August 22: Shannon Harbour to Banagher

Our time in Shannon Harbour was very comfortable, and now we were about to head out onto a big river. It was very tempting to stay longer, but we took the break in the weather on Saturday to head out. We bid Mary and Ronnie farewell, and thanked them again for their help. Mary gave me a bag of potatoes grown by a local man in the bog. We look forward to eating bog potatoes for the first time.

As we motored through the harbour, we saw Sean was out on the deck of his boat and again took pictures of us as we passed. He then drove down and met us at the lock, where Alan was already waiting. They opened the gates for us. We all chatted while the lock drained, then we said our goodbyes to Sean and headed for the last lock before the open river.

 

Motoring through Shannon Harbour on the way to lock 35

 

 Photos Sean O'Reilly                                                                        

Everyone on deck! Andrea was a bit scared by having strangers around.
 

Just as we said our goodbyes to Alan and pulled out onto the open water, it began to rain. The rain really picked up and I retreated to the inside helm for some time. As it turned out, we managed to pick the only rainstorm of the day for our travel.

It was a short fifteen-minute spin down to Banagher. There are a large private marina, and a small public harbour just upriver of a large bridge. We found a space along the quay wall in the public harbour. 

 

Our boat in the marina in Banagher.

With better weather in the afternoon, we walked across the bridge and into Co Galway. Just on the far side is a park, which marks the end of a long-defunct canal. The park also has a swimming pool in the Shannon.

 

A nice spot for a very cold swim.

 

We met a very friendly man named Aidan on his boat Aoíbhneas Arís (Joy Again), who shared his wisdom from his many years on the Shannon. He was like so many we've met along the way: quick to lend a hand and share his knowledge.

Banagher offered us our first chance to shop, run errands and most importantly for a long time to take a shower! We had take-away three out of four nights. The other night, we made reservations at Flynn's, a local pub. We booked an early table, and it was mostly empty. We enjoyed our first meal and pint out since Sallins. It was wonderful!

We also filled our fuel tank. I had been worried that we might be low on fuel, and imagined running out as we came down from Shannon Harbour. As it turned out, we had only burned 76 liters (20 gallons) coming all the way from Sallins. Having 500 liters onboard, we were nowhere near running out!

 

Andrea of the Locks

It occurred to us as we approached the last lock of the Grand Canal, that Andrea would have passed through 43 locks, but had never been on an elevator. The poor child! He is in for quite a ride being a part of this family.

 

August 17-21: Shannon Harbour

The next morning (Monday) Alan dropped by with a newspaper. We had told him that we were probably moving on to Banagher, but we decided to move down to one of the empty live-aboard spots to enjoy some shore power, since there was rain forecast for the next morning. We motored down past the long row of boats. Once parked, I went to chat with the neighbors. Mary and Ronnie were from Dublin and were very welcoming and offered to take us to town if we needed anything. We didn't do much else that day, except walk the dogs.

 

Our boat looks so tiny next to the barges in the harbour.

The weather forecast called for nice weather on Wednesday, but a big storm on Thursday and Friday. If we were going to move on, it would be before or after the storm. In any event, we were low on essentials, and we decided to take Mary up on her offer of a ride to town. I stocked up, and then she took me to the marina to get a navigation guide for the Shannon.

In the afternoon, I took the bike and rode to the nearby Clonony Castle. Then Sarah rode back into Banagher to check if the showers in the marina were open (they were!). We were very much looking forward to hot showers, so that was an incentive to leave sooner.

Clonony Castle

A farm on the way to the castle.
 

Cows coming through Shannon Harbour. This is Rural Ireland.

That evening we sat out on our back deck. On one side Mary and Ronnie were grilling on their back deck and on the other, the neighbor was playing Parisian cabaret music. It was lovely and just the sort of evening one imagines the cruising life to be.

On Wednesday, we decided the harbour was a better place to ride out the storm than on the Shannon, so we would stay until the weekend. While out on a walk, I remembered that Sean from Edenderry had a boat here, so I sent him a message. It turned out he was here, so I stopped by to talk to him for awhile.

 

We walked down to have a look at Lock 36, which brings one

onto the Shannon.

 

The storm on Thursday was impressive, but we were well sheltered where we were. When we ventured out the next morning, we found a big tree which had been broken clean off it's roots.

