1st - 4th April. Spring on the Shannon Erne Waterway

The spring lambs are growing up, in this field alongside the water. We are on the Woodford River here, which is part of the Shannon Erne Waterway.

These retaining posts were sunk into the river bank many years ago, to help combat erosion by the water of the River Woodford. They are not working as well as they used to here, as all the soil between them has been washed away.

Andy is waiting below Ballyconnell lock, while Shannon and I prepare the lock for him.

This is one of the deeper locks on this waterway. Once the gates are shut, water is let in to lift the boat about twelve feet, before we can carry on above the lock.

There is a lovely walk from Ballyconnell, down by the river and through the woods. This canoeist tried in vain to go up the rapids towards the weir.

We were quite late leaving Ballyconnell, so only went as far as this mooring beside Bridge 26. With just room for one boat here, it is always a quiet place to be. We stayed here for two nights, as it never stopped raining on Wednesday.

These cute donkeys watched us pass by. Well, two of them did. The grey one seems to be asleep!

At last we reach Haughton's Shore. This will be our last mooring in Ireland, as The Puzzler is to come out of the water tomorrow.

We have fitted a new flagpole on the roof. The Irish flag is our courtesy flag, with the Dutch Barge Association burgee below it. Our red ensign will fly from the tiller. ( Thanks, Declan!)

Our favourite spot at Haughton's Shore is the jetty on the right, but the water level is too high for this to be comfortable.

We left Haughton's Shore soon after seven on Friday. The reflections on Garadice Lough were as impressive as ever.

On arrival at Riversdale, we tied up to two other barges, until the trailer was ready for us.

20th - 27th October. Shannon - Erne Waterway to Aghalane

From Haughton's Shore we carried on down the Woodford River. At places the river is quite wide, and it is difficult to see where the river bank is. There is very little visible flow however.

At Skelan Lock (lock 3) Sally had to get on to The Puzzler in the lock, as the lower lock mooring was under water.

Further on we were very glad to see markers ahead of us, to show where the safe navigation channel was. Click on this picture to see this meander in the river more clearly.

We stopped overnight in Ballyconnel and the manager from Supervalu delivered 40 'bales' of compressed peat to the boat for us. Each bale has 22 or 24 small bricks, so this should last us for a while.
At Corraquil lock (lock 1) we stopped on the upper lock mooring and stayed there for a couple of days, in the vain hope that the rain would stop.

We were rather taken with this stretch limo! The house was quite near to us, on the other side of the lock, and on Friday night we could hear the heavy beat of music from 9 until 10.30 pm. A civilized time to stop, we thought. However, that was only the rehearsal! On Saturday night  the beat started at 7.30 pm and went on until after 6 am. It was obviously a good party!

This cow and her cute calf were just over the fence from us at the lock. They, and the rest of the herd, were very interested in Catkin, galloping alongside whenever they saw her. She was unimpressed.

We moved on on Sunday, as the water above and below the lock were getting nearer and nearer in level. There was only about a one foot drop in the lock when we went down.

Normally the walkway down to the jetty is quite steep here, but it was practically level. Two days after this the lock was closed as the water level was higher than the lock gates.

We reached the floating pontoon at Aghalane safely. There is now electric hookup, which is new on this mooring since we were here last. A great deal of work has been done here this summer and it going to look wonderful when it is finished.
On the opposite side of the river a new lake has appeared temporarily, as the water rises over the banks. 

We rise higher by the day, and the water level has gone up 18" in two days. It is about four feet higher than it was when we were here in May.

Here we are looking across the slipway from our pontoon. It really is down there somewhere!

We went for a walk down the river bank, but had to turn back. It looked rather damp ahead of us!

Derryvore to Garadice Lough 22nd - 28th June

On leaving Derryvore, we sailed on to join the Shannon-Erne Waterway, and stopped in Ballyconnell for shopping. We collected the post and also went on the Ballyconnell Canal and Forest Walk. This well signed walk is the first one we have found in Southern Ireland. It follows the Woodford river, also going through the Annagh woods, and is very pleasant.

