28th - 31st March 2014. Leaving Enniskillen for the last time, en route for The Netherlands.

After three very happy winters in Enniskillen, we are leaving to make our way south to Riversdale Marina at Ballinamore on the Shannon Erne Waterway. We are here approaching the Ardhowen Theatre mooring for a quick tea break with Gerry and Violet, who have kindly come to wave us good-bye.

Shannon is unsure about all this!

Now we are on our way! It has been very hard to leave all our good friends behind. Everyone we have met in County Fermanagh has been really friendly and we unreservedly recommend it to anyone as a place to visit.

Shannon loves to run up and down the roof of The Puzzler while we are sailing across Upper Lougnh Erne.

Trial Bay lies just off the south end of Upper Lough Erne, and we joined Lasalle there at Derryvore jetty.

On Saturday we walked up to Holy Trinity church, which lies opposite Castle Crom, and is the estate church. This splendid dragon lies over the grave of one of the Crom ancestors.

After leaving Trial Bay, we pass Castle Island, which was built as a folly for the Castle Crom estate. There is a good view of it from the old ruins at Castle Crom.

After a pause at Aghalane, on the Shannon Erne Waterway, Maurice and Janet said their last good-byes and sailed away into the rain.

After a walk, followed by a bath, blow dry and trim, Shannon is exhausted and crashes out in her basket. Her coat always looks lighter in colour after a trim.

20th Sept - 6th October 2013. Back in Enniskillen.

At last, the second crop of new computer problems seem to be sorted, although we have still lost some emails. Do update us if it might be you!
Andy has completed the new trap door access to the engine, so that the engine filter, which was the cause of our problems last week, can be easily replaced.

Cruisers from the Manor House Marina have been having a weekend in Enniskillen, so it has been quite busy. They are now on their way back down the River Erne.

Shannon thinks nothing of having to wear a lampshade! She should wear it for ten days until her stitches have dissolved.

As in the spring, all boats must move every 48 hours, but this suits us quite well. We move to Riverview, near to the library, on Wednesday for bowls.

Shannon is now much happier about her fancy collar.

The walk, from the Round "O", up through the woods to Portora Castle, is as good as ever. Andy and Shannon are playing follow-my leader along the ruined wall there.

Shannon is glad to have had her lampshade off, but hates being left behind, if one of us goes out, so has to be tied up for safety.

Going back upstream from Enniskillen, the hills to the west are rather misty.

The Ardhowen Theatre is always impressive as we approach.

 Some dogs will do anything for a treat! We are walking in the grounds of Castle Coole. There are very few autumn colours as yet though, due to the warm weather we are having.

We came to the Ardhowen to see the Big Brass Swing Band, with Bob Quick. They are based in Strabane and were very popular, providing excellent entertainment. The standing ovation at the end left the theatre buzzing!

By Saturday evening the mooring was quite full.

10th - 28th November. Ardhowen Theatre and League bowls.

There was a special service at the Enniskillen War Memorial on 8th November this year to commemorate 25 years since the Enniskillen bombing here. The building to the right of the war memorial was built on the site of the bombing, which happened just before the laying of the wreaths on Remembrance Sunday in 1987.

There are 11 doves on the War Memorial, one for each person who died then. It is very moving to see it.

The Puzzler has a new chimney, and we are on our way upstream to the Ardhowen Theatre mooring for the weekend. Last week a man came to ask if the smoke came from our engine. He seemed to be disappointed that we were not a steam boat!

Walking again at Castle Coole, Andy paused for a rest. All the autumn leaves are on the ground now.

Castle Coole itself is as impressive as ever.

Pike fishing is very popular here on the River Erne. This monster fish was brought out of the blue barrel (keep net) for a photo call, but the fisherman would not tell us where he caught it. He was planning to release it in the same spot, ready to be caught again, in his next competition!

Having been back at the Round "O" mooring, we headed upstream again. It is harder each time to get up through Enniskillen Bridge, against the current.

This time we are sailing straight past the Forum, where we play bowls. The Forum is a very active sports centre, with a swimming pool and fitness room, as well as various sports halls inside. Outside there are several pitches, most having an all-weather surface.

At the Ardhowen Theatre again we are joined by Janet and Maurice and all enjoy a fantastic sunset over the river, before going to see Lady Windermere's Fan, by Oscar Wilde. It was a very good performance. 

We stop at the first part of the mooring at Broadmeadow, as this is the best place to chop the rest of our wood for the fire, with a short walkway to the jetty here.

Once again there is a tidy stack of logs in the cratch of The Puzzler.

