Tuesday 26th April 2011 Sillery – Berry-au-Bac. 33kms 12 locks

Houseboats in Reims

Sunny with a cool breeze. Set off at nine with a 7.5km pound to the first lock of the flight of three in Reims. We met a miserable fisherman who had three rods set up under a bridge. Maeva had the laptop on to do some typing while listening to music via headphones. A replica DB called Brunel came past heading uphill at KP31, its British crew waved. Twisted the pole above lock 12 Huron (2.4m) There was a VNF man with scooter parked outside the lock cabin. He was on the phone as we went in, I lifted the pole and the lock worked OK on auto. 650m to the next. Surprisingly we didn’t have a shadow. Down lock 11 Château d’Eau (2.0m) surrounded by fences keeping the joggers, runners and walkers off the lockside. 

Boats waiting to be unloaded in Reims

The lockhouse stood shuttered and empty as it had for many years. 750m to lock 10 Fléchambault (2.9m) and the automatics worked perfectly. The lock house was still lived in and the lock was fenced in. 12.5 kms to the next. Dropped down lock 9 Courcy (2.6m) Maeva steering while Mike did the rods, 1.1kms to 8 Noue-Guzaine (2.5m) and I made some lunch. Someone had written on the new lock sign about the scandalous state of the lock, the walls were falling down as the stones were spalling and forcing the lock ladder inwards into the chamber. Lock7 Fontaines (2.8m) 700m to lock 6 Loivre (2.6m) then a longer pound of 3.5kms to lock 5 Gaudart (2.6m) 1.2km to lock 4 Alger (2.7m) where a British flagged cruiser called Maranatha from Terherne had been left, moored next to the towpath right above the lock. 

Loaded peniche Sunny

Just one of the twin lock houses remained. The wind started picking up as we ran down the 2.4kms pound to lock 3 Sapigneul (2.7m) Maeva was playing on the Internet, setting up a blog on g-mail. No lockhouse at all at lock 3. On the 1.1km pound to lock 2 Moulin de Sapigneul I made a cuppa. There were crowds on the lockside, a large VNF man and a lady plus two couples who were out walking. The one remaining lockhouse was now empty. The VNF watched us go into the lock then left, the woman was driving the large VNF van as it headed back up the towpath. We passed loaded péniche Touareg just before the silos above lock 1 Berry (2.9m) it had a big dent in its port bow that looked like something heavy had been dropped on it. 

Loaded peniche Touareg with a big dent in his bow

Moored in the "large" at Berry-au-Bac

Its skipper leaned out of his wheelhouse window, smiling and waving. The little house alongside lock 1 was also now empty, the friendly old couple of ex-mariniers who used to live there for years had left. Mike called Berry Aisne on channel 10 and the skipper of Touareg answered him to tell him that the keeper was on channel 22. Mike thanked him and called the keeper on 22 to tell him we would stay overnight in the basin. It’s polite to tell him, then he wouldn’t get his lock ready for us. OK to moor in the large (big wide basin above his lock). Péniches Kaïros (empty) and Maryland (loaded) were moored by the old fuel depot (now deserted) and Moshulu from Rotterdam was moored uphill of the junction. Nothing was moored on the far side in the large. Not surprising, it’s silting up. The corner by the lock was so well silted up we couldn’t get close to the bank and Mike ran forward until the bows were level with the run off weir into the Aisne. It was 4.35 p.m. The old boat, Camargue, that had been left in the far corner of the large for years had now gone. Empty péniche Paraguay went up at 5.30 p.m.