24th - 27th May. Up the Grand Canal to Lowtown. Down the Barrow Line past Ratangan.

We made an early start at 7am on Friday, with Michael on Peacock, his narrowboat. His willing helpers were Eric and Mark, which made for an easy run up the locks on the Circular line to Lock 1, where we met the lockkeepers. There were 5 cruisers ahead of us, one large and four smaller ones, which could lock up together, so it was four lockfuls between us.

Debbie flew into Dublin, then came by bus and tram to join us on the locks. Fortunately we were waiting in lock 2 as her tram arrived at the stop there, so she was able to find us easily.

As we catch up to the cruisers ahead, they send water down over the bottom gates to help us along.

This extra water is just waiting in the next lock to wash the bows of The Puzzler! We are nearly full length for these locks so this promises to be a wet one.

We had an easy run up to beyond the twelfth lock and moored by the ruin at Stacumney, about half a mile before Hazelhatch. There is always plenty of depth to moor close to the bank here.

We carried on up the Grand Canal on our own the next day. The staircase at lock 13 is always an interesting lock, with the upper chamber being larger than the bottom one.

Between locks 14 and 15 the Grand Canal runs alongside a golf course, so we devised a scoop and collected a couple of golfballs from the canal.

Turning left at Lowtown on to the Barrow Line, we moored for the night at Ballyteague, a quiet spot.

Shannon felt thirsty while out for our evening walk, and misjudged the edge of the canal!

Ballyteague bridge is always photogenic.

Our garden is progressing. Shannon likes to take a leaf in passing, as she travels on the roof.

Ratangan village is a good place to refuel The Puzzler, as the garage is very near here.

Soon after Ratangan, the Barge 34B was tethered in the middle of the canal, but we managed to push past. We were glad we had a steel boat for this.

This mare and foal are enjoying the spring grass, near to the canal. We moored for the night out in the country a little further south.

5th - 10th July 2012. On up the Barrow Line through Monasterevin and Rathangan to Lowtown. East on The Grand canal to Stacumney.

We carried on up the Barrow Line and crossed The River Barrow at Monasterevin again. It looked really calm, and was at the lowest level we have seen it here.

Half a top paddle at lock 22 is enough to let plenty of water into the lock, for a start anyway!

Oh look. Here comes another weedcutter!

Rathangan is a pleasant town, close to the canal. The garage is very handy here for diesel, so we took advantage of this.

Mooring can be tricky on this canal, but we needed a good TV signal for Wimbledon!

On Friday it was up lock 19 on The Old Barrow Line. This lock was originally built in 1783. We pulled in above the lock to wait for the rain to ease. Yes, that is a weedcutter in front of us!

The rain did not ease, so we pulled forward to rest against the weed collector, near the entrance to the Milltown feeder.

The start of the Milltown Feeder looked very attractive. The lockkeeper thought we should be able to navigate it, so we decided to give it a try.

However, two corners later, we conceded defeat! The water was already too shallow for comfort, so The Puzzler had to back out.

Once back on The Grand Canal, we set off towards Dublin. This wooded section of the canal is lovely.

We spent Tuesday night by the ruin of Stacumney, in preparation for an early start in the morning.

4th July. Up The River Barrow on high water! Back up The Barrow Line to The Fisherman's Thatched Inn at Fisherstown.

We walked across to see the weir at Milford. The lock cut leaves the river just above the weir, going off to the left, at the top left of this picture.

The Strong Stream Mill at Milford generates electricity and this town was the first in Ireland to have electricity, because of this. There is certainly a strong stream here, below the weir!

We were still safely above Milford lock but the river level was rising so we conferred with the lockkeeper. More rain being forecast, he contacted his supervisor for permission for us to return immediately up the river. He felt that our engine was powerful enough to do this so that we could reach the safety of the canal. We had to go down the lock to turn round, with a strong hand on the front rope to help.

Once below the lock, Andy took the stern out to catch the current.

Two seconds later, he was heading back into Milford lock, feeling rather giddy at the speed of the turn!

We reached the lock at Carlow safely, although on narrow parts of the river we were barely reaching two mph against the strong current. Above the lock can be seen the weir.

Instead of crossing in front of the island, above the weir, as boats would do on lower water levels, we are going straight ahead behind the island. This is only possible because the water is so high. Do click on this picture to see the normal navigation channel, which goes in front of the island across the weir!

