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- Bee-Jay in Lanesborough Harbour
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- The short walk back from Lanesborough
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- Bee-Jay moored up in Portrunny
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- Portrunny Harbour
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- Lecarrow Canal
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- Lecarrow Harbour
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- A duckling swimming right up to the boat
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- Barbeque on the quayside at Lecarrow
As none of us were very hungry, we decided to make a start through the Tarmonbarry lock when it started operating shortly after 9.
We meandered down towards Lanesborough. The main challenge was the Bord na Mona railway bridge. It looked very low and then we spotted the navigation marks and the higher section for boats – that was a relief.
We cruised on to Lanesborough where we moored in the small sheltered harbour and took a walk up through the town. This is the usual mix of pubs and shops. We got our bits and pieces in Supervalu – a good sized supermarket with a good meat counter.
We returned to the boat and used the pump out before leaving Lanesborough.
Just after heading in to Lough Ree, the rain started and we moved down below. Beth and I watched the end of Confession of a Shopaholic and Captain Bob navigated between the red and black markers. Most of the traffic was following the cruising line between Lanesborough and Athlone but we wanted to take out time and investigate more.
We veered off and followed the path past the entrance to Lecarrow and headed on to Portrunnt harbour. This is a waterways ireland site with water on the jettys and a pump out. It is a nice sheltered harbour, beautiful and in the middle of a lovely bay.
The map showed it had a pub. There is a building called Shannon View Lounge but it wasn’t clear whether or not it would be opening.
We dwcided to fill up with water and head down to Lecarrow with this as a backup if Lecarrow was full or unsuitable.
The canal is lovely though quite weedy. Our depth gauge was pinging but it was due to the weeds. Hopefully Bee-Jay was acting as a lawnmower!
The harbour was quite full but we temporarily moored beside a working boat and the crew of a Carrick Craft boat kindly agreed to move a bit to make space for us. We repaid them with a bottle of wine.
The village has a restaurant (The Yew Tree), 2 pubs and a small shop ( attached by a door to one of the pubs). We had already decided to barbecue for tea.
We came back to the boat, got set up for the barbecue and had a nice evening on the queue followed by a ga£e of cards.
There is work being carried out by waterways ireland to build a toilit block and upgrade the harbour.
The other thing we notices about Lecarrow is the clarity of the water.
This is a beautiful spot and definitely one we’d keep on mind for again.
