The Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club, recreating the Club’s 1925 trip, entered the Royal Canal sea lock from the Liffey on Saturday morning, 16 April 2011; some boats have reached Abbeyshrule this evening, and they hope to reach Clondra tomorrow evening, which will be four days from the Liffey.
That’s very fast: for Blanchardstown to/from Clondra, IWAI Dublin Branch estimated 5 days X 8 hours and I estimated 6 days X 7 hours, plus another day from the Liffey to Blanchardstown (12th Lock). I understand that CYBC has been doing very long days; I’ll get details later. In the meantime, well done CYBC.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, Water sports activities
Tagged 12th lock, Abbeyshrule, Blanchardstown, boats, canal, Clondra, Clontarf, CYBC, Ireland, Ireland canals Grand Royal, Liffey, lock, Operations, Royal Canal, sea lock, waterways, Waterways Ireland, yacht and boat club
According to the 1994 Guide to the Royal Canal of Ireland, the smallest lock on the Royal, Lock 18, is 75 feet (22.9m) long, with a breadth of 13.3 feet (4.0m) and a depth of 4.7 feet (1.4m) on the cill.
According to Waterways Ireland, the navigational criteria for the Royal Canal are:
Length: 21m
Beam: 3.9m
Draft: 1m
L T C Rolt, in Green and Silver, said that the maximum size of vessel that could navigate the whole of the Royal was 70 feet by 13 feet 1 inch by 4 feet six inches “(theoretical)”. He said that lock sizes varied considerably, the shortest being 75 feet and the narrowest 13 feet 3.75 inches.
The navigational criteria for the Grand are:
Length: 18.5m
Beam: 3.9m
Draft: 1.2m (1m in Dublin)
So the Royal is throughout shallower than the Grand (except in Dublin) and the locks have got narrower and shorter.
I have written a page suggesting that, on good economic principles, the Irish government should use the Royal Canal as a giant rubbish dump.
This step would solve the impending shortage of landfill sites, avoid the need for an incinerator at Poolbeg and allow Keynesian bottles to be used to provide employment and stimulate the economy.
I have also suggested an alternative use for the Royal, but I’m afraid the alternative is almost laughably implausible: it is that folk should be encouraged to go boating on the Royal. I even suggest — I know it’s ridiculous — that some folk might like to complete the “Irish ring” or triangle: along the Grand to Dublin, to the Shannon along the Royal and then completing the circuit by travelling south along the Shannon.
If the numbers travelling were to justify the upkeep of the canals, large numbers of hirers would be needed, as would large numbers of hire boats. But not all of the existing hire firms are keen on the idea and none of them (as far as I know) is advertising the route. Waterways Ireland promoted it at a recent Birmingham boat show, but without the sort of detailed information that a would-be hirer would need.
It may be that Waterways Ireland is holding back until an adequate water supply for the Royal has been secured and until the obstacles at the Dublin end have all been removed. Perhaps it intends to persuade hire firms (new or existing) to provide packages; perhaps it will have a super new marketing campaign once everything is ready, and perhaps it’s just playing for time at the moment.
The problem with that approach is that it risks losing goodwill from potential hirers who, having heard of the reopening of the Royal, are now finding it difficult to arrange a trip.
One of the major sources of difficulty, as I see it, is the absence of information about what a trip might entail. Only the IWAI Dublin Branch seems to have made any effort to help folk who want to travel the route; neither the RCAG nor the Waterways Ireland site is of much use to anyone.
Accordingly, I have written a second page with some suggestions about how a hirer might tackle the trip. I still think it’s ridiculously difficult to plan, especially for a would-be hirer form overseas, and my information is not complete. I hope that folk will suggest improvements and help to tie down the details. And if anyone knows of a hire firm that is offering packages, with all the schedules worked out and the bookings made, do please give the details.
Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, Waterways management
Tagged boats, bridge, canal, flow, Grand Canal, Green and Silver, hire firm, Ireland, Ireland canals Grand Royal, Irish ring, lock, Newcomen, Operations, Rolt, Royal Canal, Shannon, triangle, vessels, water level, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Railway heads may wish to boogie on over to this site to look at a fifteen-minute video of the Fry Model Railway, which is to be evicted from its home at Malahide Castle.
The National Museum thinks saving the Fry isn’t really quite its sort of thing; no doubt it’s busy with its collection of frocks. It appears to possess one model steam railway locomotive; it has no steam engine, no diesel engine, but lots of stamps and coins.
The Fry includes some waterways items.
Here is an opinion piece about Waterways Ireland’s letter to the residential boaters (live-aboards) at Sallins on the Grand Canal.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Waterways management
Tagged boats, bye-laws, byelaws, canal, Grand Canal, holding tanks, insurance, IRBOA, Ireland, live-aboards, mooring, Operations, residential boating, Sallins, Shannon, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Irish waterways history 