Wednesday 31st August 2011 Vaudemanges – Condé-sur-Marne. 6.9kms 8 locks

Old shed by lock house at lock 21 Fosse Rode

Sunny but chilly first thing, getting hotter later. Floan left at lock opening time 7.00 a.m. and we never heard a thing. Thanks George! We slumbered on until 8.30 a.m. Three empties came uphill and we heard all of them. Had a set of texts from Helen, they’d seen red squirrels (we didn’t – didn’t get up early enough) and a lost fender for us to collect on our way down, plus she’d left us another British newspaper down at the bottom lock. Set off at 10.15 a.m. reversing to the hanging pole, passing the still slumbering cruiser, activated the lock and set off down the flight. Lock 17 Vaudemanges (2.48m) was very quiet, no one around. 500m to lock 18 Champ Bon Garçon (2.68m). Likewise no one around, very still and peaceful. Another 500m to lock 19 Long Raies (2.69m) Signs of life, a VNF crew of two grasscutters had just finished cutting the grass alongside the lock and were busily packing the mower into the back of their van to carry on to the next bit of grass that needed their attentions. 

Recess in lock wall for ropes 22 Isse

650m through cool wooded countryside winding down the hill on to lock 20 St Martin ( 2.72m) At this lock there was a young lady VNF worker busily cleaning the lock cabin. 650m to lock 21 Fosse Rodé (2.74m) One of only two lived in lock houses left on the flight, there were two VNF vans parked below the lock. Mike lifted the blue bar while I made tea and toast. 700m to the next, lock 22 Isse (2.60m) by the village of the same name. Mike worked the lock again while I finished making tea. We ate our toast on the 1.350kms pound to lock 23 Coupé (2.73m). Mike took a few photos of the empty lock cottage while I fished out an almost new sausage fender that Helen had spotted. 1.750kms to the last lock, through the village of Condé spreading ever further along the bank of the canal with the addition of more new houses. 

Old lock house at 23 Coupe

Mike took the boat into the left hand side of lock 24 Condé (2.62m) to step off and take photos of the old towpath towing engine while I took the rubbish to deposit it in the bin and collect the newspaper Helen had left hanging in a plastic bag from the bracket holding the control rods. I lifted the rod after he’d shoved the boat over so I could get back on board and the lock emptied. It was 12.15 p.m. as we passed the pontoons below the lock. A small cruiser had just tied up on our mooring. Mike asked the guy how long he was staying, he replied until Monday. OK. We’ll have to ring Gérard after lunch. Meanwhile we tied across the end of the new pontoon, which was nearly as long as the boat. Hmm. 

Electric towing engine which used to tow unpowered boats
along the Marne a l'Aisne canal

Rather prefer this to the old pontoon, it fits the boat better. Connected the electricity (reduced now to 6 Amps, so no washing or ironing without resorting to running our engine and Markon generator) and I made some lunch. Phoned Gérard just after 1.30 p.m. He was on holiday at the seaside – up North by the Channel! He said tell them to move! Then he said Gégé would be round later and he’d sort them out. OK we’d see him and Viviane on Saturday. Helped Mike unload the moped off the roof using two tyres to lower it on to, as there was no room for a plank. The cruiser went past that had been moored at Vaudemanges when we left. Mike returned with the car (only a short run back up to Wez – he made sure the dog kept its distance today). We returned the moped to its place on the roof. I tried the Internet, EDGE but 3G was available if we put the antenna on the roof. An empty péniche arrived, moored along the bank by the turn pole and started painting. 

Tuesday 30th August 2011 Sillery – Vaudemanges 22.5kms 4 locks

Lock house at 14 l'Esperance

Sunny with white clouds. Hot later. An uphill loaded péniche went past early. Condensation reformed on the steelwork after I’d dried it off, it was very chilly first thing. We set off at 9.35 a.m. Mike turned the pole, lock 13 Sillery (3.49m) emptied and we went up. The moorings at Sillery were nearly full. On the end was a large tjalk with masts whose English crew came out to ask if we were carrying on uphill. 2.2kms to the next lock 14 l’Esperance (2.63m). We waited while a loaded péniche in front of us cleared the lock, then it emptied for us and we went up. I made tea and toast on the 2.8kms pound. There was a nice overhanging walnut tree below the lock so we paused to gather a few nuts. 

Ironmongery on the lockside at 15 Beaumont

Mike stood on the roof but got the shock of his life when the branch he was pulling broke, causing him to step backwards catching his foot on the pigeon box and then he fell on his back on the roof. Luckily not hurt much, just a scratch on his ankle and a pain in his leg. We carried on up lock 15 Beaumont (2.76m) A teenage lad was fishing in the canal from the road bridge over the tail end of he lock. He had minders, an older teen-aged lad with him plus a little girl. Mike took photos of the lockside garden ornaments – old agricultural implements. I took photos of the two lock houses and the VNF workshop. 1.15kms to the top lock 16 Wez (2.47m) A young woman arrived in a car and went in the house. Her two little dogs, inside the front garden and restricted by a mesh fence, went mental barking at me as I took a bag of rubbish to the bin by the road bridge. 

More ironmongery at lock 15 Beaumont

We went beyond the trees and tied up with a fantastic view across the fields to La Montagne. It was 11.40 a.m. George and Helen were coming up from above the bottom lock at Berry and would be arriving we calculated about 5.00 p.m. Helen had told Mike they be stopping above the top of the locks. Mike went to collect the car from Berry and move it on to Condé. I got on with reconstituting my laptop, downloading service pack three, Google Chrome browser and Yahoo for emails. The Internet wasn’t fast enough to download AVG security. Mike returned at four with some bread, en route for Condé, except he saw Floan heading for the lock. Helen broke the bad news that we’d got our wires crossed and they were carrying on through the tunnel to the top of the flight down to Condé. 

VNF workshops above lock 15 Beaumont

She told me Mike was going to put the bike back on the boat, leave the car where it was and follow them through the tunnel. Mike asked at the house if he could leave our car there and, as he was talking to the lady of the house, her aggressive little Jack Russell leapt up and levered himself across the top of the mesh fence just enough to nip Mike’s arm! He pushed the moped back to the boat and we loaded it back on the roof. Meanwhile two cruisers came up the lock one after the other. We followed on to the tunnel, setting off at around 5.00 p.m. I made a cuppa. Mum was fast asleep. Fifty minutes later we arrived at the north end of Mont de Billy tunnel. We could see a boat in the tunnel and Mike looked through his binoculars to see a light and deduced that it was coming our way. It wasn’t! 

The lock and two lock houses at 15 Beaumont

At six the lights in the tunnel went out and we could see the boat was just leaving the tunnel – it was Floan. Helen sent a text to say there was nothing in the tunnel, no boats at the other end and we could do what they did and put our headlight on and go against the red light now it was out of hours. We did. Put the headlight on for the first time in years to go through an unlit tunnel. Not far inside there was a leak from the roof, pouring icy cold water all over us. Good grief that was cold. Clouds had gathered when we reached the other end. There were now three houseboats in the old layby at Vaudemanges. Both cruisers had overtaken Floan and the second one, an ex-hireboat cruiser, was now moored by the house. We tied up behind Floan, which was about 2m out from the bank sitting on the bottom just before the first lock, and George and Helen came on board for a natter, sitting out on the front deck until it became chilly and the owls started calling - then we went inside.

