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 The horseshoe shaped cabins that are peculiar to this canal had here been replaced by a much larger square one.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.