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.