A Week on the River Shannon, Ireland, August 2008

A slightly cloudy morning with blue skies in the distance. With the 20 mile long stretch of Lough Ree ahead, we decided to leave around 10:00 and head off towards the lake.

Again, as there was a water tap nearby, we filled with water. Just before leaving, we had spoken to the people in the next boat moored to ours and they had planned to play golf at Hodson Bay at the south west corner of the lake. Without any real plans ourselves, we decided to visit the area - not to play golf, just to moor for lunch perhaps.

There are a few places to visit and moor whilst heading south down the lake, but we just enjoyed the scenery and cruised at our dedicated pace we'd set on the first day.

The weather was lovely, and we just followed the navigation markers looking in the distance for the next with the binoculars. It was surprisingly quiet without too many craft.

After 2½ hours, we spotted the destination at Hodson Bay, and slowly entered the Marina around the harbour wall. It is a very pretty little place with the Hodson Bay Hotel overlooking the Marina.

We moored up at virtually the last available place inside the harbour walls, however there were cleats outside to moor against should more craft turn up.

We ate our lunch on deck in superb weather, and soon after our "golfer" friends arrived and moored outside the harbour wall.

We visited the golf clubhouse as well as looking around the Marina area. It's certainly a recommended stop.

We had already earmarked Hodson Bay for overnight mooring as it was a beautiful and peaceful area. We already had supplies for a meal and wine, so it seemed a good idea.

Being mid trip we decided to have a "pump out", and spotted a place close by across to the south east of Lough Ree. So we headed off towards Quigley's Marina and Waveline Cruisers. Unfortunately when we got there, the staff said that the pump out facility was out of order.

We headed back to Hodson Bay, and luckily managed to return to our previous mooring. A large navigation ship provided entertainment as it came chugging towards the harbour wall and moored outside.

After our dinner we went into the hotel for a drink. The food being served looked very good and surprisingly inexpensive, so definitely worth a look for next time. We spent a fine hour talking to a dutch fellow who was travelling around Ireland by car.

We returned to our boat about 21:00, and spent the evening watching the birds and some of the other boats.