Lock house at 16 Wez

Made Mum a sandwich so she could take her tablets but George and Helen said they had dinner on their boat waiting for them and went home around 10.30 p.m. Mike begged a bit of their cargo - a bag of petrol-coke - to experiment with burning it in our Torgem. George said his mate Roger had tried it, but said it wouldn’t burn without a forced draught. Mike said the mixed coal we buy in France contains anthracite and large lumps of petrol-coke without which the anthracite won’t burn at all. Helen took a sack that Mike found for her and went to fill it for him. Mike braved their long narrow plank, wearing his slippers and having had a surfeit of red wine, he managed to navigate the plank carrying a sack of coke while I held our big spotlight so he could see where he was walking (the night was black as a bag but the stars were bright) and Helen cheered as he regained terra firma. We wished them goodnight and a good trip down to Viviers on the Rhône. They said they would most likely have to come back empty but would be coming up the canal du Centre, so we probably wouldn’t see them on their way back to Gent.

Monday 29th August 2011 Berry-au-Bac – Sillery 32.6kms 12 locks

Clouds at Berry-au-Bac

Sunny with a chilly breeze, warming up later. Mike went for bread before we set off. The guy off a British cruiser, Tynne Toy, who had been moored above the lock, came to ask if we knew if the Sambre was open. We thought it was closed in France as far as the Belgian border and had been so for a couple of years. He’d got a stoppage list that said there was a bridge at Landrecies which would be reopened in October. Mike went with him to ask the lock keeper. A new lady keeper was on duty today. She had the same info he had. He said he would try it and see how far he got. Meanwhile a hotel boat (called Adrienne, a converted péniche - very square with no wheelhouse – the steerer stood out on the back at the top in all weathers) came up the lock and it took priority – a bad move for us. We had to wait while it ponderously turned into Berry Marne lock and it took ages to get in, rope up and activate the lock, then ages more to leave it before the keeper at Berry Aisne could reset it for us. Lock 1 Berry (2.85m) emptied, we went in, I lifted the blue rod and the lock refilled. Sadly, the lock cottage (which used to have a lovely garden and was occupied when we knew it first by an elderly couple who used to run a péniche) was slowly decaying, its roof tiles now starting to slip. Above the lock there were three empty boats waiting to load at the silo quay, pusher pair St Laurent and Ti Laurent and Marie-Lou from Janville. 1.15kms to lock 2 Moulin de Sapigneul (2.67m) The hotel boat was still in the lock when we arrived. I turned the pole and we had to wait for the hotel boat to clear before the lock emptied for us. 1.1kms to the next, which was linked. I made tea and toasted some crumpets as we crawled up the pound slowly to lock 3 Sapigneul (2.67m) which emptied and we went up. 2.36kms to lock 4 Alger (2.67m) past the cement pipe works. We heard the hotel boat in front chatting on channel ten with another hotel boat called Majesty, they said they were stopping at Courcy. They were just leaving as we arrived below lock 4, but then we had to wait while the other hotel boat came down the lock. What a sight! Majesty was called Majesty of the Seas and had been built as a replica of an ocean liner and it had loads of tiny windows. The lockhouse at Alger was still lived in. 1.2kms to the next. The hotel boat in front was just leaving lock 5 Gaudart (2.58m). The house was lived in and had a beautiful garden. They had tomatoes in boxes for sale which I didn’t spot until we were leaving. 3.5kms to the next set of locks. It was 12.50 p.m. The sun came out as we had lunch on the long pound up to lock 6 Loivre (2.62m). An old houseboat called Antony was moored in the layby below the lock. The hotel boat had just left the lock. I turned the pole and it emptied for us. Next to the lock there was a tour bus parked, empty except for the driver who came to speak to us. He’d noticed that we hadn’t put any ropes on and said that some of the locks were a bit lively. We informed him that we’d been locking without ropes for a long, long time and knew what we were doing. (In a 40m x 5.50m lock we can easily stay at the back of the chamber while the lock fills very gently, it would be a different case if we had to share with another boat - THEN we would use ropes, unless it was with another narrowboat) 700m to the next. The hotel boat was still in lock 7 Fontaines (2.81m) so we motored very slowly up the pond. The layby for the silo was encircled with fishermen and graffiti had sprouted all along the walls. Eventually the lock emptied for us and we went up. There were two lock houses next to the lock. The hotel boat’s tour bus went past on the road and a VNF van sped off up the towpath. 1.1kms to the next lock 8 Noue-Gouzaine (2.51m) There was a yellow hammer perched on the topmost twig of a large conifer, singing away loudly from his perch. The old lockhouse with bricked up windows was almost completely hidden by the fir trees. As we came up in lock 8 we could see that the hotel boat still hadn’t completed the 800m pound to the next lock. We had to wait while he went up and cleared then lock 9 Courcy (2.3m) the last one of the flight, emptied for us. A man in a 4x4 stopped to watch us lock through from the bridge over the tail end of the lock. We couldn’t decide if the lock house was lived in or not. It was 2.40 p.m. when we left the top, no more locks until Reims, a long pound of 12.45kms. Adrienne hadn’t moored where the péniches moor in Courcy, just beyond the lock on the concrete-edged towpath where it’s deep - he had two lines ashore and was wriggling himself sideways into the space under the trees where the village of Courcy had put picnic tables etc for passing small boats. He was very close to a splendid varnished yacht called Maiko (no nationality flag or registration number showing that we could see). There was a Stars and Stripes flag on the bow of the hotel boat and the clients were standing out on the fore deck as the crew moored the boat. Mike shouted hello to them in English and none of them seemed keen to answer, just looked at our boat as we went past. Into the cutting before La Neuvillette a suburb of Reims and at KP14 we passed empty péniche Sebastien, whose smiling skipper slowed down to go past us. That was nice, not many of them do that these days. We had tea and biscuits as we went into the city. Pa-Ma an empty péniche was moored at the beginning of the quay by PUM, the crew busily painting the coamings a lovely shade of cornflower blue. There were new fences all along the back of the quay and a gate into the quayside belonging to PUM steel works. The whole of their quay was empty. Beyond the gate at the far end there was a bunch of empty boats, Minerva, El Paso (more painting), St Joseph, Edison (from Antoing), Dahlia and Canberra. In the arm there was an old converted tug and an empty smart Dutch péniche which had no name on its stern. We passed a Dutch cruiser called Leijo, heading downhill, as we passed the site of the old fuel stationin the outskirts of Reims. On into the city centre. There were three boats in the Port de Plaisance in Reims, a large Dutch cruiser called Jakaranda from Den Bosh, an American yacht and another cruiser, the rest of the moorings were empty but the quay beyond was full of péniches and Dutch barges converted to houseboats all the way to the road bridge and a few beyond. It was 2.45 p.m. when we arrived at the flight of three locks in the city. The weirs on all three were flowing well, right across the entrance to each lock as usual. I pointed out to Mum, who was sitting out in the sunshine, the battered state of the wall where the boats had hit it after being shoved over sideways by the weir. We had no problem being much narrower than the width of the lock. There was a young lady on duty at the bottom lock, her scooter standing on the lockside ready for any false manoeuvres made when locking through any of the three locks in her charge. (We didn’t disturb her) We went up lock 10 Fléchambault (2.87m) then 750m to lock 11 Château d’Eau (2.01m) 650m to lock 12 Huon (2.36m)  without any problems. All along the bank were horse chestnut trees, whose leaves were turning brown, alternating with what looked like walnuts but not quite, we looked them up in my field guide for trees and came to the conclusion that they were American trees called a butter nut. Wonder if you could eat them – there were certainly lots of nuts on them. As we left lock 12, loaded péniche Risque from Thuin was waiting to go down. The British steel boat we’d seen at Maizy, called Ferrous, was moored just above the lock, not a pleasant mooring right next to a busy road, maybe they stopped to go shopping. 7.55kms to Sillery. Past the new VNF offices (they moved out of the city centre a few years ago into a new set of offices and workshops) and into the industrial area stretching along the banks for the next 5kms or so. There were lots of people fishing, walking or cycling the canal towpath and Mum saw her first taggers – a bunch of youths preparing a wall to do graffiti and judging by the rest of the wall they were pretty good at it too. We moored before the turn pole below the lock at Sillery where it’s quiet. It was 6.35 p.m. The journey had taken us about two hours longer than normal after being stuck behind that very slow hotel boat. 

