It’s good to just go with the flow

OUR boat had been wandering around the Shannon for the past year or so and was beginning to look a bit shabby.

So earlier this year we brought her home for a little care and attention.

Well, not all the way home because I’m not fortunate enough to live right beside the water. But Lowtown on the Grand Canal is only a few miles from the house and has a boatyard with the facilities to sort out a few electrical problems and help with painting and general maintenance.

We went over the other day to do some painting and rust-bashing — it’s a steel boat so you have to keep on top of the rust. But it was a glorious early summer day, far too good to waste on dirty work. So we downed tools, untied the mooring ropes and went for a spin.

There was a certain amount of rationalisation about needing to put a charge in the batteries and check on how quickly the new fridge could make ice on a hot day. But really we were just mitching.

Lowtown is on the summit level of the Grand Canal which is fed by crystal clear water from the springs of Pollardstown Fen. This means on a calm and sunny day a boat floats on a giant aquarium. You can see every detail of life underwater without even getting wet.

The various species of underwater plants sway in the gentle current as fish flit between the stems. They were mostly fairly small fish: rudd, roach and perch, though I spotted a pike about 40cm long lying in ambush like a miniature alligator. The water was even clear enough for me to identify another carnivore, a great diving beetle, a monstrous insect the size of a matchbox rowing itself along under water in search of prey.

Above the water line, the bankside growth was lush and varied. Yellow flag irises were in full bloom. Surely these must qualify as one of our most spectacular wild flowers? All this vegetation meant there was a wealth of insect life.

There were plenty of butterflies on the wing and some common blue damselflies, though it’s still too early in the year for the larger dragonflies.

Dragonflies and damselflies spend most of their lives under water as larvae. They are also fierce predators. In fact the larger dragonfly larvae are among the very few insects that actually catch and eat small fish. This is a reversal of the normal relationship between fish and insects. The larvae of the great diving beetle will also take fish fry.

My boat is relatively quiet and I was travelling very slowly to avoid disturbing the wildlife too much. As we passed a bed of reeds, I spotted a bird I haven’t seen for a while. It was a male reed bunting, not that rare a bird really but a rather shy species that usually only reveals itself to people who like messing about in boats.

We came round a bend and ahead of us was one of those beautiful 18th-century canal bridges with a horseshoe arch. Just before the bridge was a line of timber mooring posts painted in the canal livery of black and white. We glided in and tied up. There’s an excellent pub a couple of hundred metres from this bridge.

Some crew members wanted to watch a match on TV so they abandoned ship. The dog and I stayed behind and lit the charcoal in the barbecue. There were sleeping bags on board and we could stay the night if we wanted. The new fridge had made the ice. It doesn’t get much better than this.

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