Over many years the UK-based Little Ship Club (LSC) and their U.S. sister organization, the Corinthians, have organized joint sailing cruises in Europe and North America. This year the destination was the Shannon River in Ireland where for the first time not a sail was in sight. Organized by LSC a total of 10 chartered river cruisers, seven from LSC and 3 from The Corinthians, with a total crew of 42 assembled in Carrick-on-Shannon on September 5 to begin the 100 mile 8 day river journey.
The Shannon River and its Loughs (lakes) present an unspoiled view of Ireland’s scenery. The river traffic was minimal, locks and lifting bridges are all manned (except between 1 and 2 p.m. for lunch!), but the best thing was the weather which was great; wee had only one day of rain. The trip was organized to allow a lot of flexibility on how far to travel and where to anchor overnight. A superb handbook, provided by the charterer, Le Boat, covered information on supply sources, good places to eat, what to see, how to navigate each stretch, and how to use the locks and lifting bridges.
One of the highlights of the trip traveling from Carrick, our pick up point for provisions for the cruise, was the overnight stay at the picturesque village of Dromod where we held an on-board happy hour. Five boats were designated to provide drinks and snacks while the crews rotated at supposedly regular intervals to meet everybody. But you know how that works!
Heading south, Athlone is the only major city on this part of the river, and we were provided with a great walking tour by the City Historian. Several of the party also visited the oldest pub in Europe (900 A.D.) Sean’s bar and, yes, there is a major difference between Guinness in Ireland and Guinness anywhere else! In the one street town of Banagher a very rustic pub was our gathering place for the judging of the best Irish stew previously prepared onboard, with Corinthian Margaret Layne the winner. Irish music followed after the band straggled in during the previous hour!
Our final destination was Portumna, where we were very impressed by the unbelievable skills of the dockmaster in the narrowest of channels. Finally we had a wonderful final dinner in the town of Garykennedy where we said farewell to all our new found friends. Everyone agreed that it had been such a fun trip. Plaudits to Gabby and Tim Ryan of the Little Ship Club for a well planned and successful cruise. thecorinthians.org
by Trevor Layne
