Sunday 26th September 2010 Beaulon. Day off.

Sunny spells with rain forecast for later. Chilly so we kept the coal fire running all day too. We went to Garnat to take the tin of solid resin back for a refund. No problem and we got the 12€ back. Called at the boulangerie in Beaulon for a loaf then back to the boat. The couple on Chocolat were chatting with the folks from the British campervan, so I asked if the knew how many Amps we had on the electricity supply. They didn’t know but said they thought about 6 Amps although they could run their washer which they said was a small one. As the box is locked and we can’t get at the breakers we had no idea and didn’t want to risk cutting the electricity off on a Sunday. A Dutch couple arrived to chat, their 28m DB was on the mooring at Diou. The people on Chocolat were off to Gannay then back to Vermenton. They said that this was their last season and they were going to sell their boat as they had had health scares (both in their seventies, she was recovering from a slipped disc) and decided they were going back to the UK. They said they’d had six good years and wished they’d started earlier as there was so much more they wanted to see. I gave Mike a hand to move the boat up on to the quay. After lunch Mike put the Internet on to have the stats page running while the F1 race was on. On the BBC News they said Ed Miliband had been elected the new leader of the Labour Party. 1.30 p.m. the night race Singapore F1 GP started. 

Saturday 25th September 2010 Gannay to Beaulon. 14.5 kms 3 locks.

Moorings at Gannay

Grey and overcast, light showers in the morning and heavy ones in the afternoon. Mike took a walk down to the lock and told the keeper we were setting off. We left at 9.30 a.m. and spoke to the lady on Kells as we left. The work on her 220v wiring had been started and she said she hoped to set off for Montceau next week. We said we’d probably meet again. Spotted some mushrooms growing on the non-towpath side, pity we’d just bought some – no room in the ‘fridge! Twenty minutes after setting off (about halfway to the first lock) the timeshare boat Bon Viveur II, a Burgundy cruiser, was fast catching us up. Mike had spoken to the crew earlier and they were asking how long he thought it would take then to get to Digoin, Chalon and Maçon. They overtook us and we followed them to lock 11 Gailloux (3.50m). One of the two women on the boat had stepped off below the lock and offered to take our rope in the deep lock. 

Bank protection work near Garnat

We tied on the left hand side of the chamber because the cruiser had tied that side, but the keeper, a young man in his twenties, wound the paddles up on the right hand side. Fortunately only part paddles so the lock filled slowly and we stayed on the left hand side. Mike chatted with the crew, they told him they had to be in Maçon by Friday. We calculated that it would take us 83 hours cruising and lock keepers’ hours allow only nine hours per day, therefore they will have to go beyond the official speed limit of 8kph and keep going, possibly making up time once they get on the river. One of the women said they’d done thirty locks in one day the week before – Mike said that’s OK if they’re close together! Told them not to wait for us at the next, that’s if the keeper doesn’t insist they wait. 4kms to the next. 

Unusual gate winding gear. Clos du May. lock 9

The cruiser soon disappeared out of sight. An old Dawncraft-looking cruiser was moored by the lengthsman’s cottage and a cut down péniche called Angola was moored by the road bridge. The boat we’d locked with was just leaving the top of lock 10 Rosière (2.40m) when we arrived but the top end gates remained open. We passed a moored DB called La Blanche Hermite (with an untidy looking stovepipe sticking out of one of the back cabin windows) moored on the lock stumps. Threw a rope around a tree and Mike walked up to the lock to find out what was going on. The keeper was another young man in his twenties. He said there was a boat coming down, be about five minutes. Mike could see at least a kilometre up the canal and there was no sign of a boat so he said more like twenty minutes! Yes, twenty minutes, he agreed. Mike came back on the boat. It had started to rain. Half an hour later a Locaboat arrived and came down the lock. Left on our own we could have turned the lock around, refilled it and have been well clear before the Locaboat arrived. I walked up with the rope to drop down to Mike in the lock. The wind had started to blow and was whipping leaves off the trees, making it feel very chilly. I wound a top end gate open for the keeper as there was another downhill boat about to arrive. As we left I told him we’d be at the next lock at one o’clock. It was 11.45 a.m. and it was 5.7 kms to the next lock. We passed a Belgian cruiser on the first bend above the lock. Slowly up the pound to arrive as the keeper finished his lunch break. In Garnat there were two boats moored, a small cruiser on the pontoon and a tiny yacht opposite the Lighthouse, both looked permanent “dead” boats and the house looked shuttered and not permanently lived in now. 

Lock 9 Clos du May, ready to leave.

No sign of life at lock 9, Clos du May (2.50m), at 1.10 p.m. so we slung a rope around a bollard and Mike took a walk up to the lock. A girl aged about 16 and a lad of ten were sitting in a car on the lockside and got out when Mike turned up. He asked if the girl was the lock keeper, yes, so he asked if we could come up the lock - hadn’t the last keeper ‘phoned ahead? She looked perplexed. They went to open the paddles at the bottom end until Mike pointed out that the top end paddles were still open. Mike came back to the boat and I walked up with the rope again. The girl asked if we were going up the next lock. No staying at Beaulon. The lad was very shy. I asked the girl if he was her brother, she said yes and I said I thought he was very shy, he blushed. Another Brit-flagged Burgundy boat, called Vital, went past heading downhill. We arrived at Beaulon at 1.45 p.m. and the crews of two British boats, a tjalk and a Burgundy boat called Chocolat, came out to lend a hand with ropes. We were on the bottom. Gave Mike a hand to put quant poles out as it started to rain again. There were three campervans (two Dutch and one British) also plugged into the electricity supply. We plugged in too and set up the TV. Mike watched snooker then the qualis for the Singapore F1 night race. I hoped the Internet might be a bit better than at Gannay. It was, but still only EDGE (2G) on 236kbps.  At least it was a solid signal and didn’t keep dropping out. Glad Mike lit the coal fire as the temperature dipped down again.

