At Anchor on Lough Derg

[oceanfroggie]

Balmy summer on mighty Lough Derg. 4 nights on the anchor and we felt like we'd been away for weeks on end so relaxing it was.


What a sunrise for an inland Lough


The passage up the night before. In the balmy weather all manner of unlit craft were out from paddle boarders, kayaks, speed boats, angling boats, etc, so Radar essential so as not to run over anybody, but we were pootling along at displacement speeds anyway. Arrived 23:10 and dropped the hook for the night then work up to this view above.



Temps got up to 30ºC in July, last week 28ºC which is unusual in this part of the world


Happy days on a relaxed boat on auto helm for hours on end


This was our first season with the new electric tender which proved a success, having got rid of our previous 3.5m rib with its 30hp. No more smelly petrol to handle nor mix, just a removable battery that lasts 3-4 days use as a tender (eg ashore 4 times a day with the 2 dogs for 'walkies' and provisions). 3m tender light as a feather on the davits. Palby 1852 outboard light enough to store inside the cruiser when we are away. Its only 4hp but plenty good enough to get ashore from anywhere we anchored.

 

[Greg2]

Great pics and it sounds as though you had a grand time. I would like to visit your cruising ground if we get to do a U.K. circumnavigation, with a detour to visit the Emerald Isle, in our retirement.

Also interested in your experience with an electric outboard after messing about with a reluctant two stroke this weekend!

 

[oceanfroggie]

Great pics and it sounds as though you had a grand time. I would like to visit your cruising ground if we get to do a U.K. circumnavigation, with a detour to visit the Emerald Isle, in our retirement.

Also interested in your experience with an electric outboard after messing about with a reluctant two stroke this weekend!

We used to have a 3.5 console rib with 30hp tender on the davits for years, but the children have grown up and now we just need a tender, and we wanted something lighter and easier to transport home for the winter, so switched to 3m air floor tender with 4hp electric outboard. Now on coastal trips if the sea gets a bit lumpy we don't have to slow down as much to protect the strain on the davits from 250kg of rib strapped up to it. Also this tender deflates and folds up for trip home in the boot of the car as does the electric outboard. Removeable battery charges in 2 hours off shore power. No noise, no petrol, no back strain from pulling a stuborn 5hp petrol motor.

You'd be very welcome to visit our cruising ground, but on the way enjoy the Cork/Kerry coast before entering the inland Shannon via Limerick and the hydroelectric dam lock (102ft) which has a max air draft of 3.7m as does Killaloe bridge 15km upstream. But once on the Shannon you've 350 miles of navigable loughs, lakes and rivers between the Shannon and Erne lakes in Northern Ireland. Don't recommend going north of Lough Derg or especially Lanesborough for deeper drafted vessels (ie > 4'6"). But its a magical paradise and non tidal with excellent infrastructure and no mooring fees in the public harbours and public marinas.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Lough Key on the North Shannon not far from the link to the Erne in NI

 

[alt]

Hi N,
Thanks as always for sharing pics, looks fab!

 

[IDAMAY]

Brings back memories of my first ever boating holiday in the very early sixties. We hired a small cruiser (too small) from Rooskey and cruised both Lough Rea and Lough Derg. Four young chaps in a 27 foot boat is a bit cramped and I must say we didn`t have any weather like yours. We still had a great time with fabulous people and the boating bug stuck from then on.

Thanks for the lovely photos.

 

[Greg2]

We used to have a 3.5 console rib with 30hp tender on the davits for years, but the children have grown up and now we just need a tender, and we wanted something lighter and easier to transport home for the winter, so switched to 3m air floor tender with 4hp electric outboard. Now on coastal trips if the sea gets a bit lumpy we don't have to slow down as much to protect the strain on the davits from 250kg of rib strapped up to it. Also this tender deflates and folds up for trip home in the boot of the car as does the electric outboard. Removeable battery charges in 2 hours off shore power. No noise, no petrol, no back strain from pulling a stuborn 5hp petrol motor.

You'd be very welcome to visit our cruising ground, but on the way enjoy the Cork/Kerry coast before entering the inland Shannon via Limerick and the hydroelectric dam lock (102ft) which has a max air draft of 3.7m as does Killaloe bridge 15km upstream. But once on the Shannon you've 350 miles of navigable loughs, lakes and rivers between the Shannon and Erne lakes in Northern Ireland. Don't recommend going north of Lough Derg or especially Lanesborough for deeper drafted vessels (ie > 4'6"). But its a magical paradise and non tidal with excellent infrastructure and no mooring fees in the public harbours and public marinas.

We too have had the larger RIB (still have an AB aluminium hulled RIB languishing in the garage) but a very lightweight 3D tender came with the current boat and it sits nicely on snap davits. Easy to launch and it folds into a large bag with shoulder straps so easy to transport. The electric outboard sounds like a good option.

Handy to know the max air draft to get onto the Shannon - we are 3.44m so it sounds as though we would be okay. I would like to get all the way up to the Erne as SWMBO hails from the north but when I looked into it I concluded that we wouldn't get under all the bridges. Sounds as though there is plenty to do in the south and the coast would definitely be on the agenda.

 

[Dino]

You might squeeze up the Shannon Erne Waterway. I know a Moonraker 35 Flybridge can fit under Leitrim Bridge.
You could spend a full Summer just doing Cork Harbour to the Shannon Estuary. It is a fantastic cruising ground but some of the really nice spots are a bit weather dependent.
I must write up a log of my trip from Lough Ree to Baltimore this year.

 

[Dino]

Here’s a few snaps from our trip to Kerry and Cork this year

Valentia Island looking north towards Dingle Bay

Dromquinna Manor and Boathouse Restaurant on Kenmare Bay. The owner just took delivery of a Red Bay 14.5M rib.

Dromquinna sunset

 

[Dino]

Bunaw Pier in Kilmakilloge Harbour on the Southern shore of Kenmare Bay

Bunaw Pier, Open Crab Sandwiches and pints of Murphy’s from Helen’s Bar. Heaven

 

[Dino]

My 1982 Broom Crown stretching her legs between Dursey Sound and Mizen Head. We saw lots of dolphins and a few whales that day.

Dursey Sound with Ireland’s only cable car

Mizen Head with the Nigel Irens designed 60 footer Molly Bán passing inside.

 

[Dino]

Crookhaven - definitely one of my favourite spots

Great mooring close to the pier

Later that evening the clouds rolled in

 

[AndieMac]

Hi Noel

Good to see another cruising report from an amazing part of the world, and your boat still looks great, cheers

 

[oceanfroggie]

We too have had the larger RIB (still have an AB aluminium hulled RIB languishing in the garage) but a very lightweight 3D tender came with the current boat and it sits nicely on snap davits. Easy to launch and it folds into a large bag with shoulder straps so easy to transport. The electric outboard sounds like a good option.

Handy to know the max air draft to get onto the Shannon - we are 3.44m so it sounds as though we would be okay. I would like to get all the way up to the Erne as SWMBO hails from the north but when I looked into it I concluded that we wouldn't get under all the bridges. Sounds as though there is plenty to do in the south and the coast would definitely be on the agenda.

3.44m should no problem getting all the way up the Shannon, then along the Shannon-Erne waterway to the Erne system through upper Lough Erne and then down to the broad lough (lower Lough Erne a vast inland sea)

 

[oceanfroggie]

Inside Ardnacrusha Hydro Dam upper lock chamber on the way down. Its a 102ft drop between the two chambers to get down to the tidal level. An awesome experience that never ceases to amaze despite doing it for 20 years.

 

[Greg2]

3.44m should no problem getting all the way up the Shannon, then along the Shannon-Erne waterway to the Erne system through upper Lough Erne and then down to the broad lough (lower Lough Erne a vast inland sea)

Many thanks, that is very good to know ?