We are always on the lookout for convenient supplies of Diesel. At Ballyconnell, we found a very promising green diesel pump right alongside the river at a service station. Andy enquired as to the availability of MGO (Marked Gas Oil) - green in colour, but the same as red diesel in the UK. He was told that the pump was out of use just now. Andy then asked how permanent the problem was. The reply was: "Well now, it must be over five years since it broke down"! We left, disappointed.

An evening sail took us to the jetty by Bridge 26, then on to Haughton’s Shore the following morning, before the rain set in. We have noticed that Irish cows tend to lie down, when they are not grazing, so as to keep their piece of grass dry. They know that it is not a question of “Will it rain today?” but of “When will it rain today?”

Haughton's Shore mooring is the harbour at the end of Lough Garadice. The exit from it is beyond the bows of The Puzzler. The lough is straight ahead or you can turn sharply to the right on to the river. The Shannon-Erne Waterway continues on from here along the Woodford River towards Ballyconnell. The approach from the lough is quite tricky, when first seen, and many boats overshoot the river entrance and so end up in the harbour instead. They look first surprised, then embarrassed, as they turn and make their way out again on to the river. This to the amusement of boats already in the harbour!

There is pleasant walking along to the shore of Lough Garadice, where orchids grow in abundance.





We spent several days at Haughton's Shore, catching up with all external touching up of the blacking and green paint, where it had been scratched. There was far less to do than there would have been on the English Waterways, due to the scarcity of locks here. We will no doubt knock some paint off when we visit the Royal Canal, later this year!

On leaving the harbour, we looked back to see how boats missed the turn left in to the river, which is immediately after the left hand marker. Haughton's Shore is straight ahead, and certainly looks more inviting!

We sailed out on to Garadice Lough, intending to moor on a jetty which is on the mainland, opposite to Church Island, but it was already taken. We carried on beyond that jetty, and feel it is definitely one for the future. Turning round, we returned to Church Island. The lough is calmer than we have ever seen it, creating fantastic reflections as we came in to moor.

Later on, the other boat moved off, so we crossed to take their mooring. It is similar to Church Island, but the old jetty has been pulled to one side, making it a little awkward to moor.

It is also rocky, where The Puzzler's bows are tucked in behind the old jetty.

We enjoyed being at this rather different mooring, away from it all.

We were sitting quietly inside the boat when we heard screeching from under the jetty. This mink, (or is it a polecat?) came out, swearing at us for trespassing on his patch!

Shannon-Erne Waterway 21st - 25th April

We sailed back across Lough Garadice, past Haughton's Shore Mooring and on down the Woodford River. Even here the markers keep us away from the shallows.

A wind farm on a nearby hill.

We decided that Ballyconnell was too towny for us for a night mooring, but we look forward to shopping here at a later date. At Ballyconnell lock a small cruiser came up the lock, then we went down with a locaboat from Ballimamore. This hire company have a fleet of penichettes.

Below Corraquil lock many large attractive stones have been used in the construction of the lock mooring. We had thought we might moor in the inlet below this lock, but it was too full.

We carried on and found a super mooring in a sheep field. On this side of the waterway, we are now in Northern Ireland, as the waterway forms the boundary.

"What are you doing in my field?"





Playmates for Catkin? Probably not!

Pleasant though it was at this mooring, there was nowhere for Catkin to walk. We were also being thrown about by passing boats, several of which were putting up a breaking wash and so helping to destroy the river banks. Some were hire boats, but certainly not all of them.

We moved on about half a mile to Aghalane, passing under The Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge.

Aghalane is a recognised mooring, but is under repair and so officially out of use, while landscaping is going on.

We winded and moored just beyond the slipway, with good bow access into the field.

For those of you who think that life is just one long holiday on the boat, here is some essential maintenance going on! Andy has removed and sanded the front doors, and Sally is now varnishing them. This seemed a peaceful place to be without front doors overnight.


We later read that this area was the site of several murders, during the troubles. It is also very near to the Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge, which commemorates the end of the troubles.