My Irish adventure.

[oceanfroggie]

Killaloe on Friday night - PEJ's Haines 400 is just out of shot

On the left is the old disused canal that before 1925 was used by commercial traffic to navigable to Limerick city. On the right is the mighty river Shannon (360km long) about 1 mile south of Lough Derg. Since 1929 the tidal Shannon in Limerick is accessed by boats via the 102ft lock at the Hydro Electric Dam - Ardnacrusha. Killaloe was the ancient capital of Ireland and the seat of it's high king Brian Boru who defeated the Vikings circa 1000ad.

Killaloe on the southern shores of Lough Derg

 

[PEJ]

Ha!

I signed up to photobucket and I think I have worked out how to use it.

From Drumaan we moved on to Castle Harbour at Portumna. Here is a photo.

It is nice here, quite busy, we got one of the last two spaces left but some have come and gone since. Walked up past the castle to the town to find somewhere for food.

 

[blueglass]

whats the engine(s) in the haines? and how many berths?

 

[oceanfroggie]

Ha!

I signed up to photobucket and I think I have worked out how to use it.

From Drumaan we moved on to Castle Harbour at Portumna. Here is a photo.

It is nice here, quite busy, we got one of the last two spaces left but some have come and gone since. Walked up past the castle to the town to find somewhere for food.

Hi Peter. Good stuff.

We have fond memories playing hide and seek in the old monestary ruin along the driveway when our children were young. About 70yds behind your boat (ie westwards) at the end of that road there is a gate down a long tree lined lane into Portumna forest park which has fabulous walking trails, all on the flat. There is a good 'karting track' a short taxi drive from Portumna which the youngsters may enjoy. "Pallas Karting" about 5 miles north of Portumna. They have a junior track and the longest outdoor track in Ireland, and it's in the absolute middle of nowhere. Best to phone for availability. Hope you find one of the nice pubs with live music and good grub.

whats the engine(s) in the haines? and how many berths?

Specs here http://www.silverlinecruisers.com/silver-ocean.php

 

[oceanfroggie]

Ps. PM just sent

 

[pks1702]

Have to say we thoroughly enjoyed our Irish sojourn a couple of years ago, it is a stunning cruising area.

Thanks once again to OF who seems to do more for Irish Boating than the Irish Tourist Board

Thanks for the post Peter.

 

[PEJ]

whats the engine(s) in the haines? and how many berths?

It is a single Volvo, could not tell you what size but top speed is about 15 kilometres per hour (it's all kph over here). Two doubles and two singles as bunk beds. En suite to the aft cabin and en suite/day heads to the forward double. Dinette converts to small double. The only draw back is the inverter is only 1.5 kw and there is no 240v on shore power. Shore power only really charges the battery and powers the tv which we have not used. Unlike my boat there is no 240v water heater, you have to start the engines to get hot water. This was bugging me in the first few days but I have got used to it now.

 

[rafiki_]

It is a single Volvo, could not tell you what size but top speed is about 15 kilometres per hour (it's all kph over here). Two doubles and two singles as bunk beds. En suite to the aft cabin and en suite/day heads to the forward double. Dinette converts to small double. The only draw back is the inverter is only 1.5 kw and there is no 240v on shore power. Shore power only really charges the battery and powers the tv which we have not used. Unlike my boat there is no 240v water heater, you have to start the engines to get hot water. This was bugging me in the first few days but I have got used to it now.

Sounds quite a typical setup for a hire boat.

 

[PEJ]

Had a look around the castle at Portumna and got the 15:00 bridge lift. Motored on to Shannonbridge and got there at 19:00.

The old fort restaurant was closed on a Monday but we had a great time in Killeens with the wooden puzzles. Very friendly and my kids played with (I think) the landlord's nieces.

Shannonbridge is busy, had to raft.

Photos taken the next morning when a few spaces had become available.