Friday 24th September 2010 Gannay. Day off

Rain in the night and most of the morning. Sunny spells and showers in the afternoon. We went shopping at Carrefour Market in Decize. Quiet as it was lunchtime and most of the tourists have now gone home (except for the odd Dutch car and a lone British camper on C4’s car park) Back before it rained and stowed the groceries on board. A chap off a boat (ex-Connoisseur cruiser called Melody) on Entente Marine’s moorings stopped to chat, he told us he used to build narrowboats on the Thames and had a long association with the Kennet & Avon canal. Rain brought the talking to an end. 

Thursday 23rd September 2010 Gannay. Day off

Sunny start, clouding over mid afternoon with rain due. Mike carried on filling and sanding the section in the underside of the XZ. Our delta sander started to seize up so he took it apart and oiled a (sealed) bearing. It worked OK but we added a new one to the list of items to get from the UK. After lunch Mike sanded down the last lot of filler and then gave it a coat of thick black tar paint (sound-proofing and water-proofing stuff - NOT boat paint I might add). Finished at last!

Wednesday 22nd September 2010 Gannay. Day off

Hooray overnight temperature back into double figures! Clear blue sky, sunny, and getting warmer. I gave Mike a hand to get the car on the ramps (front two wheels, pulling with the chain lift rather than try to drive it up, much to the amusement of a French couple on the cruiser moored opposite it) and he removed loads more thin bits of rusty metal, making the section a whole lot smaller before starting to rebuild and fibreglass it. Lunch. Mike found the new can of resin he bought the day before was rock hard and unusable - while the car was up on the ramps he had no way of taking it back. Applying matting and resin upside down is not easy and he was not happy with “bodging” as he always likes to try to do a good neat job of anything. Body filling is not his forte. 

Tuesday 21st September 2010 Gannay. Day off

Still chilly overnight. Clouds arrived, sunny spells. Narrowboat Albert carried on uphill as did the cruiser Ozy 2 which had moored in front of us overnight. Mike sanded the cills down on the ZX and then gave it a coat of white paint. He was concerned that there was a chassis cross member that had almost totally rusted away under the driver’s side floor pan that he couldn’t fix. We’d have to find a garage and see if it could be repaired with a welded in section so it would pass the Control Technique (MoT). I did some washing (Mike ran the Markon for the water heating as the 5A electric wouldn’t run it). After lunch we went out in the car to find a garage where they might do some welding and repair the chassis on the ZX. A small workshop in Gannay was our first stop. A young guy came out to have a look under the car, then an older bloke, the latter said it couldn’t be done, sorry. Don’t know if he meant he couldn’t do it because upside down welding was beyond him or it was not possible to fix it by welding. We went on into Dompierre, hoping to find another garage and a repair specialist. We came across a Securitest Centre (MoT) and asked the young man in charge to have a look. Shell-shocked when he said the car wouldn’t fail the control test because of the corroded section, all it needed was patching up as it wasn’t a critical load bearing item. Great. We said we’d book it in later next week for him to do the test after Mike had patched it up. On the way home Mike called in a Proxi Market and bought more resin, thick fibreglass matting and a splatter guard for a frying pan to cut up and use as a former. Back home feeling much better. A large DB went down the lock, aptly named Exocet, judging from the way the canal water was bouncing around he had been going like a rocket! Spoke to the lady off nb Kells and told her about Nationwide adding charges for foreign transactions, she didn’t think it applied to FlexAccounts. Mike found her the leaflet, she said she’d go home and top herself – hey, it’s only money! Another DB arrived, Maria Helena, and moored in front of us. It left again just before five heading downhill through the lock to be replaced immediately by a small French cruiser. 

Monday 20th September 2010 Gannay. Day off.

Cold night. Still clear blue skies. Sunny and warm. All the overnight boats had gone before ten. Mike went to La Poste to get the post from Glyn sent on the 10th and called in the Proxi mini market for some bread, then he started work on the car cills. Filling and sanding. I had a search online to find a bank that doesn’t charge for foreign transactions as Nationwide are going to start charging 2% on FlexAccount transactions starting in November plus £1 (on top of the 2%) for each cash withdrawal when using their debit card. Didn’t find any. Found an Observer article, dated August, about rip off bank charges for foreign transactions which said banks charge between three and five percent, which is outrageous. Have to do some careful planning for withdrawing cash and keep fingers crossed it doesn’t apply to credit card transactions. The Internet was rubbish, dropping out every half hour or so. 

Sunday 19th September 2010 Decize to Gannay-sur-Loire. 16 kms 4 locks

Gantry and pull cord for auto locks to Decize & Loire
(off to the left)

3.0°C cold night, glad of the coal fire overnight! Clear blue skies, sunshine all day, chilly at first warming up to mid twenties later. A hireboat came up the automatic lock and turned right heading down the canal, we set off just afterwards at 9.20 a.m. heading uphill. A couple of kilometres to the first lock 15 Saulx (2.57m) and the canal was steaming as the sun warmed the air over the water making miniature upside down tornados spinning into the air. The lock was full and the keeper, a lady in her forties with short dark hair, started emptying it as we arrived. In through one gate and she took a rope for us, then refilled the lock. Ten minutes and we were on the 6 kms pound. A middle aged bloke had La Mothe lock 14 (2.45m) ready with one gate open, so we were in and up in about ten minutes again. 2.7 kms to the next. Lock 13 L’Huilerie (3.50m) was ready for us. The keeper, a young man with dark hair, took my rope on the end of a boat shaft hook as it was a deep lock.

Moorings by VNF yard at Decize

Noted that he had a home made extension bar to operate the gate capstan, now that’s a good idea for a heavy set of gates! His black and white collie dog looked a lot like Bill’s Fanny (see www.billybubbles.demon.co.uk) only sturdier; she was a fussy dog and kept going back and forth along the lockside between Mike and me for a fuss.  We wandered slowly along the 5.7 kms long pound to time our arrival at the next lock after the keeper’s lunch break. It was five minutes after one when we arrived at lock 12 Les Vanneaux (3.20m) and the young man had both gates open. He took a rope and put the loop round a bollard for me, closed the bottom end gates then started to open a paddle on the wrong side until Mike hooted and we both shouted open the other side first please! He asked if we were continuing and I said no, staying at Gannay for a few days, we’d tell him when we were carrying on. He said it would be his colleague not him and asked if we were doing a u-turn and going back down the canal. 

