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.
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
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.
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.
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