Carlingford

We berthed at Carligford Marina adjacent to a rather novel feature, not to mention interesting wayeto exit the pontoon, via ladders and a bridge crossing the deck. It is the ferrocement Ocean going tug 'cretegaff' it's a hulk however still floats and as the tide rises the large anchor chains clank a lot!

As clearance for the Newy canal was going to take 48hrs we ad time to explore the village of Carlingford. However as we again needed internet access ( because we were now in the Irish Republic only Lynnes phone was working correctly ) anyway good excuse for breakfast in the marina cafe.

The views of the mountains of Mourne sweeping down to the Lough were spectacular.

The Ulster fry was also very good!

Carlingford is a quaint sort of a place with three castles, the town streets still follow the medieval pattern and the remains of the old walls can still be seen.

The Navtex was telling a story of gale force winds in the Irish Sea up to force 9 in places, we had a bit of a wild night with heavy rain but we got quite a bit of shelter in the marina. Our plan was to go up the Lough to Warrenpoint then continue up the river a couple of miles to the sea lock giving entrance to the Newry canal. We were thinking that  Newry  would be a good place to spend the winter giving almost perfect shelter from the weather. Coincidentally Lynne recently discovered that her great great grandparents were from Clonduff which is about 5 miles from Newry. So it would seem some genealogical research could be undertaken, at the very least it would be interesting to spend some time in the area.

The following day brought more rain and the visibility was very poor. However we had arranged to met Kieran the lock keeper at 6.30pm so we left the Marina at 5 o'clock and headed up the lough. Beyond Warrenpoint the river became quite scenic and we also passed over the border again into Northern Ireland. As we followed the buoyage we turned the chart plotter off as not for the first time we had gone off the charts.

The sea lock is massive and obviously built for much larger ships than little Dark Tarn. The lock filled and lifted us about 3 metres up to the level of the canal.

We continued up the canal as darkness fell and the rain continued to fall relentlessly. We had to mess about a bit at Albert Basin as most of the boats were rafted up two deep, we found a suitable spot and moored up securely. We decided we had earned a drink so wandered into town to find a pub. In a familiar pattern now for Northern Ireland we were immediately made to feel very welcome and in fact we're not allowed to leave, having at least three rounds placed in front of us bought by the owner and customers who were playing poker. It felt like a good place to stay.

In the morning the sun returned, and although the quay is at the side of a busy shopping centre the view out of the companionway was very pleasant. The mountains in the distance are part of the Cooley range.

We took the oppertunity to dry our wet weather gear and Kieran turned up and gave us a lift to the tourist information centre to pay our dues for six months stay. He also drove us out of town to a caravan shop to find a splitter and extension cable so we could plug into the electricity supply on the quay. Transport links are good from Newry to either Belfast or Dublin so we should find it easy to return to England for visits and of course for Christmas!