News for August 2007
As explained in the last news letter we set off from Sillery to Reims and managed to moor up in a very convenient spot, for a boat of our length, against a wall. It is mainly pontoon mooring. There is no doubt that short pontoons create a bit of a problem for securing ropes if staying somewhere for a few days, an overnight stay is more manageable but if we can avoid them, we do. Whilst at Reims there was a French family who took great interest in the narrow boat and had lots of questions. Fortunately we were able to answer them and the woman gave Diane the traditional kiss on both cheeks to say thank you for spending time with them. It was our pleasure. The next morning we saw a peniche (big commercial barge) travelling past us whilst we were still moored and so we did not rush off. Better to let the barge move ahead of us and gain some ground. Eventually we continued our journey via Berry le Bac to Bourg le Comin. We were hoping to buy bread at Berry le Bac but it was a Monday. Many shops close on a Monday but despite the fact that the small general stores cum cafe was supposedly closed Diane still managed to buy a baguette, an important part of the daily menu!
At Bourg le Comin we met a delightful couple who had spent many years in South Africa but now spent half of the year in Switzerland and the rest of the year on their boat. After Bourg le Comin we used our telecommande, issued by VNF, to moved onto Pinon which is a very useful stopover point as there is a supermarket within wheeling distance of a laden shopping trolley. An easy way to stock up on food etc. Whilst moored up at Pinon we had the opportunity to chat to Bargees on the commercial barges. It is one point where they can stock up easily on food water and wine provisions on their journey through to Brussels. Our next stopping point was Chauny and we enjoyed visiting the town on the Friday morning which happened to be market day. The town was just full of floral displays giving lots of colour which is not an unusual feature for even the smaller towns of France.
We were then ready to move on to St. Quentin to leave the boat and travel to the UK for two weeks. There were things to sort out, people to see. We did not have time to see everyone that we would have liked to have seen but we fitted in a lot of things in a short space of time whilst in England. We did lose a day because Paul became ill on our journey to the airport. We did miss our flight and had to reorganise our journey for the following day. What must be said is that we where treated well and everyone was very kind.
So, business and friendly contacts made in the UK we returned to St Quentin with an extra crew member, Matthew 13 years of age. We needed a day to stock up on food and generally organise ourselves for several boating days. Organisation complete, we set off the next morning for a short trip to Serracourt, a bit of a sleepy, tranquil mooring. With the help of a fisherman of 50 years standing Matthew was able to set up his fishing gear and the gentleman even gave Matthew some bait to set him off on the right track. The number of fish he caught, well, we will leave that to your imagination. Leaving Serracourt we had a good day boating back to Chauny. We had to do a lot of thinking about our route and wanted to avoid the 2 hour towing through the Tunnel on the canal St Quentin. We did that journey 2 years ago without too much trouble but we had received lots of bad reports about boaters experiences this year. We have our winter moorings reserved and our plans have revolved around that.
From Chauny we moved onto Pinon where there is the useful nearby supermarket. Chance for Paul to use the bike and a trolley attached to it to fill the jerry can many times over. There were some hiccups with wheels falling off the trolley but that was quickly repaired. At least we left there with a full tank of diesel which is always reassuring. On our next leg of the journey Matthew took a turn at the tiller and did very well. He quickly became an experienced member of the crew managing the telecommande, at times turning the rod overhanging the canal to activate the locks, handling ropes and pushing up the blue bar alongside the lock to continue the lock operation. Diane was practically redundant. On our travels we have seen an incredible amount of wood neatly stacked along the canal side. At one point there was a group of men collecting the wood in a trailer and Diane commented on the volume. Their reply was that there was a lot of hard work to saw and convert it into manageable sizes for a fire.
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Matthew the lock operator
Overall the boating has been fairly smooth. There was an unfortunate moment when Paul dropped his Ipod and headphones into the water and we really thought that they were lost for ever! Thanks to the loan of a grappling hook from a Dutch boater and Matthews perseverance all was found, dried out and amazingly still works. There have been a couple of automatic locks during a two week period that have not worked immediately but we have managed to get help. The more difficult lock was when we had set off reasonably early from Charlevilles only to find that at our first lock we had 2 red lights indicating that the lock was out of order. A Dutch couple soon caught up with us also wanting to go through the lock. We eventually managed to make a successful phone call to the central point for a set of locks and within 5 minutes someone from VNF arrived. Unfortunately it had taken us nearly half an hour to sort out the contact point. So much for our early start. Nevertheless we had an enjoyable trip through the countryside of the Meuse to Rivens and have beaten stoppages around locks between Charleville and Riven. The port at Riven is lovely. There are essential shops nearby and the port is beautifully decorated with flowers. There is a charge for mooring, water and electricity but not expensive. We now need to move on past Givet before the 15th September to avoid further stoppages. They do seem to have posed a problem this year. Having chatted with a couple who have lived on their boat for 18 years they indicated that this year has been an exceptionally difficult in terms of moving around the waterway system and other people have supported their view. However we are now on course to gently cruise to Armentieres arriving during October to meet up with Italian friends Marco and Carmen and also French acquaintances from 2005. It will be good to catch up with them.