Donegal Dragon boat Festival

Well, what a wonderful weekend we have all had uniting with dragons from around the UK at the Donegal Dragons Regatta. BWD team was represented by: Christine, Debbie, Jackie, Karen, Louise, Neil, Rosemary, Toni, Valerie, Verdun, Cath, and was organized by Christine and Karen.

Leaving Southampton, we arrived early in the evening, Thursday 17th July, in Belfast, picked up hire cars, and headed to the north west of Ireland. A couple of hours later, we reached the lovely town of Donegal, situated on the mouth of the River Eske, where our racing would take place on Saturday.

Our accommodation was located in the heart of the town. A festoon of green and yellow flags and bunting welcomed us. Shop windows were full of similar green and yellow displays. What a lovely welcome, we thought — only to discover later that this show of support was really for Donegal (commonly known as Jimmy's team) reaching the final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship to be held in Dublin this coming weekend.

Friday was a free day and we were able to discover the delights of Donegal town: visiting the castle, mooching around the quality independent stores, and pausing for coffee, scones, and cakes in the delightful cafés. A boat trip down the River Eske gave us an idea of the course we would paddle the following day, and a tasty evening meal at the Harbour Restaurant — sampling the Irish fish pie, oysters, steak — followed by a wee nightcap of the black stuff at McCafferty's bar rounded off a lovely day.

Today's the day… race day! Conditions good: cloudy with short bursts of sunshine, and the river as calm as a millpond. Dressed in our BWD racing gear, we made our way down to the pier meeting point and were met by our hosts: the Donegal Dragons.

All in all, there were 12 teams, 4 races of 3 teams per race, 2 races per team.

First of all, a warm-up. No crocodile stretches here — more like a full-blown, extreme aerobic workout twice over. Was the idea to tire us out before the race?!

We were in the first race, boat number 3 — up against Inspire/Donegal Dragons and the Belfast Phoenix teams. Boats carried 16 paddlers, plus drummer and helm, so we borrowed a drummer and 7 paddlers, and came in third with a time of 1:26:14. The winners were Belfast Phoenix, a near-professional team.

Our second race was against Donegal Dolphins and Mayo, and after a motivating team talk, we came in with a much-improved timing of 1:21:53. Still not enough to get us through, but we felt things had gone better.

The minor final winners were Devonish with 1:15:19, and major winners Phoenix with 1:05:87. Medals were handed out to all, amongst exuberant, rapturous congratulatory applause, conga-dancing, and back-slapping. What an atmosphere, everyone on a high and full of joy. Let the party begin.

We had chosen to have dinner and karaoke on the boat. What a blast! BWD started shyly, reticent to participate. Verdun and Louise broke the ice, and from then on there was no stopping BWD, too many songs to remember. Neil air-guitaring on a stool, Jackie and Toni as backing dancers, and the rest doing vocals. Brilliant fun, and we know that had we been competing for a cup in karaoke, we may have won.

It was an unforgettable few days. All we can say to our lovely new Irish friends is thank you for your warmth, hospitality, friendliness, wit, and passion.

We had a craic.