Wednesday 29th June 2016 Vaudemanges to Condé-sur-Marne. 7.0kms 8 locks

Top lock of the flight. 17 Vaudemanges

11.8° C. Sunny with white fluffy clouds. The DB behind us set off down the locks just after opening time at 7.15am. We backed up to the turn pole an hour later. Mike twisted it, but the lock lights are not visible from there, so we motored on to the top lock hoping the lock was setting for us. Yes, it was almost ready when we arrived. No problems with any of the eight locks (which are chained – ie leaving one lock sets the next) until the very last one. We passed our friendly fisherman

Rain battered grain field

Serge on the Isse pound, he said welcome back, smiling and laughing. We met only one uphill boat, a loaded Dutchman called Jenny, which had just come up the bottom lock 24 Condé – we passed it halfway down the pound from 23 Coupé. When we arrived at lock 24 there was only a red light showing – it was waiting for an uphill boat. Threw a rope around a bollard and Mike went to see if there was actually a boat below the lock. There wasn’t. He called for VNF

Lock 21 Fosse Rode. Smart lock house.

assistance on the lock cabin intercom. Fifteen minutes later a man in a van drove down the towpath, looking none too pleased, and reset the lock. He left as we entered the chamber. Nice friendly staff here now? As we left the lock a scooter drove up – it was our old friend Gérard! “There’s no space on the pontoon!!” he said. Our usual mooring was free - he was joking, we tied up and had a chat with him. He said he would be moving off his mooring in a couple of days as

Loaded peniche above lock 24 Conde

all resident boats are supposed to leave the port for one month at least, either in July or August, he was just going up the canal a short way towards the lock. We had to leave the pontoon free for the passing boats too, so we winded at the junction and went back up the canal to moor by the piled bank just outside the port. It was 11.30am. Meanwhile the Australians on the cruiser we’d last seen in Reims arrived and moored on the pontoon over lunchtime. Then two Dutch cruisers moored in front of us

Moored just outside the port at Conde-sur-Marne
looking towards the junction with Lateral a la Marne

and another two arrived mid-afternoon. Hmm, no one wants to stay on the pontoon, wonder why?  Lunch. A hotel boat went past heading uphill towards Reims. I tried ringing the man in charge of the moorings at Condé and at Châlons and got his answering service, so I sent a text to say we’d arrived. Gérard came round to our boat in his van to pick Mike up and they went to Berry so Mike could recover our car. Had a phone call from someone at Châlons who said he would be

Moored at Conde, looking towards the lock flight

at Condé at 5.30pm. Mike was back when he arrived (he found no one actually in the port to collect any money from) and gave us keys for box 4 so we could have water and electricity. Nice to be back (almost) on our home mooring!

Tuesday 28th June 2016. Courcy to Vaudemanges. 36.3kms 7 locks 1 tunnel

Boats moored at PUM Reims

12.3° C. Grey and chilly start, white clouds and sunny spells - one very light shower of rain later. We set off at 8.20am on the 12.5kms long pound. Jackets on again. A large nameless Dutch cruiser went past just before the cutting and the smelly rubbish at a recycling plant at the La Neuville end. Franca from Wasserbilig (Luxembourg) went past empty (he’d gone past loaded the day before) the skipper had his wheelhouse down. Our partner on dry dock, péniche Vage, was moored at

Palais de Congres Reims

PUM steel works at the end of the moorings nearest the supermarket, with several other empties, Ancilla, Péningue, Galion, Drakaar. The skipper and his daughter came out to say hello as we went past. Beyond PUM’s factory there was another line of moored empty boats, Alizarine from St Serin – a 34m Luxemotor, beyond it was Infinity from Gent, St Joseph (Paris), and Cindy – the last three didn’t look like they’d moved in a

Freedom of expression wall. Reims

while as they had weed growth around the waterline. Heading further into Reims, there was a DB moored right at the far end of the darse Port Colbert and a little bateau-ecole boat was doing some sort of training around a floating mooring buoy. Just beyond the port a goods train went over what Mike thought was a disused line. A cruiser with an American flag went past by the old warehouse building of Magasins Generaux de Reims. A bit further on was a main line railway bridge (electrified) and

Boats moored in the port at Reims

a long line of goods wagons was going over that as we went under the bridge and it was LOUD.  An Australian flagged cruiser was moored beyond the bridge just before the Centre de Congres. Never seen anyone stop there before. At the official port-de-plaisance mooring there was a DB moored along the edge and four cruisers on the finger pontoons. Three péniches were moored abreast among the houseboats, Taifun, Interlude and Ander. The row of moored boats continued beyond the road bridge.

Above lock 11 Chateau d'Eau

Cabourg, a very nicely painted péniche (probably retired) was among the wrecks and restaurant boats. The lime trees were flowering and the air was heavy with their sweet perfume as we turned the pole and went into lock 10 Fléchambault, the first of three linked locks in the city. Its lock house was empty and both house and lock were fenced off from the towpath which was heavily used by walkers, joggers and cyclists. Up 2.9m and on to a short pound of 750m, passing the

Below lock 12 Huon. Our audience of clapping schoolkids.

new flats built where there used to be silos and on into lock 11 Château d’Eau which had set itself ready for us after we left lock 10. Workmen were on the lock sides inside the green fencing as they had a crane on the towpath under the road bridge doing some work underneath it. Had a short wait below lock 12 Huon as loaded boat Chrismi was coming down, then we went up another 2.4m. A crowd of schoolkids aged about seven or eight (with teachers) were clapping as we

Rescued from a hot cup of coffee!
(Sorry he's a bit fuzzy)

went in the lock – what was that for? Football? – Brexit?? No idea. The lockhouse by the top lock was as smart as ever. A loaded boat called Samorinda from Marchiennes was waiting to go down the lock. Beyond the lock there was a British flagged DB called Serenity, which looked to me like a hotel boat, but Mike said it was moored there last time we came through Reims, must check the log. A tiny cricket hopped into my coffee – I fished him out quickly and he survived the experience although the coffee was quite hot. Took his photo and identified him as a short-winged conehead, a type of bush cricket. 7.6kms to the next lock at Sillery, passing warehouses, silos and factories as we left the city behind heading southeast. Empty Shelendu from Herstel was pumping out water ballast at the first silos, while Utopia-XL was loading grain under the chute. Halfway to Sillery a Dutch

Shelendu emptying ballast water and Utopia-XL loading grain. Reims

cruiser went past, we rocked about in his wash for quite some distance. A lorry was being loaded with grain at the silos in Sillery and a big digger was loading the drier alongside with grass (must be making cattle pellets). Sillery lock 13 is the deepest on this cut at 3.50m. Noticed that a cruiser had arrived below the lock as we left it. The port was almost full, just a few places left on the pontoons. Surprised they allow some very large heavy barges to use the pontoons, they must surely be over the weight limit

A poppy field alongside the canal

for them. 2.2kms to the next, passing through Béghin Say’s sugar processing plant, which I was glad to say was not boiling sugar beet today as I hate the smell. Up 14 L’Espérance (2.6m) and loaded boat Poulebot from Nancy was waiting to go down. Horseflies were hatching out, so on went the repellent and out came the fly swatters. Up another 2.8m in lock 15 Beaumont. This must be the next candidate for new concrete lock walls as its stone blocks were eroding badly. Just 1.15kms to the top lock, 16 Wez, up 2.5m and we were on the summit. I like the view from just beyond the lock over the

Southern portal of Mont-de-Billy tunnel

fields, currently of ripe barley, to the wooded hills of La Montagne de Reims, it is lovely view and makes a great mooring, but today Mike wanted to push on through the tunnel. Lunch on the move. It started getting warm as the sun came out. 6kms to the tunnel, passing the feed from the river Vesle, which was flowing in nicely. Mike called the keeper at Mont-de-Billy and we got a green light. I did chores as we went through the 2302m long tunnel, lights all the way through are activated by

Moored at Vaudemanges

sensors at either end. We moored beyond the layby at Vaudemanges at 3.45pm. Empty péniche Destin went past at 4.40pm. DB Alizarine moored behind us later. I’d taken a photo of lock opening times and found it strange that the locks open early at 7am but close early too at 6pm. Last thing, as we were shutting canvases, etc, I noticed ants on the gunwale – then spotted some in the cabin - on the sink and walking down the front of the sink unit. Mike went outside with a can of spray antkiller – they were all over the roof! Fortunately just little black ones, not the huge black ones we’d been seeing lots of lately or the vicious biting red ants. Fingers crossed they hadn’t made it into the bedroom. Sprayed the ones outside and a few inside, then went to bed. 

Monday 27th June 2016 Berry-au-Bac to Courcy. 12.4kms 9 locks.

