28th - 30th July. Richmond Harbour, Roosky, Dromod, Carnadoe, Kilglass, Jamestown and Carrick.

It was strange to see Richmond Harbour with no boats. They have all been cleared out to make room for the National Canoe polo championships which are to take place this weekend.

We stayed on our mooring below the lock and enjoyed a morning's entertainment. There is no quarter given in the mens' matches, as the canoes slide over each other as players try to reach the ball.

On leaving Richmond harbour we set off up the Camlin River, to rejoin the River Shannon and continue northwards. The Camlin River is as pretty as ever.

It is back to reality, as we reach Roosky Lock, going through with more boats than we met on the whole of the Royal Canal.

Dromod Harbour was busy when we arrived. However, friends of ours very kindly  moved their cruiser out to let us moor inside them, against the wall.They could then use our roof for access to dry land.

Near to the harbour, our crew enjoyed the flowers.

The donkey carrying peat is very traditional.

On leaving Dromod, the weather is looking promising, with blue sky behind the clouds.

However, within ten minutes the sky has clouded over, and the rainbow ahead warns us of the rain to come. For a while we were steering quite blind, as no markers at all were visible, through the driving rain.

Half an hour later it was a glorious day again, as we left Lough Boderg to approach Carnadoe. This is so typical of Irish weather!

At Carnadoe Quay, a crew of about thirty sea scouts were preparing to leave. They had been camping overnight. It certainly would not have been a peaceful mooring here last night! A cruiser and  several other small boats helped to transport those who were not canoeing today, on the next leg of their journey to Dromod.

On Kilglass Lough, the clouds were gathering again, but we kept dry this time.

Kilglass jetty is one of the most isolated moorings on the Shannon river system.

On returning to the River Shannon, we continued upstream, through Albert lock and the Jamestown Canal, to visit the Jamestown Rally. The barges are nearly right across the river, but there is still room to pull in to tie on to the outside barge.

We are the seventh boat out from the jetty, in the second of five rows of boats.

After a brief visit, it was back to the end of the Jamestown Canal for a game of boules.

The Irish skies continue to amaze us.

While the reflection is just as good.

Elaine has enjoyed taking the helm.

At Carrick once again, we are still longer than most other boats on the mooring.

The view out of the porthole is interesting, looking upstream towards Carrick Bridge. Elaine and Mary  will leave us early tomorrow morning to return to England.

21st - 23rd May. Jamestown Canal, Dromod, and the Camlin River.

We sailed south down the River Shannon and then on to the Jamestown Canal, which is a pleasant change from the wide river.

After the Jamestown canal it is back on to the River Shannon, which widens out in Lough Boderg. Today the clouds are very threatening, with rather too much wind for comfort, although the rain stayed away.

At Dromod the harbour was quite full overnight. Angiles Delight had arrived ahead of us.

At one end of Dromod is the wall painting of the herons.

They can also be seen as a bog oak sculpture by the fountain at the other end of the High Street. Sadly the goldfish in the fountain are terrified of us, moving away to the other side to hide. Last time we were here there was a small boy trying to drop stones on the fish, or at least he was, until we sent him back to join his mother in her car. She would have been                                                                                          happy for him to carry on!

 On leaving Dromod, with a good send off from Tiger, we carried on to reach Roosky Lock at 1pm. All locks are closed from 1 - 2 pm so there was plenty of time for a lunch break in the lock.

Further down stream we planned to turn left on to the Camlin River. As we approached, it looked as though this hire boat was blocking the entrance to the river.

However as we sailed closer we could see that it had been an optical illusion, and he was tied to the far marker!

The Camlin River is very much narrower than the Shannon, and winds its way through the fields.It is a very pretty river.

At Richmond Harbour we moored below the lock. Our friends on Lazy Witch was already there. A cabin cruiser arrived just ahead of us, moving up to the far end of the jetty. We fitted in tight behind him, with a hireboat squeezing in between The Puzzler and Lazy Witch.

The cruiser in front of us left, to be replaced shortly by another hireboat, which only just fitted in, with our bows overlapped their stern.

At the other end the hireboat stern rested outside our stern.Their bows were touching Lazy Witch.