Chitry-les-Mines to Sardy

May 29th

No internet last night, so this post is a day late.

8 kms, 12 locks, 5.5 hours

Having booked the lock for 9.00 this morning, I collected the baguette we ordered yesterday from Stephanie in the marina office, by 8.50 we were on our way, and arrived at the lock with plenty of time to spare.  As we waited another boat cruised up to join is in the lock, a small sailing yacht with the mast down and tied to the deck, and a great big dog on board.  Oh dear, we hate being in the front of the lock going upstream.  But, you can’t always get what you want so you grin and bear it.

Early morning mist rising off the canal

The lockie was late, and who should drive up and open the gates but Stephanie!  She wears lots of caps.  The lockie, another young lady arrived just as we were entering the lock, took our fore and aft lines and placed them on the same bollard (well, these locks are not well-endowed with bollards).  I asked if she could open the sluices “doucement” and she certainly did, we had no problems at all.  We shared another 2 locks with the yacht then they apologised and said they would be late at the next lock because his cooling water intake was blocked and he would have to jump over the side to clear it, it happens every day (really? And we have been favourably impressed at how little weed there is in this canal).

When we arrived at the next lock they were nowhere in sight and the lockies (2 of them) were waiting.  Then a third lockie arrived from the next lock upstream plus a cruising boat heading downstream.  After a 20 minute wait the yacht was still nowhere near so the lockies decided to let us continue on our own.  Whew!

The Le Boat charter base at La Grange

We are now climbing up to the summit and the gradient is getting steeper.  Today we travelled 8 kms and traversed 12 locks. Again we ran into the lockie’s lunch hour from 12.00 to 13.00, so at 11.45 they left us tied up in a lock (early lunch?).  We had just another 2 locks to go before our mooring for the night and we were tied up there just 30 minutes after the lockie came back at 13.15 (a very long lunch!).

So here we are in the middle of nowhere, it’s peaceful and quiet, and there are no street lamps.  About 20 minutes away there is a tiny village with no shops whatsoever and just a handful of houses. The quay here is very good with bollards well-spaced for smaller boats, no services, no fee.  It is recommended as a good place to overnight before starting the climb up the “echelle de 16 ecluses” (which I think translates as a staircase lock with 16 locks) and 3 (short) tunnels across the summit before the next stop at the top.