Loaded peniche Touareg below lock 3 Sapigneul

10.2° C. Grey skies, drizzle occasionally, rain showers after lunch, chilly breeze. I took rubbish to the bins by the lock house at Berry 3 and told the young black-bearded keeper who was on duty that we were ready to move and asked him to set Berry 1 for us, which he did. Coats on again as we set off at 9.45am, backing out of the very muddy, weedy corner of the large. Five loaded boats remained in the pound, Nano, Destin and Vite were moored by Berry 3 and Florence and Delta were moored just beyond

Loaded peniche Lafurka in lock 6 Loivre

the junction with the Aisne à la Marne canal. Up Berry 1 rising 2.85m, then pausing on the silo quay while Mike investigated why the cooling system water was blocked – a thick lump of blanket weed came out of a pipe, then we set off again. Turned the pole to activate lock 2 Moulin Sapigneul, up another 2.7m noting some recent boat graffiti on the lock edge “Aude 3.12.15 > Sète” which would suggest that George and Helen’s favourite load is back on the books. On to 3 Sapigneul, which is linked to lock 2 so no pole to twist, it was ready for us. Two VNF vans were by the lock but they left

Lock house at 6 Loivre

before we got there. Made a cuppa as we went along the longish pound to lock 4. Loaded boat Touareg (Belgian from Oupeye) came down 4 Alger and we passed him by the Caprimeb concrete works. Up 2.67m, with clouds of innocuous snipe flies (a type of hoverfly) about. The man from the lock house was tending his garden and swallows were nesting under the top edges of the girders on the top end lock gates. A passing cyclist with camping gear and paniers had paused at the picnic area above Alger. Up 2.6m at lock 5 Gaudart (nice veg garden at the lock house) and on to a 3.5kms

Dutch fishing boat by the silo quay above Loivre

pound. Passed a large Dutch cruiser with Diksmuide (Belgium) on the stern and a red duster on the stern. Houseboats Louna (Luxemotor) and (péniche) La Campanetta were moored as usual in the layby below Loivre lock 6. Paused while Lafurka, a loaded péniche, came down lock 6, then we went up another 2.6m. The garden at the lockhouse was beautiful with a peachy coloured rose by the door. A fishing boat (Dutch) called Hunze from Amsterdam was moored by the silo quay above the lock, looked like no one was home. Another short pound to lock 7 Fontaines. An empty was coming down. We passed Edouard from Landelies, waving to its skipper (and

Missing centre section of catwalk at lk 9 Noue-Gouzaine

saying hello to the VNF staff who were back to work after lunch at the workshop just below) on our way into the lock. Up 2.8m. Gongoozlers on the bridge. Another short pound to lock 8 Noue-Gouzaine. The derelict house was gradually disappearing in the herbage. Noted that the middle section of the catwalk over the (new) bottom end gates was missing – taken away to deter thieves and vandals crossing the lock or broken and gone for repair? On to our last lock, 9 Courcy. Hello, the gates were open but no lock lights were on. We went in, hoping the bulb was busted, but found a very chatty, pleasant VNF man working the lock. Thick electricity cables were trailing along the lockside

Moored at Courcy by the old glass works factory

the full length of the lock. Electricité coupé? (Electricity cut off?) We asked – reply “Nous n’avons pas payé le facture!” (we haven’t paid the bill!!) We’d just been saying the VNF haven’t paid up. The lock had been recently rebuilt and it looked like they were having problems with it. The hydraulics worked the gates OK, one at a time, but our VNF man in a van had to wind the paddles manually. We had a long chat about Brexit, and a good laugh. France next? Frexit? Yes, he said and Marine Le Penn will win! France has big problems too with immigrants, especially in the big cities. Marine le Penn is a tough cookie but far more moderate than her extreme far right father, so he could be right. French friends say that the current prime minister and president are much too weak. We certainly live in interesting times. Said au’voir et merci. Passed yet another Dutch cruiser who had been waiting above. Got the turned backs, invisible again! Tied up a few minutes later on the bollards by the old factory in Courcy. It was 1.45pm. Mike clipped back the overhanging nettles and we set up the TV just in time as a short shower arrived. Lunch, then we put the solar panels up as the sun was out again and getting quite warm, not for long though. Later, Mike watched football, Iceland beat England 2-1.