Burnt out house near L'Huilerie lock 13

Wonder why he asked that? No, carrying on uphill. There was one Loca in the middle of the quay, plugged into the electric and an ex-Connoisseur called Melody at the edge of the port on the grassy bank, plus a Dutch couple in a campervan had their sun loungers out on the grass, watching us as we moored. Mike winded and reversed so we were across the corner of the basin behind the Loca. We put a tyre out to stop the bows catching and wondered what would be the easiest way to get the bike off across the gap. No need to have wondered, within five minutes the hireboat had packed up and carried on uphill, trying to take the rotten wooden fendering with them as the rope that was attached to it had tangled with one of their hanging sausage fenders. We helped extricate it and pulled the remains of the old wood on to the quayside, then we bow hauled our boat back along the straight quay to the fence that separated the port from the pay moorings at Entente Marine. 

Derelict old house near L'Huilerie lock 13

As we finished tying up a lady walking with the aid of a cane came over for a chat. She was off narrowboat Kells, which was moored outside a Dutch barge at Entente Marine, and had seen us arrive. She’d been on the dry dock with another narrowboat at St Thibault. We said we’d seen the boats, four of them, on the dock about a month ago. She said she was waiting for the boatyard to do some work for her. Mike read the notice at the end of the moorings with their prices – 50€ an hour for work done on boats, 8€/metre per month for winter moorings plus 30c/unit for electric and 2€/m2 for water. She said she had come over from the UK in 2003 and was going back to Montceau-les-Mines for a second winter as it’s handy for the town. Connected up to the 5A supply, set up the TV then made a late lunch. Another Loca went down the lock, followed a shortly after by a small cruiser. After lunch I gave Mike a hand to unload the moped off the roof and at three o’clock he rode back to Decize to collect the car. Two cars had parked on the opposite bank and fishermen were setting up their gear. A Loca arrived and moored in front leaving almost a boat sized gap between our bows and their stern. A large Locaboat full of Germans from Frankfurt (and their three large yappy black Schnauzer dogs) came to ask us if there was a restaurant nearby or somewhere they could buy food? On Sunday, in France? Luckily the snack bar, La Vacanciére, was open. A British yacht moored behind us on the pay moorings and a downhill Loca moored in front. 

Saturday 18th September 2010 Decize. Day off.

Warm and sunny with white fluffy clouds. Up before nine. First we went to Intermarché to get a gas bottle and took it back to the boat. A VNF man appeared and asked when we were leaving, told him next day around 9.30 a.m. heading uphill. The Burgundy cruiser Isabella had come up the locks and its crew were just off to the Intermarché on foot. We drove across town to Carrefour Market to get restocked with groceries. Called in at Point Affairs to see if they had any fleece material blankets to use as seat covers as we bought the last lot from them. They had none, only expensive ones made of imitation fur. Back through town, which was very busy as they had a two day flea market on along the river. A large cruiser arrived and moored behind us on the quay. Mike lit the coal fire for the second night in a row and kept it going overnight. Heard the sound of fireworks in the town, hidden by buildings Mike reckoned it was down by the river in the park.

Friday 17th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour to Decize. 17.8 kms 6 locks

Chateau tower near Cercy

Hazy cloud first thing then banks of white cloud and sunshine but much cooler. Mike went up to say au’voir et merci to the lady keeper at Cercy. Gave her one of my cards with the blog site on it so she could have a look at our photos of the Nivernais. The ex-Rive-de-France hireboat that had been moored in front of us for the last three days went up the lock at nine. Madame ‘phoned Roche for us and we winded with the gentle flow of the little river Aron and set off downhill at 9.15 a.m. For the first time since spring we wore our fleeces as it was quite nippy. Through the open floodlock back on to the canal, 7.7 kms to lock 32 Roche (3.07m). I went inside to make a cuppa just as the first boat of only two we saw moving all day on the Nivernais and the Loire (until we stopped on the Latéral) a LeBoat hung back at a bridge to let Mike through first. Unusual for a hireboat! Our lock keeper came up the towpath on his scooter to find us. (They’re not used to our speed of boating, hireboats and most private boats travel in excess of 10 kph) An American couple on bikes had stopped to ask us the usual questions – how did you get THAT here? 

Ecluse de Roche, extended from 30m to 38m late 19c

The keeper had turned his scooter around and gone back to the lock to open one gate for us. He was quiet and didn’t speak much. Mike wound a bottom end paddle for him and got back on board. I took a photo of the extension of the lock. The keeper closed the gate behind us and refilled the lock before riding the 3.3 kms down to Champvert. Lock 33 (2.27m) was ready for us and two blokes were nattering on the lockside, a fisherman on a scooter and an older guy on a bike, the latter helped open the other bottom end gate for the keeper as there was a hireboat coming towards the lock as we left it. It was 11.35 a.m. Guy came out of his house as we passed. We said au’voir and told him we were sorry couldn’t stay again this winter. The keeper who was in charge of the last two locks called to us as we went under the railway bridge by the rubber works to say he was off to lunch (11.50 a.m.) and would see us at 1.00 o’clock. 

Ecluse de Champvert

OK, we’re in no great hurry. He said the lock, Vauzelles 34 (2.40m), was full so the boat could sit in the chamber while we had lunch, which is what we did. It was getting warmer so the fleeces came off. While I made lunch Mike took the echo sounder’s transducer out of its tube to check to see if we had another growth of mussels on it – we hadn’t – must just be the mucky bottom that wasn’t sending signals back that was causing the thing not to work. (It worked OK later as we crossed the Loire) The keeper was back at one. He showed us he had a puffed up eye from a wasp sting the day before. He’d been riding his scooter between the two locks and a wasp had gone between the peak of his crash helmet and down his glasses then stung him. Nasty things. We noticed today he was driving his car! Down Vauzelles then past all the moored boats at St Leger des Vignes. Three British boats were moored together, Frank’s Belle Etoile and two cruisers, followed by a bunch of three tjalks, one of which was for sale. Aster ( the last surviving example of the wooden péniches that worked the Nivernais) was still sitting in the dry dock, but now floating. 

