Grey and overcast but dry, occasional sunny spells after lunch, rain in the evening. Several boats were moving at lock opening time. I did a few chores before Mike disconnected the electric. We set off at 9.45 a.m. leaving the neighbours to follow on later. A lady in a van arrived on the track below the canal (which is on an embankment overlooking fields towards the Loire) to read a meter at a pumphouse that extracted water from the canal to water a farmer’s fields. It didn’t look an easy task, she had to straddle a ditch then hang from the pumphouse wall whilst opening the meter box - she fell off twice. Ten minutes after we set off we passed a Nicholls hireboat heading downhill, good news as that meant the lock would be empty. Up lock 38, Mainbray (2.30m) which was worked for us by a friendly chatty man in his fifties. Mike asked if he knew which pounds would be drained this winter and he said no, he hadn’t been informed yet. 3 kms to Belleville. We passed two moored speedboat cruisers by a house on a long straight. A shortened péniche houseboat called Pen Callet went past with its wheelhouse down heading downhill just before Chevennnes road bridge. The bridge had no towpath and rope grooves on both sides, we thought it was an old towpath changeover bridge. Another Nicholls hireboat went past, crew taking photos. I took a photo of the nuclear power station at Neuvy-sur-Loire as there was a good view of it across the fields. We arrived at Belleville at 10.50 a.m. There was just one cruiser moored on the quay so we stayed towards the downhill end by the café, leaving enough space for Charley to moor between us and a replica wooden Loire boat with a huge outboard motor on the back. They arrived before we’d finished sorting ourselves out. The guy on the cruiser said everything was free (he was from Paris) but to get the electric you had to get a special plug from the Tourist Information Office which was just across the road. Mike and Nick went to get two plugs. They were free, no deposit, just sign a piece of paper. Mike put another coat of minium gris on the front deck where he’d removed rust. After lunch he took a walk back to get the car (about 5 kms) and I put the laptop on and did the log. Internet was even worse - GPRS, but didn’t drop out and seemed as fast as EDGE (2G) was at Beaulieu! More rain in the night.
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