Friday 24th June 2016 Pinon to Berry-au-Bac. 39.6kms 9 locks

Threee noisy dogs in the garden at lock 7 Chaillevois

18.3° C Grey clouds and sunshine, no rain and not quite as hot. Surprise! Vage (the péniche we were on dry dock with in Pont-de-Loup) came past, loaded, heading uphill. Looked like the skipper and his daughter were running the boat. Asked where they were going and she said Reims. We set off after them at 8.15am. As we left, the Dutchman on the tjalk in front of us asked Mike what time the locks opened, he thought it was 9am. Mike told him he wasn’t sure, might be 7am, 8am or even 9am. A VNF man in a van was at the lock and Vage had just gone up lock 6 Pinon. The Dutch cruiser

Braye tunnel

came up to see if the locks were open and went back to get the tjalk moving. We zapped, the lock emptied and the VNF man came and lifted the rod for us and we chatted as the boat rose 2.3m. He gave us the stunning news that the UK had decided to leave the EU! Gobsmacked at that, we never thought they’d do it! Our VNF man had relatives in Ilkley and Nottingham. He said Scotland had voted to remain and would be having another referendum about leaving the UK so that they could remain in the EU! What interesting times we live in. Now the fun will start. 5.1kms to the next. We found Radio 4 and listened to Anne Widdecombe being interviewed. We were catching up with Vage, so

The other end of Braye tunnel

we slowed down, but they slowed down too and called us past them, which was very nice of them. We’ll see them again no doubt. Up lock 7 Chaillevois (3.25m) with a red kite circling overhead. There were three very noisy dogs in the garden of the lockhouse. We passed a downhill Dutch “narrowboat” on the 2.6kms pound to lock 8 Chavignon. Up another 3.25m. The lock house was shuttered but looked lived in. Along the well-mowed towpath there were tall blue bell flowers growing right along the water’s edge. Just 1.35kms to the top lock 9 Pargny-Filon, up another 3m and we were going to write

Old engine sheds abv Moulin Brule lock

down the phone number for the itinerant, but there was no notice in the cabin window of the last uphill lock. A houseboat péniche called Harmonie was moored in the layby by the pontoon, a cruiser was moored on the pontoon - it was sheeted up and looked permanent. As we left the lock a loaded Dutch boat called Roxana from Terneuzen arrived going downhill. We set off on the 7.5km long summit level. Through Braye tunnel, which was very wet in places with water pouring through the roof. It was lit throughout on the left side with round energy saving bulbs backed with big reflectors. There was a green light on the towpath side as we neared the big fan and the drop-down door at the far end and another Dutch loaded boat was waiting, Nadenos

Feed paddles abv Moulin Brule lock

from Nijmegen, its skipper was untying as we passed him. It was 11.20am. He said hello in English. The lady keeper was in the tunnel control cabin, her mowing machine temporarily abandoned while she attended to boat traffic. She also sets the four downhill locks so our zapper was now declared redundant. A couple of kilometres to the first lock and the towpath was covered in vetch, flowers of deep blue and pink. The first lock of the descent, 10 Moulin Brûlé, was ready for us, green light and gates open. The lock house looked empty but refurbished, as were the next two. Two sets of rods in each of these locks, so Mike lifted the blue rod at the uphill end and we dropped down about 3.5m (all four locks were about the same depth). Gaps of less than a kilometre between the locks. Down lock 11 Metz. A fisherman had set up a BBQ by the lock

Hydro-electric plant at Bourg-et-Comin

and turned his back as Mike was about to wish him bon pêche – a sign of attitudes to come? Nice. Charmed I’m sure. The canal was getting weedy again as we ran down to lock 12 Moussy-Soupir and on to the bottom lock 13 Verneuil-Coutonne whose house was derelict, windows boarded up and the front door bricked up. A British cruiser was waiting below to go up. We asked if he was on his way home now – nooooo, the skipper said. Join the club! It was 12.10pm when we left the bottom lock, 3kms to the junction with the Latèral à l’Aisne. Decided to run all the way to Berry as it was a dry day and not too hot. Tried having a look online using the tablet for info about the referendum

Moored in the large at Berry-au-Bac. Berry lock 3 behind the boat

results, but could hardly see the screen as, although the sun was hidden, it was very bright. Gave up. Over the aqueduct crossing the Aisne and past the hydro-electricity plant, where water was flowing in as the canal is fed with water from the Aisne up at Berry. Tug Château Thierry and a decked pan were moored by the VNF workshops and there were three boats on the pontoon at the junction, all of which looked permanent. An empty péniche had gone past heading uphill on the Latèral and loaded péniche Edi-Fra was moored above lock 4 Le Cendriére and busy washing down after loading. There was a good 2kph flow on the canal as we set off on the 20.5kms pound to Berry. The other half of the push-tow, Edi-Fra I, had just loaded at the silo quay at Oeuilly and was setting off

