Wednesday 19th May 2010 Port Brulé to Sardy. 3.17kms 16 locks.

Mike was up around 7.30 a.m. to get ready for nine. No VNF staff were about until 9.15 a.m. then a young lady and a young man arrived and went off on a scooter to set the locks. Two men in VNF arrived and opened the first lock no1 Port Brulé for us. We went in and they worked the lock for us. The youngsters were at lock 2 Crain (two derelict lock houses, facing each other across the lock) and worked it for us. The first five locks had side pounds with a weir alongside the bottom end gates. We had to wait in the short pound while they closed the gate behind us and started lock two refilling. When we arrived in lock 3 Patureau, I stepped off and walked down to the next while Mike took charge of the rope. The next lock, La Roche 4, was full so I opened the gate, Mike brought the boat in and I closed the gate just as the kids on the scooter arrived. (The lock house had completely gone at 4) Did the same at 4, walked down to 5 Demain and opened the gates while the team worked lock 4. The house at lock 6 Planche de Belin was occupied by someone who collected fossils, driftwood and rocks. The guy was returning to his house on his bike as the youngsters arrived. They said here is Monsieur Gérard who has collected all these treasures from this valley. In the box housing a life ring was an old guitar with no strings. The lad said look inside there is a bird’s nest with six baby birds. He said a boater a few days earlier had been taking a photo of the guitar when the mother bird flew out, scaring him and making him jump backwards, luckily his boat stopped him from falling in the lock! Below the lock the canal was wide and swept round a left hand bend. A small cruiser was moored on the outside of the bend. On down the flight, the kids working the lock, and me walking down to close one of the gates as most had both gates open now. Lock 7 Gros Bouillon, 8 Mondain, 9 Fussy, 10 Patureau Volain, 11 Bellevue. At one of the locks group of young people in their early twenties were at one of the houses, a girl and four young men, the latter working with some wood making planks from a tree trunk. One guy picked up a baby aged about nine months and cycled up to the previous lock and back with baby tucked under one arm! On his return he put the baby in a baby buggy trailer attached to another bike and someone else added a toddler to the trailer. I got back on board at lock 12 Pré Doyen and put the oven on to cook some part cooked bread loaves (miles from the nearest boulangerie here). I got off again at 13 Doyen and walked down to 14 Pré Ardent which was empty with one bottom end gate open. I had just closed the gate when the lad came down on his scooter to raise the paddles, then drove back to lock 13. I opened the gate when the lock was full and closed it behind the boat. We were talking about snakes and the lad said he liked grass snakes but the girl said she couldn’t tell the difference between vipers and grass snakes so she kept well away from all snakes. The lad said they were off to lunch and it was OK for us to stay in the lock until they returned at one. As I walked down to the lock I saw what I thought was a small dead snake on the road, it was all curled up so I nudged it with my foot and to my great surprise it shot of at high speed into the grass! Nowhere near dead! Charlie stopped right behind us in lock 13 to have their lunch break. The men in the van stopped by our lock and lifted a top end paddle to stop the lock emptying over lunchtime. I made sandwiches and Mike did a bit more of an Oldie Moron crossword then went for a short nap. The house alongside lock 14 was occupied by a potter, signs said pottery for sale. When the gang arrived at one p.m. I got off to walk down to lock 15 Champ Cadou and closed a bottom end gate on an empty lock. The kids arrived and filled the lock. They said we could wait for Charlie to come down the last one with us as lock 16, Sardy, was Freycinet sized, plenty of room for the two of us. Mike scrubbed the boat hull while we waited for Charlie to arrive. A whole gang of folks appeared from nowhere at the last lock. The lock house was being renovated and signs said it was a café selling fishing licences and it had Internet. Wow! Several vehicles arrived and the occupants of a camper also came to look at our strange boat. We booked the next lock for nine the next day and said our au’voirs and mille mercis to the lock keepers then motored just round the corner to an old layby which had a wooden piled edge and bollards by a mown field with picnic tables. 

Nick said it used to be a hire base belonging to Burgundy Cruisers but we could see no signs of that, we all thought maybe it was closer to the last lock where there was an old toilet block in a field. There were rocks at the end nearest lock 17, Champ du Chêne, so we backed off and moored behind Charlie. A VNF man in a van arrived shortly after and said there were two other boats wanted to go at nine and so Mike said we were in no rush so we’d go at 9.30 a.m. I gave Mike a hand to unload the moped off the roof and he went off to move the car from Chatillon to Chitry-les-Mines. I tried the Internet. No chance. Well, I didn’t really expect it to work as we were still in the depths of the beautiful countryside. When Mike came back I gave him a hand to get the moped back on the roof. A hire boat had moored behind us and another one was moored by the lock. We sat out until dusk having a BBQ with the neighbours.

