Geoffrey: While our stay in Portumna was wonderful and relaxing, our departure was a bit of a disaster. We decided to head for the 11:00 bridge opening. Shortly after 10:00, Sarah took Andrea in for a nap. It was taking awhile, and I decided I would get underway. The engine often helps lull him to sleep. I cast off our lines, and headed out.
As it turned out, Sarah had found there was a bit of a gas smell in the bedroom from our stove. So, she had opened the window for some fresh air. When I started the engine, it filled the entire room with diesel exhaust. This led to the nap not happening, and Sarah being very upset with me. It didn't help that we arrived at the bridge with 20 minutes to spare, meaning that I could easily have waited. In case you thought life on a boat is all relaxing fun...
We pulled up to the waiting jetty by the bridge, and a woman from a hire boat whom I had helped a few days earlier, came to help with our lines. Andrea finally went down for a nap, and our nerves began to calm.
The bridge opening is announced by an alarm. Once open, the boats coming down go first. When the last boat came through, I started the engine. There were about a dozen boats heading North and I eased us into an opening in the long line.
The second obstacle on our way was Victoria Lock. As we approached, we could see that the lock was open, and boats were moving in. It already looked quite full and there were two boats right ahead of us. The hire boat with our helper was quite large, and pulled off to the side. As we came up, the lock keeper waved us in. The quay walls were already occupied, and we eased our way up the channel between the boats. With only minimal bumping we found our spot. Wedged in between other boats, we chatted with our neighbors. There was a young girl on the neighboring boat who adored our dogs. She lay down on their deck so she could pet them.
We were one of the first boats to leave the lock, and pulled away from most of the crowd right away. In less than an hour, we were in Banagher. There was no room on the harbour walls, and so we rafted up to a boat (La Vie Belle, owned by the older gentleman whom I helped on our first visit to Portumna). This wouldn't work for long, since we couldn't really get the puppies or stroller ashore. I found a spot just on the other side of the bridge that would work in a pinch. We moved back over there, and quickly took everybody out for a walk.
We met Aidan again, and he introduced us to his family who were all down for the weekend. While we were wandering around, we saw two boats preparing to leave. I left everyone and sprinted back to the boat, started the engine and cast off. Within a couple minutes I had the boat back in the harbour. Aidan appeared and helped with our lines. We owe him a pint!
We spent two nights in Banagher and enjoyed some delicious (unhealthy) take-away.
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