 

Corncrake

Shannon Harbour is a pretty boring overall. It is significant as the entryway to the Grand Canal from the Shannon River, and it has relatively recently built facilities for the boats that travel the canal, including a dock with eight or so births specified for residential use (liveaboard boats). One thing that makes it a little bit more interesting is that it is one of the few remaining areas where the corncrake thrives. The corncrake is ground dwelling bird like a rail or coot. Present day farming practices often destroy nests and drive the birds from their habitat. The neighbors we mentioned, Mary and Ronnie, said that they could hear the corncrakes earlier in the summer from their boat. The corncrakes make a continuing, loud series of cries at night, especially during the breeding season. That would have been neat to hear.

 

August 16: Lock 33 to Shannon Harbour

 

We enjoyed the quiet night below the big double lock. In the morning we decided to all go for a walk back along the canal the way we had come. Up at the lock, we found Alan sitting in his truck reading the paper. He gave us a copy of the day's Irish Times and discussed his preferences in papers with us. He mentioned that there was a boat which would be coming up from Shannon Harbour, and he had told them that due to our deep draft, they would need to give way and allow us to have the center of the channel if we encountered each other.

We walked back to the last bridge we had passed which was covered in ivy. We discovered a huge blackberry patch and gorged ourselves. It was a bit dangerous, as there were stinging nettles all throughout, and I ended up with a few 'burns'. It was worth it.

 

Blackberries galore!

We headed out just after 11:00 for the short trip down to the next lock. The weather was cloudy but dry.

Along the way we ended up chasing a group of ducks for quite a ways. They didn't seem too upset about it and Payton enjoyed watching them.

 

A narrowboat tied up along the canal.

We expected it to take an hour, but we were there early. Of course, Alan was already waiting for us and opened the lock gates as we motored up. So, we didn't even have to stop, but glided right into the lock.

 

Lock 34 Keeper's House

 

With Alan at Lock 34. Alan really was our guardian angel for the last stretch of canal.

 

 We discussed where to moor. Alan suggested we take the jetty just below the lock and scout out where to stay. We followed his advice and as we tied up, we saw the other boat headed our way. It turned out to be Everna, the beautiful wide-beam barge which we first saw in Sallins and then again at Lock 20.

 

Elevator up

We walked on down to get the lay of the land (water?). We passed a long row of boats along the bank outside the harbour. Some were beautiful and well-maintained, and a few were clearly being repaired and renovated. Many however, were in various states of disrepair.

We saw that a couple of the places in the live-aboard area were free and discussed moving down there to have shore power. Since we planned to head to Banagher the next day, we decided to stay up at the jetty -- to enjoy a final night of peace and quiet.

August 15: Lock 32 to Lock 33

After a quiet night by Lock 32, we needed to be ready by 9:30 when Alan was coming. We ended up being a bit slow, and Sarah was just taking Andrea and the pups for a walk when he arrived. Alan handed us the morning paper and then had a look at the water level. He was not overjoyed. His concern was with getting us over the threshold and into the lock. He said, "we'll fill the lock, and then hope that the water is there." Water was coming down from the next lock up, and hopefully filling this lock wouldn't lower the water level too much.

Alan opened the land gates and filled the lock quickly. When we had the lock gates open, he had a look at the water and pointed out where he wanted the level to be in order to be confident we would get through. It wasn't up to that point.

Sarah arrived back and took the rest of the pack to sit on the foredeck. The idea being that weighing down the bow will lift the stern a small bit. Alan and I proceeded to pull the boat into the lock. The boat was almost entirely in and I was about to breath a sigh of relief when there was a small scrape (it was much less than we have experience at other points on the canal) and then we were clear. We made it! Now we were on to the next challenge: the following level was also quite low.

Alan's plan was to get us to the bottom of the lock and then open all the gates to wash us out. When we were at the bottom (and had chatted with him for another 10 minutes before the gates were opened -- did I mention that he is chatty?), he opened the lock and told us to start the engine. I thought he would open all the sluices and gates to flood us out, but he told us to start motoring. We had only moved about 10 feet when we ran aground. When he opened up the flow, we could feel the boat being lifted. With the engine in idle, we were soon pushed out of the lock.

Alan opens the land gates and all the sluices to release a wall of water, washing us out of the lock.

So, now we were riding a wave of water which was raising the water level by several inches. I decided to let it precede us somewhat and turned off the engine. I used the bow thruster on occasion to keep us from turning too much, but otherwise we just floated along. It was so quiet an pleasant.

