River Lagan with LCP

Today a large group from LCP headed for a ran down the Lagan from Lambeg to Shaws Bridge. This is quite a long run, about 4-5miles, so I wimped out and took the big boat and dog.

Whilst most of the river is flat, there are a number of wiers to keep yourself interested. There was a decent enough water level, with very few scrapey parts, which is weird for this river.

The first of the bigger weirs was Church Hill weir, which had a nice, yet retentive wave at the bottom. I only got stuck in it twice whilst surfing. Not too bad the first time as I got out with only a foot of water, but the second time I ended up having to swamp fully to get out. Didnt help much that Brian was pushing down on the back of my boat when I was trying to surf out of it backwards.

The weir at Drumbeg had quite a large towback on it, so Graeme lined his boat into it to demonstrate to the group exactly what it looks like when a boat is stuck in a stopper - something we never want to see with a person still in it.

Eels Weir at Edenderry was a very nice level, and I was very impressed at managing a completly dry line through it.

Not to much of a paddle left until we finished up at Shaws bridge. Unfortunately I had left my wheels at home so had to carry the boat back up to the carpark, much easier with the wheels - at least the dog can pull it then.

Thanks to Derek for the photos.