15th - 18th April. From Enniskillen through Upper Lough Erne to Aghalane on the Shannon Erne Waterway

We are leaving Enniskillen for the summer. Enniskillen Castle can be seen behind Andy.

At Culky, Shannon decided to go exploring on her own. This is the first time that she has been allowed outside The Puzzler since she had her injections. She is fascinated by everything.

We spent the first night out of Enniskillen at Tullyinishmore. Shannon had to be on a lead here, as the sheep and lambs from the field next door had taken over the mooring. The resident kingfisher came to look at us too, but was rather camera-shy!

Is there anyone watching me?

Well, this does taste rather good!

On our way across Upper Lough Erne the wind got up and the waves were quite lively.

There is a note in our Navigational Guide which states: "Tirraroe provides good shelter if windy" so we decided to pull in there for a calm night. The end of the jetty is quite a long way out from the shore.

However, when the note in the Guide was written, it was referring to a northly or westerly wind. Today there is a south wind, which is unusual. Having pulled in to the mooring, we were pinned to the jetty by the wind and there was no escape! It was quite a rough night too! These waves are outside the galley window.

When the jetty is this colour, it is difficult to see Shannon. Her camouflage is effective.

By the time we reached Geaglum the next day, in calmer weather, Shannon was feeling confident enough to go exploring on her own.

For those of you who watched Blandings on TV recently, this is the Cot by the boathouse at Castle Crom which was used in the film.

The old castle at Crom is always an impressive sight from the lough.

From Upper Lough Erne we sailed on to the Shannon Erne Waterway. Shannon enjoys playing with a ball, but these new ones at Aghalane mooring are a bit too big for comfort!

Walking along from Aghalane, this sheep had crossed the ditch for greener pastures on the other side, and seemed to be quite stuck. However, at the offer of a helpful pull from Sally, she decided to slip back into the water, and go back where she had come from! She was very wet, but otherwise fine.