Day Six- Ballymahon to Athlone.

Today was to be a mix of River and Lake; we covered the last 5-6 Km of the River Inny to enter Loch Ree and then having covered some 17-18 Km of Loch we entered The River Shannon for a couple of Km before arriving at Athlone.

Tracy, Meara, Elliott and Ethan were to meet us there, and Mick and myself drove ourselves to Ballymahon, arriving at about 10. It was strange having someone else in teh canoe- I had got used to Meara and his paddling technique. The first section was fast moving, with a few white water sections but not quite as hairy as the day before. After a few Km the nature of the river changed and slowed, until soon we paddling against wind and small waves. We took a short break just before entering the lake properly.

Entering the lake was breathtaking- the expanse of water ahead of you is like entering a small sea. The wind is also strong and we were immediately heading in choppy water against the wind and finding it hard work. Choppy water soon became waves and we were forced to zig zag against and with the waves to avoid taking water on board. Mick certainly could paddle stronger than Meara but both of us were soon tiring. I was a little nervous 500m out in the middle of the lake with waves getting larger and not a soul in sight. We were glad of the first rest which we took in the lea of a small island ( soon to christened Bird Poo Island- I have no idea of its real name as I only had a poor Google maps print out for this section).

After the rest we rounded a headland and the wind was now from behind us and to our right for a way. Even so we had to constantly adjust and try and take shelter behind any islands- which meant our route was far from direct and added Kms to the 26 or so we had planned for the day.

As we headed further south we began to see more boats- the odd speed boat and troutfisherman but mainly rented cruisers. The last section before entering the mouth of the Shannon was the worst as the winds had travelled the length of the lake and was now from our right. The waves were breaking and were in sections over three feet. To avoid capsizing we had to paddle directly into the waves and a number of times waves crashed over the side and I had to try and combine paddling hard to stay on track with frantic scooping of water out the boat with a small plastic scoop. All this was very tiring and once we took the corner and had Athlone in sight we coasted for a while.

The last two Km into Athlone we took slowly, waving at passing cruisers and tour boats. As we arrived under the bridge the sun shone and we forgot the wind and the waves. We left the boat and carried bags and paddles into town to try and find Tracy. Walking down the high street and into the main shopping centre we wondered why everyone was staring at us!Tracy had made us some T shirts which we wore with pride the next day;