Tjalk entering Berry lock 1 at the start of the Marne a l'Aisne canal 

downhill. We carried on listening to Radio 4 for more news of the aftermath of the referendum result. Another loaded boat went past, Cari II, also heading downhill at KP29. After that it was very quiet. There were a few fishermen, all friendly and waving as we passed them. Damselflies were hatching out, beautiful deep blue ones, and big yellow dragonflies. The mossies and horseflies were out too, so on with the repellent again. Lunch, listening to music as the news was the same stuff repeated over and over. Mike put the sunshade up as the sun came out of hiding and the temperature soared up into the 30s again. The VNF man this morning said thunderstorms were possible later. Hope we get tied up before that happens. A DB called Linquenda was moored at the end of the quay below Berry lock 3. Mike called on the radio and the lock was ready for us. We rose about 60cm and then topped up the water tank (use your own hose now) and the pleasant but shy lock keeper took our redundant zapper. He asked which way we were going as he has to set Berry 1 at the beginning of the Marne à l’Aisne. Mike told him we’d stay in the corner of the large (big wide open space above the lock, built as a gare d’eau – a waiting place for boats, nowadays it’s not much used and gradually silting up) for the weekend and leave on Monday. OK. As we left the chamber we spotted the Dutch cruiser that had moored by us the night before, arriving below Berry 3. We picked our way through the thick weed to the overflow weir into the Aisne and then bow-hauled the boat back towards the lock as the corner is silted up. Moored with pins (they took all the bollards away years ago) and set up TV etc. It was 5pm. The cruiser and its companion tjalk went on up Berry 1 towards Reims at around 5.30pm. One loaded boat came down Berry 1 and went on down Berry 3. No signs of Vage, the flow on the long pound probably slowed him down a lot.

Thursday 23rd June 2016 Abbécourt to Pinon. 25.7kms 5 locks.

Lock house at lock 3 Crecy

16.8° C. Grey and white clouds, hot again. Set off at 9.30am reversing to the junction with the Oise à l’Aisne canal and Mike zapped lock 1 Abbécourt. There was a boat going up in the lock, and it was just leaving. The lock didn’t empty, so we moored below to investigate. There was a VNF man in a van strimming the grass around the lock. The lock was full with top end gates open and a green light, waiting for a downhill to arrive. No signs of one, so Mike became a phantom boat, covering the sensors then lifting

Lock cabin at lock 3 Crecy

the rod (luckily the VNF man had left the gate in the fence unlocked) so the lock emptied ready for us. The VNF man came to tell Mike how to use the zapper! He went back to his strimming and we went into the lock, uphill now and the blue rods in these chambers are right at the top end, so it’s a case of lift the rod and back off quick to the safety of the bottom end of the chamber before the paddles open and start letting the water in. Up 4.12m very gently. It was very weedy above the lock at the start of the long pound, 11.4kms to the next. Over two little aqueducts, one over the Oise and

Lock house and lock cabin at 5 Vauxaillon

one over the Aillette. Mossies and horseflies were out in force as the heat built up, out came the insect repellent and fly swatters. Up went the sun shade. The towpath is overgrown and not in use on this end of the canal, so trees overhang on both banks, alder and goat willow. A few spots of rain fell but evaporated quickly. Views across the fields opened up as we went past a small village called Champs (!really, that means fields!). The canal was dead straight and we could see the boat in front of us going up the next lock. No one was moored at the nicely appointed quay in Guny. Lock 2 Guny

Lock 5 Vauxaillon almost full

worked OK and lifted the boat 2.3km. Two Dutch cruisers were waiting above the lock to go down as we left. The boat in front was a tjalk, it was moored at the silo quay in Pont St Mard along with a Dutch cruiser. (Having lunch?) No lunch for us as it’s a skinny day. 2.6kms to the next. Lock 3 Crécy had a shuttered lock house with a plate that said it was Nogent lock. How long ago was that? Our ancient cruising guide says Crécy and that’s dated 1991! Up another 2.3m. 2.9kms to the next, lock 4 Leuilly, up another 2.3m. 5kms to our last lock and still no signs of a towpath, peacefully bucolic. Lock 5 Vauxillon, yet another 2.3m lift. Just 3kms into Pinon. We passed a VNF tug (Oise) pushing

Moored at Pinon.
Usual mooring on opposite bank behind the boat 

a decked over pan called Laurent, going in the opposite direction at KP23. The quay at Pinon, to our amazement, was virtually full of boats. A tjalk, a British new build DB and a large Dutch cruiser. There was a space at the end of the quay nearest the bridge, too short, rocks at the bridge end, noisy from the road and trees in the way for TV. Two women came to take ropes as we went past. Mike said the space was too short, one woman said it’ll be OK and I said we’ve just come off dock, we’ve just put paint on I don’t want to take any of it off yet! We went through the bridge and moored next to the piled grassy bank on pins. We hadn’t finished tying up when the cruiser that was at Pont St Mard arrived and moored in front, and the tjalk they were travelling with joined them a bit later, followed by the black tjalk that we’d followed down the St Quentin canal, who moored on the VNF quay. The Dutchmen told Mike that the Meuse was still shut due to damage done in Charleville-Mézières by the recent flooding. So that’s why there are so many boats about, thought it was busy. Loaded péniche Oceanic went past at 6.10pm heading downhill. Watched more debates on the referendum.

