Our Classic Malt Whisky competition Winner Steve Goch, told the Lockkeeper;

'My wife Sally, who is retired, and I worked in the aerospace industry, where we met and married 29 years ago. We have lived in the San Fernando Valley in California since then.

I work for a multinational company as the Program Manager on the new Airbus A380's fire detection system.

We have discovered that cruising fits our lifestyle perfectly, and try to do a few a year. We have worked our way down in size from the QE2 to river cruise ships, and finally to the Scottish Highlander which we enjoyed immensely.

Our next cruises will take us to the Caribbean where I will be exploring Mayan ruins, and in February we will cruise to Antarctica. We are both scotch drinkers, and my wife has acquired a taste for single malts, especially for the Oban 14 that was presented to me on the Scottish Highlander - Thanks GoBarging.'

Some highlights of Steve's Scottish Highlander adventure.......
Caledonian Canal Cruise: August 2004

It started as some of our trips do, with Sally asking a simple question. She asked if there were any river cruises in England. I just happened to have a brochure for European River Barges in our bookcase, and after looking at the itinerary, we thought it would be a nice thing to do.

The Scottish Highlander is small enough to negotiate the locks, and has a complement of 8 passengers and 4 crew. The barge sails down the Caledonian Canal from Inverness to Fort William. The canal itself was built in the 1800's to allow fishing boats to go from one coast of Scotland to the other without having to go around the northern tip where the weather was bad.

I am interested in trains, and one of the most picturesque trips is the West Highland Line that goes from Fort William to Mallaig on the West Coast of Scotland. The highlight is passing over the Glenfinnan Viaduct near Fort William.

The viaduct, with its 23 concrete arches, and the steam train 'the Jacobite' recently featured in the

The next day we moved our luggage to the Glenmorriston Hotel to be picked up for the cruise. While waiting in the lounge, we met 2 fellow passengers, Mike and Mary Beth, who were from Florida, and we hit it off with them. I turned out they had worked for a company that made amateur radio equipment, and since I was a "ham" radio operator, I was quite familiar with it. We met the other two couples, Ken and Char and Dick and Pat, who were friends and were from the Chicago area. We were then met by Kirsten, who would be our driver and guide during the trip.

The trip to Fort William from Inverness was to be about 2 hours, so we broke it up in the middle by visiting Urquhart Castle. When Sally and I toured the castle over 10 years ago, there was just a little trailer that sold tickets and a paper guidebook. There was now a visitor center, with elevator, and a large gift shop. The castle was as we remembered, and I toured the various parts of it, including the tower.

We were then take to Fort William to board the Scottish Highlander. We were greeted by Geoff the skipper, Davina the housekeeper, and last but certainly not least, Tommy our chef. After our champagne welcome, I was presented with a bottle of Oban 14 year old malt, my lockkeeper competition prize.

After getting settled in our cabin, which was more spacious than I had expected, we had a briefing from Geoff about our plans for the next day. He had a super map of the canal, and being a collector of maps, I was greatly interested in it. He explained where we would be going the following day, and what we would see.

We then sat at the dining area table for dinner, and Tommy came out and explained what he had prepared, and the wines that would accompany the meal. I also noticed that they were carrying some 10 single malts, and never having tasted some of them, I planned to sample them during the cruise.

The next morning we set out with Kirsten driving and acting as our guide. Our first stop was at Glen Coe, called the "Vale of Weeping" because of the massacre of the MacDonalds while they were sleeping. The worst part of this was it happened after they had given their hospitality to the people who killed them.

From there we were taken to Loch Sheil, where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard to unite the clans against the English. There is a monument in the form of a tower with a figure of him at the top. We then climbed a hill on a 30 degree footpath that reversed itself half way to the top. Upon reaching the top, there was a great view of the Glenfinnan Viaduct! Unfortunately, we had to leave before the Jacobite steam train would pass over it.

We then returned to the barge for a great lunch and dinner. Before every meal Tommy would come out of the galley and tell us what the appetizer, main course, cheeses and wines would be. At the end of the cruise we were presented with a paper that listed all the meals, wines and cheeses that we were served!

Later, we went to the Commando Memorial in Spean Bridge. This was an area used during the war to train commandos. There was also a Commando Museum nearby where the Victoria Cross citations were displayed. The Victoria Cross is the equivalent of our Medal of Honor.

Too soon, on Saturday, after our last meal on the barge, (sob) we were taken to the Inverness train station. Sally summed up the trip by saying," I am only sorry I do not have this trip to look forward to".

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