Day Four- Mullingar to Ballinacarrigy

The weather forecast for today was poor and we expected a soaking but it was actually the best day of the week. We had planned on covering only 20km as there were 10 locks to pass through, and the locks near Mullingar had taught us a hard lesson.

We were in the water by 10.30 in a built up area, and there was some strong wind to contend with. After leaving Mullingar the wind died down and the sun came out. I thought this section was beautiful; more like a slow flowing river without the uniform banks of the canal earlier. There were some lock keepers cottages expanded into impressive homes and we found a really nice harbour with picnic benches to take our lunch. We met a walker here who was walking the Royal Canal path to raise money for a cancer charity.

The fact that we had only 20 km to do meant we were more relaxed mentally and we developed a steady pace and really enjoyed the scenery. We were a bit slower but it didnt matter and we arrived at the meeting point at about 4pm. Ethan had a go in the canal basin here, even had a go at paddling- maybe a future canoeist! I was really physically and mentally tired Thursday night, starting to feel the cumulative effect of so much exercise.

Tomorrow we will leave the canal after 10 km and enter the River Inny. We have never covered this and are unsure how rapidly it flows. On the 'song of the paddle' canoe forum I heard from Ciaran who had canoed it a few months ago which was reassuring to know that it can be done.

Day Three- Hill of Down to Mullingar

Meara praying for an outboard motor...

The weather forecast for the past three days had been 'cloudy but dry, cloudy with light showers and showers with some sunshine.' In actual fact all three mean the same- clouds and rain with the occasional sunny patch. At least the first days had been still. Today unfortunately it was starting to get windy and inevitably the wind was blowing against us.


We had difficulty getting up this morning. Dead to the world, and so a little late in leaving and setting off. Hazel and family turned up to wave goodbye which was lovely. This stretch from Hill of Down to Killucan had clear water and was full of fish- huge shoals of them. Its also one of the most picturesque parts of the canal. The locks are pretty but with 8 of them in quick succession they became a horrible sight. The canoe is a 158 Discovery by Old Town, a lovely canoe for a family but when you have to keep taking it out the water and dragging it, its a little bit heavy.


We made great time on the first stretch; and covered the 13 km to Killucan very quickly. It was encouraging to be canoeing patches of the canal we were familiar with, having used them for training. Even better because I had left the map and waterproof bag in the car so we were canoeing blind.

At Killucan northwards there are eight locks in short succession. This section was really slow and soon began to take its toll on my legs. In many places you can see the next lock from the top of the last.

After Killucan you also enter peaty soil and the water changes to a reddish brown.


By one o'clock we were very optomistic that we were well ahead of schedule, which wasnt too sensible given that we had no map. 24km also seem a lot longer when you have to keep taking the canoe in and out of the water. The next section the water turned muddy brown and the weeds started to clog up the canal. We met Waterways Ireland staff later with a broken down dredger.

By three o'clock we had left the N4 and thought we were nearly at the pick up point. The wind, weeds and tiring arms meant we still a had a way to go. We did manage to overtake a motor boat on this stretch which was good for the ego. We finally arrived in Mullingar about 4.45. I was so happy to see the finish line, and so happy that having reached Mullingar we could have a rest day on Wednesday and a massage to look forward to tonight!

Day Two- KIlcock to Longwood (monday)

The first five minutes paddling were hard work until aching muscles started working and until Meara woke up. We left Tracy and Ethan feeding the ducks and headed out, racing a six year old boy amused at the rarity of a canoe on the canal. Once we had left Kilcock, this stretch of canal is amazingly featureless until Enfield. Whole open stretches for miles with no locks and no sign of any roads or even houses. When the highlight of the day is splashing a cow and laughing because Meara fell in the canal you realise not alot has happened!

Lots more fish including plenty of pike and perch, but the water much clearer than closer to Dublin.

We were both tired in the afternoon. Meara had a lie down......

We saw our first moving boat today, and went on our first little viaduct as the canal goes over a river. We were going so well we decided to press on an extra 4 km from the planned stop off and finished at the lovely canal side pub at Hill of Down. Google maps had failed Tracy and she had got lost so we went in the pub for a guiness and coke/ bag of crisps. Lovely.

Day One. Sunday 1st of August

Last night I had the canoe on the car and all the gear stacked up ready to go. The main task in the morning was making sandwiches and getting Meara out of bed (the latter the most difficult). We took the new road to Dublin and got there quickly- there is never any traffic on a Sunday morning. We found a good spot for unloading on double yellow lines next to the 'Royal Canal Park' in north Dublin.

We unloaded well and said our good byes. Then we encountered the first problem- having put the boat in the water we found it was clogged with horrible algae. So thick we couldnt pass through it. So the first km we had to drag the canoe along the bank, which was a back breaking start to the day and drew quite a sweat. Fortunately, although we were to come across many weedy sections after this, this was the only section with such disgusting algae.

After leaving the M50 viaduct and passing a couple of locks the canal soon enters lovely countryside. The steep wooded banks of this section mean that you pass through built up areas without seeing any urbanisation apart from some rubbish in the water and the odd bridge.

After the carrying section, the paddling seemed really easy. Meara was a star and did really well on this morning. We had trained alot earlier in the year but with exams and holidays we hadn't done much training recently and I was beginning to worry if the first day target of 29km was a bit optimistic. We amused ourselves here by counting things in the water. Here's a short list



- about 3500 empty cans of cheap lager

- about 30 footballs

-10 shopping trolleys

-5 bikes

- 1 trike

- luckily 0 corpses!



After the first three hours ( probably 10 km) the canal starts to enter more open countryside and the number of cans decreases and the banks flatten allowing more light. The number of fish was phenomenal in this section; shoals of roach and rudd, perch and the odd marauding pike hung in water.

In the afternoon the pace slowed a little but the canal was interesting with spaced locks and lots of bridges. There were walkers and fisherman (all Polish apparently) to say hi to, but not a single moving boat in the whole 29 km stretch.



Arriving into Kilcock to be collected we met a very welcome welcome party. And home for a bath and curry!

Why?

Good question really. To be honest because I dont know of anyone who has done it. Because I could raise money for charity. To spend time with Meara. To see some beautiful parts of ireland. To keep fit. Just because I can. All are valid answers. Why not eh?

We decided to try canoeing across Ireland- and not necessarily using the easiest route. We wanted to go down the Royal Canal as it passes through Co Meath- our county. It also passes very close to Meara's school in Mullingar. From the starting point in Dublin we will pass through County Dublin, County Kildare, County Meath and Westmeath before transferring the canoe to the River Inny, which we haven't done before. I am of the opinion which is not commonly shared by sensible people that descending a river is much more exciting if you dont know what is ahead of you. We then enter into the large Loch Ree and through this to start the descent of the Shannon- at this point there is at least some river flow to help us to our destination of Limerick.