Sunday 28th August 2011 Berry-au-Bac Day off

Got on with more jobs and then more work on the laptop

Saturday 27th August 2011 Berry-au-Bac. Day off shopping

We took Mum shopping with us by car to Carrefour in Tinqueux, Reims.

Friday 26th August 2011 Berry-au-Bac. Rain. Day off.

Rain poured down in the night accompanied by thunder just before dawn (I didn’t hear it but Mike did). The rain poured down all morning and most of the afternoon. Mike finished adding his new bracket to the alternator, then I got on with more washing and ironing, running the engine to power the Markon generator. 

Thursday 25th August 2011 Berry-au-Bac. Day off

Warm and sunny with a light breeze, clouding over later. I wanted to go to Jardiland to get new plants to replace the ones that had died in the tree plantation on the roof. I had to check online for the nearest shop, which was at Cormontreuil in Reims. It was 11.30 a.m. by the time we were all ready to go and, as the shop closes for lunch 12.00 until 14.00, we went for a ride to see the Chemin des Dames and the wonderful views from it. We paused to look at the monument to the Basques who fought and died in WW1, then saw a German cemetery at Fort de la Malmaison. Off to Reims via the N31 through Fismes. First stop Castorama (big DIY shop) for Mike to get a bolt, some S-hooks and brushes (he didn’t get any of the latter only the bolt) then we went to Cora Sud and had some lunch in their cafeteria – chicken and veal kebabs with chips followed by ice creams as a treat. Then we went for a look around Jardiland. Mum spotted a beautiful crimson flowered bromliad, which she wanted to take home with her and a pot of asters. We looked at the birds, fish and fluffy animals then looked around the trees outside. I bought a box plant, a silver thing to replace the one that had died and a flowering Erica to go in the same pot to replace the red leaved tree that had died. We were all tired and wanted to go home. A slow drive through Reims as they had added new tram tracks down the centre of the main road to Laon, so a four lane road was now reduced to two and no parking outside the shops. On our return, Mike set to work to make his new support strap for the adjuster on the alternator belt (the adjuster broke and a replacement had to be quickly made as we left Lokeren). The strap is to stop the support flexing, this had caused  a low stress brittle fracture

Wednesday 24th August 2011 Pinon – Berry-au-Bac. 40.1kms 9 locks

Square lock cabin at Pinon lock 6

Grey clouds, much cooler with spits of rain, brightened up around lunchtime – hot and sunny until late afternoon. Two péniches had already gone past before we rolled out of bed. I went to get a few groceries from Carrefour Market and spent nearly 30€. Mike asked if he could park the car on their car park all day. The lady manageress was most surprised that he should ask and not just do it! Up lock 6 Pinon (2.30m) we zapped and went up ropeless as usual. The horseshoe shaped cabins that are peculiar to this canal had here been replaced by a much larger square one. Mike went in to make a cuppa on the 5.1kms pound. I was attacked by clegs (horseflies) whilst steering but thankfully didn’t get bitten. Chaillevois N°7 was a deep one at 3.25m and its concrete walls were in a very bad state of repair. 

Braye tunnel entrance

I finished off the cuppa Mike had started making and made toast with marmalade. A cruiser went past heading downhill and I never even noticed it! Mum stayed inside while it was cool outside. 2.6kms to the next. Another deep one (3.25m) Chavignon 8. The VNF man from the house was getting his mowing machine ready for after lunch, then he went in the house. It was 11.45 a.m. 1.3kms to the last uphill lock. 9 Pargny-Filain (2.84m) had four VNF vans on its lockside. We zapped and went up, no problems. I made a quiche and put it in the oven to cook while going through the chilly tunnel. Had a short wait at the end of Braye tunnel while Relicat, a loaded péniche, came out heading for Abbécourt. I picked wild marjoram and wild parsnip flowers from the bank before the tunnel. 

Out of focus but this shows the yellow sodium lighting
in Braye tunnel

We took photos inside the tunnel, lit throughout with yellow/orange sodium lights, using the new and old cameras and Mum’s new one (after I’d fathomed out that it had no batteries in it and how to switch it on). Waved to the keeper (and lock controller?) in his cabin at the tunnel end. As we set off on the last 2.5kms of the summit level he set the last four locks for us, which were all linked so no need for the zapper. Mike wondered if we should have posted it at Pargny, but we didn’t see any notice to say “post your zapper here”.  Lock 10 Moulin Brûlé (3.35m) was the only lived-in lock house on the flight. The resident (young) VNF man was mowing the grass so we put a rope on to go down as we remembered from last time what a stickler he was for rules. 

Mike's Mum sitting out on the front deck going through
Braye tunnel

Down lock 11 Metz (3.45m) with no one around, a sadly decaying beautiful brick lock house – then a lad on a scrambler went past to shatter the peace. On down to Moussy-Soupir lock 12 (3.45m) where an empty péniche called Loma was coming up in the lock. Monsieur walked the dog up the towpath to lock 11 while Madame steered the boat. Down to the last lock 13 Verneuil (3.70m) where Albemar, another empty, was coming up. Another empty, called Landfall with his wheelhouse dismounted, was below the lock - he pulled into the landing on our right below the lock to wait. We dropped down in no time as usual, which we think surprised him as the batellerie are used to yachts and cruisers taking an age with ropes in locks. The skipper was on the bows and asked what horsepower our engine was as we passed. 