Tuesday 18th May 2010 Baye to Port Brulé 2.7 kms no locks 3 tunnels.

Set off through the tunnels at one. The headlight wouldn’t work and the first tunnel, souterain de la Colancelle was 758m long. I went up front on the bow to make sure it was plugged in properly. We had light for about half the tunnel! The summit cutting was very steep and lined with bricks or concrete to stop land slips and after a short open section we entered the souterain de Mouas, a short tunnel, 268m long. Another short open section before diving underground again for the souterain de Breuilles, 212m long. In several places there were water feeds from streams, some of which entered the canal as waterfalls and others were obscured by concrete canopies. 

We moored next to an old motorised flattie, filled with fresh straw that looked like it had been used for transporting livestock, judging by the slurry in the corner nearest our bows. Charlie moored next to the sloping stone wall behind us. Within a few minutes of us tying up a couple of VNF personnel in a van arrived wanting to know what time we wanted to set off down the locks. We told him nine but said we couldn’t lock together as we were too long for the 30m chambers. (In truth it is a very tight fit and we have to overlap a bit and that doesn’t do Nick’s nerves much good as he is not happy about steel next to his plastic! And we can’t blame him.) Mike went to have a look at the first bit of the flight and found two deserted lock houses, one looked like it had been left exactly as it had been when the occupant died and the contents of cupboards and drawers had been scattered. On his return from his walk Mike decided to add an indicator light to one of our electric sockets so we could see if the mains supply was on or off. A nice little green neon appeared and lit up whenever we had 240v – why hadn’t we thought of doing that before! Decided to leave the car where it was as it would have been difficult anyway to get the bike across the old workboat. Still no Internet.

Monday 17th May 2010 Chatillon-en-Bazois to Baye. 15.3 kms 14 locks.

Mike went to the boulangerie by the bridge to get a loaf before we set off at nine, heading uphill. Nick and Diana were also getting ready as they would be following us fifteen minutes later. A small Eau Claire ex hireboat moored in front of Claude’s boat was getting ready too but he was setting off heading downhill. Said au ‘voirs to the crew off Carol and a cruiser called Rajas and I walked up to lock 14, Chatillon, which was empty with both gates open. I closed the left hand gate and crossed the top end, noting that the top end paddles were padlocked, and took the ropes from Mike then closed the right hand gate. Our keeper, (a cheery middle aged man), arrived in a van at 9.10 a.m. unlocked the paddles and worked the lock for us. Charlie was waiting below as we left on the 3 kms long pound to lock 13 Mingot. A VNF digger was grass cutting along the bank. Shortly afterwards the van went flying up the towpath. When we arrived two vans were there and an older man had joined our keeper to work the lock, a deeper one at 3.49m. They opened both gates at both ends even though I’d previously told the first keeper that we could get through one gate. A short pound took us to Orgue, lock 12, a shallow one 1.65m. The older man worked the lock for us. I made a cuppa on the 1.5 kms pound to lock 11 Orgue. Both keepers were there to work the lock. Charlie arrived as we were leaving the top. Nick came on VHF to say he’d seen a deer watching us from the towpath. 983m to Monte et Marré a two-rise staircase, 10 & 9. I got off on the bank and walked up to the lock. A Locaboat had just come into the top chamber so I helped the old man work the lock while the crew of the hireboat (a middle aged French couple) sat smiling holding ropes. The other keeper arrived and worked us through. Charlie arrived at the bottom lock as they were filling the top. We started on the 2.3 kms pound to the two staircases at 11.15 a.m. Nowhere to get off again so I went up the ladder with the fore end rope in Chavance (8 & 7) bottom chamber. The old man worked the lock. Mike asked if we could stay in the top chamber for lunch and he said yes, no problem. He emptied the bottom chamber and Charlie sat in the lower chamber, then he went in the little restaurant in the lock house alongside. 

