Thursday 17 September 2009

Thursday 17th September 2009 Pierrefitte to Diou. C. Latéral à La Loire.

Grey clouds and sunny spells later. Mike went to get some bread from the Proxi in the village, they’d only got a couple of baguettes left which sounded like it was yesterday’s bread, 90c, expensive too. A French couple on a Locaboat, which had moored overnight back by the café, came into the layby to refill their water tank. Not easy with a press-button tap (unless you know how and they didn’t – they wasted more than they put in the tank). We said au’voir to the guy off RQ, wishing him a safe journey up to Roanne. A small Luxemotor flying a Swiss flag, went uphill as we set off at ten, following The Big Boat to the lock. We half expected the hireboat to come roaring after us and overtake before we arrived at lock 4 Theil, which was ready as a boat had just come up, but they came down to the lock on their bikes instead (and followed us down to Diou). The resident keeper, a middle aged man, said bonjour then spent the rest of the time on his phone. D had stepped off to wind the gates for him. We dropped down 2.5m and D got back on down the ladder. 


Followed The Big Boat 2 kms to the next. I made a cuppa en route to lock 5 Putay. A young lad aged about eighteen was on duty. It looked like the lock house was unoccupied. The kid was very polite and asked for my rope – I said it was OK I could do it myself, thanks. Mike shoved our stern end over to the other side of the lock and stepped off to wind the far side gate shut. We descended another 2.5m and set off on the 6.5 kms pound. We hadn’t gone far when we passed an uphill péniche, empty (but ballasted and listing quite badly to starboard). It looked like a commercial but the man on it didn’t look like a battelier more like a wealthy holidaymaker. The boat didn’t slow down as it passed us and we did a long dip down on its passing bow wave then up again as it passed us. Black smoke poured from the long suffering labouring engine. Convinced now that it wasn’t a working boat. Strange that the keepers didn’t tell us it was coming, probably because it wasn’t a commercial. The pound seemed overfull with tree branches under water. The sun came out as we tied up on the empty quay at Diou. 

The Locaboaters had locked their bikes on the quay and gone for lunch in the village. It was 11.20 a.m. Packed up and I started to scrub the starboard gunnel with a deck brush when a couple who were camping in a dark green Mercedes van came to chat. Mike in the mean time had put the dish up and tuned in French TV; then he left to walk the 5 kms back to Pierrefitte to recover the car. M and D returned from their walk around the village and joined in the conversation with the Brits. They went off to get some lunch and I finished my scrubbing. It took Mike an hour and ten minutes to walk back to the quay at Pierrefitte and six minutes back in the car. He said all the boats were still on the quay plus another British replica Dutch Barge. The latter went past us, heading downhill, around 2.30 p.m. 

Wednesday 16th September 2009 Pierrefitte. C. Latéral à La Loire.

Grey, chilly and raining when we got up. Mike had already said we weren’t going to go in the wet and checked that M and D were OK with that. They said the météo looked worse for tomorrow so Mike said we’d be staying another day then! The bedroom window had leaked on Mike’s head overnight so he took the curtains down and checked inside and out to try and find where the water was coming in. We found the leak when he poured water over the frame from outside. It was coming through the wooden frame by where there is a weld in the steel which dips in a bit making a minute gap behind the frame – the sealer must have shrunk in the summer heat. Another job. Later it was starting to turn a bit chilly so Mike lit our oil-fired central heating (Refleks) which was stubborn as we hadn’t used it in such a long time; he had to take the carburettor off and clean it out before it would light.

Tuesday 15th September 2009 Pierrefitte. C. Latéral à La Loire.

Lots of grey clouds, colder with sunny spells. Did a few chores then went for a drive over to Dompierre-sur-Besbre to get some bread and a few odds and ends. The town centre Marché-U was undergoing building works with half its tiny car park blocked off so we drove to the edge of the town to the Atac supermarket (small branch of Auchan) and got all we needed except mushrooms (their veg were not very good). I treated myself to a new puzzle book ready for our holidays. Back for lunch. A large green tjalk (British flag) had moored in front of us but only stayed for lunch. Did some cupboard sorting in the afternoon and then polished my copper kettle. D was refilling their water tank and volunteered to press the stupid button on the tap to refill ours, we only needed 200 litres so that didn’t take very long.