Ventilation fan at Braye tunnel

Again Madame was steering and she took the empty barge into the lock as we left. On down to Bourg-et-Comin where we hoped to find space on the pontoon to moor for the following day as it had free water and electricity. We passed a British flagged (defaced ensign on the back) catamaran (no masts), called Rage, heading up toward the locks. Perhaps he’d just left the pontoon? No chance. There was a VNF workboat on dry dock and three boats moored by the VNF workshop, tug Le Brisant with a digger on a pontoon, tug Chateau Thierry and pan Rethel, plus tug Sanglier. The pontoon was full, not an inch to spare, with four French cruisers who looked like they’d taken up permanent residence. The space around the corner above the lock (La Cendrier on the canal lateral à l’Aisne) was occupied by two empty péniches, so unless we turned round and went back across the aqueduct over the Aisne there was nowhere to tie up. 

Lock 11 Metz. Canal de L'Oise a l'Aisne

The weather was now glorious, Mum had sat out, and so we decided to keep going to Berry-au-Bac. 20kms and another lock. Péniche Invicta was waiting to load at the first silo quay. A retired péniche called Nautica from Antwerpen was moored in the wide by the village of Maizy as was a British replica DB called Ferrous. The lady of the latter vessel came out waving like mad just after we’d passed. Lots of sandpipers flew off in front of the boat. At 5.00 p.m. we attempted to moor in the layby at Pontavert, but it was far too shallow as they’d left the old sloping stone wall below a 50’s concrete wall and new piles were arranged along the bank for the next new edging. We carried on to Berry. A large DB from Groningen called Cinclus was moored at the very end of the péniche moorings below the lock. 

Recessed lock bollard with deep rope grooves.
Lock 13 Verneuil

Two men were walking down the path towards it, they waved. The lock was full but the keeper emptied it for us. I put a rope on a bollard and went up the ladder to ask if we could have some drinking water. The new lock keeper, a young blonde lady in her late twenties, came out to speak. Yes, no problem the tap was on the side of the house but there was no hose. She said she’d fill the lock first. OK. Meanwhile I held the rope and Mike found the hose out of the gas locker and connected it up. Asked if it was OK to stay in the corner of the “large” – yes, no problem – and parking? Fine, no need to ask. I said it’s only polite to ask first – she smiled. She said to let her know when we want to continue on VHF channel 22, as she has to set the first lock on the Marne à l’Aisne for us. Great. 

Passing Landfall, an empty peniche,
below lock 13 Verneuil

Tank refilled we moved into the corner (well not quite, as it was silting up quite badly) opposite two Dutch péniches, Moshulu (empty) and Babytonga (loaded) with another Dutchman Wil-Jas (also loaded) on the same side as us but right by the lock. On the far side of the junction were four more empties, Vagebond and Logica, one I couldn’t see the name of (Maryland) and Medea. The shop/café on the corner by the lock was shuttered and the fuel seller had packed up and gone. It was 6.40 p.m. by the time we’d finished tying up. Another loaded Dutchman, Liane from Maastricht, came down from Rethel direction and turned to go up the Marne à l’Aisne but was a few minutes too late, the lock lights had all gone off at 7.00 p.m. so he moored on the corner with his bows almost touching the gates. Gave Mike a hand to get the bike off the roof down a plank and he went to get the car. It was almost dark when he returned and we had a very late dinner.

Tuesday 23rd August 2011 Abbécourt – Pinon. 3.3kms 5 locks

Notice at Abbecourt lock - very bad English!

Grey clouds and long sunny spells. Got up late. Two péniches had already gone past before we stirred. Mike went by car into Chauny to get some bread as the boulangerie in Abbécourt had closed down a long time ago. While he was out he bought gas, diesel and petrol from an Intermarché Hypermarket. At 10.30 a.m. péniche Congaye went uphill empty. Mike returned at 10.50 a.m. and we stowed all the stuff away then prepared to leave. As we untied at 11.30 a.m. a French flagged cruiser went past heading for Paris (downhill). Mike reversed to the junction with the Oise à l’Aisne canal, just as a British Luxemotor called Verwandering came out of lock 1 Abbécourt (4.12m). After he cleared the lock we went under the bridge through a pair of sensors and into the empty chamber, right up to the front of the deep lock to lift the blue bar. Nothing happened. 

Collision sensor lock 2 Guny

I did it again, still nothing. Waited five minutes and tried again, nothing. Mike reversed out and I went up the steps to use the intercom (there was no way I was climbing up a four-metre mucky lock ladder). They’d added a new fence around the lock, the only access was through a gate by the lock cabin and it was locked. Mike took the boat back into the lock and tried lifting the bar again. This time the stupid thing worked. A man started walking towards me from somewhere by the bridge (there was a VNF van parked by the bridge but he didn’t come from there). When he got halfway he patted his pockets as if looking for keys then turned and went back where he came from. Meanwhile the lock had filled and Mike got off and opened the gate from the inside to let me in. 

Flowery lock gate at Guny lock 2

He said there was no telecomand in the box and asked me to use the intercom, which I did. I was just asking the guy in the control centre where my telecomand was and he said there should be someone there when the key searcher returned and shouted “I’m here Jean-Luke” as he walked past to open the gate. The telecomand was in the box Mike had just looked in. Hmm. Perhaps it automatically dispenses them when the lock is full. The guy who had said he was there walked off again. I said do you need to know the number on the telecomand? Nope. Not like the St Quentin canal then, they had boat details and recorded the number of the box you’d got when the dished it out and when they had it back. We set off on the 11kms pound, through wonderfully remote and jungly surroundings. Made a cuppa and sat out. 

Oval lock houses unique to the Oise a l'Aisne canal

At the end of the first long straight we could see a loaded péniche had come up the lock behind us. I steered and Mike chatted with Mum on the front deck until we were almost at lock 2 Guny (2.30m). Nothing was moored at the quay, which was occupied by one lone fisherman. Zapped and went up the lock without any problems. The house and gardens on the lockside were beautifully kept. Made sandwiches for lunch on the 2.65kms pound to lock 3 Crécy (2.30m) Crécy lock had Nogent on the plate over the canal house door. Again the house and gardens were splendid. The lock filled, but then the gates wouldn’t open. Mike got off to look for the intercom, there wasn’t one. Noted that the red sign above the control rods was flashing. We waited. Meanwhile we could hear the lady in the lock house phoning someone and saying “There’s a boat in the lock and no one is answering the phone!” 

