To Lough Erne and Enniskillen

So here we are in Enniskillen. We arrived into Lough Erne on Saturday. Didn't have any problems with the low water levels, but you could see how much the depth had dropped along the Woodford River. We didn't hit bottom at all. Well actually that's not altogether true. It was a long haul up from Haughton's Shore with only a short stop at Ballyconnell. I have this as my excuse for going the wrong side of a marker just after Carrybridge. I was busy looking at the end of speed limit sign, then whoosh, poor Winter Solstice rose up and over and down. I was so embarrassed. I handed straight over to Joe and sat on the step in the cockpit to cover my shame, hoping nobody had seen and thinking what might have happened had it been rocks instead of a sandbank.

It was shortly after that, I think, that we decided to stop at The Moorings. We'd had enough and so had the dogs. This was a good decision. They have a brand new jetty there, so it was easy to get in with the dinghy - the previous visitor jetties were sideways on which could make it fiddly with the dinghy. Good weather, tasty steak and excellent company. One of the delights of this trip has been meeting so many new people, many of them in the IWAI. After dinner we gatecrashed a table and spent the night talking to Suzanne and George and their friends.

On Sunday we moved the huge distance to the Ardhowen Theatre. Half an hour felt about right after the day before's cruise. We'd never stopped there before but it had been recommended, and bicycles meant it would be easy to get into town. It was very windy so went right inside, which was a good decision, but if the wind hadn't dropped the following day I think we'd have had to spend the night in the reeds. It nearly pushed us into the corner on the way in. This is how we discovered there was plenty of depth. Another meeting of charming people. We came back to the boat to find Archie and Freda admiring Winter Solstice and we glowed with pride.

And now here we outside the Forum in lovely Enniskillen. We've had two great meals out - at Dollakis, a Greek restaurant and at Kamal Mahal the Indian restaurant opposite. A spot of shopping now, then out into the wide world of the Erne and to somewhere part way down the lake for the night. We're going to leave the boat with David Cole in Quivvy Marine for a couple of weeks, then come back for another week and some good sailing on the upper lake.