Monday 14th September 2009 Coulanges to Pierrefitte. C. Latéral à La Loire.

Grey clouds, lots of them, brief sunny spells and a chilly wind. Set off at 10.30 a.m. following The Big Boat to the lock. A Canalous hire boat, which had moored overnight behind us, set off as we did and overtook us. Grim determination on the face of the elderly French bloke who was steering; he stared straight ahead and didn’t speak. An uphill yacht went past, so the lock should be set. Mike called The Big Boat on VHF and M said he would let the hire boat in the lock first and carry on down with it. No room for us so we hovered by the bridge above the lock. I got off and walked down to give the keeper (and D) a hand with the manually operated lock, 3 Oddes. They told Mike on VHF that the hireboat had got in a terrible state getting into the lock, missed the bollards and nearly did a 360° turn. Gave D a hand to open the bottom end gate; she got on below the lock and I helped the resident keeper (a young man with a scar on his top lip) turn the lock round; he worked the towpath side, I worked the left hand side. I’d just said we could get in through one gate when we spotted a small steel cruiser that had caught us up, with a South African flag on the stern and an older couple on board. The skipper got off and lent a hand with the bottom end gate. The boat descended 2.4m and I crossed over to get on down the steps on the towpath side before the gates opened as the wind was blowing the boat across to that side. 3.9 kms to the next lock but we weren’t going that far. As we entered the strung out village of Pierrefitte there was an old Luxemotor moored by KP18 which looked permanent. M said the bollards were no good now as they were beyond the tarmac cycle path. We said there’s a new mooring in the layby a bit further on, so The Big Boat cast off again. An uphill LeBoat (an old Connoisseur cruiser) was almost up the bank as we went past it and the steerer was struggling and oversteering. 



RQ was still moored in the layby. The Big Boat moored in front of him and we moored in front of The Big Boat. I made some lunch. A large blue Burgundy Cruisers steel boat moored at the far end of the layby, but only paused for lunch. M and D went into the village for bread but there was no boulangerie and the Proxi market had none. After lunch Mike took a stroll 4kms back to Coulanges to get the car.




Sunday 13th September 2009 Coulanges. C. Latéral à La Loire.

Warm and sunny. A day off. Mike painted black lines on the diamonds and scumbling on the engine room roof. Passing French cyclists (who’d paused to use the loo) came to watch and comment, the lines went wobbly. 

Saturday 12th September 2009 Molinet to Coulanges. C. Latéral à La Loire.

Warm with lots of clouds and sunny spells. Two empty péniches went past heading downhill, Raaf at 7.30 a.m. and Mazel from Rotterdam at 9.45 a.m. We left at ten, following The Big Boat down the rest of the 8.5 kms pound. The new tarmac layer finished about 200m beyond the layby but was still a reasonable tarmac surface for the cyclists and roller bladers. By the first aqueduct we spotted a set of wooden stop planks housed in the usual open fronted shed with a corrugated tin roof. That was unusual as the VNF now seem to favour metal tanks which can be placed in the stop plank slots and filled with water to sink. I made some tea and toast en route to the only lock of the day, 2 Thalenne. We’d all forgotten it was the start of the manually operated locks. D closed a top end gate for the young man who was in charge of the lock. A group of people were on the lockside chatting with him and watching the boats lock through. He asked D if she’d told the last keeper that we were staying above his lock for the weekend, she said no, which was true - it was Mike! An old dog, mostly yellow Labrador, wandered round the lock checking each crew member for biscuits. Too late pooch we’d eaten all the toast. We dropped down another 2.51m. The lock house and garden were very well kept and there were banana palms either side the bridge below the lock. A short wooden staging had been placed by the towpath for crews to get on and off. We noted that the keeper left the gates open and also lifted a feed paddle. A Danish yacht making rolling waves passed us heading uphill just before we tied up on the battered old quay (half the wooden fendering was missing and loads of bolts were sticking out of the concrete wall) at Coulanges. 