Lockhouse, lock cabin and control rods at 5 Vauxaillon

5 Vauxaillon5 Vauxaillon

Don’t know who she was berating, but the gate opened a few minutes later by remote control. A man in a grey van had just arrived at the house and he came to smile at us (I think he and the woman at the house were the lock keepers before automation) so we said to him to thank Madame for ringing for us as we left. He was still smiling. A sign by the lock said eggs for sale and noix (walnuts) – 1,50€/kg, wish we’d have bought some now. A French-flagged cruiser was moored just at the end of the grassy bank above the lock on the right hand side. The crew smiled and waved. 2.9kms to the next, lock 4 Leuilly (2.30m). Just as we approached the lock there was a man fishing on the left bank - he landed a huge fish and we shouted Bravo! No problems with lock 4, yet another grand lock house and garden. 4.95kms to our last lock, 5 Vauxaillon (2.30m). We had a note on the guidebook, written by us many years earlier, which said keep stale bread for lock keeper’s rabbits. The house looked empty from below the lock but when the lock was full and we could see the front it had been recently renovated and was now lived in – no rabbits, though. Two cars and a VNF van were parked outside and a young woman was sitting on the side door steps. She waved and her dog bounded out to bark at us! Three more kilometres to Pinon. We arrived at 4.45 p.m. The picnic tables were all occupied and various youths and lads were fishing, all polite and tidy, no mess left when they packed up and went home. Gave Mike a hand off down the plank with the moped. He left to get the car at 5.30 p.m. just after the péniche following us, Rei-Dia, went past; he slowed off to go past too! A Dutch cruiser, heading downhill, moored in front at 6.15 p.m. At 6.30 p.m another loaded péniche went past, Jewel, who tried to drag us off the bank – he definitely didn’t slow down to go past! 

Monday 22nd August 2011 Jussy - Abbécourt. 21.2kms 10 locks

Grey clouds with blue patches and sunshine between. An empty péniche had gone past heading uphill around 8.30 a.m. We winded and set off at 9.30 a.m. The couple in the house opposite were out in their garden and they waved as we left, as did the people in the corner house on the silo side. 2.5 kms to Jussy lock 26 (3.00m) There was work going on to repair the automatic lock, so a keeper worked us through the left hand chamber, pressing buttons in the “greenhouse” control cabin, while the VNF men sat around on the lockside of the right hand chamber. He said the work would take about two months and told us there was another boat on its way uphill. Mike went in to make a cuppa and had to refill Mum’s pill dispenser as it was empty. Lock 28 Voyaux (3.00m) was fenced off. The VNF were grass cutting, one man was strimming, while another drove a sit-on mower to cut the towpath grass as far as the lock sensors. Mum sat out again on the front deck seat. 3.5kms to the next lock. The family at the house before the bridge were waving as we went past. More signs of life as we approached Tergnier, a fisherman started setting up his gear by the railway sidings, then two winos started calling out in English as I steered the boat down to the group of three locks before the junction with the Sambre à l’Oise canal. Into lock 29 Fargniers no 1 (2.60m) I steered into the lock for the first time in ages as Mike was busy chatting on the front deck with his Mum. He lifted the rod to activate the lock. 300m to the next and as the three were linked it got itself ready for us. Down lock 30 Fargniers no 2 (2.90m) and a little tjalk called Lucky was coming uphill. Another one from Wachtebeke! 670m to lock 31 Farniers 3 (2.90m). A loaded boat had just gone past heading down the canal as we dropped down in lock 3. Mike kept lookout for traffic on the bows as I turned right at the junction. Loaded boat Zen was moored next to an empty with no name, which was permanently moored there and had a garden alongside it. The four remaining locks on the St Quentin canal are in pairs, both locks of each pair work and are automatic with sensors on the bank to detect approaching boats. We followed loaded péniche Ovni, who went down the right hand chamber of lock 32 Tergnier (1.4m) then we waited while the lock refilled for us. The right hand chamber was full. An empty péniche called Luxor was moored above lock 32 along with a couple of little VNF tugs. We could see down the next pound that there was another loaded boat in front of Ovni going downhill and an empty coming uphill. The left hand chamber emptied for the uphill boat and the right hand one refilled for us – what a waste of water! We went into our chamber as Dornia came into the other. 2.6kms to lock 33 Viry (2.4m), Ovni had just gone down the left hand chamber and it refilled for us. I made some sandwiches on the 2.3kms pound to lock 34 Senicourt (2.00m) Ovni seemed to be taking ages to get through the right hand chamber (maybe a bit of a tight fit) so we caught up with him. The lock refilled for us (again the left hand chamber was sitting there full) and as we went down and empty called Albatross with its wheelhouse down came into the left hand chamber, which had emptied for him. 1.4kms to the last lock of the day lock 35 Chauny (2.30m). The itinerant keeper in a van was at the lock. Ovni had gone down in the right hand chamber and empty Phil-Ange was just in process of coming up in the left hand chamber. The lockie waved to us to go down in the left hand chamber once the empty had cleared it. As we went down in the left chamber an empty called Tahiti went up in the right and another empty, called Aloha, also with wheelhouse down, was sitting against the wooden separator staging below the lock waiting to follow him up the lock. I noticed there were cables hanging from the back of Aloha, which would indicate that the two were a pusher pair and Aloha was the front end. Into Chauny and Luxemotor Anthonia was moored opposite the port together with a part ballasted empty called Bertha. There were several visiting cruisers at the port in Chauny, British and Belgian, and the crews waved and said hello as we went by. Pusher pair tankers Nicole and Namur were unloading at the oil berth. Noted that a cruiser that had set off from Chauny was following behind Ovni. Another empty (Aqua-Mundo) went past heading uphill. Nothing was moored by the Café de la Marine, where they also sold fuel and gas. The old retired péniche Mado was still moored in the corner by the junction with the Oise à l’Aisne canal. We could see sensors under the bridge, which meant the lock was now automatic and Mike looked at the large new sign on the end of the lock through binoculars and it read “get your telecomand with the cabin” (Uh?). Nothing else was moored on the far side of the junction as we tied up at 2.30 p.m. We’d just finished tying the last rope as a British replica DB called Tadham Castle went past heading towards Paris. It didn’t slow down, the skipper’s wife waved - but he didn’t – looking straight ahead concentrating on steering. Gave Mike a hand to unload the fizzer down the plank. Lots of traffic up and down the canal, mostly commercial. I got on with the chores and had just finished washing up when Mike returned with the car. We put it back on the roof as the wind picked up and loads of grey menacing clouds gathered. Later we watched the News and the first episode of Corrie was halfway through when a thunderstorm broke out and torrential rain arrived which put the satellite TV off so we switched the TV off.

