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.

11th - 14th October. Carrick, Leitrim and the Shannon - Erne Waterway

We spent the night at the end of the Jamestown Canal, always one of our favourite moorings.

Catkin does not really mind where we moor, so long as she can have her daily roll on the mown grass. Waterways Ireland certainly look after their moorings well.

From Jamestown we sailed up the River Shannon to Carrick, stopping on the end of the finger pontoon mooring. There was a barge moored just upstream of us, which protected us from the flow on the river, and it was a quiet place to be. There were no passersby, but it was over 200 yards to dry land, and grass, along the jetty, so Catkin was unimpressed!
We took the bikes to shop at Tesco, as it is about a mile from the mooring. After that Andy set off with the trolley and empty gas to a garage he had found, which was even further than Tesco! We use propane, while most boats in Southern Ireland use butane, which is not compatible with our gas regulator. The fitting on the propane cylinders is different in the South too, so we have one of each, which works fine, so long as we can find a supplier who sells propane! They have been few and far between.

Sailing on from Carrick, it is really noticeable how much more water there is in the River Shannon. It is starting to come out of its banks into the surrounding fields.

At Leitrim we leave the River Shannon to join the Shannon - Erne Waterway. The floating pontoon is at least a foot higher than it was earlier in the year, with the connecting bridge being nearly level. We are quite glad to be on quieter waters now.

We met Angela, who told us how, two years ago, the water level at Leitrim rose so much that an extra section had to be welded on to the pillars which hold the pontoon in place. Look closely at the black section to see the join!

Plenty of water can still be found, coming from the side weir below Tiermactiernan Lock to push The Puzzler sideways.

The local stone has been used to great effect in creating this boat, beside the towpath, part way up the Kilclare Locks.

Andy sails on to Kilclare Upper Lock. The green light behind indicates that Kilclare Middle lock is ready for a boat to come down.

By the time we reached the top of these eight locks to the summit level, it was a glorious sunny afternoon.

2nd - 10th October. Kilglass and Grange. Back up the River Shannon to Drumsna, then Jamestown.

A lot of rain fell during the night and by morning there was about an inch of water in Mini Puzzle. There was noticeably more current too, which made it quite exciting on our way back down Mountain River. The extra flow was very noticeable as the river has many sharp corners. We needed power to turn, but could not go too fast, for safety! The bow thruster was extremely useful.

Once back in Kilglass Lough, the reflections were stunning.

We carried on to Kilglass jetty, which has finger moorings, at the far end of the lough. It is a really isolated place.

Mini Puzzle is still full of water, so is not riding very well behind us, on our return up Kilglass Lough.

Grange mooring lies at the next head of navigation, to the north of Kilglass Lough. We had hoped to explore the river here by dinghy, but it is too shallow, so Mini Puzzler will be deflated now for the winter.
The mooring at Grange is much more informal than most, with the pub very handily placed close by.


The clouds over Lough Boderg were as impressive as ever, as we sailed on, later on Wednesday, once the wind had died down.

Instead of continuing on to the Jamestown Canal, we followed the Shannon River to Drumsna. This is a pleasant wall mooring, with plenty of well manicured grass and picnic tables too.

Catkin spends any spare time asleep! It is quite a squash here by the table leg.

This lifelike statue was poised at the far end of the mooring at Drumsna, ready to dive into the river.

After a few wet and windy days at Drumsna, it is back to the Jamestown canal, and through Albert Lock. Jamestown Canal was built in the 1770s  to bypass the great loop in the Shannon here, and the shallows in it between Jamestown and Drumsna.

At the far end of the Jamestown Canal, we turn right for the short stretch up to Jamestown itself. It is quite a small town, but it has a great history. These graves are within the ruins of an abbey in the churchyard.

As you walk round town these Heritage Trail Plaques are there to identify each point of interest. This one is for Jamestown Weir, even though this is as near as you can go!

Jamestown was once a fortified town. James 1 granted it a royal charter and it was surrounded with a wall 6 metres high and 1.8 metres thick. Jamestown Arch is the remains of the original gateway to the town, the top of which had to be removed to allow for large modern lorries.

O'Beirne's Tower stands at the corner of the original O'Beirne estate.

Upper Shannon Meanderings 18th – 26th July.

Monday was wet and windy, but we set off down Lough Key, in order to be at Carrick-on-Shannon in good time. It was a wet crossing with waves over the bows!