Last winter's mooring place at Champvert

I told the keeper it was a shame to see it sitting there and he said there was a chance someone might buy it. It belonged to the Department of Niévre and they used to operate it as a trip boat. We saw it the first time we crossed the Nivernais on the summit at Bray with passengers on board and the skipper heaving on the long ropes that operated its bow rudder. Down on to the Loire, nothing moving and no boats moored either. Slowly we chugged upriver with a gentle 2 kph flow against us. The bottom lock of the two automatics leading up on to the Latèral, Decize N°16ter, was full. I pulled on the hanging string to set the locking sequence going. Slowly it emptied and the gates opened. I lifted the blue rod to set the lock mechanism going again and Mike threaded the centre rope through a vertical bar in the lock wall. I held the rope while the lock filled, the paddles opening in three stages. Several gongoozlers stood on the bridge over the tail end of the lock watching. I fished a rosette of a water chestnut plant out of the canal and put it in some water on the roof, there are lots of them growing just in that one pound. We trundled on up the canal past the LeBoat base where they had eleven boats not out on hire and two British boats moored on one of their pontoons, narrowboat Albert and a Burgundy cruisers boat called Isabella. I pulled the string again and St Maurice lock 16bis emptied. A VNF man was on the lockside by the control rods. I was expecting there to be another slider bar but there wasn’t so 

Spring called La Baudienne at Champvert

I handed him my centre rope and he went further forward with it until Mike shouted can we have that further back? He was on the ‘phone so there was a bit of a delay while we sorted the rope out and another VNF guy took it and dropped the loop on a bollard while Mike reversed back to the bottom end gates. The keeper lifted the rod and left. Again the lock filled in stages and I held the centre rope while the lock filled. We left the lock, now back on the Latèral à la Loire where we turned right to moor on the quay by the VNF water tap. There were three boats well spaced out along it so we winded and moored by the piling nearest the hanging string for the lock, leaving plenty of space for hireboats to crashland behind us to take on water and in front of us to get to the string to operate the lock to go down to the hirebase or on to the Loire. Before we finished tying up the hireboat at the far end (by the car parking area) loaded up with groceries that they’d just bought from Intermarché and set off. We said we wouldn’t bother moving to the far end as although it would be closer to the car for shopping the following morning it was nearer a busy road bridge. A hireboat that had paused while we were winding went on downhill, but returned a few minutes later and the crew asked the usual questions (in English, this time where were we from) as they passed us and went to twing the string (must be due back at the hirebase tomorrow). I set the satellite dish up and forgot about setting up French TV although I had put the aerial on its mast. St Antonious, a converted péniche, went past just after four and didn’t slack off for the moored boats. Mike returned at 4.30 p.m. and I gave him a hand to put the bike back on the roof then we tried tuning in French TV – rubbish for TF1 on analogue and no digital TNT either. More and more hireboats turned up to go down to the hirebase

Thursday 16th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off. Mike back St-J-d-L

Grey and damp. Mike was back at 1.00 p.m. and I made lunch while he unpacked. On Liberty he’d fitted two medium sized solar panels and a controller, sorted the co-ax connection for his radio antenna, checked his marine VHF radio and sorted out an antenna for that, made a circuit diagram so Paul could modify the electric flushing system on his toilet, modified a fish finder so it would work as an echo sounder using the existing transducer, re-established the 12v supply for his ‘fridge and converted a 230v table lamp to work on 12v. All in all a good two days’ work. Repairing his two tachometers would have to wait for another time. Paul was off up river on the Saône to cross the Doubs and possibly leave his boat at Saverne or Strasbourg for the winter

Wednesday 15th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off. Mike at St-J-d-L

Sunny morning but 90% rain predicted. I was up before nine. Quiet, no boats moving. Rain. Mike ‘phoned as I was shutting the canvases so I missed the call. I read the voicemail then sent him a text. He sent a text to say he would be setting off back in the morning. He was going out to a restaurant later with Paul and his friend John for a meal. He said of all the jobs he’d done on Liberty the one that pleased Paul the most was converting a 230V lamp to run on 12V! 

Tuesday 14th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off. Mike at St-J-d-L

Warm and sunny after a cold night. Mike got ready and set off for St-Jean-de-Losne just after eight. He sent me a text at 10.45 a.m. to say he had arrived and there was no sign of Paul’s Liberty yet, he arrived a little later. The path along the bank by the trees had gone. Strange that was a very popular place to moor! (There were still boats mooring there but they couldn’t get cars by their boats now) He said the farmer had extended his field almost to the river’s edge, so there was only a person width path now, plus the fuel barge had gone, there was now a pontoon with a single pump dispensing petrol, plus white and red diesel. All the other boats on the pontoon at Cercy had gone by ten. They were replaced later by an ex-Rive de France and several hire boats.

Monday 13th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off.

Cold night. Sunny day with fluffy white clouds. Mike had to drive to Attac for bread as all three boulangeries were closed. He thought the Americans on a LeBoat were going uphill as the boat was pointing uphill and asked if the Loire was open yet, thinking that they must have crossed it the day before. No, they were heading downhill to Decize and didn’t know they had to cross the river to get to the hire base. He came back on the boat with the bread then went to ask the keeper about the river. Two Americans followed him. Yes, she said, the river was now open. OK, we’ll probably be moving in the morning. I got on with the chores. Mike took an inverter and his electrical toolbox to fix a wire that had come off the car’s alternator for the warning light. I made lunch. I put the laptop on to do the log, then had the bright idea to send a message to Paul’s friend Ron via Facebook. Mike started marking up a new “make no waves” board with lines and letters to be painted. Paul rang, he was in a lock coming down the Saône, in a panic as he hadn’t heard from Mike and Mike hadn’t answered his texts and calls so he was coming to find us! I’d had a reply from Ron with Paul’s number and he’d ‘phoned him too. Paul had been calling Mike’s UK mobile!! Mike said he’d call him back later once he’d got tied up, which he did. Liberty was at Seurre. Mike called him a daft wotsit after he’d checked our French number while he was still back in the UK and now in France he’d been calling us on our UK one!! Never mind. Mike said he ought to go back to St Jean-de-Losne and he’d go and find him the next day.

Sunday 12th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off.