Sunday 21st August 2011 Lesdins – Jussy. 28.7kms 8 locks

Heavy rain in the night, hot and sunny with cloudy spells and a few spots of rain in the afternoon then back to sunny and hot again. The tjalk was still there by the cattle pens when we left at 9.45 a.m. – no tunnel tug on Sundays. Into the top lock 18 Lesdins (2.10m) I got off with some money and a bread bag, lifting the blue rod as I set off for the boulangerie half way between the first and second locks. The boat dropped down in the lock and was just coming into lock 19 Pascal (2.00m) as I arrived with two new loaves (1€ each). I lifted the blue bar and stepped back on board. Mike suggested that we did some more washing after St Quentin as I hadn’t washed his favourite long sleeved polo shirts. (It’s much too hot to wear them, but he has the choice if they’re clean!) The towpath was teeming with Sunday walkers, joggers, runners and cyclists – most of the fishermen wisely preferred the non-towpath side. 1.2 kms to lock 20 Omissy (2.30m) so I went inside to sort the cabin out, put stuff away and get the washing in the machine ready. Down the lock then I sat out to enjoy a nice cooling breeze as we ran down the 2kms pound to lock 21 Moulin Brûlé (2.20m) the first of the fenced locks through the city. A large DB Luxemotor called Alcazar (Belgian flagged) went past heading uphill. 1.2kms to lock 22 St Quentin (2.70m) and I held a rope while Mike put the pins in to run the generator as we dropped down the deep lock. Left the lock on the 7kms pound with the washing machine running, passing a fishing contest all along the quai Gayant in the middle of town. Mike saw a man riding a uni-cycle with a large wheel, about 1 metre. (I missed him). A small cruiser overtook not long after we’d passed the Port de Plaisance. Mum sat outside again on the front deck enjoying the sunshine. We put the sunshade up over the stern, but it was very breezy and we had to take it down again as the wind was too strong and might break it. We arrived at lock 23 Fontaine-lès-Clercs (1.90m) at 12.40 p.m. to find the cruiser had gone down it already. It refilled and we went down. The siren that sounded when the top end gates closed or opened was strident and loud like a police siren, very irritating, wouldn’t want to live in one of the houses surrounding it. 4.5 kms to the next. Continued with the generator running, as the washing hadn’t quite finished. The sky was clouding over and it was becoming very muggy. I made sandwiches for lunch, the new bread was very nice. The washing finished just before the lock so we drifted and I steered while Mike took the pins out of the drive. Down lock 24 Séraucourt (2.00m). A British DB, medium sized Luxe, was moored at KP65 in the middle of nowhere. Its skipper came out to say hello and ask where we were headed. Lock 25 Pont-Tugny (2.80m) was the last lock for the day. A small Dutch cruiser flying a French flag went past as we left the lock at the start of the 8kms to Jussy. It was getting very hot and close, but no thunderstorm. The skies cleared again before we arrived at Jussy. We’d just winded and tied to the old silo quay when a little cruiser called Atlantis from Wachtebke went past heading uphill! We’ve been there! He’s a long way from home. Gave Mike a hand to glue some tubing round the brake cable which was wearing away against the framework of the moped, then he rolled the bike off the roof on to the quay which was the same height as the roof. He went to get the car and I set the TV up. Mum stayed on the front deck, sleeping. 

Saturday 20th August 2011 Masnières - Lesdins. 11 locks 26.1kms.

Above Crevecoeur lock 9. C de St Quentin

Hot and sunny all day. Mike took a walk into town to get some bread (2 baguettes at 82c each) and found very little choice and a queue out the door at nine o’clock. The cruiser that was in front of us had already gone before we even got up. Left at 9.45 a.m. The first five locks were very close together. Up 7 Masnières (2.30m), 1.3 kms to 8 St Vaast (2.20m) and another 1.3 kms to 9 Crévecoeur, where I hopped off to take a rope on the lockside and ask the lock controller if we could top up our water tank. Yes, no problem. He told us there were only three water taps available on the whole canal now, theirs and one at the first and last locks. He had a previous VNF bill from me to copy so he could fill in all our details later and gave us the bad news that Riqueval tunnel is now closed on Sundays even though the canal on both sides was open. 

Fishermen sieving for worms below lock 10 Vinchy

We said we’d take the evening tow today rather than wait until Monday; he gave us a new list of times and rules for the tunnel which included no mooring on the summit level! It was 11.00 a.m. when we set off again. 900m to lock 10 Vinchy (below the lock three fishermen in waders were standing in the canal sieving the mud for worms,) then 400m to 11 Tordoir where Mike did it again – pressed the wrong button on the controller and filled the stupid thing. I had to hop off and tell the controller at Crévecoeur that Mike was an idiot and told them what he’d done. Within a few minutes one of the guys we’d been chatting took earlier came up in his van, went into the “greenhouse” lock cabin and reset the lock for us. Mike brought the boat in and I lifted the blue rod from the lockside while chatting with our lockie. 

Bar/tabac above Bateux lock 14.

He told me that VNF are not replacing staff as they retire - which is why no Sunday service on the tunnel tug – and that the latest plans involve making the Grand Gabarit from Dunkerque to the Belgian border automatic - with all that traffic! There will be mayhem! That’s the way we’d just come into France and it was pretty busy. I made a cuppa on the 2.4 kms pound. An ex-hireboat was coming down lock 12 Vaucelles, then we went up. Mum sat out on the front deck in the sunshine for the first time. I loaned her a long sleeved cotton shirt as she said she couldn’t stand the sun on her arms nowadays. It was midday when I sat out to drink my coffee on the 2.1 kms pound to lock 13 Bantouzelle (2.30m). The empty péniche called Trucker that went up the locks after we tied up yesterday was moored just beyond the silo quay at Bonavis. 

Little tug from Toulon moored above Banteux lock 14

I steered round the twiddly bits on the one-way system around the island where the N44 crossed the canal, then we went up Bantouzelle; another 500m (an ex-hireboat now called Valentre was moored) and up 14 Banteux (2.50m). There were fishermen both sides below the lock. I made sandwiches for lunch on the 2.6kms pound to lock 15 Honnecourt (2.50m). The last three locks to the summit were close together Up lock 15, then 1km to lock 16 Moulin Lafosse (2.20m) (where the Belgian cruiser Marie Galante was still moored just above the lock, tied to some Armco) and then 600m to lock 17 Bosquet (1.5m) the top lock. I posted the telecomand at the lock cabin and spoke to the controller at Crévecoeur, telling him we would be stopping above the lock at Lesdins. 

Eh?
They mean put the telecomand in the letterbox

We set off on the summit level at 2.00 p.m. I steered again. Converted péniche Jarga that was moored at Venhuile now had a well-established vegetable garden all long the bank by where he was moored. We tied up before the red light on the right hand bank in the shade and I repotted the remains of my Cambria orchid. Mike put the pins in so we could do some more washing once we’d cleared the tunnel. At 4.30 p.m. two cruisers went flying past (what new 4 kph speed limit across the summit pound?) Pleine Lune and a tug-styled boat. The lad off the tunnel tug came to find us as the tug was moored right up by the tunnel. I hauled the ropes in that Mike had just laid out ready for the tow and we set off past the red light to find the tug. I handed the lad the end of our long green rope and played out the whole of that then the doubled long white rope as the tug started off. We went at max speed for the chain tug. I steered while Mike showed Mum the holes and doors and rooms within the tunnel using our big spotlight. I couldn’t get him to hear me by buzzing or knocking the roof due to the noise made by the chain-tug, so I set the tiller strings and went inside to get my fleece myself as it was decidedly chilly in the tunnel – no one even noticed I’d been in the cabin. 

Riqueval. The old chain tug.

After an hour Mike came to steer as he knew I needed to get the washer ready. I made him a cup of tea and soup in a cup for Mum and myself as we were both chilly. At 6.00 p.m. we emerged into the cutting at the southern end of the tunnel where a bunch of badouts (gongoozlers) were there to see the tug emerge. I reeled in the tow line and we said thanks to the crew as we passed them. There was a thick layer of nasty looking brown scum on the surface of the canal – it looked like an oil slick, but was actually rotting vegetation which rises from the bottom of the canal in warm weather. Wound the revs up to 1300 and started the washing.  Sandpipers flew in front of the boat and the trees through the long cutting were covered in wild clematis (old man’s beard). 

