to park the boat in the Lochaber yacht club and get her rigged for the morrow.

A fleet of 14 boats were launched by early Saturday afternoon and, after a quick briefing, we joined our moored-up boats for the first race in Loch Linnhe. Unfortunately, one of our shrouds had come adrift, which took an age to fix, and we started at the back of the fleet. However, Buccaneer performed well, and we were not the last to cross the finishing line.

We entered Corpach Basin via its sea lock, and moored up in the basin for the night. That evening’s BBQ at the local rugby club was overlooked by Ben Nevis

On Sunday morning, while Craig and fellow crew members took cars and trailers to our finishing point outside of Inverness, we ascended the Corpach Locks, and then a second flight of locks, called Neptune’s Staircase. Here we were joined by our drivers, and locked through to Gairlochy Top – a beautiful spot:

Craig and I contributed a couple of shanties to the evening’s entertainments – we had been practicing for months!

With a flat calm on Monday morning, we had to row the 10km from Gairlochy to Laggan. Thankfully, in the afternoon, a light breeze developed and we had a row/sail race in the afternoon on Cean Loch. The Raid had now been joined by the very well-known maritime photographer Kathy Mansfield. She buzzed around in one of the rescue boats taking some super photos of the boats, not least of Buccaneer and her sister Tela, Kingfisher – Kathy has a soft spot for the Tela and has recently had published an article on Nobby’s Tela, Kingfisher in Water Craft magazine.

Monday night was spent at Laggan Locks, from where we motored on Tuesday morning, down Laggan Avenue to Loch Oich.

A quick triangular course race saw us competing well with Kingfisher, and Kathy taking some photos of us doing so. Her photos can be seen on the Sail Caledonia Facebook page (albeit low resolution and watermarked).

There was then a 2 mile rowing race to the Aberhalder bridge.

We dressed the boats as we locked up the Fort Augustus Locks. At the the final lock, the lock keepers judged the “Best Dressed Boat” competition.

We had set Jolly Roger bunting on the standing rigging, a large Jolly Roger flag on the mast, a parrot on the end of the boom and bandanas on our heads. And …

In Fort Augustus we had a super dinner with Nobby and Bee at the Boathouse restaurant, which is situated at the head of Loch Ness.

The passage of Loch Ness was completed over Wednesday and Thursday. The Force 3-4 headwinds made for great sailing. The two Telas were well-matched, and it was great to be pitting ourselves against, and sailing in company with, Nobby and Bee in Kingfisher.

We had traversed the mighty Loch Ness, and the evenings celebrations in Dongarroch included a Haggis, Neeps and Tatties supper and a folk music band, who kindly allowed Craig and I to do a few of our numbers.

Friday, was our last day, and we motored to the Tomnahurich swing bridges, with one of the French boats rafted alongside.

The first of the two adjacent swing bridges’ motors was not working properly, and had to be opened manually. Thankfully, we did not need to lower our masts! Then up our last flight of locks at Inverness to the sea lock, for the final race across the Beauly Firth to the slipway at North Kessock. Here we retrieved the boats – the crews had brought the trailers round earlier in the day.

We had travelled coast to coast. In the sea lock, Buccaneer was still sporting her large Jolly Roger flag. Beyond the sea lock stands the Kessock Bridge which separates the Beauly Firth and the Moray Firth.

That evening, we returned to Dongarroch and the Ros Crana barge, which had been our accommodation, and mother ship. Sylvia, who had flown up to Inverness on Wednesday, joined us for the celebrations: a buffet supper and ceilidh to round off the holiday.

Sadly, the event is not going to be run again – at least not in its current form, which makes me all the more grateful to Nobby for telling me about it, and glad to have been able to go.

Here are a few more photographic memories of a fantastic trip:

Nobby and Bee in Kingfisher:

Other participants:

The rescue boats, Ros Crana, and support team:

The in-house musician, Mark, playing the bagpipes as we finished the races or passed through the locks, and the other musical interludes:

Two Telas racing:

And a great time with my good friend, Craig.