 |
| 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
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
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
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
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
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!
 |
| Rain battered grain field |
 |
| Lock 21 Fosse Rode. Smart lock house. |
 |
| Loaded peniche above lock 24 Conde |
 |
| Moored just outside the port at Conde-sur-Marne looking towards the junction with Lateral a la Marne |
 |
| Moored at Conde, looking towards the lock flight |
