BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?

Subject: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 19 Jun 15 - 11:00 AM

We are contemplating renting a narrowboat and drifting down the Shannon for a week.

Who has some good advice on such a scheme?

Appreciate any tips, insights, warnings, delights you may have to offer.

Amos

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 19 Jun 15 - 11:05 AM

The Shannon is a big river, with a current (unlike a canal ) ; it would be most inadvisable , in my opinion, to "drift down it " ,and especially not in a "narrowboat" .

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 19 Jun 15 - 11:09 AM

Thanks, BR. The barges I am looking at are not as narrow as the traditional lock narrowboats; and I was speaking a bit poetically; I think I can manage the current. But if you have any advice on providers, sweet spots, etc., say on!

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 19 Jun 15 - 11:24 AM

I'd try the "Cruise Ireland" ( Carrick-craft)" website (I may even do it myself !) ; 300 hundred miles of cruising in both NI and Eire ; no previous boating experience needed ; full training given; no licence required; special deals /offers available : can't be bad, can it ??

Have fun !

Roger (ex-RN motor-boat coxswain and Thames lock-keeper ).

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: GUEST,Jim Martin
Date: 20 Jun 15 - 08:33 AM

If a Guiness barge can sink then I would say you would need to be very wary with a narrow boat in inclement conditions on the large water areas such as L.Derg!:



http://homepage.eircom.net/~iniscealtra/45m1.html

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 20 Jun 15 - 02:00 PM

Rise again, rise again! Great story, Jim. I don't "continue in spite of stormy conditions"; Discretion has always been part of survival at sea, in my book. And I won't be under commercial pressures to deliver on schedule. So no worries there. I was warned that the larger Loughscan get rambunctious in poor weather.

Does anyone know what the best (beautiful or interesting) stretches of the Shannon/Erne are? Would it be better to pick up at Athlone or Somewhere else? Any familarity with different providers?

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 20 Jun 15 - 02:26 PM

Used to live in Athlone and raced dinghies and small sailing cruisers on Lough Ree, the second largest lake on the Shannon, which lies just to the north of the town. Haven't lived there for many years but, coincidentally, was there on a visit last weekend.

The hire cruiser business uses modern motor-cruisers ranging from tiny two-berthers to rather palatial monsters! There are no "narrowboats" in the the British/English sense, as far as I know - they would be very unsuitable for the lakes, in particular.

The main hire centres are in Carrick-on-Shannon, in the north, Athlone in the centre and Portumna in the south - with smaller operations elsewhere.

I have no experience of Lough Erne, unfortunately.

If the idea firms up and you have particular questions, I'll do my best to answer - or reroute them!

Regards

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 20 Jun 15 - 02:34 PM

Incidentally, while I was in Athlone, I was speaking to some old friends who are involved in the local inland Royal National Lifeboat Institution service - they're kept busy!

Regards

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 20 Jun 15 - 02:36 PM

For a clearinghouse type site that brings some information together:

Click here

Regards

p.s. It's one bubblyrat suggested earlier, now that I look at it.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 21 Jun 15 - 03:42 PM

Very helpful, Martin. Many thanks. Do the clear skies usually hold through AUgust? I don't mind rain, but it mars the beauty a bit! :D

There is a plethora of hiring companies, some with plastic cruisers and some with more traditional barges and such. I am scrambling for information. The current idea is to go upstream from Athlone, and explore the ins and outs of the waterway, and then turn and run back down with the river.

Anyone else have any experience with the Shannon in summer? How strong the currents are, etc. I will go dig some more.

Regards,

A.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 21 Jun 15 - 05:52 PM

August is rarely a wicked month in Ireland - it often passes for high summer, as we know it! It's peak holiday period so early booking advisable - and some harbour/berthage areas will fill up early in the day.

Both "river stretches" - Portumna to Athlone and Lanesboro through to Lough Erne are interesting, tranquil areas, usually. For geological reasons, Lough Derg is a more interesting cruising ground than Lough Ree, with lots of small, safe harbours. Lough Ree is more restricted with few accessible refuges. If you start from Athlone and head north , take good advice from the hire companies - or call into Sean's Bar in Athlone where a lot of the boat-people hang out! You might even catch some music, there!

Currents are rarely a problem in high summer - shortage of water is more likely. That said, the water levels are to some extent controlled for hydroelectric purposes - your hire company should advise.

Regards.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 21 Jun 15 - 09:24 PM

Thanks again, Martin. Kind and courteous help is still a treasure on the Cat!

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Jim Martin
Date: 22 Jun 15 - 08:00 AM

The RNLI are currently warning boat users on L.Derg about the low water levels!

http://tippfm.com/news/warning_for_boat_users_on_lough_derg

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 Jun 15 - 11:18 AM

Hello, Amos

Do you like nature? Your question aroused my curiosity, and I started reading about small boats in Ireland. I like the description of boating on the Erne - more isolated, more scenery.