The Puzzzler only just managed to squeeze through this low arch of the bridge. The bows were then stuck in some reeds, but a friendly passerby came to help our invaluable lockkeeper push us out. As we crossed above the bridge to regain the navigation channel, Andy found that we were not making a lot of headway, due to weed picked up by the bridge. He managed to get across and we got a line to our lockkeeper on the bank, before we disappeared back downstream towards the bridge! Having removed the weed we were fit to carry on.

We are now passing the point where we were stuck on a sandbank, only two days ago. The sandbank is in front of the island, and extends out quite a long way. Our rope went from the boat to the wall on the left, beyond the steps, where our lockkeeper had his van to pull us off.

Some cattle were paddling through the swirling water on the edge of the river. It seemed a risky game they were playing, but then, the grass is always greener!

We were glad to return up through Levitstown lock and know that it was not so far to go on the river.

Crossing above the weir beyond Levitstown's long lock cut was the next hazard to overcome, but that too went well. I was going to take a photo of the weir at Athy as we passed it, but there was too much water for us to see where it was!

The evening clouds welcomed us back on to the Barrow Line. We have never been more pleased to reach any canal! Our trip up from Milford took us seven hours to complete at an average speed of two miles an hour.

There was a lovely sunset, with the rays shining down from the clouds. We continued on up the Barrow Line to Fisherstown, for a last visit to see Old Sean at the Fisherman's Thatched Inn. He is a wonderful landlord in a very special pub. After that we returned for drinks next door, with a lovely family from Capetown, who had arrived at the mooring earlier that evening in their boat.

30th June - 3rd July 2012. The Barrow Line to Athy. River Barrow to Carlow, adventures on a sandbank, then on to Milford.

We spent the next three days at Levitstown catching up on jobs and walking locally. This shrine was just beside the canal at Tankardstown Bridge.

Below Levitstown Lock the rails and landing stage have appeared once more above the river level. We have measured the height of the water here daily and, after rising over two feet on Thursday and Friday, it has at last dropped again to a safe level for navigation. All of this jetty and walkway was under water when the level was right up.

The river is still running quite fast, particularly where it narrows to flow around islands. The chart shows us which side of the river it is safe to go. We must keep to the left, or east, bank until we reach Carlow.

On the approach to Maganey Lock we have to make sure that we keep well to the left. On slowing down nearer to the lock, the pull of the weir can definitely be felt.

The Barrow is a wider river than we were expecting. There are less trees in the next stretch.

It is pleasantly calm in the lock cut approaching Bestfield Lock, away from the river current.

Carlow is the first town on the Barrow since Athy. This footbridge is new since the canal guide was published.

In Carlow we know that we have to turn right after the town bridge. After the footbridge we see moorings to our right and head towards them, then realise that we should still be on the left bank, as we have not yet reached the main town bridge. We turn left to go to the east of the island, but the current is too strong and it is too late! We end up sitting on the sandbank which lies in front of the island, and which is not shown on any chart. After a few false starts, with the young fishermen telling us exactly how big this sandbank is, our lockkeeper appears back from the lock, where he had been waiting for us. 
Mini Puzzle to the rescue! We launch our faithful dinghy, find all the ropes that we can, and Sally sets off for the far bank, to take this line to the lockkeeper and his van. This first try was a failure, partly because it was Sally's first attempt at steering Mini Puzzle, so she did not go very straight, and also because we did not have enough rope on the line! The current was very strong which did not help either. At the second attempt we had added the thin nylon washing line, and Andy managed to get across with it. There was still not enough rope to reach the van so the anchor rope was also deployed, and Andy came back by dinghy to rejoin The Puzzler. Eventually, we were pulled free and reached the east bank safely. What a relief! Being stuck on a sandbank with the river level dropping would not be very safe at all.

The town bridge at Carlow is the lowest bridge on The River Barrow, but we are not too high so it was no problem. Immediately after the bridge the navigation turns sharply right, and we cruise along the top of the unguarded weir.

It is a relief to get past the weir and safely into Carlow lock.

The run into Clogreggan, the next lock on the river, is particularly pretty.

The river opens out again below Clogreggan.

We can see hills over to the west of the river.

There is a narrow cutting through the trees to Milford Lock. As boats should leave red markers to their right and green markers to their left, there must be some thin boats going under this bridge!

We are moored above Milford Lock. We cannot go any further down the Barrow at the moment as there is a tree stuck in the river under the bridge at Leighlinbridge. The water level also came up by 11" overnight, and is once again not safe to navigate. This is certainly a different waterway to any other we have visited.