Wednesday 22nd June 2016 Jussy to Abbécourt. 21.2kms 10 locks

17.2° C. Grey, overcast, but dry for a while at last. Set off at 8am. The cutting was full of

Lock 26 Jussy - so why is the life ring beyond the fence?

horseflies as we ran down to lock 26 Jussy. There was only one lock house and that looked empty, both locks were fenced off and, strangely there was a life ring outside the fence! 2.6kms to the next, lock 27 Mennessis. Under the very busy D1 road and into lock 27. There was a usefully placed bin for our rubbish on the lockside. Both lock houses were lived in, both locks were fenced in and water cascaded over the top end gates as we dropped down 3.3m. Locks 27 and 28 were  and  and chained – linked together – so as we left 27, lock 28 Voyaux prepared itself. Just one lock house on the left, but it looked

Lock house at 30 Fargniers

empty. Locks still surrounded by fencing. 3.6kms to the three close together at Fargniers. A dragonfly landed on the bike cover. It started to rain at 10am as we entered lock 29 Fargniers. Both lock houses were lived in and the locks were fenced. The lock was full as we arrived so we dropped down 2.6m, noting that there was a large black tjalk in the pound below that had just set off from the quay on the right into lock 30 Fargniers. Locks 29 and 30 are linked, ermm, has he just pinched our lock? We left lock  29 and sat under the bridge below it. The tjalk went down the lock and then we got a red and green light – it had

Below lock 34 Senicourt

prepared itself, so maybe the tjalk didn’t pinch our lock after all, maybe we just caught up with him? Dropped down 2.9m in lock 30, but now the tjalk was sitting waiting for lock 31 Fargniers to work, and nothing was happening. Mike phoned the VNF for assistance. OK. Then he called the tjalk on channel 10 VHF. Yes he was listening, so Mike told him he’d called VNF. Admired the new houses they were building next to the canal while we waited. Our VNF man in a van arrived and reset the lock (eventually). The tjalk went down lock 31 and, after he left, it reset for us, by which time the man in a van

Disused arm and lock on to the Oise to access quays

had headed back up the towpath with no chance for us to thank him. Into the last lock at 11.05am after over an hour’s wait. Turned right at the junction with the Oise à Sambre canal (still closed) still on the St Quentin canal as far as Chauny.  Four more locks, paired like all the others, automatic, but only one of each pair works and they’d all had new lock cabins built on their central islands. Lock 32 Tergnier worked OK and dropped us down another 1.4m. The ladies at the lock house waved and said hello. The tjalk was going into lock 33, 2.6kms away in a straight line, as we were leaving 32. Lock 33 Viry refilled for us after Mike zapped. Down another 2.4m. Empty péniche Santa Maria (last seen at Fresnes) was at the quay by a house in Viry. Workmen

Moored at Abbecourt. Grass growing well this year with all the rain

were removing a pipe from the road bridge. (An 8” pipe stuffed with polystyrene around a 1” pipe) they all waved and shouted hello. A rare sight, we saw a dead eel floating in the canal. Down 34 Senicourt another 2m drop, then 1.5kms to the last lock. A large factory on the right, then a derelict silo on the outskirts of Chauny. An old arm off to the left had a disused lock down to wharves on the river Oise. Down lock 35 Chauny (2.2m) and through the town on a pound 8.9kms long. The black tjalk had squeezed into the end of the mooring at the port-de-plaisance in Chauny. Empty Baltes was moored

The boat moored behind us looked abandoned.

on the left by the pub. A bit further on empty Banco was moored on the left, looked like it hadn’t been loaded in a long while. Melinda from Chenove, also empty was moored next to it, (we’d locked with that boat on the Escaut). An empty called Comeback was coming towards us, followed half an hour later by Atlantis from Bethune. There was an empty moored at the end of the quay at Abbécourt, which was waist high in grass. It turned out to be an abandoned boat called Mado. It was 1.45pm. Attached to pins and one bollard at our stern. Trimmed the grass back and sprayed the ropes and concrete edge with ant spray as there were some huge ones wanting to explore the boat. Lunch, then Mike went to move the car from Lesdins to Berry-au-Bac and return on the moped. At 8.15pm I gave him a hand to get the bike back on the roof and cover it, sweltering as the temperature had soared up to 30° C.

