Scalavagr Trip to Ireland : 4 - 13 August 2012

Ireland's Hidden Secret : Some notes on the trip by Peter Hartman

Six days rowing on the longest river in the British Isles, the Shannon, very beautiful, wider than imagined and passes through three lochs, Allen, Ree, Derg

Monday: the river starts at the Shannon Pot above Loch Allen. A 10 meter wide pool bubbling with springs from the surrounds, it flows into Loch Allen, totally unspoilt, then on to Carrik-on-Shannon, a 24 hours a day town where music stops when the last person leaves; as a bonus they had their Annual Regatta (fine boats) on the Sunday

Tuesday: on to Tarmonbarry, best food in Ireland, Guinness galore plus two deep lochs (12 ft!!)

Wednesday: on to Hudson Bay on Loch Ree, stopping at Quaquer Island to look at the isolated Monastery

Thursday: on to Shannon Bridge. The river is unspoilt in its summer cloak – herons, lapwings and fish aplenty

Friday: river to Kerryglass, a manicured village with a pretty harbour

Saturday: on to Ballina/Kilaloe in the jaws of the hills at the bottom of Loch Derg. Not enough time to venture through Ardnacrusa Power Station, an engineering masterpiece built by the Germans in 1929 (Roger NB – the two lochs are 110 ft deep) it used to supply all electricity to Ireland

Scalavagr proved herself in force 4/5 crosswinds with eight on board - a bit scary!! Note:- before attempting any row, make sure of long range forecast. In total we rowed for six days, for about 200 miles

FOR ALWAYS NIGHT AND DAY, I HEAR LAKE WATER LAPPING
WITH LOW SOUNDS BY THE SHORE
I HEAR IT IN THE DEEP HEART’S CORE