Sat 2nd August 2003


Alarm went off at 7:00 am - boat to be returned to Shannon Sailing by 9:00. We left at about 8:00, and had a good if chilly sail up the Lough to Dromineer, arriving about 8:30.

Back to Dromineer.

Clearing the boat proved a challenge, as our belongings had been stuffed into every nook of the boats ample storage space - probably totalling about 25 lockers of various shapes, sizes, dampness, cleanliness and ease of access. Howard deposited his 'mingen' trainers ceremoniously in the skip. A bit of a cleanup followed the exodus of belongings.

When the boat was returned to it's former state - in fact rather cleaner than it's former state - we said our goodbye's to the very informal Ted who seemed not to be very bothered about the engine trouble, but there was no mention of paying for diesel so we left it at that - both parties were content.

Stopped for a while to have a look around Dromineer harbour and it's imposing castle ruin, which we had totally ignored on the way in as we were more interested in finding the boat yard. Then it was into Nenagh for breakfast - even though it was now lunch time. The all day breakfast went down a treat at a small cafe in the main street.

Kilkenny.

The first half of the main journey took us to Kilkenny, a picturesque medieval town. Could easily have spent longer there. The second half of the 120 mile journey brought us to Roslaire harbour, where the first thing to be done was fill up with cheap fuel - 89.9 cents a litre - that's about 60p.

Next on to the hostel, where we were greeted with the news that the booking Julian had done over the internet had not got through, and they were full. 'Your best bet is the Euro Lodge', the warden said. So off we went to the Euro Lodge, just down the road. Full. They also said that everywhere else was likely to be full due to the bank holiday, but also suggested that we try to get on the earlier ferry.

When we got to the ferry terminal, it was no problem. They changed our ticket, and we were booked on the 8:45 sailing, which was pretty convenient. The only problem was that we would be docking in Pembroke at about 1:00 am, which would mean a very late arrival at Julian's parents. But he phoned and they said it was no problem - what fine people!

Views from the ferry.

Very smooth crossing - managed to get a few minutes sleep but nothing substantial. Left the ferry port at about 1:30, and drove through an amazing amount of traffic (presumably all from the ferry) to the M4 and then to Chepstow.

Finally fell into bed at 0430.

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