Perrone to Cappy, on the River Somme

16 km, 3 locks, 2 mobile bridges

Last night Ian got bored and started on his next project – stripping and varnishing the doors of the companion way.

It was a leisurely day, with a late start at 10.45.

The pontoons at Peronne

Entering the Canal du Nord from the Port de Plaisance at Peronne, make sure to past to the starboard of the marker buoys.

Entering the River Somme :

  

Narrow and winding

A shanty fishing shack with a satellite dish!

An island - campers' paradise

The first lift bridge, ready long before we got there 

So we had to wait for the lock keeper to arrive – all of 10 minutes.  Lovely chap, very friendly and accommodating of my bad French.  He explained that he would take us through this lock and the next mobile bridge but then he was going for lunch and we must wait for him at the lock at Frise Superior.  So we had lunch too.

Lunch time break

 Took some photos of the the horrendous weed that is choking these canals. 

We saw some announcements at the lock keepers office about the opening of the canal being delayed due to the attempts to remove this noxious weed.  

The noxious weed heeping up at the downstream lock gates 

It is still early in the season and this is what the water filter looked like after just 45 minutes.

The Somme is delightful.

Large lakes alongside the canal

My favorite picture of the day: 2 boys fishing, maybe 12 years old, not a mobile phone or X-box in sight!

At 15.00 we tied up at the lovely village of Cappy. 

 It has a very old  12^th century church.

During the WW1 this was one of the bases for the German Luftwaffe.  The Red Baron, van Richtofen, was based here when he left on his fatal last flight.  This is the only evidence we saw of that momentous occasion - a print-out stuck in the window of a restaurant!