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.