 

After about half an hour, I could see the current slowing a bit. The initial wave had clearly gone the length of the level and rebounded. Now we needed the engine again. 

Judge's Bridge shortly before lock 33. The next morning we walked back to the bridge and discovered a huge blackberry patch. We gorged ourselves on blackberries.

We motored slowly along and called Alan when we had the lock in sight. Lock 33 was an impressive double lock. We tied up at the jetty and I chatted with some of the locals while we waited for Alan. Again he was amazing and did all the work with the lock. When we were at the bottom, he again chatted with me for about 20 minutes before moving to open the lock for us to exit. 

Upon our exit, we pulled up to the jetty and invited Alan for tea. He had coffee with him, but joined us and Sarah served a cheese and fruit platter. We talked for over an hour (well, mostly listened), getting the history of all things canal-related.

After Alan left, we decided to go for a bit of a walk, but it was really sunny and hot (don't believe what they say about Ireland being rainy: that is just propaganda to keep it from getting overcrowded!) We walked ahead a short distance, trying to keep to the shade as much as possible.

 

Dagny enjoys a break in the grass.

 

A bit later we walked over to the river Brosna, which flows parallel to the canal here. We had seen the bridge on our way in. 

 

Brosna River - Who is that crossing the bridge on the left

 

Like I said, the River Brosna

August 14: Lock 30 to Lock 32

Our planned trip for the day was a bit longer than we had been doing. We have been using a site which helps calculate travel times along waterways in the UK and Ireland (canalplan.uk). It told us that the trip would take five hours. With a big day ahead, we decided to try to head out early(ish) and managed to get underway before 10:30. The barge had headed out around 8:30, and we wondered if we would see him again.

The first lock was only about a mile further along. Sarah was driving and I hopped ashore, tied up and ran to get the lock ready. Once the gates were open, we pulled the boat in. I timed the whole operation, and it took about 30 minutes from start to finish. 

Beyond that, we had a long level ahead of us. Just before noon, we arrived in the only village we would pass, Pollagh. We decided to have a look, and pulled up to the jetty. There was a pub (closed) and a row of charming houses along the canal. 

We walked over the bridge and to the local petrol station cum shop cum cafe. The latter was closed, but we hoped to pick up some produce in the shop. Half way there, I realized that I had forgotten my mask. Sarah took the dogs and Andrea for a walk along the canal while I ran back to the boat. Sadly, the shop had very little to offer other than sliced bread, milk, soda and junk food. Well, it was a nice walk.

Being captain is hard work. Time for a well-earned nap.

 

Surveying the canal from his throne 

After Pollagh, the canal widened and we were able to make good time. When the canal is narrow, there is less room for the water to get out of our way as we move along. If we move quickly, we push up a big wave, and our stern sinks low. This slows us down, and we are more likely to hit objects on the bottom and suck up junk into the prop.

 

A Bord na Mona (see note at bottom) railway bridge. The bridge rotates out to cross the canal.

We passed along the north side of a stretch of bog land, followed by an area full of horses. By a bridge in this area we saw the WI barge tied up. 

 

Cut turf. The line you see is where the bog has been cut for

use as fuel to heat houses.

 

Panorama with bog on the left. It was quite striking in comparison to the 

verdant pasture on the right. 

 

 

Two of the horses we saw along the way

 

The barge redux

Our original plan had us going to Lock 33, to reduce the number of locks we would have the next day on the way into Shannon Harbour. When we arrived at lock 32, it was clear that our prop was really fouled again, and no amount of reverse/forward/reverse would shake it loose. So, I stripped down and went for a swim. Sure enough, I pulled lots of plastic off the prop. 

 

Sarah neatly coiled the line at lock 32

 

When I was dry and dressed, we went to look at the water on the next level. It was clearly way down by at least 9-10 inches! The spot was the most remote we had found, and we decided to stay and enjoy the peace and quiet. 

A bit later, Alan the lock keeper stopped by. He told us that the issue was with getting us into the lock on this level, as the sill for the lock gate was quite shallow. To this end, he was trying to get more water put on. If we could get into the lock, then we should be fine. Once down, he would open the water up full flow and wash us out of the lock. That didn't sound scary at all!

Alan was also a fount of knowledge about all things canal: history, geography and ecology. He poured out information at us. I tried to remember important bits as best I could. 

