Boats are meant to go to sea--they are certainly not at their best sitting in marinas--and the gentle movement of a boat at anchor seems indicative of fidgety impatience to get moving again. Boats seem best suited to wide-open expanses of water free of anything hard to bump into and with ample space to give other boats a wide berth. But it can also be fun to take a boat through the more constricted space of a canal.

Apart from an element of fun, canals invariably prune huge distances off trips, or even offer a completely alternative route. For example, if you choose to not pass through Suez, then your only alternative is via South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, which means taking an entirely different (though equally interesting) passage across the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic. The Panama Canal simply cuts 7,000 miles off the trip from the northern Atlantic into the Pacific. But there are lots of other smaller though no less interesting canals around the world that help yachts on their way. Following are three interesting canals that we transited last year.

The Corinth Canal seems barely wide enough for us, yet large ferries use this shortcut to Athens.

CORINTH CANAL
When we left Turkey last year to go to Greece, we wanted to visit Athens but we also wanted to cruise the Ionian islands and visit Celafonia (mythical location for Captain Coreli's Mandolin). From Athens round the southern part of Greece to Celafonia is an exposed 300 miles, whereas the route through the Corinth canal is half that, and especially it allows you to cruise the beautiful mountain-fringed Gulf of Corinth, and to visit Delphi.

The Corinth canal is like Suez, in that it has no lochs and is open to one-way traffic only at any one time. It is a steep-sided slit in the rocks that looks barely wide enough to take THETA VOLANTIS, yet we saw quite large ferries navigate through it. At $300 for just over 6km, it is a rather expensive canal, but for a motor-powered vessel, the savings in fuel over the longer route makes it an obvious choice.

	From the Gulf of Corinth we took a trip inland to consult the oracle at Delphi.

As we shot out the western end of the canal, the snow-capped mountains formed a fairy tale vista, and a short sail away, the village of Galaxidhion seduced us into staying for four days instead of the one day planned, including a taxi trip up to Delphi to consult the Oracle.

CALEDONIA CANAL
Another great short cut is the canal that bisects Scotland, thus avoiding the necessity of a passage round Scotland's notoriously rough northern coast. In August last year, after taking part in the Malt's Cruise, we went through the Caledonia Canal from Fort William (western end) to Inverness (eastern end).

The canal is 65 miles long, and much of the distance is through lochs, including the infamous Loch Ness. The canal fees (US$450 for THETA VOLANTIS and crew) includes all lochs and moorings, and you may take up to a week to make the passage with free moorings each night, most of which were solitary and secluded spots along the canal.

The first night we stopped just inside the first loch, and next morning tackled our first staircase--9 consecutive lochs. A bit daunted having to do so many consecutive moorings, we normally much prefer to drop anchor than moor to a wall. The loch keepers could not have been more helpful; they took our lines and helped untie us, and always rang ahead for us to warn the next loch and to ensure we would have a mooring for the night. Almost all the other canal traffic appeared to be 25-foot motor launches on weekly hire. Normally a worry, but the keepers helped us by giving us priority in and out of the lochs, so we were always tied up, ready to fend off.

Along the way we took a gondola excursion up Ben Nevis, ate in great Scottish pubs and restaurants, and took in some hikes to fully enjoy the stunning scenery.

	THETA VOLANTIS was a tourist attraction when descending the flight of lochs at Fort Augustus.

At Fort Augustus we made the main part of the descent through a flight of 7 lochs, and emerged into Loch Ness. Hundreds of visitors lined the lochs and we were quizzed repeatedly about where we had been on the boat. "Round the world" seemed a rather glib answer, but it had everyone enthralled and delighted that we had included a trip through the canal as part of our circumnavigation. THETA VOLANTIS was photographed more than a fashion model on a catwalk. It's a bit odd to think we appear in the holiday snaps of hundreds of strangers.

Loch Ness is beautiful, and was big enough for us to let out some sail, though sadly too deep for us to anchor. We never saw the monster but felt a distinct bump as it made friends with our hull. A week in the fresh water of the canal left our hull smooth and clean for the 200-mile sail from Inverness, at the eastern end of the canal, to Edinburgh. (SetSail Note: For more info on cruising in Scotland, read Into the Light by fellow SetSail correspondents Dave and Jaja Martin.)

	Pegasus Bridge lifts to allow us up the canal to the historic town of Caen.

CAEN CANAL
This 15km canal connects the Normandy coast of northern France to the market town of Caen. Although a 'dead end' trip, in that after a couple of days sampling the culinary delights of a French town the only option is a passage back to the English Channel, it is part of our personal cruising history. We had transited the canal in all of our previous yachts on holiday cruises, so we thought it only fair to complete the set on THETA VOLANTIS while we were in the area.

Apart from the food, the canal is steeped in World War 2 history, as the area was centre stage for the Normandy landings. Pegasus Bridge, the scene of dramatic glider landings and subsequent fighting, has been carefully restored and it opened majestically for our passage.

(Colleen and Brian have finished their circumnavigation, and their beloved THETA VOLANTIS is now for sale. Even if you're not in the market for a new boat, click here to check out a very detailed listing that is full of interesting information.)