At Carrick we took the only free finger mooring. There is room for 29 boats on these moorings, but they are only 28 foot long, so The Puzzler sticks out into the river. Our bows are in as far as they will go, really they are! There is also space along the wall near to the bridge for several more boats. It is busy this week as the Shannon Annual Boat Rally meets here at the weekend, and several boats are already here. Unlike in England, boats here move from harbour to harbour during the rally. The Shannon Rally has over eighty boats attending this year, so they will fill the harbours wherever they stop!

We sailed from Carrick up the Shannon and on to the Boyle River again. The weather was much calmer this time when we reached Lough Key, and we continued on to Boyle, at the far end of the Lough. We visited King House, a magnificently restored Georgian Mansion, built in the early 1700's for Sir Henry King, whose family was one of the most powerful and wealthy in Ireland. The house later became a military barracks for the famous Connaught Rangers, and is now a museum. We each had an audio guide, and there was an immense amount of information to absorb.

We next visited Boyle Abbey which is in the process of restoration. It was founded in the 12th Century as a Cistercian Monastery.

The abbey ruins were very well preserved, as were the visitors!

These donkeys came straight over to see us, and were very friendly.

 Martin enjoyed taking the helm back across Lough Key to the Lough Key Forest Park mooring.Martin is an incredibly experienced sailor, albeit usually out at sea.

We did the Lough Key Experience, which includes a trip underground, through the cellars of Rockingham House. They are the only remaining part of this stately home, which burned to the ground in 1957. There is a lift up to the top of the Moylurg viewing tower, which gives a good view over this part of Lough Key. Jenny is listening to her audio guide, not her mobile phone! After leaving the cellars, the return route is by way of a tree canopy walkway.

Castle Island was our next stop. This folly was built in the 19th Century from the ruins of the old castle.

It was a very short mooring here, with The Puzzler resting on the rocky shore. We created a minor problem for visiting canoes!

It was possible to scramble right round the island and also to climb up to the ramparts.







Next stop was The Zipit Experience, also at Lough Key Forest Park. Sally and Martin were strapped into their harnesses, ready to go, while Andy was photographer-in-chief !

There are four levels of difficulty at Zipit. This shows one of the early obstacles on the White course, which was also one of the most difficult obstacles, due to the height being climbed up the seemingly level steps.

This one was much easier!

Martin strolled across the ropes with ease!

These pallet type platforms tended to swing apart as we stepped between them.

The zipwires themselves were the best bit!

As we only had time to complete two of the four courses, we had to forego riding a BMX bike along a wire from treetop to treetop. Maybe next time!

Jenny steered back down Lough Key to the Boyle river. The weather has been kinder than it was on Monday, when the waves were coming over our bows.

This gypsy horse and caravan were in Leitrim.

From Leitrim we cruised up the first six locks on the Shannon-Erne Waterway, to moor above Kilclare Lower lock. We played Petanque on the newly mown grass beside The Puzzler, before going to the local hostelry to sample the Guiness there.

We continued up the last two locks to the summit level. Passing Keshcarrigan, we went down one lock, before turning off into Kiltybardan Lough. The mooring in the middle of the lough was a perfect place for a swim, followed by some sunbathing on a glorious afternoon.

On our return down to Leitrim next morning, Martin and Jenny nearly had an unexpected shower, as the lock above us was emptied by a following boat. As the pound between the two locks was already full, the excess came over the gate of Kilclare Lower lock. There was nowhere to run!

Well, you could go and work the locks instead!

We had a very pleasant meal at The Barge in Leitrim, before rejoining the Shannon to continue southwards.

This young foal was having a drink as we sailed past on the river.

We moored at the end of the Jamestown Canal. It is a lovely place, with our own lawn, which had been freshly cut. The weather is still being kind to us, so we had our second game of Petanque here. It was closely fought, but this time Martin and Sally were victorious, so it is honours even!

Catkin has been coping very well with these high wall moorings

We made an early start through Albert Lock before continuing on through Lough Tap, Lough Boderg and Lough Bofin to reach Dromod Harbour in good time. Dromod is a beautifully kept village. Martin and Jenny left us by bus. We have had a great week together.

We spent the evening on our new neighbours' boat. There were 23 boats in harbour, one of which was a small cruiser tied alongside us.