14th - 19th August. Up Lough Ree to Lecarrow and Portrunny, then on to Ballyleague and Richmond Harbour.

From Athlone we set off towards Lough Ree, pausing for a break at Hodson Bay, as the weather was getting worse. However, it cleared up in the afternoon, and we had a calm journey on up the lough. Shannon enjoys resting on the roof, fitting well into this corner at the stern.

She moved inside later on though, as the sky became really threatening again, but there was no more rain.

Along the Lecarrow canal it is obvious from the banks how low the water level is at the moment. The weed has been cut recently and is no problem in the navigation channel. Shannon is inspecting it all carefully!

The harbour at Lecarrow was nearly full, but we managed to moor across the bows of a cruiser, with our bows against the wall. We could get off the roof of The Puzzler on to the harbour wall. In retrospect, we should have ignored the No Mooring sign on the pumpout. It would have made access to the bank a lot easier!

In Lecarrow we went to see Nellie's Rock. These are ancient Dolmen Stones, where a poor woman is reputed to have reared a child under the shelter of the rock. The Yew Tree restaurant in the village provided us with an excellent meal, and this was followed up by music at Coffey's pub. Most of the boaters from the harbour were there.

Moving on to Portrunny, we met up with Gerry and Ann again, and there was good craic all evening.The next day they left us, but new friends, Brian and Elaine arrived with Silver and Magic, two lovely retrievers.

Once again Shannon did her "roadkill" impression. It was the Heritage boaters in Athlone who likened her to this! We thought it was rather unkind!

We left Portrunny late on Sunday, once the wind had lessened, and the sun lit up Dog Island as we sailed past.

Clouds behind us gave a strange effect, but again we avoided any rain.

We moored at Ballyleague overnight, leaving  the barge 4E there when we left to continue up the River Shannon.

We left the River Shannon below Tarmonbarry, to go along the Clondra Canal and up the lock at Clondra. This lock mooring was under water when we came down Clondra lock in the spring.

Our summer lockkeeper wasted no time in bringing us up the lock!

Noel moved his boat up to make room for us, on the lower mooring below Richmond Harbour.

19th - 26th September Up River Shannon and across Lough Ree. Lanesborough, Tarmonbarry, and up the Camlin River to Richmond Harbour.

 It was an early start as we have a long day today. We stopped briefly at Clonmacnoise Monastery, which we  last visited in early August, before carrying on up the River Shannon to Athlone.

It is surprising how little topsoil there is over the limestone bedrock here, as the grass is so green.

After Athlone, we sailed on to Lough Ree and spent the night at Hodson Bay Hotel. In the harbour actually, not in the Hotel, but it makes a good backdrop!

The port back door will not open completely, due to the damage, so we sailed today with a bungy holding the door. However we have since removed the wooden seat, until the metal work has been straightened and rewelded.

Another early start on Tuesday up Lough Ree with a super sky ahead of us. By cruising early in the day, we avoided the wind and waves of the afternoon.

In the harbour at Portrunny, we joined several speedboats. Are they shut up for the winter already, or just waiting for the Indian Summer which has been promised?

Wednesday was a really wild day, with strong winds out on the lough, but we still managed a walk along the lough shore.
After two nights at Portrunny, we set off with the sun  rising over the lough. We have been very lucky to find such calm water.

By the time we reached the northern end of Lough Ree the sun had disappeared, although the wind did not get up until later in the day. Lanesborough Power Station, the biggest peatburning power station in Ireland, looms up ahead of us.We are burning smokeless compressed peat logs on our stove at the moment and find them very good.

It is quiet in Ballyleague Harbour. Our friends from the North, Maurice and Janet, arrived soon after us so it was good to see them again.

The barge Knocknagow arrived on Friday evening, with friends of ours in the crew. She left the following morning, with a fresh crew, bound for Lough Derg. 

Back on the River Shannon, we sail up to Tarmonbarry Lock, where the top gates have seen better days.

Do you think that this seat, above the lock, will hold Andy's weight?

It must be annoying for the boats with higher topsides which have to circle above Tarmonbarry Bridge, when we can go underneath it, and do not have to wait for it to be lifted.

We move on upriver on Sunday, as strong winds are forecast for tomorrow, and have an extremely wet trip. Three miles above Tarmonbarry, we turn off on to the Camlin River, and head south again towards Richmond Harbour, and the start of The Royal Canal. Here we are moored below the first lock, on a jetty which is new this year. Incidentally, the strong winds never arrived and the weather on Monday was fine!

The converted barge, 58M, fills Richmond Lock as it goes up into Richmond Harbour. This barge is an excellent conversion, and is very cosy inside.

The lock enters at the far end of Richmond Harbour, which has always been a very popular mooring.We will come up here next year, on our way to the Royal canal.

The Royal Canal leads out at the other end of Richmond Harbour, and can now be cruised all the way to Dublin. The canal was reopened as a through route as recently as last September, having been closed since 1961.

Richmond Harbour is in Clondra village, which has two pubs but no shop. This waterwheel has been retained underneath Richmond Mills, which have been developed into apartments.

Richmond Mills, beside the attractive Clondra bridge, operated as a corn mill from 1771 until 1827, when it was converted into a whiskey distillery, producing 80,000 gallons annually. During the Fr. Matthew Temperance Campaign of 1843, it reverted to milling corn, and later operated as a factory for curing hides.

St Brendan's Church in Clondra village was completed in 1835. The graveyard is quite impressive, with many beautiful crosses, and there are also the ivy covered ruins of a 12th century abbey.

Up Lough Ree to Ballyleague 10th April 2011

Sunday. No wind today, but it is rather overcast. We returned to Lough Ree and headed first across the lough, south of Quaker Island. There are many ruins of monasterys and other houses on the island and we could see cows too. However it has been uninhabited since the 1950s. It is accessible by dinghy only.

We are becoming more confident at finding our way round these vast expanses of water, using the red and black bouys.

After rounding Quaker island the bouys led us north up the Lough, leaving most islands to our port side. On one small island there were rare breed type sheep, each with four horns, and on Inch Macdermot we saw cormorants nesting.

We exited the main lough at Ballyclare point and moored in Ballyleague Harbour.
It is pleasant to be in calm water inside the harbour wall. The wind really got up during the evening, and the water outside, in the lough, was very rough.