It was 11.30 a.m. Again the electricity supply had gone, but there were the ends of orange plastic tubes sticking up either side of the tarmac path which would indicate that they intend to add new water and electric posts sometime in the future. Mike banged a mooring pin through the back of a section of old wooden fendering and disturbed a nest of the tiniest ants we’d ever seen. M and D went for a walk round the village. We had some lunch then Mike watched the F1 qualis from Monza in Italy. 

Friday 11th September 2009 Paray-le-Monial to Molinet. C. du Centre.

Grey clouds with a few warm sunny spells. I tried calling the lock keeper at 9.30 a.m. The phone number didn’t work, Mike must have written it down wrongly. Stooged down to the lock following The Big Boat. Only the Irish cruiser remained on the mooring. Two motorbike cops slowed down to have a good gawp at the boat and the traffic on the road alongside the canal piled up behind them. The lock keeper (the old chap who set lock 23 for us on Wednesday) waved as we got there and drove down to the second lock in his car with the flashing light. There were fruit trees all along the bank so as the wind and drag from the lock filling moved the boats M and D (who were on the inside) collected a few pears, apples and plums. The keeper was back within a few minutes and we went into lock 24 Quarrès and dropped down 2.56m. The lock house was lived in, but no one was home. 600m to lock 25, Mont, where the old lock keeper lived. He was pottering in his extensive vegetable garden while we descended another 2.73m. Mike took a photo of an ancient pump on the lock side.

The keeper zipped off down the towpath, yellow light flashing, to set the next lock. I made some tea and toast. Passed by a working factory making tiles and blocks of ceramic material. Its loading/unloading quay was empty and unused. A little further on a small VNF tug with a pan and digger were sat next to a section of bank (left hand side, non towpath) where the bank was looking very thin and close to eroding through. A Swiss cruiser went past heading uphill. The Big Boat was waiting for us in lock 26, Bressons. Another fine, lived-in lock house. A Locaboat was moored below the lock and two men were chatting with M and D, asking questions about locking through these semi-automatic locks. Down another 1.98m. Water cascading over the top end gates made the bottom end gates slow to open. The hireboat was moored opposite the lock activating sensor for uphill boats. The lock light remained on red, they untied, then got a green light. 7.5 kms to Digoin. Just before the first bridge the bank was covered with purple Autumn crocuses. Mike stood on the roof to take a photo of the once navigable feeder from the little river Arroux, just as two German cyclists stopped to take photos of our boat! At the beginning of the outskirts of the town we passed the Recla works on the left bank, where they still build large, chunky plastic cruisers. An old péniche called C.E.C.E.L.I.A (once a trip boat for school children, we thought) sat forlorn, on the bottom and listing slightly. On the bank was what was once a very fine motor yacht, now very dirty and in need of much TLC, several old moulds for fibreglass cruiser shells and an old fibreglass Dawncraft cruiser was moored further towards the  road bridge. There was a gipsy camp on the right bank set back from the road. Beyond the bridge was a small park area with an outdoor babyfoot game (table football – once a beloved game of French youth, now superseded by Xboxes and Nintendo). Another ceramics factory on the left bank; piles of plastic wrapped toilet bowls lined the bank. 

