Long to Saint-Valery

I could not post a blog last night because we were in an area with no internet connection.  So here is what happened on Thursday 28th April.

32 kms, 2 locks, 5 mobile bridges

A cold, clear night gave way to a cold, clear, sunny morning.  Hooray – sunshine!  We were moored right at the lock and were underway by 9.40.  As we have got further down the Somme we have seen signs warning of “Courant Violant” (strong current) and “Barrage- Risque d’Aspiration” (weir – risk of being sucked in).  This is the problem:  the lock is cut into a bend in the river; the river continues to stream along, the section of water with the lock has almost no stream, and next to the lock there is a weir to lead off any excess water – and at this time of year there is plenty of that.  As the lock cut re-joins the river you get a strong current from the weir on one side and the river stream on the other.

Lock cut in the middle, the weir on the left hand side and the river on the right.

So far it has not caused us any problems.  Being a small boat we are in one side and out the other pretty swiftly but I can imagine a 20m or so barge being pushed one way at the front and the other way at the back!

Such a pretty river

And very well looked after by the Department of the Somme (this is not a VNF waterway).  We have found not only the lock keepers, but also the workers along the riverbanks, very friendly and courteous, such as this grass cutter who stopped cutting and gave us a cheery wave as we passed

The town of Pont Remy where we plan to stop on the way back.

It has a ruined chateau.

As we entered the lock a big black cloud loomed up – and down came the hail!  It was the one and only shower we had all day.

Still smiling

There are some interesting chateaus along the river.

We stopped in Abbeville at a large Carrefour supermarket, where Ian bought a heater!  All along the river there are free stopping places with electricity and water (€2 for 4 hours, 16 amps).  We already have a 600w heater but it only just raises the temperature inside to about 14degress.  Not good enough for Ian! 

The river is very different between Abbeville and Saint Valery.  We got a team of 2 lock/bridge keepers

who took us through the lock at Abbeville and 5 mobile bridges (4 interesting swing bridges)

The river runs very swiftly on this stretch so you need to keep well back from the bridge until it is open.

The pontoon above the lock at St Valery where we stopped.

The pontoon was very full but Ian managed to move us side-ways into a less than 10m slot. 

The river was high when arrived at about 16.00, but as the tide fell on the other side of the sea lock, the river ran faster and faster. Faster than I can walk!  You do not want to be going upstream against that!

Late in the evening, a ragged looking man and boy of about 14 walked past pushing hand carts full of their worldly goods (I’m guessing) and two little dogs, one on a leash and the other perched on top of the boy’s cart.  The man spoke to Ian in very good English, asking if he knew where the supermarket was, which we didn’t.  They went on another 50 yards and pitched a tent (a very fancy one) on the lawn alongside the pontoon.  Refugees?  Sad.  And disturbing.  These are not the illegal immigrants causing mayhem in Europe, these looked like decent people in need of a break.