Cherry Kelsey and I paddled from Hermiston, a good place to launch with plenty of free parking, and a low bank, at OS NT 181705. The main flotilla, seven canal boats, started from Fountainbridge on Friday and overnighted at Ratho. We caught them up approaching the M8 bridge before Broxburn, and arrived at Broxburn slightly before the big boats. They travel at 2mph, we did 3.
The Union Canal has few convenient places to land, the banks are fairly high, whether they are reeds or stone walls as at Broxburn. Intimidated by the crowds, and conscious of struggling and looking awkward and silly, we stayed in our boats while a friendly bystander went to get us a coffee and gingerbread.
After Broxburn, the wind was behind us, and my LSKC flag fluttered in my face a bit too often. We found a concrete slipway a mile northeast of Broxburn, one of only three or four in the east half of the canal, for a break to stretch the legs.
The big boats just caught us up, but we overtook them all by Winchburgh, and – after a break, during a long stretch into the wind, arrived at Linlithgow Canal Basin ahead of the Eastern flotilla, but after the Western flotilla with their much shorter cruise.
The day was 27km in 5:30 for an average moving speed of 5kph. A good test of fitness after two years with little paddling. We had hundreds of photos taken, including quite a few with professional-looking cameras, so hoping for some good publicity.
At Linlithgow we met Richard Miller of Scottish Canals, who told us he designed Pinkston (though Andy Laird designed the white-water course), and who seemed delighted to have a wider variety of canal user represented.