Ancient stables at the southern end of Riqueval tunnel

I noticed wild marjoram was growing all along the edges of the canal banks. I went inside as we went through Lesdins tunnel to cook dinner. Tjalk Elizabeth J flying a red ensign was moored about 100m from the lock (by the cattle pens). We carried on to moor just before the sensors for the lock at Lesdins, away from the smell. It was 7.35 p.m. and dinner was ready. 

Friday 19th August 2011 Le Bassin Rond - Masnieres. 11 locks 23.5 kms

Loaded peniche Ma Pensee leaving lock 3 Erre

Rain in the night, sunny with a light breeze when we set off at 9.30 a.m. clouding over later. A cruiser had just set out from the little port’s basin in the corner opposite the pontoon. Kids were playing around the basin in canoes and little sailboats. Passed the old boulangerie and greengrocers shops, still both for sale and empty for a long time. Turned right on the Escaut heading uphill for Cambrai. Arrived at the first lock, Iwuy 5 (2.70m), at 10.00 a.m. as a little Dutch tug called Amor was just leaving heading downstream. We got a green light and went into the lock. I lifted the blue rod and started the automatic sequence working. When the lock was nearly full I went to the intercom on the old lock cabin and pressed the button to speak to the controller at Crevecoeur. He took boat details and issued us with a telecomand (zapper) which appeared in a hole in the wall. I had to tell him the number (30) so he could register it to us. I took our rubbish to the bins on the far side of the other lock (all the locks on the St Quentin/Escaut canal are in pairs but only one of each pair is in operation as an automated lock) before we left. I made some tea and toast on the 2 kms pound, just in time for us arriving at the next lock Thun l’Evêque 4 (2.50m). The locks were slow to activate after lifting the blue rod, taking up to a minute before the gates started to close behind us. 4 kms of meandering river between meadows, with grazing cows or horses, to the next lock. There were loads of flies due to all the animals. Mike went inside and I steered. A man walking in his garden had a shotgun under his arm and a loopy retriever running in circles around him. Please wait until I’m well out of sight before you shoot at anything! Loaded péniche Ma Pensée from Dunkerque was just leaving lock 3 Erre (2.30m) as we arrived. The gate paddles on the opposite side to the control rods opened first, which caused the boat to drift over to the far side of the lock. 2.6 kms to lock 2 Selles (1.60m), which was full and stubborn to accept the signal from the zapper but eventually it emptied and we went up and into the outskirts of Cambrai. The same three retired péniches were moored in the arm below Cantimpré lock 1 (1.80m), To Like and Morgane (but couldn’t see the other one’s name). Again the lock was slow to respond to the zapper. Past the port, devoid of boats as it’s summertime, on the 1.9 kms pound and the last stretch of canalised river before the start of the St Quentin canal. We passed a large DB flying a Dutch flag as went towards lock 1 Proville (2.40m). At last! Lifting the rod caused a siren to sound and the gates to close as soon as I lifted it, that’s more like it! (You can’t tell if it’s working or not if there’s a long delay) 1.6 kms to the next and we went past a loaded péniche called Netty moored in the layby on the right. Cantigneul lock 2 (2.40m) was empty as the DB had just come down and a white cruiser with a new Belgian flag pirouetted above the lock while it filled. On the next pound, 600m, we passed another cruiser, a large one with an SSR number on the side of it (but no national flag) as we were passing the old arm on the right. Up to lock 3 Noyelles and Mike zapped. It started filling so he assumed he’d pressed the wrong button on the telecommand, so he hopped off to reset the lock by being a “ghost down boat”. He checked first to see if anything was coming down, no signs of another boat (VNF in the control cabin up at Crevecoeur can set the locks remotely, which made me wonder if a commercial was coming down). The lock was fooled and emptied, the gates opened then the gates closed, but it wouldn’t respond to the zapper. 

Boundary post Esaut/Canal de St Quentin

My turn to hop off and go and call the control centre. He asked me to zap it again which Mike did, nothing happened - so he said he would send someone. I went to the top to check what lights were on, double red – en panne (out of order). I walked back down to the boat and got back on. I finished making lunch. Mike tried the zapper again and it worked, just as the VNF man in a van arrived to fix it! Typical! Lots of Gallic shrugging of shoulders. It works! We went up. Then just after the first bend on the 2.9 kms we met loaded boat Cindy coming downhill (hmm), Madame washing down the decks - so they must have just loaded. A British barge called Celestia (formerly called A.C.G.I. according to the metalwork around its bows) was moored at the next silo quay, the couple on it waved and said hello. The next three locks were pretty close together and used to be “chained” (linked so that you worked through one and the next started working for you). Lock 4 Talma (2.30m), 500m then lock 5 Marcoing (2.50m), then 1.5 kms to lock 6 Bracheux (2.40m) our last lock of the day. As we went into Masniéres there were fisherman on the banks and people out walking the towpath. A Belgian cruiser called Hilton had occupied the upper end of the brick quay by the Canadian war memorial, but there was enough room for us. Mike knocked pegs in and we tied up. It was 3.20 p.m. He went off straight away on the moped to collect the car from Le Bassin Rond while I made a salad for dinner. Loaded boat Maxi went downhill at 4.35 p.m. and an empty called Trucker went uphill at ten to five. 

Thursday 18th August 2011 Le Bassin Rond. Day off for shopping.

Hot and sunny, clouding over late afternoon with thunderstorms. Our neighbours were going on to Arques. We went shopping at Auchan in Esacadoeuvres near Cambrai. Nice store for an Auchan (not my favourite hyper) and we got all we went for plus extras. Nick had mentioned he wanted to get some smoked garlic from somewhere in Arques and wondered if it was too early yet – nope! They had a big pile of it in Auchan (farmed locally) and the unmistakable aroma filled the store. We ate a boxful of Viennoise on the way back, miniature croissants, pains au raisin and chocolate. I packed all the stuff away and Mike carried on with fixing stuff. He managed to do a permanent repair on the ‘fridge mains/12v power supply which means when (if ever) we’re on shore mains it will work on 240V. 

Wednesday 17th August 2011 Anzin – Le Bassin Rond.

Digger breaking up concrete. Pont Malin.