Hot and sunny. Rain forecast by the weather station, 50% chance, arrived mid-afternoon. Same boats moored on the pontoon. After lunch Mike watched the F1 and kept the Internet on connected to the F1 website to see their data page. Laptop on to check for emails, nothing from Paul. One large LeBoat moored overnight on the pontoon plus the two cruisers that had been here a while.

Saturday 11th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off

Hot and sunny. We still had an ex-hireboat called 7à8 moored right in front of us plus a small speedboat cruiser. The ex Nicholls that had been here since before we landed left. Mike went to post letters at La Poste and picked up some bread on his way back. I gave him a hand by catching swarf in the dustpan while he drilled bigger holes for the new bolts that lock the side door hatch. The originals were British size and the new ones were metric, hence bigger holes. After lunch Mike watched the F1 qualis from Monza Italy. Still no call from Paul – Mike tried leaving a message on Neil’s mobile phone. We could think of no other way of contacting Paul.

Friday 10th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off.

Sunny with clear blue skies in the morning, clouding over after lunch. Mike went to see if the Syndicate d’Initiative was open. It was, and they had got our keys. Threw the keys in the bin with the busted locks and kept the key float for the new keys. The crews off the LeBoat had decided to take Mike up on his offer of a lift back to Tannay to collect their two cars. The hireboat moved on to the main pontoon shortly after. Mike was back for 2.00 p.m. Had a reply email from Helen, Floan was taking a pleasant trip down the Marne to get to Paris to unload. They’d seen Snail at Cummiéres and exchanged texts so they gave us the Snail’s new French phone number.

Thursday 9th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off.

Heavy showers and sunny spells. We took a walk up to the lock as the resident lady keeper was locking boats through. Mike hadn’t brought his car keys and wanted to go shopping as soon as we’d spoken to her so he went back for them and I carried on walking up to the lock. Told her we’d got a small problem needed to stay a few days extra. She said it was no problem, just make sure the hireboats can get at the water tap. The reason for the  “three days max stay on the pontoon” was due to four boats staying for a month and using the electric to do boat fitting – they had to be told to go. I asked if they were English or Dutch and was surprised when she said, no. no, French! Bizarre! No need to see them at the Mairie – she was the boss! Great. Gave her a hand with the locking while we chatted. We went to get groceries from Carrefour Market in Decize. They’d put a new tarmac surface on the car park, it had new white lines and everything – but no trees now, although the diamond shaped boxes were there ready for new ones. Bought the groceries and went back to the boat. We were locked out. Mike hadn’t got the keys and I couldn’t find the spares which we kept in the glove box in the car. The thieves must have taken them when they stole stuff out of the car at Episy. THAT’S ANNOYING! It started to pour down with rain so we sat and fumed in the car. Mike looked in the magnetic key box with the spare car key, just the door key for the car. Back on the boat with the car toolbox Mike had no option but to undo the fixing on the side door hatch then break the bolts to get in. We missed a phonecall, it was John answering Mike’s message that he’d left on his French mobile. No sign of the keys. He must have dropped them outside. He went to look. I started putting all the groceries away. Nothing. Perhaps someone found them and handed then to the lock keeper. We said we would ask after lunch. A LeBoat moored stern to the pontoon behind us and Mike spoke to the Brits on board. He loaned them some Araldite to glue the fixings back in a mooring cleat they’d managed to rip off. After lunch we walked up to the lock, the lock keeper was away working boats through further up the canal. The hireboater had told Mike she does at least four locks (actually she does five), rushing up and down in her van. Mike decided to cut the locks off as we had no spares keys he said he would have to buy new padlocks, it would be cheaper than having new spare keys cut. I gave him a hand to hold the locks while he used a cutting disc in an angle-grinder and cut the loops. Amazing how easily we did that. He went to the Brico in Decize and came back with three ordinary locks and a keyless number code operated padlock for the front door. No need to take any keys with us now, just remember the number! Great idea. Mike fixed new bolts on the side hatch. Mike went out to change the TV aerial over to the French one and saw the keeper. He asked her if any keys had been handed in – yes, a cyclist had found them by where we’d parked the car - they were at the Syndicate d’Initiative office by the car park (which was now closed) so she said go to the Mairie in the morning – it’s up by the church. No call from Paul (who wants Mike to go and do a couple of days work on his boat at St Jean-de-Losne and which is the main reason we’re on the pontoon at Cercy) and nothing yet from John. 

Wednesday 8th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off.

More rain and windy, sun out in the mid-afternoon. The Locaboat moored behind us went at nine, but several LeBoats were queuing for the lock when Mike went up to La Poste to deposit some cash in the CCP and pick up a loaf on the way back. After lunch we went out in the car. First to Roanne to see if they had any moorings. We went via Digoin and Igeurande. The basin was busy, lots of boats moored but there were quite a few gaps and loads of people walking or running around the basin. We parked by the moorings on the west bank first, but then decided to drive round to the far side to find the Capitanerie. We spotted Redquest on the moorings, but no one was aboard. The Capitanerie was closed, there was no one in, and so we waited around by the door then went and sat in the car. Eventually the Capitain arrived, he’d been out with the paddle-wheeled weed cutter. Surprisingly, he said straight away that they had no moorings vacant and he had a waiting list. He said people had been asking about moorings for this winter last January! However, he asked if we knew anyone who moored there, and we said yes, John and Lizanne  and also Redquest. He said we could ask them if we could moor alongside them and if they said yes then he would be agreeable too. OK, we said we would do that, we’d phone John and Lizanne and ask if they wanted an eye keeping on Goede throughout the winter. Took a price list and a leaflet and sat in the car. We’d heard via the Towpath Telegraph that Goede Verwachting was at Genelarde, so we went to see if they were still there. North to join the canal at Paray-le-Monial; there were only a few boats moored in the basin there. Carried on up the canal all the way to Genelarde and only saw one boat moving, a péniche called Raymondo, and two moored cruisers. Goede was moored below the lock at Genelarde with DB Déjà Vu moored behind it. I wondered if the people on Déjà vu would know if they were OK as they weren’t on board, so Mike went and asked. The American who spoke to him said they were back in the UK for a christening and would be back on the 13th. Back home via Perrecy-les-Forges, Toulon-sur-Arroux and Luzy; the southern end of the Morvan hills. A lovely little back road full of hills and twists and turns between fields of Charollais or sheep and forest. Back at 6.30 p.m. The boats on the pontoon hadn’t moved and more hireboats were arriving. One tied on the end of the pontoon bows first and connected up to the electricity. The rest must have carried on down the canal because they’d gone when Mike closed the canvases on the front deck. 