On Mondays we bowl at the Forum, using three mats, and it can be taken seriously.

However, not everyone does this! Look at this pair.

Tuesdays at the Forum in the Fermanagh Bowls League is very serious though, with 20 teams fighting to avoid relegation. As there are eight bowlers in each team, this means 160 people on the mats. We play for the Royal British Legion, with our club night being on Thursday.

We are sailing downstream past Enniskillen Castle for the last time this year. There is now too much water in the River Erne to come, safely, through Enniskillen Bridge, which can be seen just beyond the castle.

9th - 14th October. A busy weekend.

The week has flown by, with bowls and bridge to keep us busy. On Friday no-one was allowed to moor on the outside of the jetty at the Round "O". This was to leave plenty of space for the three fishermen who had been allocated this spot today for the Erne Pike Fishing Competition, which lasts for three days.

Later on Friday we sailed up to the Ardhowen Theatre for An Evening of Country with The Stars. Our favourite singer was Hugo Duncan, of Radio Ulster fame. Next day we enjoyed the view from above the Theatre, looking upstream.

Looking downstream from the same track is an interesting view of some building plots. They will have a wonderful view, once the houses are built. They are to have moorings on the river, but it will be quite a climb down to them!

As it is time for Harvest celebrations, we walked on into Enniskillen to visit St. Macartin's Cathedral, and see the harvest decorations there. This is certainly an impressive building. Songs of Praise is to be filmed here this coming week, for broadcast on November 11th, Remembrance Sunday, so we must be sure to watch it.

These flowers were arranged by the St. Macartin's Bowls Club, to make an attractive window display. Each window was decorated by a different group, and are all very good.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited St. Macartin's Cathedral, when they were in Enniskillen in June. These were their chairs for the service.

By Saturday evening there were twenty boats on the mooring at Ardhowen. Everyone had come, as we had, to see ABBA THE SHOW, featuring the tribute band, Smackee. The performance was great, with everyone on their feet to join in with the singing and dancing. Parties on the other boats went on well into the early hours, so Andy tells me. I didn't hear a thing!

We sailed back to Enniskillen quite early on Sunday, and the reflections were really good, with no other boats about yet.

When we arrived at the Round "O" there was nowhere to pull in, as all the fishing boats were there. They had to wait for the hooter at 10.30am before they could set off for their third day of the Erne Pike Fishing Competition. We pulled in beside a small cruiser to wait for a space. It was rather like Wacky Races when the hooter went, with all the outboards revving loudly, as everyone wanted to find the best fishing spots.

Once all the fishermen had departed, they were followed by two barges, as Maco and Glen set off to go through the bridge.

We moved round to the inside of the outer jetty, to leave The Puzzler in the charge of our boating friends again.

25th September - 8th October. Back in Enniskillen. Model railways and traction engines.

Back in Enniskillen, The Erne Model Railway exhibition took place at the Cathedral Hall, and we were very taken with this exhibit. The detail in it is fantastic.

Most people moor sideways on to the jetty! However this cruiser did have a good reason for being stern in, as he was waiting for a couple of newlyweds to arrive. He was to take them up the River Erne to the Killyhevlin Hotel for their wedding reception. It makes a change from a wedding car!

We were waiting on Jonhson Bridge to see the steam traction engines which were due to arrive at 2pm, but of course we are in Fermanagh here, using Fermanagh time! The bride arrived first, at about half past two. They were walking over to the little park over the road for their wedding photographs, before returning for their boat trip to the Killyhevlin.

The traction engines have spent the last three days following the route of the Great Northern Railway from Bundoran, on the Atlantic coast to Enniskillen. They have been stopping off at all the towns and villages once served by the railway. The first traction engine eventually arrived at a quarter to three, having come right through town, instead of over our bridge as expected.

This one was originally a threshing machine, and needed some manoeuvring to park it off the road by the Cathedral Hall. It was built in 1932 by Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies,and was one of the last engines built by the Ipswich maker.

This vintage fire engine was travelling with the steam traction engines, to keep them supplied with water.

Meave, a Garrett Showman Traction engine which was built in 1918, arrived next.

Star of the County Down is a McLaren scale model traction engine, and was built as an exact replica of a McLaren road locomotive. It travels quite quickly and, once the mayor was on board as a passenger, set off for a jolly around the town.

Back at the Round "O" the geese are moving in for the winter.

Off upstream to the Ardhowen Theatre.

This is still one of our favourite moorings.

On the way back to Enniskillen town The Puzzler was overtaken by two girls in a double scull!

After some more chopping, most of our wood is now inside the cratch.