Tuesday 21st June 2016 Lesdins to Jussy. 28.9kms 8 locks.

13.2° C Grey, overcast breezy and wet. The Dutch barge Nora and empty péniche Eidelweiss 

Lock cabin at Moulin Brule

were still on the quay and, for a change, it wasn’t raining when we set off from Lesdins at 9.35am. The sensors to detect boat movement no longer work as the zapper activates the automatic locks now. Back to lifting blue rods as there is no bassinée button on the telecomand for the locks down to Chauny. All the paddle gear is mechanically driven, not hydraulic, and is very noisy. The top two locks were still linked as before. I lifted the rod and we dropped down 2.10m in lock 18 Lesdins. An empty Belgian péniche, called Celeritas, was waiting below to come up and the next lock, 19 Pascal, had set itself for us and we dropped down another 2m. A first burst of drizzle hit us as we travelled the 2kms to lock 20 Omissy. The new zapper wouldn’t work along side the sign that said zap, we had to get much closer – then the signal took up to five seconds to register. Down 2.30m and another 2kms pound to lock 21 Moulin Brûlé. Two VNF men in a big van towing a little open boat on a trailer went past, waving, heading downhill on the towpath. When we got to lock 21 they’d launched their little boat and a man in small van had arrived to work the left hand

Mechanically driven paddles

chamber for them from the lock cabin – they were either inspecting or de-weeding the lock walls. We passed an uphill boat, a Swiss cruiser, followed by a small DB on the 2.2kms pound leading to lock 22 St Quentin. As we were getting closer to the big town the towpath became busier with runners and dog walkers. There were three VNF men in the lock cabin. One was in full uniform complete with life vest – he came out and demanded I put a rope on a bollard, so I put the centre rope on and left it slack,

VNF inspecting/weeding Moulin Brule lock

just to make the point that it wasn’t at all necessary, not that he noticed. Made a cuppa as we went down the long pound 7.3kms through St Quentin, past the park where there were lots of runners and walkers. The big car park next to the quay Gayant was almost empty, which was unusual. I’d read somewhere that the port-de-plaisance had closed down, but there seemed to be a load of moored boats still in the arm, including a little old Dawncraft cruiser (we had one of those back in the early seventies and

More inspection work, under a bridge at St Simon

loved it). Soon out of town. Lots of weed and floating bits of tree debris in the canal. Empty péniche Bergen was getting ready to load at the silo at KP54.5, pumping out ballast water. Down another 1.9m at lock 23 Fontaine-Lès-Clercs, 4.4kms to the next. The canal was very tranquil through green woodlands. Into our last lock 24 Tugny and another drop of 2.8m. 7kms to Jussy. Tjalk Elizabeth J was still moored at the junction with the (closed) link to the Somme at St Simon. Loaded boat Jama (we came through the tunnel with it) was moored at the silo quay in St Simon. A team of ten men in

Moored by the silo in Jussy

dayglow suits were working on the next road bridge. They had a lorry with a vertical crane with an arm that swung under the bridge deck. They all waved and shouted hello. Looked like the bridge really was in need of repairs and painting. It was 1.20pm when we moored in the corner of the silo quay (long disused) and the rain was pouring down again. Glad to get inside and get dry.

Monday 20th June 2016 Masniéres to Lesdins. 32.9kms 11 locks 2 tunnels

The future!

14.1° C Grey skies, cold, windy and with rain most of the day. We left Masniéres at 7.30am. The first four locks were close together. The first, Masniéres lock 7 was not far and we were soon in the lock and up another 2.3m. 1.2kms to lock 8 Saint-Vaast (2.2m) and 1.3kms to lock 9 Crévecoeur (2.30m) where the controller came out to ask us for papers and the telecommand. He swapped the latter for a large new blue one that looked like the hand-held computers that the pickers use in UK supermarkets. It looked complicated - he said they weren’t as good as the little boxes. Asked him about the cameras, as we’d seen lots of black dome ones had been installed at the locks. He said the only ones that work are the ones at lock 1 Iwuy and lock 17 Bosquet – there were no boats currently in them on the TV screen. A new system is being installed – the computer screens were set up ready in the adjacent room. We were the only boat symbol on his screen, showing that his lock was in use. We filled up with water while we chatted and we booked the tunnel for the 5pm tow. 940m to lock 10 Vinchy (2.10m) then 421m to lock 11 Tordoir (2.4m). A longer pound of 2.4kms took us to lock 12 Vaucelles (2.1m). The new zapper gave all sorts of messages on its screen but this one, lock 12, was the only lock to do so. Dutch péniche Daevanos