Tuesday 7th September 2010 Cercy-la-Tour. Day off.

Heavy rain in the night, followed by persistent rain all day. We decided to find the neighbours and ask if they were interested or not in winter moorings at Champvert if we looked into the possibilities, plus we wanted to go and see our insurance broker in Nevers to pay the moped insurance and while we were there we thought we might as well look at what they’d done to the Bassin de la Jonction. First we went via La Poste in Cercy – closed due to strike action (functionaries (civil servants) were protesting about the government’s plans to raise their retirement age from sixty to sixty-two) so Mike posted two birthday cards and we drove into Decize. Charley was still moored by the VNF office. Mike asked if they were interested in mooring at Champvert. No. They’d had long discussions about it and decided they were going to moor in Nevers. We said we were going to Nevers and would have a look. In the meantime they were carrying on up to Gannay then Beaulon, both ports which have all facilities for free. We drove into Nevers along the village road to the west of the canal and Lucy took us directly to the insurance office. Pulled onto the drive at 11.35 a.m. and went in to pay for the moped insurance. I wrote out a cheque and the office lady did the paperwork. Monsieur came out of his office to shake hands and have a brief chat. We asked if we bought a new vehicle could he insure it by phone – yes, no problems. Back through the city to the canal basin. The rain was still pouring down. They had restricted the access to the port by means of a tubular metal barrier so nothing wider or higher than a car could now drive down the road to the basin and the swimming pool. We parked and went for a look round. They had built up a new edge to the old quay to which several pontoons with finger moorings had been added – all for six to ten metre long boats (and seemed to be full of “dead” boats). There were gaps along the edge between the pontoons but most were taken and it’s most likely that more boats were due to arrive for the winter. The scale of charges was expensive. Like the neighbours we would have to pay 125€ per month plus electricity at 15c/unit (that was not too bad, EDF charged us 14c/ unit last winter) plus 2€ per 500 litres of water and tourist tax of 20c per person per day. We weren’t sure if the prices included tax or not. No one was there at the Capitanerie until 1.00 pm. Mike checked the satellite direction, it was back up the canal so other than being moored on a pontoon end we wouldn’t get any TV due to the overhanging willow trees. We drove home via Sauvigny-les-Bois on the D18 then D26, lovely roads through the forested Côtes du Nivernais. A French fat narrowboat, Coulir, had joined us on the pontoon and the ex-Nicholls hireboat was still moored at the top end plus a Dutch campervan was parked by the toilet block cum tourist office. Lunch. Decided we’d take a trip by car next day to Roanne and check out the moorings there, maybe the rain will have slowed down a little. Mike wanted to send Paul a text but we hadn’t got his phone number. By lock closing time the pontoon was full with a Locaboat moored stern to the end of the pontoon behind us.

Monday 6th September 2010 Avril-sur-Loire – Cercy-la-Tour. 26.7 kms 8 locks

Stork's nest site

Milder overnight, lots of grey clouds first thing becoming completely overcast then showers from mid-afternoon onwards. The water level on the 5 kms long pound had gone down by  9” overnight. Up bright and early to get to the lock for nine. Up lock 17 Abron (3.44m) which was already empty, the resident keeper (a man in his forties) had opened both gates for us. He put my rope on a bollard then wound the wrong side gate paddles up. There were no ground paddles (only at the bottom end) and four gate paddles at the top, so Mike put the boat in forward gear which kept it against the wall. The keeper was cheery and chatty. When we said the forecast was for four days of rain he said, no, never! A short pound of 1 km brought us to the next lock 16 Acolin (2.33m) where the resident keeper (forties with moustache) worked the lock. At least he opened the paddles on our side first! Made a cuppa as we set off en route for Decize. We passed one Locaboat on its way downhill just as we passed the only fisherman we saw on the Latéral. I yanked the cord to start the first of two automatic locks working. I got off and went to the VNF office which is alongside the lock 16bis St Maurice (2.52m) and asked the two ladies in the office if they’d got a list of the pounds to be emptied this winter. No, not yet, it will be the end of the month before they get that. OK. I lifted the blue bar to start the automatic sequence and got on the boat as Mike brought it into the lock. A young VNF man in a France football shirt stood alongside the lock, chatting as we dropped down slowly. The LeBoat hireboat base moorings looked ominously empty, just a few permanent moorers and a sign that said up to 18€ for overnight mooring! 

Aster in the dry dock at Decize

A short distance to lock 16ter Decize and a Canalous hireboat came up, I yanked the string and we went in and down on to the Loire. Quiet, nothing moving just lots of traffic on the roads. Turned the corner on to the Nivernais, noting that they’d painted the old chain tug Ampere a light grey colour all over and had moved it about 50m further down towards the weir, and that there was another Canalous in the first lock about to come down. It was 11.50 a.m. so we gave up and winded to moor (on the bottom) next to a quay by a pizzeria, a boulangerie and a little Casino market. Mike went to get some bread. The boulangerie was closed, on holiday, and the Casino closed for stocktaking. He had some brown sliced bread for lunch by way of a change. The hireboat came past at midday and the American steering it chatted with Mike as he passed. At 1.00 p.m. we shoved off the bottom and went up to the lock 35 Loire (1.51m) which was empty with both gates open. A middle aged guy with glasses took my rope (there was nowhere to get off below the lock) and worked the lock, then took all the boat details. When the lock was full I asked if there was any downhill traffic, no, then we could get through one gate – otherwise I would have opened the other gate for him. He said he had the next lock to work too, so we said see you soon and set off on the 1 km pound to Vauzelles lock 34 (2.40m). The old wooden péniche Aster was still sitting in the empty dry dock waiting for the department to find the money to bring it up to modern health and safety standards for taking passengers aboard again. 

