We left in company with our Dutch friends on the first lock opening and ascended the long flight of locks known as Neptune's Staircase. The locks are controlled by the lock-keepers, but the movement of the boats is all done by manpower, towing up the towpath from lock to lock, buddied together, while the 'passengers' aboard provide tea and cakes for the 'horses'! The whole flight took about two hours, then we separated and stopped at Gairlochy for lunch and a sunny snooze. We continued gently up Loch Lochy, through idyllic grassy banks and steep wooded slopes, with some spells under sail in a brisk wind funnelling down the loch, and a few frantic minutes trying to unravel a riding turn on the Genoa sheets. (If you don't know what that is, you don't want to have one, ever!). We berthed at the Laggan Lock pontoon at the head of Loch Lochy at 1915.