Ok not a sea cruise, a cruise up the river Shannon. Pt.1 of our summer holidays (fair point….posting it a bit late), we spent 3 nights on the river in an Emerald Star cruiser, the SS Lusitania. Yes I know, the real Lusitania is properly referred to as the RMS Lusitania, but SS sounds better. Publishing this post now is, I suppose, somewhat topical (great word), given the current flooding experienced along the river Shannon. Finger on the pulse stuff this.
We collected our fine craft from Emerald Star in Portumna and after some basic training we set off, with yours truly at the helm. The other crew members seemed to think I had more experience with boats and felt safer in my hands. Or none of them wanted to be the first to crash/run aground the boat.
Scurvy dogs, AAaaRRRRR. Not knowing what to expect
Anyway the good ship SS Lusitania (Bofin), a Broom cruiser, best described as the kind of “sturdy” that James May would get a little stiffie over, carried us from Portumna, up the Shannon river, through such cosmopolitan hubs as Banagher (best avoided) and Shannon Bridge (cute, but Why??), through the very interesting looking (and now flooded – see, this is topical, on the pulse, stuff) Athlone and on to Lough Ree where we discovered an absolute gem of a marina – Killinure Point (Quigley’s Marina, home of Waveline Cruisers). Honestly, with the weather we got, the place looked like something out of a Tommy Pullmyfinger / Ralph Lauren Autumn season clothing catalogue, shot on location in New England.
Sunset in Killinure Pt.
We also found a great little pub, located less than 15 minutes walk away, called Killinure Chalets. On reflection they should have probably called it Little Deutschland, but the food was good, the menu reminded me of any generic Stubbe in Germany, and Derek Davis was dining only a two tables away from us, so the place is obviously a mecca for Ireland’s A list hoi polloi, or ex RTE news presenters at the very least.
The return journey took just a day, in glorious sunshine, taking us from Lough Ree down to the public marina at Portumna Castle. Along the way we (sorry, I) rammed the quay side in Athlone lock (no contibution to the flooding dilemma they’re currently experiencing), spent some time at the beautiful Meelick lock, raced a bunch of scary Germans down to Portumna, went through the swing bridge in Portumna and secured the last remaining free berth in the Portumna Castle marina (reversing in to the berth with great speed and skill), much to the disgust I’m sure of the Germans, who were, well, a bit slow, despite their Captain’s best efforts. Best efforts at least in regards to his somewhat questionable clothing styl-ee, of a nautical persausion. He really shouldn’t have. Little blue peaked Captain’s cap, blue and white stripped long sleeved t-shirt, neck scarf/bandana, and wait for it, a pair of not particularly opaque white pants! Sadly Judy and I missed their subsequent berthing efforts in Portumna Castle, where they managed to block in two other boats for the night, but apparently it was a less than teutonic affair, involving no military like precision what-so-ever and lots and lots of shouting screaming of orders Kommands.
The good ship SS Lusitania in Portumna Harbour
Back safe and sound. Relief. AAaaRRRRR!
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