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On a cold frosty morning in mid October, we found ourselves in Crinan on the west coast of Scotland's long Kintyre peninsula. We had come here because a floating pontoon would allow me to get easy access to the water despite my injured knee.
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Crinan is the launch point for many peoples' nautical adventures.
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It is at the north west end of its eponymous canal, which links the Firth of Clyde to the Sound of Jura by cutting across the Kintyre peninsula.
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The Mull of Kintyre lies over 90km to the SSW, so for many the canal is a shortcut, which also avoids one of the most notorious tidal headlands on Scotland's west coast.
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We left Loch Crinan with hardly a sideways glance at Duntrune Castle. Where were we bound for...?