Below lock 12 Vaucelles

was loading maize at the silo quay at Bonavis on the 2.1kms pound to lock 13 Bantouzelle (2.3m) which was closely (500m) followed by 14 Banteux (2.5m). At the lockhouse on the left there were workmen digging a trench to the newly refurbished house, maybe installing gas mains or cable TV? The longest stretch yet 2.6kms took us to the last three uphill locks. An old Connoisseur cruiser went past heading downhill, not far behind it was a small cruiser. At lock 15 Honnecourt (2.5m) there was a dead heron floating in the lock and above we could see a DB coming down

Daevanos loading maize at Bonavis

towards lock 15. It was British flagged and had moored on the waiting quay. No one about as we passed it. 16 Moulin Lafosse (2.2m) a cruiser was moored below the lock. On to the last uphill lock 17 Bosquet (1.5m) and on to the summit level. It was about 5kms to the tunnel entrance, the tows are made up several hundred metres before the entrance, so we slung ropes around two lamp posts behind moored loaded péniche Jama from Douai. Lunch. Mike went for a nap. Another empty called Eidelweiss, arrived at 2.15pm. It was still raining. At 2.50pm Bergen, another empty, arrived. The râme arrived from the other end, towed by the ancient tunnel tug hauling itself along on a chain that lies on the bottom of the canal. The

Three peniches (first one and the tug are out of sight around the bend)
 and us being towed into Riquval tunnel

new arrivals were soon detached and they continued across the summit level. The loaded boat was attached first behind the tug, then the two empties and finally us – I threw our long green rope, that had our long white rope attached too, up to the skipper of Eidelweiss who looped it around a bollard in the middle of the stern of his boat. OK? Yes thanks. One VNF man came to check we were all OK, he asked for the zapper – we’d already deposited it in the box at the top lock Bosquet, OK, and he handed us another zapper, noted that this one had no “bassinée” button. The tug started off and eventually all our line became taught and we were off through the damp, chilly tunnel at a very sedate 3kph. We could just about hear the clanking made by the electrically-

The boat in front almost inside the tunnel

powered tug heaving itself along the chain, glad we were three péniche lengths plus towropes away from the noisy thing. Eventually the boat in front switched his smoky engine off, but someone in front of him still had an engine running all the way through the tunnel - we could smell the fumes. The guide books say that the tug is still used to tow boats through because of the dangers of exhaust fumes as the tunnel is not ventilated, this is not correct as there are several ventilation shafts in the roof, most of them are open to the sky. Two hours later we emerged at the drizzly misty far end where a group of gongoozlers were watching the boats emerge from the tunnel. The three

Tunnel tugs, old one on the left and "new" one on the right.
Lesdins end of Riquval

péniches were soon detached, the empties sped off and the loaded boat, Jama, moored beyond another loaded, called Farida, who was waiting for the morning tow in the opposite direction. VNF staff had locked up and gone as it was past 7pm. As we were passing the first of the loaded boats our engine cut out. Fortunately we were alongside a quay with a few bollards so I tied a rope on and stopped the forward motion. Mike soon discovered a tagged wire that had broken, which he soon fixed and we were on our way again within ten minutes. Out of the cutting and there were rabbits along the grassy banks going into

Paused while Mike crimped a new tag on a wire.

Bellenglise. The “No Mooring” signs had gone, but nobody was moored there anyway. There was a red light at Lesdins tunnel but notices had said the tunnel was open in the direction we were going from 20.00 – 21.30 so we were OK and ignored it, as had the two commercial boats. In the distance we could see a boat, but going which way? Through binos Mike saw it leave the far end, it had a boat across its stern – none of the péniches had one so where did that come from? Must have been moored at Bellenglise. Rain hammered down as we arrived at Lesdins. The two empties were side-by-side just before the sensors

Moored before the cattle sheds at Lesdins

(which we later learned were out of use) for the top lock, and the boat we’d seen in the tunnel (a Dutch motor cruiser called Nora) was moored next to the cowsheds, so we went to tie up in front of the péniches until the skipper of Eidelweiss shouted no,no,no, and mimed that he was going to moor there shortly. OK, we backed off and went to the far end of the quay, well beyond the smelly cowsheds. Soaked and fed up, it was gone 9pm. We got dried out and we ate a very late dinner at 10pm.