 

[PEJ]

The Germans we rafted against wanted to be off early (9:30), so we set off too. Gave us time to visit Clonmacnoise, a monastery. Nice harbour but no facilities.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Hi Peter. Nice pics. If you are heading for Athlone town centre marina, the very inside fingers closest to the non floating walkway on the second most southern set of jetties may have a few free shore power sockets within reach of the first finger. The lock does not open until 0900am leaving you a 3hr run downstream to Banagher. Plenty of eateries in Athlone. The 'cutesy' part of town is on the western side of the river behind the castle (ie near Sean's bar, and restaurants such as The Locke). Noel

 

[PEJ]

We cruised on to Athlone and got there when the lock keeper was at lunch so we left the boat on the holding pontoon and went to the castle. So the only photos I have of Athlone are by the lock. The marina looked very nice though and right in the heart of the town.

After that we cruised all the way back to base at Banagher. There is a public harbour here if you are not using Sliverline.

This is the Silverline base.

 

[PatrickH]

Great account of your trip, pity the weather wasn't as good as ours. Had Silverline recovered the fridge door - the laminate cover fell off while we had it! lol

And I hope my original post wasn't seen as negative, far from it, I only a few minor points that would seem to have been resolved.

Patrick

 

[PEJ]

On our last night we went in to Banagher to eat. Went to Flynns, can't recommend it, the service was so slow. Food was ok though. Went across the road to Houghs bar for some traditional music.

So the adventure comes to an end. I would recommend the Shannon to anyone, it is very different to boating on the Solent and the Thames. Took us a while to get our heads around public marinas (harbours) but it is a good system. The harbours fall into 3 categories. Those with nothing nearby, those with a one or two shops/pubs and those in a decent sized town nearby. Of the later we only saw Killaloe, Banagher and Athlone. We wanted to eat at pubs each night but on reflection it would have been nice to have the faff of cooking offset by the beauty and tranquillity of some of the remote spots.

I preferred the lake to the river. The river is pretty but very much the same look every where.

How much you would like the boat depends on what your own boat is like. Coming from a 50ft with air con, genny, sprung mattresses and a full 240v system it was a bit of a come down but compared with our old sc38 it was much better.

I can't sign off before giving my thanks to all those who contributed to my request for advice. As with any trip in to new waters, local knowledge is very helpful and the knowledge picked up on here was invaluable. Special thanks to Noel, Ocean Froggie, without his help the trip would not have been half as enjoyable. I hope I can return the favour one day in Southampton, Noel.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Hi Peter

Glad you guys had a nice trip and it was lovely to meet you both. Yes, personally I find that mid stretch of the Shannon between Athlone and Banagher very boring with the exception of Shannonbridge itself. The north Shannon is much more scenic and interesting with it's hills and forests, especially Lough Key. We love the south Shannon and north Shannon but with the exception of Athlone and Lough Ree are happy to cruise through the mid Shannon as quickly as possible to get north. We came down that stretch of river from Athlone to Portumna in record time at 22kts two weeks ago when we got news our daughter had gone into labour with the imminent arrival of our first grand child expected (we did slow to full displacement speed well before passing any moored or slow vessels). We made it home in time for the happy arrival!

Despite the sad state of Banagher as a town, we have found Silverline's operation very good, some of our friends have chartered from them in recent years and had a good experience. Banagher is not a bad spot to start a cruise from because one has the option to head north or south, with Lough Ree only 3hrs away and Lough Derg only 2hrs away. If you visit the Shannon again, I would recommend trying trip that includes Lough Key in the north Shannon and Lough Ree, but personally I love the expanse of Lough Derg and all its hidden scenic anchorages.

How did you find the GPS chart coverage on Lough Derg? Hope to meet you again someday perhaps on the Shannon or at SIBS, or when we bring OF for a cruise to the UK.

All the best
Noel

PS: Did you manage to figure out the "T" puzzle? It can be very frustrating.

 

[PEJ]

Noel,

The chart plotter was adequate, it told you what direction to head in And roughly where you where. Having satellite maps and gps on the ipad was more useful though.

I got the T puzzle in the end!

 

[oceanfroggie]

I got the T puzzle in the end!

For the benefit of other readers, the "T puzzle" is to arrange these four pieces of wood into a symetric capital letter T. Last year as a visiting CIC, our crews had hours of fustraited fun in Killeen's pub trying to get it. Sometimes its simple things that can be fun.