The last days in Newry pass quickly with pleasant walks in the countryside. The boat is still moored alongside the Albert Basin at the end of Newry canal right in the center of the city. Thank you people of Newry and Mourne for your help during the winter.
from the days when there where only trains
Forrest flowers on a walk to Warrenpoint
And a walk in the Mourne mountains
On the full moon, some days previous to leaving Newry on the 21 st of July, we cycled the 3 km to Victoria Lock to wave good bye to our friends John, Peter and Shaun.
They had been our neighbors this winter moored nearby in Albert Basin which had been our collective safe haven. It is nestled right into the center of Newry town on the canal behind Sainsbury’s.
Victoria lock at the end of Newry canal
Peter and John on his yacht underway to Carlingford
You have to leave on a full moon high tide otherwise the water level is too low in the tidal Newry river.
We were happy and relaxed until later that morning it hit us: we had to leave too!
Right, on full alert then. Also one has to make an appointment with the city council 3 days before departure. The lock keeper couldn’t be expected to let us out on the early high tide so we had to wait another day which was cutting it very fine! And we knew it: we absolutely had to get away now or our sail in Scotland would be cut short by three weeks and that was not an option for us.
Checking the boat after the long winter stop
Luckily all is in good order and working well
The water in Newry canal had dropped almost a meter as there was a summer drought. Three days later at first light we motored to our appointment with the lockkeeper at Victoria Lock. Holding ourselves ready for the worst we chugged along and our speed over ground reduced slowly to almost zero with the engine running full power. And sure enough, half way along the canal we got quite stuck, held by the weeds. An anxious ten minutes followed as Stefan reversed slowly backwards until we came out. Phew! What a relief! We reached the lock very slowly but still in time for high tide and we tied up. Stefan tried to remove the remaining green stuff by reversing fast inside the lock. A sudden jerk, a shocking moment without any advance warning given, the canal weeds suddenly dropped off. Very glad to have full propulsion back as the tricky part had yet to come: training ship ‘The Leader’ that left two weeks before us had run aground just before Warrenpoint with serious damage when it passed a buoy on the wrong side, so it was essential to stay alert.
The tidal Newry river with its narrow buoyed channel is only navigable around high tide. Past Warrenpoint it shares a narrow channel with the commercial traffic.
At the Irish sea again. A happy skipper
We dropped the hook round the corner in front of our friend Adele’s house near Annalong. We brought the dingy ashore to say goodbye to her. We were to anchor there again in a months time on our voyage south. With the dingy packed away properly strapped to the deck above the stern cabin we set sail north for Oban area, Scotland.