About rain - it rains a lot in Ireland, but if it just rains for a while, then quits, it is a lot more bearable than if a cold drizzle sets in and goes all day. See which kind of rain occurs most in various months.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 Jun 15 - 11:21 AM

"Lough Erne is a vast network of interconnecting loughs, rivers and backwaters unfolds and would take a lifetime to explore. These waters are framed by magnificent country - lush green rolling meadows give way to craggy uplands with spectacular cliffs that then lead on to uninterrupted open moorland. This is truly breathtaking lakeland, unrivalled throughout Europe.

From the loughs the night sky is jet black and studded with a panorama of brilliant stars. The long summer days are so peaceful - hardly another boat will interrupt your calm. There are numerous free moorings along the waterway, many on uninhabited islands - just you and your family.

Lower Lough Erne, the most northerly of the two loughs, is a great expanse of open water fringed by mountains and dotted with islands. Upper Lough Erne is filled with dozens of islands, so it is more like a meandering river than a lake. Some islands have jetties and offer perfect lunchtime picnic stops."
================
Upper Lough Erne sounds like a great place to get lost.

Subject: RE: BS: Boating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 15 Jul 15 - 11:56 AM

Well, the plans are laid, and the tickets booked, and the fingers are crossed.

But ya know, for all my love of Irish song and story, I am a Yank born and raised, and so the prospect of heading over to Eire is full of frissons of anticipatory delight and apprehension. Putting up the Shannon in a small cruising boat sounds like a grand thing to do, to my way of thinking, but I am also pondering a lot of unknowns--the intricacies of lock passages, understanding the broader accents, and hoping not to inadvertently step on any sensitive feelings about the past relationships with the English, for example. If I slip into singing an Orange song will I be excoriated? I suppose it can be complicated.

The present plan is to run north from Athlone up to Leitrim and then east along the Shannon-Erne waterway as far as schedule permits, allowing time for the return trip within the alloted days of hire. Then we'll be in Dublin for the rest of that lasst Saturday and all day Sunday, and fly back to North AMerica on Monday at the very end of August. I shall have my loveluy new (to me) Taylor guitar, and if any of you lovely 'Catters happen to be seen trotting along the banks of the Shannon, you will be welcomed aboard! :D There will be whiskey.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Jul 15 - 09:41 PM

I didn't know that Taylors made guitars.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Thompson
Date: 16 Jul 15 - 07:37 AM

The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland has plenty of information. (By the way, if you're looking for info, don't search for 'Eire', which is the name of the country only in the Irish language. Use 'Ireland' and you'll get results.)

Here's a video complete with diddly-eye music, of people enjoying their cruising holiday. If you're going to Leitrim, it might be nice to hire bikes for a day or a half-day and cycle around.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: MartinRyan
Date: 16 Jul 15 - 06:56 PM

Second attempt...
PM me with dates for Athlone - Leitrim?

Regards

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Jul 15 - 05:26 AM

Spotted a documentary on BBC2 last night. Don't know if you in a position to use BBC iPlayer but if so it may be worth you watching Ireland's Wild River.

Enjoy your holiday anyway :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 17 Jul 15 - 05:51 AM

Watched that last night DTG. a fascinating programme.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Will Fly
Date: 17 Jul 15 - 07:08 AM

I've just caught this on the iPlayer - stunning photography, a most engaging fella and a great programme. Well worth a watch!

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 17 Jul 15 - 11:12 AM

Martin, see PM with dates. That's how they look on paper, anyway.

Thanks all so much. HEre's a question: where might I find live sessions in Dublin and in spots along the Shannon north of aAthlone? ANyone know?

A

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: Amos
Date: 17 Jul 15 - 08:23 PM

Fraiche!

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 24 Jul 15 - 07:02 AM

Refreshing Amos's question: what good sessions are available for Amos et al in Dublin August 21 and 29/30? I'll bring them to Hughes's, maybe - is that still a good place for music? Where else? I don't get out much these days.

Subject: RE: BS: Narrowboating on the Shannon?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 24 Jul 15 - 10:10 AM

Hi, Amos

I see that in an earlier thread you mentioned the difficulty of understanding various accents. I have had guests from Ireland and Scotland, and I have found that they understand ME better (and they get more comfortable) if I slow down my speech.

Now, if only they would do the same...

I remember being in rural Ireland and being confused by a clerk in a shop who was saying 'golf links,' when I thought she was saying 'guard fence.'

However, if you slow down, you will cut confusion 50%, and that always helps. I hope you have a great trip. Please come back and tell us how it went.