 |
| 22kms, 8 locks, 1 tunnel |
We started
the day with a trip to the supermarket to buy fresh bread and 2 jerrycans of
fuel, which Ian decanted into the fuel tank.
It was another lovely sunny day.
It started cold though, 4.5C at 8.00, but promised to get hotter. Indeed it peaked at 27.4C.
Just as we
were about to leave the mooring at 10.30 a barge came past us going in the same
direction. Oh no, another slow trip
behind a barge, if only we had left 5 minutes earlier.
 |
| Melinda ambling along ahead of us |
Our route
would take us up 4 locks, through a 2.36m tunnel and down 4 locks on the other
side.
 |
| A huge lake at the summit |
 |
| The Braye tunnel |
We did this
same trip last year when it took us 3.5 hours.
As it turned out, Melinda the barge travelling in front of us, would not
be the only delay.
At the fourth lock,
when Melinda exited, the top gates did not close. These are all automatic locks controlled with
a telecommande and we waited a while in case a boat was coming from the other
side. Eventually I hopped ashore and
walked up to the lock to see if I could see one. No, nothing.
I called the number of the itinerant lock keeper who cheerily said
“J’arrive. Dix minutes”. I’ll be there
in 10 minutes. In fact it was less than
10 minutes before he arrived, flicked a switch and the lock was back in working
order. Not too much of a delay at
all.
At least that had allowed Melinda to get some
distance ahead. As we approached the
tunnel the light turned green so we continued in. Melinda was still in the tunnel but well
enough ahead so that the prop wash did not affect us.
At the next
lock we had a delay because a barge was coming up from the opposite
direction. He was having an animated
conversation with a chap standing on the quay and when the gates opened he
didn’t move, they just carried on chatting.
Forever.
 |
| At last! |
2 locks
later, again we had to wait for a boat coming from the other side. This time it was a small pleasure craft but
they were having great difficulty manoeuvring to the right hand side of the
lock to activate the pole mechanism.
Time and time again he tried and kept drifting across to the left hand
side. I was just about to jump off again
to activate the pole for them when finally they got it right.
 |
| At last - again! |
But there
were some good bits too. We saw a family
of beavers, one adult and 3 little ones, swimming in the canal; unfortunately
they dived before I could get a pic. And
we saw a water snake swimming along. It
was a beautiful day, normally I don’t like it so hot but there was a cool
breeze to keep me comfortable.
It was
almost 4.30 by the time we tied up in Bourg-et-Comin, 6 hours after leaving Pinon.
 |
| Hills near Bourg-et-Comin |
 |
| The aquaduct over the Aisne River |
There is
almost no internet signal here but we are thinking of staying here tomorrow.
Earlier this week I got an email from the VNF announcing a strike for Thursday
19th. (On the VNF website you can subscribe to “Avis a la Batellerie”
which keeps you informed of stoppages, etc). It is a lovely area and we can take the bikes
off and go for a ride. The next lock on our route is a manned lock, so that
will not be operating . The strikes do
not usually affect the automatic locks but if one gets stuck and you need to
call the lockie to get it going again – you’re out of luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment