Dingle Cruise - Story coming soon

Mike k said:
only one word for this thread/report.....brilliant!
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Thanks guys for the kind comments. We had planned to do this trip to the Galway area, visiting the city marina docks, the Arran Islands (Fr Ted's craggy island) and Rossaveal, but at the last minute had another look at the Atlantic weather and decided instead to explore Kerry once more and we are glad we did. The folding Brompton bikes were invaluable and we used them everywhere including cycling along the edge of some amazing beeches. I hit a "soft sand" pothole and did a 360 degree head over heals but no injury TG.

Overview of the trips route
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More detailed view of the Shannon Estuary which connects to the inland Shannon navigation at the hydro dam near Limerick city.
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One funny incident occurred while overnighting at one of the Anchorages. Late one evening before dinner sitting in the aft cockpit, and I moved swiftly to go down the steps into the saloon to get some nibbles, when I stepped on a tray my beloved "Frogette" had left on the top step, I saw my two legs flying into the air and the ceiling of the saloon come into view just before the crunch as I landed hard on my back and arms onto the tray and steps - thoughts racing through my head at the instant of impact varied from "I'm in big trouble for stepping on and ruining the lovely dinner" to "My cloths are going to be a bit guey" to "Oh this is going to really hurt" - bang smash crash as I hit the steps and bounced down onto the saloon floor. Numbness at first, then my wrist started to swell like a balloon before the pain started to announce its arrival making the lesser back hip and legs pain seem irrelevant. But boy was I lucky as I hadn't broken anything, and more importantly I had stepped on an empty tray and had NOT ruined the dinner. My own silly fault. Pain killers are wonderful things.

Memories of our time in Kerry will never fade, cycling down narrow lanes exploring mad little out of the way places, views from hill tops, ice cream parlours, jazz cafes, and some superb cuisine.
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Farewell Tralee bay and your silky sand beeches - Little Samphire light house
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Always been a big fan of your cruise reports Noel, from the excellent photographs, word descriptions, navigational detail of the area, as well as being nicely personalised with your family.
You seem very proud of your homeland, and rightly so. Ten out of ten skipper :)
 
Great informative posts and super images as ever.

You set a high standard OF - thanks for posting.
 
Great report Noel
Last March i got an offer i couldnt refuse for Firstmate so sadly i left her go, in a way it wasnt such a bad idea as the season wasnt blessed with the best of weather . Looking forward to getting back on the water again.
J
 
AndieMac said:
Always been a big fan of your cruise reports Noel, from the excellent photographs, word descriptions, navigational detail of the area, as well as being nicely personalised with your family.
You seem very proud of your homeland, and rightly so. Ten out of ten skipper :)
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extremely well put andiemac
 
Somehow I missed this thread initially. Fantastic pics, OF. Amazing weather too. How come its never like that when I visit Ireland:D:D
 
Deleted User said:
Somehow I missed this thread initially. Fantastic pics, OF. Amazing weather too. How come its never like that when I visit Ireland:D:D
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Cheers guys. I'll post a few pics next week of the route from the inland Loughs through the hydro dam (below) to sea. There is a 102ft drop from the head race above to the tidal level below.

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Apologies for the 'bounce' but thought these two photos might give folks an idea of how awesome the lock passage through the hydro dam complex is. It takes about 50 minutes to descend the 102ft from the inland Shannon head race canal to the tidal tail race canal below the power station. This hydro dam is the gateway to the SW coast of Ireland.

Photo of Ocean Froggie halfway down the 102ft Ardnacrusha hydro dam lock back in 2013.
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Photo of a pals boat halfway down in 2013
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It that it quite a lock!

As an aside, I think that it is possible to get up to Lough Erne from the Shannon but is it possible to get all the way to the north coast or is the upper Erne as far as you can get?
 
The aerial photo shows how narrow the lock is, OF looks to be the perfect size for transiting the canal system. I can remember from previous posts years ago some low bridges in the system as well, you just fitted under.
 
Greg2 said:
It that it quite a lock! As an aside, I think that it is possible to get up to Lough Erne from the Shannon but is it possible to get all the way to the north coast or is the upper Erne as far as you can get?
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You can get from SW coast up the 320km of the Shannon, into the SEW waterway connecting ROI to NI, and then into the 120km Erne system in NI (Upper and Lower Loughs Erne).

No connection to the NW coast, nor NE coast yet! However the defunct Ulster canal if fully restored to SEW loading gauge would link the NE coast and Belfast to the Erne, and the Shannon. Lower Lough Erne is a vast inland sea and popular motor boat haven.

AndieMac said:
The aerial photo shows how narrow the lock is, OF looks to be the perfect size for transiting the canal system. I can remember from previous posts years ago some low bridges in the system as well, you just fitted under.
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The lock is bigger than you might think, about 6m wide and 35m long, so it can take quite large vessels as long as their minimum aircraft is not over 3.7m to fit under the guillotine gates. Same with Killaloe bridge which is actually the lowest on the Shannon. The bridges in Limerick city are tidal so no problem fitting under them except HW.

The lock is actually quite large, it just looks small in the aerial shot because the complex is so large. Large Princess and Fairline sports cruisers fit fine, but not the larger FB boats. No problems for Brooms, Atlantics, Haines, aft cabin designed, with their aft command helms. The larger Princess and Fairline FB boats arrive on the Shannon by road, can travel much of the 300km, just can't get out to sea, unlike the other popular brands.
 
Many thanks Ocean Froggie. I really enjoyed that and it brought back memories of places visited in childhood (my mother was originally from Limerick; Rathkeale in fact. They were settlers but might be outnumbered these days :D). The Shannon lock is amazing. Pity the height clearance is only 3.7m!
In post #22, first picture, is that a Garmin map? The river at the bottom listed "Brandon" river is of course the Bandon River that runs from Kinsale then thru the town of Bandon, where there is excellent fishing. Garmin make loads of mistakes like this.
Anyway, great pictures and commentary, thanks
 
Great post OF. Have come to this belatedly, but well worth the read. The sky's looked fantastic in many of the pics, much better weather than we got this side of the Irish Sea.
 
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