When Alan left, we all went for a walk ahead along the canal. We could see exposed canal bed as we went. Not good! After a few turns, we saw what looked like a scene out of the Chronicles of Narnia. A huge stone table set in a niche. 

 

The pack exploring Narnia 

 

In Narnia by the canal 

 

Also in Narnia by the canal

 

Bord na Mona

Before heading out, we bought a guide book for the Grand Canal. On the maps it keeps pointing out 'Bord na Mona' bridges. The first time, I assumed it was just the name, but then I saw the same name for another bridge. What was this?

Bord na Mona is the semi-governmental company set up in the 1940s to develop the turf (peat) industry to stimulate the economy in the midlands. It has since diversified into renewables, and is working towards eliminating the use of peat in power generation by 2030.

August 13: Lock 29 to Lock 30

True to their word, water was put on, and things looked good for us to continue in the morning. We weren't going too far this day. Lock 30 was only 4 miles away, so we hoped to be there within an hour and a half.

We set out shortly after noon, with Sarah pulling us into the lock. We slowly motored past the landmarks we had walked by the previous days (now moving slower than we had on foot). 

 

A beautiful canal-side house

 

A cow (it is a bit unnerving how all the cows along the way stare at us as we pass)

 

Farther along, we passed a canal-side pub, The Thatch which was opened in the 1700s. Sadly it closed a few years ago.

 

The Thatch

 

By around 1:30 we arrived at Lock 30. It was a quite picturesque. The area around the lock had flowers and a piece of old farm machinery and was well looked after. The lock-keeper's cottage had been renovated and looked fresh and charming. The bridge was unusual in that it was painted white.

 

Lock 30 Keeper's House 

 

Bridge with Lock 30 behind

 

We went through the lock and moored up on at the jetty on the far side. The spot was quiet, with a view out the window of a herd of bulls. It was sunny and hot (is this Ireland?!?), so we found a spot in the shade of a tree on the bank of the canal and all relaxed in the grass. Alan, the lock keeper who lived in the house, stopped by. He let us know that another boat was coming through.

The other boat turned out to be a barge brought in by WI to carry a load of clay to patch a leak in the canal. I ran up to help with the lock, and then helped him tie up to the tree we had been relaxing under.

 

The barge (voted 'Most unlikely to float' by its high school class)

 

Later, as Sarah put Andrea to bed, an older woman walked by with a cane. She turned out to be Alan's mother, and told us about how their family had helped build the canal, and were then offered jobs as lock keepers. So, the house had been in the family for over 200 years!

August 11: Tullamore to Lock 29

 

It was time to leave Tullamore. I ran a few errands and while I was gone, the weed-cutting boat came through the marina, churning up all sorts of muck and debris. We were not thrilled about driving through this sea of refuse. Our first objective was to move our boat a few spaces down and fill our water tank. Sarah took a line and pulled us around the two boats. By the time our tank was full, things had settled a bit.

The first lock was just a short distance along in town. There were people hanging out at the lock, and moved aside to allow us to open the gates. Other passers-by stopped to watch. One couple ended up helping to open the lock gates when we were ready to go. As we moved out of the lock, we scraped over something significant. Looking, I could see that the water levels were low. I should have called the lock keeper to ask a day ahead of time.

We had one more lock in town, before we were in the countryside. Tullamore is not large, so that came quickly. Our destination, Lock 29 was a couple miles ahead. We came up on what we later learned was a cattle crossing. As we passed, the boat pushed up and scraped over the bar under the water. Again! I was not happy.

We passed Srah Castle, "built by an Elizabethan officer, John Brisco, in 1588." (Guide to the Grand Canal) Only a mile or so on, and we were at our destination: Lock 29. There were a couple houses here, and the lock was surrounded by flowers. A beautiful place to stay. 

 

I called Leo from WI and he said he would ask for the water to be turned up as the next level looked woefully low.

We then took the whole pack and walked West along the canal. We passed Ballycowan Castle, a ruin from the early 1600s. Just past this, we came upon the aqueduct that brings the canal over the Tullamore River. It was a beautiful day for a walk. 

Andrea taking Payton for a walk

Ballycowan

The Huband Aqueduct over the Tullamore River

One-lane aqueduct ahead

A pack walk

Later in the evening a mist settled in. We could feel the humidity shoot up, and the damp permeated everything. The mist was still hiding the landscape when we got up in the morning. 

 

Mist on the canal

With a bright flash of blue, a kingfisher flew out of the mist and landed on the railing just outside our window.

