Canal Boting in France

Speaker on Monday at Irvine Seagate Rotary was Alex Blair from Hunterston Rotary, talking about his lifelong involvement in sailing in various forms.  Alex started crewing on classic boats Kerlow and Lola out of Fairlie Bay in the 1960s, and then raced his own Dragon.  Family commitments curtailed all of this until 20 years ago he got back on the water with canal holidays in France and Holland.  

Alex’s talk was illustrated by numerous photos, old and recent, of boats and the engineering wonders of the French canal system.  One advantage over motoring is that you can generally get to tie up right in the centre of many picturesque and historic towns and villages.  Also, you are not quite so weather dependent as on the West coast of Scotland. 

There were many questions and comments, and a Vote of Thanks was proposed by Billy Dickson.