Hot and sunny. Mike went off on foot to get some bread. He asked in a tabac where the nearest boulangerie was – when he found it it was closed for holidays so he called in somewhere else to ask and the same thing happened – he ended up at Carrefour Market - where he bought a baguette and some crusty buns, plus a brown sliced loaf for me. He’d had a good long walk. When he got back he discovered a slight fuel leak, so he changed the olive (shouldn’t have used one twice, it never works) in the fuel return line. Put the pins in and set off at 10.15 a.m. winding in the weirstream then turning right, heading on up river on the Escaut, and the washing machine running. There was a boat coming up in the lock. I did the ironing as we went along. An empty 80m barge called Imernia was heading for the lock, pushing hard. Inspe was unloading scrap at a scrap quay. Shortly after we were overtaken by Che-No from Gent - the empty barge that was coming up in Folien when we left the arm. Paused the washing and ironing as we approached Trith lock and we followed Che-No into the lock. The lock had two chambers with central gates and floating bollards located by the gates. The barge filled the top section and kept his screw turning throughout the locking. We kept at the back and managed to get a rope (eventually, after a shouting match) on a floater and Mike kept the engine in gear to keep the boat against the wall. The washing finished just after midday, so I made a cuppa and sat out while Mike took the pins out (just in time again, as a loaded péniche called Massena came down river followed by an empty called Agora (70m x 7m, 902 tonnes). As we approached Denain lock we could see the 80m barge we’d shared the last lock with was going up. It emptied just for us and we went up on our own attached to the floater up by the middle gates. That was timed well as an empty called Nautilus (73m x 8.2m 1,051 tonnes) followed by a Dutch cruiser arrived to go down. A tug styled barge called Allea, loaded with coal slack, was moored above the lock. Just before Bouchain an empty pusher pair, called Tourisme and Fluvial, went past heading down river followed by two loaded péniches, Hurricane (Belgian) and Vasano a French boat from Dunkerque. Also just before the town two pusher pairs were being unloaded by a grab into lorries, Galata/ (no name) on the inside and loaded pair Rianex/Aubepin on the outside. Quiet as we headed through the town, past the old citadel walls and under the road bridge heading for the last lock of the day Pont Malin. When we could see it, we noted that it was full with the top end gates open, something came in and it emptied. Minutes later loaded pusher pair Punkie/Punky went past and the lock was ours. A digger armed with a jack hammer was busting up the concrete on the left hand lock side, making a big mess. Wonder what they’re going to do with that? We went for the floater below the gates on the right hand side (well, gate slots as the actual gates had been removed) and there was no floater in the hole! Backed up to use the recessed bollards, then as the water came in it forced between the boat and the wall causing the boat to start to list towards the wall – I loosed the rope off and the boat went gently into the middle where we stayed, ropeless, until the lock was full. Just one empty pusher pair was moored above the lock, Pax Mea/ (no name), with no car on board - we guessed they crew were on holiday. Turned left continuing up the canalised Escaut (which goes as far as Cambrai before becoming the canal de St Quentin) and the Grand Gabarit (high tonnage route to Dunkerque) now becomes the canal de la Sensée. Immediately the depth became less, down from 3.5m to 2m, with weeds in profusion growing along the edge. We turned into le Bassin Rond and found a gap between two boats moored on the pontoon. One was a little cruiser out from the marina just to have a scrub and clean, the other was our old friend Charley! Well, fancy meeting them! 

Tuesday 16th August 2011 Pommeroeul - Anzin.

Loaded tanker takes the lock at Fresnes. Back in France!

Rain in the night, showery morning and warm sunny afternoon. The alarm went off at 5.30 a.m. Mike knocked it on the floor. It was still dark and raining so he checked the time of sunrise on the GPS - 6.30 a.m. - he had another half hour doze. He got the boat ready and moved off at 6.35 a.m. I had a lie in and took him tea and toast, which we just had time to eat before the first lock, Péronnes 1 at 9:30 a.m. Loaded péniche Safari came out (he had some sort of large electric transformer on board – an unusual load for a péniche) then we went down it on our own; the second half of the 11m drop was very fast so we were surprised when the gates closed behind us. Dawdled down to lock 2 as we could see a boat coming up in it and a cruiser twirling in the pound over towards Plaquet’s. Mercator, a loaded tanker (85m x 10m 1,461 tonnes) came out of the lock and the Dutch cruiser Zinnin followed us into the chamber. Down and out at 10.15 a.m. An empty barge called Seba (80m x 9m 1,054 tonnes) was waiting close to the gates to go up. We trundled on down to the junction with the Escaut and had to hang back as a German barge called Rhein (80m x 9m 1,100 tonnes) was coming upriver and wanted to turn into the canal. He hadn’t answered Mike’s call on VHF in French (probably because he was German!!). The cruiser was off downriver, heading north. He’d been expecting to go on the Lys until the keeper at lock 2 told him it was closed. We turned left heading upriver, south into France, but drifted for a few minutes while Mike put the pins in to connect the Markon generator so I could do some washing and ironing. He did it just in time as we were about to be overtaken by a loaded pusher pair of péniches called Forever/Together. The pusher hung back and didn’t overtake as he pulled in to pause at the quay at Bleharies. Two empties were moored on the quay; Rayclau (55m x 6.6m 631 tonnes) and Rodzina (80m x 8,25m 1,091 tonnes). It started raining as we approached the border (welcome back to France!) so Mike put our newly repaired brolly up for me and went inside to make a cuppa. A Dutch cruiser went past heading downstream at 11.35 a.m. just after Mortagne and ten minutes later an empty 80m barge called Country overtook us. I put a second load of washing in the machine and did the ironing. I made a cuppa and sat out ten minutes before the lock at Fresnes. The washer hadn’t quite finished its final spin as we went under the two bridges below the lock. Switched the machine off and dropped on to the new pontoon below the lock. An empty tanker barge called Faraday (86m x 10.5m 1,508 tonnes) went into the lock and the gates closed behind it. We’d set off to follow it into the chamber but had to back off back to the pontoon when the keeper emerged from his cabin and waved his arms. An empty pusher called Mimi came down and the pusher pair Forever/Together arrived and went into the lock, he was narrow so we followed him in and went on the opposite wall halfway along the wall so we were out of his prop wash. It was 2.15 p.m. when we left the top. An empty called Atlantic (85m x 9m 1,472 tonnes) went past us heading for the lock we’d just left. 6 kms to the next lock so Mike went in the cabin to make some soup for his lunch and his Mum’s while I steered, following the pusher. At the second bridge we passed an empty pusher pair Suzel/Libreccio heading downstream. Four péniches (two pushers) Maryland/Kroonland, Touriste/Aquila were unloading soil at KP28. The scrap quay a little further upriver was empty. La Folie lock emptied and we followed the pusher pair in again and went up together again. Left the top at 3.15 p.m. A Dutch barge from Meppel called Remonsi (60m x 6.6m 675 tonnes) came downriver and we passed them under a railway bridge. Into the outskirts of Valenciennes/Anzin with a slightly deodorised sewage smell emanating from the drains emptying into the river. Followed the pusher pair into Folien and we went up together again. Left the lock at 4.00 p.m. A loaded boat called Le Carolo (58m x 5.7m) followed by an empty called St Louis went into the lock we’d just vacated. We turned right under the railway bridge and went down the weirstream to moor next to the road after passing a couple of night clubs on converted barges. Two fisherman seated on the bank a few metres further down the weirstream were not bothered by our arrival, however, their little dog barked and barked and barked. Gave Mike a hand to get the bike off the roof and he went to collect the car from Pommeroeul.