Dolphins bring a moment of pure joy to idyllic journey

Moray Firth, Highlands A merchant ship came powering in with dolphins riding its bow wave

We had sailed the length of the Great Glen on the Ros Crana, the largest barge in Scotland, and now, for the last half mile, could smell the sea. Past the Clachnaharry Works Lock, then the swing railway bridge, we were at the point where the Caledonian canal juts into the Beauly Firth.

Between the closely mown arms of twin embankments there is one last lock before open water. The solid wooden gates opened slowly and the Ros Crana eased into a sea so smooth that its surface looked viscous like the skin forming on boiled milk. Inverness was behind us as we headed under Kessock bridge, the barge's engines reducing the noise of the traffic above to a blur of sound. Sun lit up vast banks of broom on the Black Isle and the green slopes where sheep grazed its fertile soil.