Aster in the dry dock at Decize

There were still quite a few boats moored at St Ledger des Vines, most were permanent like the cruiser from Wolverhampton and Frank with Belle Etoile, both of whom were at Chatillon the year before; plus half a dozen DBs. Only the four at the uphill end were occupied, the rest were “dead” boats. An ex-hireboat called Ikori was moored outside Carrefour Market (Mike HAD to ask where Dikory and Dock were!!). Our keeper went past on his scooter to get the next lock ready. I stepped off below the lock and went up the steps to close the gate and catch the rope off Mike. I held the rope round a bollard while the lock filled. The keeper said his colleague had the next two locks to work. 3 kms past the Anvis rubber works and under the road and railway bridges into Champvert. Madame Co-co wasn’t at home otherwise she would have been out to say hello. A tjalk called Niets Bestending was moored by the Baudienne spring and two more boats were on the quay, Hermes (a cruiser we locked with a few days earlier) and an ex-Connoisseur hireboat called Erlanic. Guy was by his front door and so Mike shouted hello. 

Aster in the dry dock at Decize

He seemed very pleased to see us and asked if we were staying. No, off to Cercy for a few days! Two Canalous were coming down in lock 33 Champvert (2.27m) and we went up after they cleared the chamber. I took the mast down as the bridge over the tail end of the lock was a low one, then I climbed the spider-web infested muddy ladder to put our rope on a bollard. The keeper for the next two was a young man, late twenties, who also had a scooter. It started to rain as we set off on the 3.3 kms pound to Roche lock 32 (3.07m). Cyclists on the cycle piste were stopping to don waterproof bike capes. Mike put the brolly up and I closed doors and moved the mats off the front deck. The lock was ready when we got there and two men were working on restoring the old lock house, which stood alongside the little river Andarge and was built into the side of the canal bank so that the top storey of the three storey house was level with the lockside. Told the lock keeper that we would stay at Cercy for a few days and speak to Madame at the lock when we wanted to continue. Crossed the aqueduct over the Andarge and set off on the 7.7 kms pound to Cercy. Still raining. A group of fishermen were sat on the bank fishing by the picnic tables and mooring at KP10. They reeled in their livebaited rods while we passed. Just before Cercy there was a lorry loaded with gravel and a digger making a new cycle path. We arrived at the pontoon at 4.35 p.m. – just one Nicolls moored at the top end and the usual group of residents sitting out at the picnic table under the trees. Tied up, set up the TV and the electric, noting there was a new sign on the electric box that said “three days max stay on the pontoon” – that’s a nuisance we want to stay about a week! Helped Mike get the bike off and all his stuff ready. He left on the moped at 5.25 p.m. (wearing waterproofs and wellies) to collect the car from Avril. He was glad he put the waterproofs on as it rained very heavily before he reached the car.

Sunday 5th September 2010 Avril-sur-Loire. Day off.

Sunset at Avril

Chilly night but warm and sunny all day. Got on with a few chores. Mike put more paint on his new notice board. The canal was quiet, just two Le-Boats downhill in the morning and the Dawncraft from Fleury went uphill in the afternoon (must be off on his holidays!), followed by a couple more LeBoats also going uphill.

Saturday 4th September 2010 Avril-sur-Loire. Day off.

Cool morning but getting hot again as we had very little cloud. As Avril has no boulangerie, Mike went into Decize in the car to buy a loaf – pain ancien (1,25€) - they had no ordinary pain left. Decided to make a new “make no waves, please” board as the old one was crumbling (we made it when we went to the Midi first in 1993). Mike cut a piece of plywood and gave it a coat of undercoat as we’d run out of primer. Very hot (38°C+), so we added the reflectors to the starboard side windows. Two hireboats went past (German crews) heading downhill. Several more boats went uphill during the course of the afternoon. Very quiet at Avril except for traffic on the road opposite and that was fairly light. I was last to go to bed just after midnight so I had the task of turning the inverter off. It was as black as a bag outside as there were no street lights anywhere nearby - lovely! The sky had light clouds but the stars where they were visible were very bright.  

Friday 3rd September 2010 Chevenon to Avril-sur-Loire. 16.2 kms 3 locks

Moring at Fleury - note all the tables and chairs!
and we're on the bottom!

Hot sunny day, no clouds at all again. It was shady at Chevenon with the trees on our left sheltering us from the morning sun. The large French cruiser moored behind us, called Honfleur, left around nine then two yachts went past, also heading uphill. We got ready and I mopped the condensation off the roof before setting off at 9.45 a.m. Noted there were two ex-hireboats moored at the bottom of the gardens of two house in the village of Atelier. Wondered if they went on the bottom when the VNF empty the pounds in winter time? Arrived at the first lock, 20 Jaugenay (1.40m) as the two yachts were going into the empty chamber. Surprised, as we didn’t expect to see them again when they passed us earlier. Threw a rope around a bollard and waited. It was 10.10 a.m. Very shortly afterwards another French cruiser, a large Recla called Hermes with an elderly man working single-handed, arrived and moored behind us. Mike went out to have a chat. 

Moorings at Fleury by a restaurant

They spoke in English as Mike thought he was Dutch. Sent him into the lock first and we followed in behind. The young man in his thirties who worked the lock was very friendly, taking ropes and chatting. Mike measured the water drop as our chart said 0.59m – it was actually 1.40m. Both Vagnons, old and new were wrong. 10.35 a.m. as we left the lock on the 3.9 kms pound following the cruiser Hermes. Timed it just right as a French-flagged new replica small tjalk called Delisa came down. We followed Hermes into lock 19 Uxeloup (3.20m) where a young student lad worked the lock. This one had no ground paddles so he opened the gate paddles very slowly. It took ages to fill. The skipper on the cruiser had passed the rope from his fore end round a bollard on the lockside then back to the rear deck and had wrapped the end around his forearm and was struggling to hold the boat as the water moved his boat side to side. (So many people do this when they could make life a lot easier by putting the rope around a cleat on their decks, still holding it to take the slack in, not tying it - of course!) 

Quiet mooring at Avril-sur-Loire.

