8okm down!

Early Saturday 17th June my son Pierce and I were waved off by friends and family from Carrick quay on the first of 80km. With Pierce paddling alongside in his canoe I rowed downstream through sunshine, wind and (a little bit of) rain. We stopped for lunch at Jamestown and rowed on to Dromod that evening.  We were followed along the way by our cheerleading/fundraising/tea making team in the barge Alameda, despite some mechanical issues (thanks to Mary Thomset for the replacement fan belt!).  We set out from Dromod again the next morning and continued on through Rooskey and on to Tarmonbarry. I took a few days to rest up before setting off again the following weekend on the second leg of the journey. We were joined by some extra canoeists Sinead, Colin, Tanya and my grandson Tadhg for our upstream voyage. We made our way back up from Tarmonbarry, through Rooskey, Dromod and on to Jamestown over the weekend. When we left the shelter of Jamestown Cut we turned into a headwind which very quickly brought the rowing boat to a stop.   At this stage I climbed on board the Barge Alameda but the canoeists carried on into Carrick – more power to them!.   Not to be bested by these youngsters I rowed up the river this morning, Tuesday, to make up the shortfall.   80 Kms. done!