As we had unpacked the car we noticed from the water sitting in the slip that the water levels had risen even further than last weekend.
In the morning, there was no movement until twenty to ten – and that included Holly. We were planning to meet friends (John, Lix and Joel) at Crom. They had booked their motorhome in the camping area there. As we knew Crom had a fixed jetty, I called the office at Crom to make sure it was OK – considering the water levels. The man as really helpful. He told me that the jetty had been underwater the day before and he went and had a look and confirmed it was even further underwater today.
I phoned John to let him know about out problem. We decided to head North towards the Lower Louh as there are more floating jetties in that direction. We agreed with John to meet at the Ardhowen Theatre. He then had the opton of staying there (with no facilities) or going on to Crom and meeting up another weekend. It turned out that there was nothing on at the theatre and the lady at the booking office wasn’t able to give a definitive answer as to whether they could syat for the night or not. So since the answer wasn’t a straight “no”, they decided to go for it.
Liz and I spent the early afternoon enjoyin some retail therapy. Beth and Joel enjoyed the dinghy and kayak. Joel mastered the outboard well. Beth also had a go on Mr Alligator. Joel wasn’t so keen on actually getting into the water.
In true Fermanagh fashion, time had been forgotten and we found ourselves having lunch at 3:30.
The weather was still hinting at rain but it did appear to be clearing a bit.
We decided to barbecue at the picnic table beside the motorhome. John put up the gazebo and this gave us shelter from falling dew. Captain Bob lit the barbeque and we had traditional barbecue fayre – chicken kebabs, hot dogs, burgers, followed by toasted marshmallows ad chocolate digestives.
We were glad of the gazebo. When cooking was done, Captain Bob found some sticks and put these on the barbecue to create our own open fire. Round the fire we played the alphabet game – “I went to the boat and I saw…” There were a few suspect items including emus and jugglers but we managed to get through to z.
We reconvened at the boat where we had a game of Monopoly Deal which Joel won. By this stage everyone was flagging and we all headed to bed.
We woke on Sunday morning to mizzly rain. Captain Bob took Holly out at about 8:30 and then after a cup of tea we got up, washed and put the kettle on again. I took a 5 minute walk to Dolan’s petrol station for teh Sunday paper. When I got back, Captain Bob had the batter made and was ready to cok pancakes. After reakfast John and Joel appeared. Joel didn’t need to be asked twice if he wanted to go out in the dinght. Beth went out in the kayak first and then joined Joel in the dinghy. They motored about in the rain keeping out of the way of the passing boat traffic.
It was now almost 1 o’clcok and time for John, Liz and Joel to head home.
The tempo of the day slowed and after a leisurely lunch we all settled to do our own thing.
Mid-afternoon, Captain Bob and I went to the Erne Centre for some retail therapy. Beth and Holly stayed behind to mind the boat.
On returning I took Holly for a walk to the view point above the Ardhowen Theatre where I took some scenic shots for inclusion in the blog.
The jetty at Ardhowen Theatre is a great location for a number of reasons
– It is a lovely scenic spot for boat watching – all boats passing between Enniskillen and the Upper Lough have to pass through here.
– There is a coffee shop at the theatre and the bar is open in the evening if there is a performance on.
– Castle Coole, the National Trust Property, is just across the road.
– The centre of Enniskillen with it’s shops and restaurants is only a 10 minute walk away.
– The Killyhevlin Hotel with it’s bar and restaurant is a 5 minute walk away. (There is also a jetty at this hotel).
Dinner was a red thai chicken crry and rice. Then we had a game of Trivial Pursuit Bitesize and a game of Monopoly Deal.
After this it was time to settle with book – except Holly who just kept watch and dozed.
Monday started slowly. It was quite wet so the morning was spent drinking tea, eating pancakes and generally chilling out.
Captain Bob needed to take his socks and shoes off to take the outboard off the dinghy. The petrol tank in the dinghy was a lot lighter than when we had arrived due to the activity of Joel and the dinghy. He really seemed to enjoy it.
Mr Alligator was stowed on top of the dinght and the kayak was loosely folded to try and get it dried off a bit.
Off we headed towards Carrybridge. We were sailing against the flow of the water. It was impacting us by about three quarters of a knot. We decided that kayaking in this woudl be hard going – but would be OK if you were going with the flow.
A lot of the fishing pontoons just passed Bellenaleck looked like they were sitting on top of the water due to the water levels being so high.
When we came to Carrybridge, we wanted to sue the pump out. Getting moored up needed some care as ther was only about 4 to 6 inches of jetty to tie up to. Captain Bob did it brilliantly. Another good mooring in our home berth and that was us ready to hiave lunch and tidy up.
The final bonus of the weekend is that the Wild Duck Diner looks like it’s back in business so that’s next weeks dinner on Friday night sorted!
Cruising around Ireland 