Subject: Trip report: Irish Grand Canal Part 1 (long)
From: bjg@wordwrights.ie (Brian J Goggin)
Date: 1999/04/09
Newsgroups: uk.rec.waterways

Although we've been boating on Irish inland waterways (the Shannon and
its lakes) for about twenty years, we've never been on a "real" canal.
We've done the Shannon-Erne Waterway, part of which is a canal, but it
has push-button locks, landing stages, shower-blocks and all modern
conveniences. I'm all in favour of them, but they somehow seem to make
the experience easier than it should be.

This year, we decided that we should get off the Shannon and spend the
summer on the River Barrow, which runs into the sea near Waterford on
Ireland's south-east coast. That meant travelling from the Shannon
along the Grand Canal, eastwards in the direction of Dublin, but
turning right at Lowtown where a branch of the Grand Canal links to
the River Barrow at Athy.

Over the winter, our boat --- a 34-foot GRP Elysian Discovery,
probably 32 years old, with a Mercedes diesel and a hydraulic drive
--- was in a boatyard at Portumna, at the north end of Lough Derg,
having osmosis treatment. When we decided to head for the canals, we
commissioned some further work:

- a bathing platform with fold-down ladder. Its main purpose was to
get the gas-bottles out of the cabin for safety's sake: there was no
deck-space where they could be put

- outboard brackets, so that the outboards and petrol for our dinghies
could be stowed outside the cabin

- a new, safer cooker. We got rid of the fridge too

- a weed hatch. Uncommon in cruisers, but we felt it would be worth it

- twin large-diameter weed filters with see-through tops. They were
suggested by a friend who had taken a similar boat on the same route
last year and who had been forced to stop every twenty minutes to
clear the original (small) filter ftted in the boat. However, he had
not gone until May; we decided to go in April, before the weed-growth
on the canal began in earnest.

Our preparations also included asking lots of questions on the IWAI's
waterways mailing-list; we got helpful answers from many people. There
were different views about how long it would take, so we got advice on
possible mooring-places along the way.

We also bought two lock-keys, two secondhand bikes, two
walkie-talkies, guides to the Grand Canal and the Barrow and a £100
licence giving unlimited rights to moor and to use locks on the canals
and Barrow for a year.

We --- wife Anne, daughter Carolan (14), son Ian (10) and large hairy
dog --- took the day off on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, and
brought two cars to Portumna. After loading the boat and filling with
water, we drove to Rahan, 30th Lock on the Grand Canal, to leave one
car. Jim Ridgway, IWAI Offaly Branch Chairman, lives there, but he was
away; the lockkeeper, however, allowed us to park a car in a small
quarry he owns.

Then back in the other car to Portumna, on to the boat and off up the
River Shannon in glorious sunshine. We wanted to get to Shannon
Harbour, the western end of the Grand Canal, that evening. But about
ten minutes out, I noticed that the automatic bilge pump was running
... and running ... and running. Had we sprung a leak? Had something
fallen off? Should we return to Portumna?

I know very little about engines or about the other systems in a boat
(I learn a little more every year) but I set off to find the source of
the problem. No water at the stern, where I feared that the new
weed-hatch or the rudder stock might have caused a problem. No water
under the engine. None under the kitchen floor. Under the loo floor
... bingo! Several pipes; time to work out what they all were: loo
water intake, loo outlet pipe, domestic water supply pipes. I looked
along them: a pipe to the shower had come out of its Instantor T-joint
fitting. I switched off the water pump; the bilge cleared in minutes.
So we were safe, but we had no water left.

On in the sunshine, through Meelick Lock. It's one of the big Shannon
locks, operated by a keeper. We just have to hang on to the ropes and
pay the small fee (Shannon locks and bridges are not covered by the
£100 licence for the canals). There were two Portumna-based hire-boats
in the lock with us; we had also met several hire-boats on their way
downstream, probably having been hired for the weekend from the two
Banagher hire-companies. Several seemed to be in the hands of groups
of younger folk with partying in mind --- or partying already started.

After Meelick, we were almost rammed by a hire-boat whose driver (the
word seems suitable) seemed not to understand the rule of the road. We
survived and passed through Banagher town. Above it, we met
*Linquenda*, a Dutch barge, heading downstream with the
recently-restored Dutch sailing-barge *Schollevaer* lashed alongside.
Later, just below Shannon Harbour, we overtook a canal-boat heading
north. But most private owners must have been working on Friday.

Then we turned left into Shannon Harbour, tied up below the 36th lock
(they're numbered from Dublin) and set out to tackle a lock by
ourselves for the first time. I managed it, with Ian's advice, while
Anne and Carolan handled the boat. Then, while they drove the boat on
towards the Harbour proper, I closed the top gates and raised one
paddle in the bottom gate, in accordance with the instructions in the
official guide. I then hobbled after the boat towards the second of
the locks that guards the entrance to the Harbour --- only to see a
canal-boat coming down through that lock. I was sure that, when they
reached the lower lock, they would be cursing me for emptying it.

I made it to the second lock and got the boat through it. We found a
space by the bank with a water-tap nearby and prepared a large pot of
coddle while Ian amused himself --- and some onlookers --- by racing
his radio-controlled boat up and down the Harbour. It does 20 km/h,
about twice the top speed of our boat, but happily causes no wash,
being less than two foot long and very light.

We went to bed early that night, having successfully managed to work
through two manual locks. Not a big deal for those who are used to it,
perhaps, but they say you always remember your first time ....

Two more instalments available, if anyone's interested.

bjg