Two hire boats came down Chavance three-rise (6, 5 & 4) and moored in the short pound for lunch. I made sandwiches and we sat in the cabin out of the rain. Set off again at one. I walked up the towpath/road to the three-rise. When Charlie cleared the two-rise then the two hireboats went down. A resident keeper came out and pressed buttons (electric!!) to work the three-rise which was cascaded like the staircases on the Canal du Midi. The gate paddles on the middle gates hadn’t been mechanised so when Charlie came up he worked it like a normal staircase. 3.5kms to the next locks, two at Bazolles (3 & 2), which were worked for us by a stern faced older bloke. There was no step off below the last three locks and no ladders in Bazolles so we had to ask the keeper to attach our ropes to the bollards for us. At the top lock, Baye no 1, I got off below the lock as there was a road bridge and went up the steps with a rope to drop down to Mike as it at 3.13m deep it was a metre deeper than the previous two. I closed a gate then hung on to the bow rope while the lock filled. Mike told the keeper we would be staying on the quay by the reservoir (la digue) until the following day then through the tunnels at 1.00 p.m. ready to drop down Sardy’s flight of 16 on Wednesday and the others behind us would be doing the same as we’d already spoken to them on VHF. There were a few “dead” boats moored along the wall, a couple of cruisers and a narrowboat called Pastures Bleu (which had been left for a couple of years at least by the moss growth). We tied up behind a French cruiser called Lara whose crew had gone walkabout. Charlie arrived just after we finished packing up and cutting a small beech tree down that was growing out of the wall. A lone fisherman was fishing from the quay into the reservoir. I made a cuppa and sat down to rest my aching legs. Mike set the dish up and terrestrial TV (digital too for a change, but not TF1 our favourite French channel for the weather forecast) and I had already spotted we had no SFR on the ‘phone but some network called France 13. Had the central heating on in the evening but turned it off at bedtime. No Internet again.

Friday 30th April 2010 Panneçot to Chatillon-en-Bazois. 21.8 kms 9 locks

Rain, showers in the morning, in the afternoon heavy continuous downpours until around five p.m. As we were getting ready to move a 4x4 came down the rutted path by the boat and got stuck. Just before we untied another, larger, 4x4 arrived and pulled the first one out of the mud. We left around nine. The keeper who lives at lock 26,  Sauzay, arrived at 9.30 a.m. and worked us through lock 24, Anizy (lock 25 is an open floodlock) and 23 Saigne. As we went along the 4.5 kms pound I made tea and toast. The last of my UK brown loaf had gone mouldy already so I used some French white. A new keeper, a young chap with glasses wearing a baseball cap, arrived and did 22, Bernay. I stepped off with a rope as it was a deeper one and also had both gates open. Up 21, Fleury, stepped off again with rope. The grass cutting crew had arrived to chat with our keeper. The resto in the old lock house was now open again for business. The same keeper also did 20, Brienne and said as it was 11.30 a.m. as we left the top and a twenty minute run to the next lock, he would see us after lunch at the next at 1 p.m. I went inside and made lunch. Mike put the boat in lock 19, Villard, and I tied the front side rope on the ladders. Water was cascading over the top end gates as Mike went up the ladder with the centre rope to drop it on the bollard and close one bottom end gate. At 1.00 p.m. the blonde female keeper who did the same locks on the way down last year arrived to do the rest of the locks for us. By now it was pouring down with rain. As we went up lock 18, Meullot, a middle aged woman watched from the lock house door. Up 17, Eguilly, same procedure at all the locks – I stepped off with the rope and dropped it down for Mike to attach to the centre roof stud and pass through the karabiner (newly added for this year – thanks to George, it worked very well) then I held the rope while the keeper lifted paddles and opened one gate when the lock was full. She told us she had the last lock too. Made a cuppa as we went along the long pound (4.7 kms) and through the floodlock 16, Coeuillon, and on to the river Aron up into Chatillon. She worked lock 15, Chatillon and we could see a boat coming down in lock 14. The whole of the corner of the basin was free and we had our choice of mooring so we tied up on the piled bank parallel to the canal with bows in the corner. It was 3.40 p.m. The Canalous hireboat that came down the lock moored on the upstream end bank and took on water, then left. A British replica DB called Carol came down the lock behind the hireboat and moored behind us. Mike went for bread, taking the towpath up into town to get two baguettes at 80c each from the boulangerie and a cereal loaf from the Maximarché. He moved the car so it was next to the boat. He said he felt like he was coming down with a cold (which came to nothing, thankfully). I got on with the chores. Mike tried the Internet and couldn’t get a signal so he played trains. At 10.55 p.m. we were treated to a dazzling five minute firework display set off from the château grounds. Mike went to bed after declaring that there was no Internet connection. I tried it and after a little persuasion managed to get it to stay connected long enough to read my emails.