It hadn’t got far to go sideways as it was a wide boat. We knew we weren’t going to get to Fleury before the lunch break anyway. It was 11.35 a.m. when we left the top and we had 5 kms to Fleury lock 18 (2.25m). I made lunch while we went along, ready for when we tied up. Hermes had tied up before the last bridge. We carried on to tie up below the lock – no bollards so we attached to a log. Surprised to see the two yachts in sitting in the full lock chamber over lunchtime. Another French cruiser arrived, Heindrik, and they moored in front of us. After lunch the keeper emptied the lock. I went to see if the French crew in front were going up, no, the crew were still having lunch and no sign of Hermes either. We went into the lock and a jolly round man in his fifties worked the lock. Mike got off up the ladder with our rope and closed a gate. The keeper asked if we wanted any veg. Sorry, we’d just shopped at Carrefour. Told him we were probably stopping at Fleury for the weekend and he said if you run out of veg come and see me! OK! 

Fleury-sur-Loire.

The moorings were full. Charley was there, as was Honfleur (who set off at nine this morning) and a couple of French cruisers (one was a Dawncraft that lived there permanently). It was too shallow along the bank upstream of the quay so we backed off to try the other end by a lavoir, still too shallow. We moored along the sloping end of the quay at 45° to the canal, fortunately our stern didn’t stick out more than a couple of metres but our bows were on the bottom in the corner so we had to pull back a bit. We looked at all the tables and chairs on the grass along where we were moored (there was a small restaurant in a shed) and decided it was going to get noisy over the weekend so we decided to move on up to Avril. Mike went to tell Nick and Diana we were moving. Set off again at 3.10 p.m. It was getting pretty hot again. We hadn’t been going five minutes when we saw a cruiser coming towards us – it was Chris! Said hello, we’ve just left you a space on the quay at Fleury! We carried on 4 kms to Avril-sur-Loire. A very old (rotten) wooden-edged quay with bollards was just long enough for us. No facilities at all, no shade either. We tied up just after four p.m. Got the moped off the roof and Mike went to retrieve the car from Le Guetin. The Internet signal was lousy, EDGE 2G, but dropping out. There was a beautiful sunset so I took a photo as I closed all the doors to keep all the mossies out. 

Thursday 2nd September 2010 Le Guetin to Chevenon. 17.8 kms 2 locks.

Fountains in Le Guetin staircase

Still chilly overnight. Hot and sunny with clear open skies. When we rolled out of bed at nine there was just us and a péniche houseboat called En Route from Dorinchem on the quay. We untied and winded at 10.15 a.m. as the staircase lock, 21-22 Le Guetin (8.80m), started emptying. We went into the bottom chamber and a friendly resident keeper lowered a rope and hook for my rope, which he dropped on a bollard for me. Then he pressed buttons in his control cabin to close gates and open paddles. The bottom chamber filled gently and he even opened gate paddles to make a spectacular double fountain (for the benefit of the gongoozlers). Repeat performance on the top chamber, except the single ground paddle is on the left (the bottom chamber had two – must remember the top has only one and on our “wrong” side) so the boat gently moved over to the left hand wall as I left the rope slack to let it go – no use trying to stop it, it would just list heavily as the water took the hull sideways. The keeper, of course, knew all about this and so did we – except we forgot! No problem. He gave Mike a “customer satisfaction” survey form to fill in for the VNF. A man on the bank said he’d seen us on the Saône last year at one of the locks when he was fishing there. 

Aqueduct over the river Allier

A lone LeBoat was waiting at the far end of the single-boat-width (péniche, that is, 5,30m) aqueduct over the river Allier and getting twitchy. Even on a Thursday morning with the kids back at school now, there were still people walking the path across the aqueduct, 343m long. Down below the Allier runs fast in places, between banks of sand and man-made training walls built with rocks. Now we were on a long pound, 20.7 kms, of winding canal passing Nevers (which is accessed by a branch down to the Loire where there is now a new port de plaisance - we stayed there for free in the winter of 1994, just us and three yachts – now it costs 125€ a month + extra for water and electricity). 

Old crane at the port de Gimouille

We paused just after the aqueduct at Gimouille where there was a long quay along a wide section of canal and an old crane on the quay. Mike winded and went back for me to step off and take photos of the old crane which was cranked by hand and had a chain mechanism. I went in the cabin to make a sandwich for lunch and, as we went through one of the new wide bridges on a bend, a hireboat went past – far too fast and on the edge of being under control, almost banging into the piling with its stern end. At 12.45 p.m. we passed the Nicolls hirebase at Plagny,  where most of their hire boats were attached to the pontoons and not out on hire, plus a couple of cruisers including an old Dawncraft. A little further on there was a strange looking craft moored which might have been some sort of trip boat. 

A trip boat? Plagny.

A very pleasant day, sun shining, hot but with a refreshing breeze. Mike put the sunshade up. A Swiss cruiser was moored by the first of the two automatic locks on the arm down to Nevers, built to access the Loire. The locks were switched off over the VNF staff’s lunch break! The fancy new tarmac cycle piste, which started at the aqueduct, finished by the Nevers branch and returned to being a wide stony, grassy path. I made a cuppa, nice refreshing decaff Earl Grey for me (makes a change from coffee). Took a photo of derelict houses (lengthsman’s?) around KP98.5. A hireboat was catching up as we approached Chevenon where we planned to moor. Instead of overtaking they stooged along behind us through the bridge then they stopped, presumably to take a look at Chevenon village. 

Derelict canalside houses.

We continued about 500m to the stone quay with mooring rings where we’d moored previously. Across the river is the busy little town of Imphy so we guessed we would get the Internet. We did but still only EDGE (2G) but workable. No TNT digital TV but a good strong analogue signal from the transmitter on top of a hill far away in the Morvan. It was around 2.30 p.m. and getting much hotter. The British hireboat crew spoke as they passed us, on their way to Fleury. It was getting very hot until the sun went behind the trees on our right. A large square looking steel cruiser moored overnight behind us on the other stone quay. 

Wednesday 1st September 2010 Le Guetin. Day off.

5.5°C Getting lots colder at night due to open skies. Blue skies, sunny and warm all day. The neighbours went up the staircase two-rise on to the 20 kms pound to go and check the moorings at Plagny. We stayed to do more painting and shopping. Mike finished off the front deck and the front of the seat and the side steps. When he finished we went shopping at Carrefour hyper in Marzy, just across the river from Cours-les-Barres. Back for a late lunch.