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.
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.
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.
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.
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