Hello and welcome to the Driftwood Boat Blog. I'm Marion. I'm Harry, this is our boat Driftwood
and we're doing a bit of Irish Boating in the middle of November. It's, it's really
autumn weather but it's just glorious. It's lovely ye, and there's nobody around, it's
just so peaceful, it's beautiful. There's so many advantages to cruising in the middle
of winter and we'll get around to them all, so don't go away.
So when you're boating at this time of year you do need an independent source of heat
or you're going to freeze to death. We're lucky that we have an Eberspacher diesel heater
that heats the water and that heats a number of radiators for us. It's 12 volt and it runs
off the diesel that the engines run off as well so we're independent, we don't need to
to have a plug in for 240 volt. And it's really really warm. It is. Sometimes it can be warmer
than the house at home, like. It is because a boat is only a small area, it's not a huge
area to heat up, so you don't need a massive amount of heat. What I would love is a little
solid fuel stove but the layout .... We don't have any place on the boat. We don't the lay
out just doesn't really lend its self to it. Next boat! No we're not getting a next boat.
Do you know what? Sometimes I have to say that autumn cruising is almost better than
summer cruising because look at the beautiful colours you have here. Isn't that just absolutely
magnificent. So Marion is at the helm here now, We've to go underneath this bridge, and
it's just on a bend. And there is a bit of a run in the river so that kind of effects
the steering a small bit. It's all very picturesque.
Of course winter time means more water poring
over the weirs. And more of a flow in the river, when you're heading down river that
can make your steering a little bit soft. A little bit less responsive.
There's something
really nice about this time of year, it's that you just have the river to yourself.
And when it comes to finding a mooring tonight? Don't have to worry. It won't be a bother
there'l be plenty of spots to moor up. We have the whole place to our self's. And our
plan is to go to Haughton's Shore.
So here we are guys it's mid November, it's about
12 or 13 degrees centigrade and were out boating it's not balmy hot but it's not uncomfortable.
And I've discovered a way if you're were thinking of going boating in Ireland and your saying
to yourself, hmmm maybe the weather wouldn't be good, I'm after discovering a way whereby
you can get much more good weather in Ireland than you used to. And I'm going to share it
with you. Here it is, all you have to do is you lower the bar for what you consider good
weather. I have set it at this point. If it's 10 degrees centigrade or above and if it's
not raining that classes as good weather. By setting the bar at that level I now get
far more good weather than I used to get before. And hence I'm out boating! Great.
So the waterway
we're on today guys is the Shannon Erne Waterway. This is a waterway that links the River Shannon
with Lough Erne in Northern Ireland. It's approximately 65 Klm long, I might be out
by 1 or 2 Klm or maybe even more than 1 or 2! I think it has about 16 locks in total
on it. Em, there's plenty of moorings along the way. It starts in the town of Leitrim
and it goes through the towns of Ballinamore, Ballyconnel and then it ends up in Lough Erne
in Northern Ireland. It's made up of still water canal, river, and of a number of lakes
as well. Were about to go onto the largest of those lakes and that is Lough Garadice.
But can I just say, it's a north south border project. Yep. It was part of the piece process
in 1994 it was rebuilt. So what they done, which I thought was very fair, the locks start
with number one in the North and finish with number 16 in Leitrim. And the bridges start
with in Leitrim with number 1 and finish in the North. Little bit of education! Appeasement
at it's best! Well I think I'm right! You are right, you are indeed. Harry, Harry common
quick, quick there's a big spider and I can't deal... What am I supposed to do! I hate spiders.
Okay you take the wheel and I'll go in and I'll de-spider the place. Oh my god. Ah ye,
a mega spider. I've been sent in here because Marion spotted this fella. Look at that, that
is a beast, we could make a pet out of him. Kill him Har. No we'll not kill him, ah there
he is, we'll see, let nature kill him, there he goes. Gone swimming. Feeding the fishes.
They're cutting back the trees. Oh right.
And this is the beautiful Lough Garadice.
Largest lake on the Shannon Erne Waterway. It takes about 25 minutes to get from one
side of it to the other. That's actually an island straight up here in front of us. We
can pass either side of it but were going top go to your left, or our left.
The thing
about going boating in the winter time or in November is you're likely hood of getting
bad weather increased quite dramatically. But eh, there's a bit of a breeze here today
but not a bad breeze. The lakes can be quite exposed but in fairness no matter how bad
it is you're only really going to be 20 minutes out here on Lough Garadice maybe 25 minutes.
This particular island here is called church Island. It's the largest island on Lough Garadice.
And as there is a clue in the title, yep there is a church on it somewhere. There's a small
bit of a landing jetty just on the other side of the island there. What way are we going
here Harry? Were going to go straight on and if you see up ahead you can just see a marker
off the point that headland.
Now unfortunately the landing jetty on Church Island isn't really
big enough to get em, anything other than a fishing boat or a rowing boat onto. You
might be able to make out pretty much in the center of your picture just the wooded piles
the remains of that jetty. But I do want to get onto that island one of these days. I
haven't managed to do it yet. So the sky is looking pretty stormy. And eh I suppose, it
is winter time so you cant expect to be a whole lot better than that. But in a few moments.....
I'can feel bobbin... Ye your bobbin is blowing in the wind. We'll be into the harbour in
a few moments and we'll be well and truly sheltered when we get settled in for the night.
It's really nice to get away for a few days like this. Yes it is. So if you get a chance
to hire a boat in the middle of winter, and you're dressed right for it and you have a
source of heating, be it a stove, a diesel heater, cups of tea, a bottle of whiskey,
or what ever. Something to keep the cold out you can still have a superb time. It's only
if it's raining, that's the real downer. We met a couple there ten days ago and they hired
from Riversdale. That's right. Back here in Ballinamore. And I think she (I can't think
of her name now) Viola, & David. But they were saying that the only place they could
hire in November was Riversdale Barges. But they have stoves on-board, we did get a look
around. We wern't allowed bring a camera on-board but it was beautiful. There a nice sort of
wide beam narrowboat. I hate that expression wide-beam narowboat because it's like saying
a big small boat. It doesn't make sense, it's a narrow barge! And this is the approach into
the harbour that they call Hauting's Shore. And it's a really nice spot. There's obviously
a van there, somebody doing a bit of fishing I would guess. It's a tight turn now to get
into the harbour.
Oh my god it is cold out there. Well, that's us safely in harbour. Sit back and relax for the evening.
Guys I hope you enjoyed the video and em it
just shows that boating in the winter is possible, it's still fun. It is fun. Actually it not
bad. We have the harbour to ourselves it's wonderful. So guys if you enjoyed it please
give it a thumbs up and YouTube will stick up a few videos here there and everywhere.
Maybe click on one of them, if you enjoyed this one you might like to see more of our
videos. Thanks for Watching. Cheerio. After a long day on the river Mar has been busy
in the galley and that is lovely Hake spuds, mushy peas, carrots done in honey. Even candle
lit! I'm ferocious romantic! Oh I'm telling you... Fair play to you.