A kingfisher!

The next day I called the next lock keeper and asked about the water level. They called upstream and water was released for us. In the morning, we would be good to go.

We took a couple more walks along the canal. Being only a couple miles outside Tullamore, it was very well used and we had lots of company.

The canal at night

Aug 7-11: Tullamore

We spent four nights in Tullamore harbour and took things slowly (which still isn't very slow with two dogs and a baby). But we managed to run some errands such as our laundry, re-provisioning and poking around town. We couldn't dine in anywhere, but found a cafe that made a delicious latte. We had take-away every night! 

On the last evening, we picked an Indian restaurant to order from. Sarah ordered online, but wasn't convinced that it had gone through. I said I was sure it had, and rode off to the restaurant. They had not received the order, but that turned out to be good. I chatted with the owner in Urdu, and he not only gave us a discount, but threw in some pickle and chutneys. The food was delicious. I highly recommend Cafe India in Tullamore!

One of my habits each day is to obsessively check our solar output and battery status. The lowest we had gotten was 95% charged. Pretty good! The spot in the harbour where we parked was shaded by a big warehouse in the evenings. This meant that charging stopped much earlier. On top of that, Monday was very dark and dreary. This meant we got very little charge that day. Still, after 36 hours, our batteries were at 90%.

Other than errands, we had a few nice walks along the canal and through the charming town. All in all, a good couple of days.

August 7: Lock 21 to Tullamore

From our spot above Lock 21, it was a short distance to the town of Tullamore, but it involved six locks in all. Having had lots of issues with locks early on, we had looked at breaking the trip in half and staying another night in the countryside. 

Just as we were getting things ready to go on the boat, I spotted Jimmy out at the lock, getting it ready. What I didn't know, was that he had already driven down and prepared the next five locks. I pulled the boat into the first lock, and away we went. 

 

Jimmy told us about his annual trips to Alaska, where his son lives. He had an Alaska belt on. At one point, I ran down and grabbed the Alaska cap that our friends Geoff & Harriet had given us. Jimmy laughed when he saw it.

 

Jimmy would drive ahead to each lock and open it for us. On a couple locks, other locals would stop and help him with the gates. We were through the first three in half an hour. After only about an hour and a half, we left the last of Jimmy's locks. He wished us well, and said that Leo would meet us at the final lock. 

 

 

The lock keeper's house at Lock 26. According to Leo, the person who built it was fired for going so far over budget.

 

The shell of an old canal barge at Lock 26

Nobody was there when we arrived, and we thought about having a cup of tea before going through. While Sarah was below deck, Leo arrived. I told him I was disappointed, as I was expecting the Tánaiste (the Deputy Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar). Again I pulled the boat into the lock, and then to the jetty down below. Since I hadn't started the engine, Sarah was surprised that we were already through the lock. Now we stopped for tea.

We motored the rest of the way into town, past a tall row of trees. The paths on either side of the canal were busy with people out enjoying the weather. We turned under the bridge and into the small harbour. 

 

 The trees lining the canal leading into Tullamore are magnificent!

A viking dog arrives in Tullamore

We were surprised by the amount of weeds and lack of infrastructure here. This is the headquarters for Waterways Ireland. The pumpout was broken, there was no shore power an there wasn't even a place to dispose of your rubbish properly. 

On the bright side, there was a knock on the boat a few minutes after we arrived. Rachel from WI had come out to drop off the extension to our permit. She was amazingly friendly, helpful and informative. Thanks Rachel!

 

Lockdown

So, it appears that Covid-19 is chasing us across Ireland. We were really excited to be out of Dublin, where the majority of cases have been. With the population density there, it is bound to spread faster. Then, just after we were leaving Sallins in Co. Kildare, we discovered that there had been an outbreak in the area. Specifically, it was at a pet food factory in neighboring Naas, where Johnny and Anne live. Scary.

Now, we just arrived in Tullamore, in Co Offaly. We were looking forward to going out, and I had booked a whiskey tour at the Tullamore Dew distillery. Well, this evening the government announced a new lockdown for three counties, including Offaly. That's right, there is another outbreak here. All pubs, restaurants, etc. are closed. No whiskey for me.

Not only that, we are not allowed to leave the county for 2 weeks! Luckily, the canal is in Offaly all the way to the Shannon. Our first destination, Banagher is also in the county. So, we should be able to go that far without breaking quarantine.