Thursday 29th April 2010 Cercy-la-Tour to Panneçot. 12.7kms 5 locks

6.6°C Hot and sunny, clouding over in the evening with a few light showers of rain. Up before nine. Mike fetched a loaf from the boulangerie and saw the lady keeper from the lock in the shop. We set off just after 9.30 a.m. as the German-crewed Locaboat went into the lock. The neighbours were having a few days at Cercy before catching us up. I walked up with a rope to drop down when the boat arrived in the lock. First I gave the keeper a hand winding gates and paddles and having a good chat. She asked where we were going this year and I said the Haute Seine hopefully. Emptied the lock and Mike brought the boat in. While the boat rose 2.47m, the keeper said one of her colleagues was getting the next lock ready for the Germans and there was a boat coming down later. Made a cuppa on the 2.7 kms pound to Chaumigny, lock 29, a shallower lock only 2.06m. The other keeper, a man with glasses, had worked the hireboat through and turned the lock round. Both Mike and I made a mess of throwing ropes up, I resorted to using a short shaft again! Back to beginners, the keeper only laughed! Our lady keeper from Cercy said the Loca was going very slowly (very unusual for a hireboat) so we would go up the next together. I sat out in the sunshine and did my log notes on the 3 kms up to Isenay lock 28. We passed the downhill boat, a British replica DB called Decize, which went almost on the towpath as we went past –a good way to get stuck on the bottom. The keeper from lock 26 (another large guy with glasses) worked the lock with the Loca right up the front - it worked OK if very slow. A short pound to lock 27 Moulin d’Isenay so the keeper said he would work us through that one then it would be lunchtime and we’d see him at 1.30 p.m. at his own lock. Fine. Lock 27 was a shallow one and we went up slowly. The hireboat moored in the corner of an old layby where there were picnic tables, we motored on to moor about 100m below Sauzay lock with our centre rope round a tree on the non-towpath side. I made some lunch and we sweltered in the midday heat. Set off again just after 1.30 p.m. following the Loca into the lock. I stepped off as we went in Sauzay lock and dropped a rope down again as it was a deeper one, 2.45m, and gave the keeper a hand with the gates and paddles. The Loca carried on uphill but we moored on the non-towpath side before Panneçot with mooring pins down the edges of the piling. Nothing else moved and there was little or no towpath traffic.

Wednesday 28th April 2010 Cercy-la-Tour – a day off.

4.1°C Sunny and warm, nice little breeze. I started on the chores and did some washing. Nick and Diana ‘phoned to say that the EDF had been and disconnected Claude’s electricity supply and they’d booked the locks for 1 p.m. The neighbours arrived just after three and we went out to lend a hand. They didn’t need one as Diana had it all in hand. Mike took Nick to collect his car then they went on to Chatillon to leave our car there and come back in Nick’s. I booked the locks for us to go as far as Panneçot, starting at 9.30 a.m. next day. The rest of the spaces on the pontoon filled up with hire boats. The lady keeper came to ask our help as she had another boat that wanted to go at the same time as us, they were Germans who spoke no French and precious little English. Their boat was 10m long, so it was not a good idea to lock together; she said she’d work them through first and then us, then carry on to the next. She would be doing all five up to Panneçot. Mike went with her to tell the Germans what we were doing. The electricity went off so Mike went to investigate. I put the laptop on and used solar powered electric! Later the electricity went off somewhere other than the breakers on the pontoon, so no chance of restoring it tonight. Hireboats!!

A false start and heading into the Internet black hole April 2010

Apologies for the late start this year - the title says it all!

Tuesday 27th April 2010 Champvert to Cercy-la-Tour. 10.7 kms 2 locks

5.7°C Warm and sunny but cooler (quite chilly) in the shady bits. Mike was up at 7.45 a.m. to start getting ready to move. Left at ten, leaving our winter neighbours to catch up later. A young VNF man worked Champvert, lock 33, for us, the boat rose 2.27m and we were soon on our way. Just over 3 kms to the next lock. I made tea and toast on the way to Roche. Our young VNF man in a van had the next lock empty with one right hand bottom end gate open, waiting for us. A deeper lock, 3.07m, and we both missed chucking the ropes up. I ended up having to shove the bows back over (the bows had drifted to the far wall) and get a short boatshaft to lift the rope up to the keeper (on the pointy end) for him to place the loop on a bollard for me. The lock filled and we set off on the 7.7 kms pound to Cercy-la-Tour. We saw two people walking the towpath, a young woman walking smartly in the direction of Decize with a mobile phone glued to her ear and, several kilometres further on, a young man with a rucksack pacing about as if waiting for someone. Strange? Only two boats passed us two bridges before Cercy, a Swiss flagged Caribbean style cruiser with steering position on the roof and a Locaboat. The pontoon was completely empty so we moored at the downstream end at 12.25 p.m. One large hireboat was tied on the pontoon below the lock waiting for the end of the keeper’s lunch break before continuing uphill. I set up the electricity supply and then cleared one of the plant pots on the roof which had had crocuses in it. I had two handfuls of small corms to replant for the next season.