Geography and the scarcity of bridging points in the Shannon dictated this was going to be the longest section of our journey- some 35 km down the Shannon. Even given the flow of the River this was going to be a long section and need a bit of willpower.
The first test was getting up at 7.30 at a weekend to try and get in the water by 9. We nearly made it but the lovely breakfast at the Sheraton held us up a bit. We set off at a fast pace and made about 7-8 Km in the first hour, although as sections of the river were wide and slow flowing and with some cross wind to hinder us this wasnt going to be a pace we could maintain.
Cruisers obviously don't set out till after 10 and we had the river to ourselves in the morning- apart from the numerous herons, ducks and swans and one kingfisher.
By about lunchtime we canoed off the only map I had of the area and onto a poor scale google print out. We could see there was a split in the river and took a left hand branch that soon picked up speed and was taking us a long quite fast. I thought this was great until I saw the bridge with the sign ' beware of sluices'. Meara asked the question 'whats a sluice?' and i couldn't really remember so i replied ' its the opposite of s'tight' (i have an unusual sense of humour ) and we paddled on. Soon we came to a bridge with gates closed and only one fully open, through which the water poured through in a torrent and dropped down a few feet. By the time we could see what it was it was too late to backpaddle so we went through at full speed to the by now common cry of 'paddle hard!' from me. The gate wasnt very wide but we managed a good line and shot through with only my right leg getting a soaking. The river continued to flow fast for another 2-3 KM, coming out near Victoria dock. All great fun and saving us at least half an hour of paddling.
On the next section there was a childs camp and lots of speedboats with people learning to wakeboard. It looked like fun but after the lovely quiet sections of river we had just passed the noise of the powerboats was intrusive.
Apart from passing through Banagher there was not a lot of civilisation until we arrived in Portumna. We arrived there at about 3.30. Very tired but with a great sense of acheivement that 35 km was an acheivable distance. Just south of Portumna bridge is Loch Derg, and there is now only this long thin lake and a short section of the Shannon between us and Limerick- the end is in sight.
Unfortunately on Monday i had a small operation and Mear went off to England for a week so the last leg would have to wait another week or two..
The first test was getting up at 7.30 at a weekend to try and get in the water by 9. We nearly made it but the lovely breakfast at the Sheraton held us up a bit. We set off at a fast pace and made about 7-8 Km in the first hour, although as sections of the river were wide and slow flowing and with some cross wind to hinder us this wasnt going to be a pace we could maintain.
Cruisers obviously don't set out till after 10 and we had the river to ourselves in the morning- apart from the numerous herons, ducks and swans and one kingfisher.
By about lunchtime we canoed off the only map I had of the area and onto a poor scale google print out. We could see there was a split in the river and took a left hand branch that soon picked up speed and was taking us a long quite fast. I thought this was great until I saw the bridge with the sign ' beware of sluices'. Meara asked the question 'whats a sluice?' and i couldn't really remember so i replied ' its the opposite of s'tight' (i have an unusual sense of humour ) and we paddled on. Soon we came to a bridge with gates closed and only one fully open, through which the water poured through in a torrent and dropped down a few feet. By the time we could see what it was it was too late to backpaddle so we went through at full speed to the by now common cry of 'paddle hard!' from me. The gate wasnt very wide but we managed a good line and shot through with only my right leg getting a soaking. The river continued to flow fast for another 2-3 KM, coming out near Victoria dock. All great fun and saving us at least half an hour of paddling.
On the next section there was a childs camp and lots of speedboats with people learning to wakeboard. It looked like fun but after the lovely quiet sections of river we had just passed the noise of the powerboats was intrusive.
Apart from passing through Banagher there was not a lot of civilisation until we arrived in Portumna. We arrived there at about 3.30. Very tired but with a great sense of acheivement that 35 km was an acheivable distance. Just south of Portumna bridge is Loch Derg, and there is now only this long thin lake and a short section of the Shannon between us and Limerick- the end is in sight.
Unfortunately on Monday i had a small operation and Mear went off to England for a week so the last leg would have to wait another week or two..
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