Sunny SUP on the Royal Canal, Ireland

Day 2 - 31st May 2016

Woke early the next day with the sun coming up in the small hours of the morning and the birdies singing from 5am. Lay on for a while, then got up at a more reasonable hour, had breakfast, packed up the tent and dragged everything back up to the canal for launching into day two!

Back on the water and it was going to be another glorious day. Blue sky, sunshine and warm. Ahhh so nice just cruising on the water with the sound of birds and the water dripping off my paddle.

The canal skirts around Leixlip and the train line runs along side the water. Probably a novel sight for the commuters making their way into work. First lock I came to was Lock 13. Tied up the board and walked up and over the bridge to the other side to see it there was a good place to put in. Had to haul my big kit bag off the board and carry it to the other side, then come back for the board. This was going to be hot work in this weather portaging around each lock.

Coming into Maynooth the sun was starting to get hot. There were a few people walking and jogging along the towpath and everyone wanted to have a chat. That's the great thing about Ireland, people still talk to strangers like they're friends. This was the main reason for my slow progress on this trip. Too much chatting, not enough paddling, but sure, it's all about the craic!!

Now, just the other side of Maynooth, little brown floating clusters started to become frequent in the water. I had a mini freak out thinking it was floaty-poos and was trying not to let the water off my paddle drip on my board, or me, every time I changed sides. Arrghh, blurghh!!!

At the next lock, hauled my kit and board out and over the bridge to the other side. Here there were a couple of the Waterways Ireland guys doing some weed clearing. I stopped to chat with them and asked them about the floaters in Maynooth and they assured me it was just the weed that had been churned up from them clearing the canal in their weed boat. Relief!! They said the only place that there is sometimes a problem with water quality is Kilcock and usually only in the winter time.

Paddling on to Kilcock, I was starting to boil. The factor 30 was reapplied several times. At Kilcock it was lunchtime, Everyone was out sitting on the grassy banks, fishing and sitting outside the pubs and cafes. I tied the board up at the long boardwalk at the train station side of the canal and headed over the bridge to Thomas O'Keeffes pub for lunch, I sat outside to keep an eye on my board over the other side of the canal and enjoyed the summer vibes and my refreshments!!

Back to it and asked a couple of young lads walking down the street to help me carry my stuff over the bridge to the other side of the lock. It is a bit of an awkward lock to cross, as you have to bring your stuff up from the canal, across the busy road, over the bridge and up a bit on the other side before putting in again. There was also a huge amount of weed collected at the back of the top lock gate.

Anyway, sorted out my kit, back on the water and on my way. The rest of the day I paddled on through the countryside. At Ferrans Lock I spoke to a girl who was out walking her dogs. I asked where she reckoned the best place to camp would be. She said her family owned the land on one side of the canal on down a bit and I'd be welcome to pitch my tent anywhere there if I wanted to.

Evening drawing in and I couldn't really find a suitable place to pull in. Either it was far too overgrown, or the nice grassy bit I thought would be suitable turned out to have a bull grazing on it!

Looking at my map on my phone, I saw there should be a suitable bit of ground at the corner of the canal, where the Old Bog Road ends. It also seemed far enough away from both Kilcock and Enfield, that there would be less chance of people being about. Turned out it was the perfect place. Signs of a few previous campfires, so it must be a place people have camped at before.

Got off the water, pitched my tent and got my dinner on just in time to watch the beautiful pink sunset across the sky.

DAY 1 HERE
DAY 3 HERE

Sunny SUP on the Royal Canal, Ireland

Day 1 - 30th May 2016

Back in May, when Ireland was under cloudless blue skies and enjoying a bit of a heat wave, I decided to take off for a short adventure on my paddle board.

After checking out the Waterways Ireland website, which is a great source of information, I decided on a couple of days paddle/camping trip along the Royal Canal.

The Royal Canal is approximately 145km and was built for freight and passenger transportation from the River Liffey in Dublin, west across the country to the River Shannon. Work on the canal started in 1790 and lasted 27 years, when it eventually reached the Shannon in 1817.

So, I packed my gear up and drove down to Dublin. Starting point was the 12th lock at Blanchardstown, as I didn't fancy making my way through the city, either by car or SUP.

The restaurant that is at the 12th lock was closed down, but no worries, I had someone to take my car, as I didn't want to leave it parked there while I was away. This turned out to be a good idea, as there was a group of men, already merry from the contents of their blue bags, that seemed to reside in the area!

Pumped up the board, loaded it up with kit and onto the water. Relief it floats! This was the first proper stand up paddling I would have done. I'd only done a couple of laps of a local calm lake to 'find my feet' beforehand (after first watching a couple of how-to YouTube videos!!).

  

Off I paddled, down the canal in the warm evening sun. Starting in the evening, I'd only have a couple of hours paddling before setting up my tent for the night.

Plenty of people were out walking and jogging along the towpath, a few were very inquisitive as to what I was doing and where I was going!

After a short paddle away from the lock, the canal goes into what is called the deep sinking. This is where the canal narrows and cuts through the rock running a lot lower than the towpath above it.

Unfortunately, there was a family of swans in front of me and I couldn't get round them before the deep sinking as they kept swimming forward. Swans look massive when you're on the water level with them. They're also quite intimidating when splaying their wings and hissing at you!

I dropped back and gave them some space, they had no way to get off the canal, as the sides were 30 foot walled banks. Every so often I stopped for a bit, as the wee baby signets were paddling like mad and I didn't want them to get too exhausted! Once the canal opened out a bit, it was wide enough for them all to go to one side and feel safe enough to stop and I was able to then get past them and on my way.

The sun was starting to go down and it was a lovely hour paddling in the dusk, before arriving at the Royal Canal amenity site. There were a few fishermen on the bank and a couple of dog walkers on the path as I came in to the jetty to get off my board. I put up my tent in the small grassy area behind the shed, had some food then got into my sleeping bag.

Only several kms from where I started, but it was good to get the feel for the board with the weight of my kit on it and practice my paddling techniques!

DAY 2 HERE