30th May - Digby Bridge to Lucan Bridge

After a day off yesterday, Claire and I are back on the boat

Repairs have been completed by the incredible Mick Kinahan, a volunteer mechanic with Inland Waterways, once manager of a huge fleet of trucks owned by Dublin City Council, and formerly a mechanic and mechanic tutor for the Irish army. An angel for us as he not only got us going but continued to check us on much of this afternoon's journey.



It is crucial for us to make it to at least, Hazelhatch this evening, but Mick advises us to aim higher and get to Lucan Bridge, a couple of miles beyond Hazelhatch as this would save us from a very early rise the next day.

4:30 pm, I arrive at the boat, still at Digby Bridge near Sallins, Claire is already here, and Mick is too. He has comleted the mechanical work needed and we are ready to go.

4:50 pm, we are making great progress but the canal section around Sallins is shallow and very weedy. We need to stop frequently to clean up the weed filter and to release the prop and rudder of weed. Fortunately that currently does not involve leaping into the water this time. Switching the engine into reverse from time to time is sorting this out for now.

Sailing over the Leinster Aqueduct is interesting. This aqueduct takes the Grand Canal over the Liffey River here ...



... and here is the Liffey River below



5:30 pm, sailing through Sallins, and the side of the canal is lovely, with several residential house boats we have to manoevre around



6:30 pm, arriving at the Devonshire Bridge area locks



Weed filter blockage needs to be sorted out sort out again, the loose weeds are still very bad around here.

Now this is a very pleasant section of canal, as it passes through the estate of Lyons House. Well manacured around here, of course, and a change of flora.



9:30 pm, we have reached Hazelhatch, which was our first intended desitnation. Here is just how we were told it is. This is quite a village of houseboats including some amazing huge heritage barge boats.



And here is this wonderful restoration by Joe Treacy, chairman of the Heritage Boat Association of Ireland.

Dick Warner's boat is the smaller boat behind him, but I did not get a close up pic of that.

9:50 pm, Yes, we have made it further than expected, as we arrive at Lucan Bridge, just as Mick had suggested we should do. Lock keeper here, John, is a very gentle smiling man, very helpful and informative. He advises us that mooring here is safe, and the area is covered by security and security cameras.



So, now it is time for a good meal, sleep and be refreshed for tomorrow,
for the water journey into Dublin

28th May - Lowtown to Digby Bridge

Yes, another hot sunny morning again into 20sC and 70sF. Moored in Lowtown
advertised as having full services, including toilets, and showers.

Alas, these new facilities are not open. Why?
Health and Safety reasons, of course!

Apparently the cleaning contractors pulled out a couple of months ago and the tenders are still out to replace them. The process may still take another month or two.

Now what do we have here in Lowtown moorings surrounding the showers and toilets? lots of unemployed boathouse people taking up all of the avasilable mooring space who do know how to use a mop, cleaners, cloths and water. In short, I'm boggled as I have heard much about how waterways tourism is being built up on the Grand Canal.
Not while the Government is running the show.

I wonder if the boathouse people could form a tourism enterprise co-operative. It would be hard as we are considered to be the enemy. Our presence is a threat on the future of their dole money, it seems, or so they may think

11:00 am, we are through the Lowtown Lock. Jim the lock keeper there is an incredibly informative person. It was a joy to listen and learn from his tales. I wish we could have blethered longer.

A few minutes later we are passing the very peaceful and beautiful Robertstown.

Then we hit our biggest challenge so far. The weed and reeds are suddenly awful on this stretch, sticking out from the water in places, and the canal was shallow too. The fish love it. We watch huge shoals of roach rud, perch and bream darting around and a long large pike waiting to pounce.

Then ahead, three weed cutting boats creating a carpet of floating weed ...

And so it has happened. The engine has conked out
and Claire volunteers to jump in the water to untangle the prop.

It is lucky that this is, again, an unusual hot summer's day. I tried the shifting the engine into reverse to untangle weed, but it was too much.

After Claire cleared the weed we are soon on our way again, but this stretch is an endless stream of weed. The boat's weed filters are unable to cope with this. Every couple of hundred yards we seize up and Claire jumps into the water to untangle again.

Eventually, the boat engine could not take any more of this so ...

1:00 pm, we limp into the mooring on the far side of the Digby Bridge lock
and the engine has shut down.

We discover that there is a good marine suppliers just a few miles away in Naas,
We visited but they were out of stock of parts we needed, but they did immediately order them for fast delivery by Courier.

Now, all we could do is go home for awhile, Claire to Dublin, and me to Carrowcrory and attend to some domestic affairs as well as Inland Waterways affairs. Maybe its a good idea to do these among the comforts of a fitted bathroom and instantly available hot water.

If you have a Facebook account click here to view the full photo album from today

27th May - Daingean to Lowtown

8:00 am up for a walk and 9:00 am brekkie. Its another sunny 20s C (70s F) day. I suspect we will be cruising by 10:00 am and this time will will not be a day held up by passing through locks. I think we will just have one today, compared to 7 yesterday. Robertstown is the goal as there are repair people there.

These stocks above are by where we are moored in Daingean, and we assume its for boat owners who fail to pay their Grand canal lock, mooring and permit fees.

Our important goal is to be in Dublin by June 2nd because of a railway swing bridge in Dublin on the Union Canal that opens on June 3rd and then not again until September. That will be quite a flotilla passing over the bridge both directions that day, I believe.

10:00 am, we are still into breakfast and I'm stillblogging. A houseboat passes us at incredible speed, skippered by a man who looks just like Mike Absalom.

I do not know if I have blogged this before, but I have grown to understand why all nautical men seem to have beards. Its a real pain trying have a shave on a boat. I now have a bit of a nautical bristle too. Someone once told me that nautical men are naughty, anyway.

We are expecting an easier pleasant day today as we are now on the peak level of the canal with no locks to pass through for several hours. The weather is still the same warm sunny blue sky summer weather that has blessed our journey so far.

So I will record some of our leisurely site of the day as we sail along the Grand Canal, starting with our interesting maneuver around this classic heritage barge boat moored at Toberdaly Bridge.

We did not stop to try and find the Tobar, the well.

Under this Bord Na Mona railway line lifting bridge, that we were grateful to have up
and allow us through.

Lots of long big sky straight lengths of water now.

... and some other people have fun on these too.

There's a bit of woodland near Edenderry.

... but I did not get any pics of the Edenderry canal branch.

Then we headed into more straight water with lots of sky.

And these fellas having fun around where there was once a bridge.

6:00 pm, we reach our first lock of the day, lock 20 in a wilderness, said to be near Ticknevin.

The woman here looking to me like someone out of an A.A. Milne book, like Now We Are Six, with that hat and frock :-).

Someone here who knows how to relax by the waterside.

We are approaching Lowtown.

7:30 pm we arrive in Lowtown, and have to moor outside of the harbour as all of the spaces are taken up by house boats and wrecked abandoned boats.

A couple of the abandoned dreams here.

There's not much space for passer by visitors here.

But to our surprise, our friends Corrina and John turn up with a picnic again. This time its the full spread with a couple of big wicker picnic baskets full of gourmet goodies. Sharing a picnic on a beautiful sunny Sunday evening by the canal bank, can't beat it. This was so kind of them.