We decided to head out on Tuesday. I ran to do get some fresh ingredients from the grocery, and ended up also bringing home lots of new clothes for Andrea. "Hi, I'm Geoffrey and I have a shopping problem."
Sarah and Andrea (while the water tank fills)
The boys before leaving Edenderry (the tank takes awhile)
Around midday, we pulled around to where the water tap was and filled our tank. Now well provisioned, we headed out. I looked for Sean as we passed his boats, but he was nowhere to be seen. We glided down the branch line watching joggers and dog walkers out enjoying the lovely weather.
We had gone about 1 km along the main canal, when we approached a bridge. A car pulled up by the bridge and somebody quickly jumped out to take pictures of our boat. As we got closer, I saw that it was Sean. He kindly sent us the pictures he took.
An interesting sight was the emergency flood stop by Rathmore Bridge. It had two lock gates pointing in opposite directions. This allows the flow of water to be stopped here in either direction. Sean had told us that winter winds can push water to the Eastern end of the canal, leaving many inches of difference in the water levels. I assume it could also be used in case of a levee failure anywhere along the canal (it is an 18 mile stretch without a lock, and that is a lot of water!).
Rathmore Bridge with the gates beyond
Another mile or two down the line, I decided I needed to clear the prop again while the weather held. I wanted to be far enough from a town that the water would be cleaner. In Edenderry I had bought a new serrated knife to use for cutting away all the debris. It worked like a charm, and soon we were under way again.
It was sunny and hot, so I kept my swim suit on. After a couple hours, I realized that I probably needed some kind of sun protection. So, I slathered on some sunscreen: just in time for it to cloud over. And not before I got a mild sunburn. Ireland is just so sunny!
Geoffrey works on his suntan sunburn
While I was down below, Andrea took the helm.
Andrea driving (with a little help from Sarah)
Captain Sarah and the first mate of the ship
A beautiful day on the canal
Payton enjoys the weather
We also had a first today. We passed another boat! As we approached a sharp turn leading immediately into a bridge, we encountered a narrowboat. We managed to scrape by without touching bottom.
Rush hour on the canal
Another interesting obstacle along the way this day, was a railway lifting bridge. This is an automatic bridge on a railway line, which is up except when trains pass. I was a bit nervous passing under it. What if a train were coming? Would we have time to get out from under the bridge? As you may guess, we were fine.
Railroad lifting bridge: green light means go!
A clearer view from the safety of the far side
We were expecting rain around 3:00 PM and were lucky that it held off until the evening. We arrived after about four hours.
Daingean (/ˈdæŋɡən/)
We motored under a bridge, and pulled up to a stone quay on the South side of the canal. Sarah hopped ashore as we slowly drifted in. Just as I gave her a bit of revers, the prop hit something and killed the engine! And we just had the prop repaired before the trip. I guess Leitrim Propellers is going to have some repeat business. [And just an unsolicited plug for Tino, who did an amazing job fixing the bent ends of our propeller at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended!]
Sarah and I took turns wandering around the town. I spotted two pubs, and had visions of a pint and a meal. Sadly, everything was closed (actually, one restaurant was open but only later in the week).
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