We sailed past the moored Dutch Barges and cruisers in the port of Digoin; a smart blue narrowboat was moored among the cruisers. A péniche was on the dry dock being shortened. The pontoon moorings were filled with hireboats and cruisers. We moored beyond the road bridge at 12.30 p.m. The Capitanerie shed was closed until 4.00 p.m. but the tariffs were on the door. Mike took a photo. 230€ a month for us as we were over 15m; The Big Boat being 15m would only pay 120€. Neither crew found Digoin very appealing and their prices were a bit steep. A fat narrowboat went past with more dumb Yanks aboard - wouldn’t speak until spoken to in French, then by their accents we knew they were Americans. Why are the Americans so reticent this past couple of years to talk to people? We had some lunch. M said he’d had a phonecall about our winter mooring, carry on as they were pretty sure now that the VNF wouldn’t be draining the pound this year. D’s Mum phoned to say that the solar panels had arrived at her house. A Locaboat went past heading for the lock, we set off following him about fifteen minutes later at 2.15 p.m. As we passed under the next road bridge we were on to a new canal, the Latéral à La Loire. Paused just before the aqueduct over the Loire as the Digoin trip boat was coming up in the lock. Quite a few gongoozlers were walking the paths either side of the aqueduct and had gathered around the lock, 1 Digoin, which was electric and keeper operated.  The Big Boat followed us into the chamber and we dropped down a further 3.90m. I transferred our rope from the centre roof stud to the bow as there were no bollards in the right place. Below the lock we spotted a tarmac laying machine being taken away by low loader; it had been making a new surface for the cycle path which now had a two or three inch drop off at either edge. We motored on beyond the junction with the Canal de Roanne (a continuation of the Latéral à La Loire) and moored side by side on the 20m long quay at Molinet, which is actually the hamlet of La Fontaine-St-Martin. On our old chart we’d marked that it had a toilet, shower, water, electricity and bin; the facilities were now very time worn and the electricity supply had gone. We went on The Big Boat for a natter and a cold beer. Later a small Dutch Barge came past very close (didn’t ask to moor alongside The Big Boat, but we thought that was where they were heading) and tied up on the sloping grassy bank behind us – until a hire boat went past and pulled its mooring pins out then it moved around the corner on to the straight main canal. 

Thursday 10th September 2009 Paray-le-Monial. C. du Centre.

Sunny with a few clouds, chilly first thing warm later. M and D went to the Mairie to ask about winter moorings. No, not possible as the VNF might want to drain the pound and they didn’t want the hassle of moving boats – not even if we’re staying on board. (The VNF have got it all stitched up, only places to moor on the C. du Centre are Montceau and Digoin, neither place appeals to either crew). While they were investigating at the Mairie we went by car to Perrecy-les-Forges, 18 kms back toward Montceau, to collect the insurance certificate for our moped. Back in Paray, we did some shopping at Leclerc, not my favourite hyper but no choice other than Intermarché or Aldi. Back home before midday. M and D were off with their trolley to Leclerc when we got back. They went as far as the bridge and came back. Mike took them in the car as it’s not easy to get to Leclerc from the canal as it’s close to the main N70 to the north of town, up the hill. He needed to get a container of diesel for the boat’s tank anyway. Mike consulted with The Big Boat; decision – move on next day as it’s very noisy at Paray. Irish lady on a cruiser moored behind us told us that around 2.00 a.m. some kids had tried to steel their bikes, then interfered with the ropes on their boat and the ropes on an American Dutch Barge that had moored in front of The Big Boat; then the alarm went off in Aldi. Mike heard the noise, I didn’t. We moved further back up the canal to where there was a gap in the trees to get satellite TV later. Mum and Dad phoned to say the control units for the solar panels had arrived.

Wednesday 9th September 2009 Génelard to Paray-le-Monial. C. du Centre.

Warm and sunny, clouding over later. We left Génelard at 10.10 a.m. following The Big Boat to the next lock. An old Bermuda, which had moored in front of us overnight, had just set off to go uphill so we had a few minutes wait before our girl in a VNF car came to set the lock for us. Lock 17 Montet dropped us down another 2.5m and we set off on the 4 kms pound to the next, lock 18 Thiellay. Just as we went through Palinges we spotted a Locaboat behind catching us up fast, so we increased speed for the last 500m to make sure he didn’t try to overtake us and get in the lock behind The Big Boat. I pulled the cord and we descended another 2.51m. The lock house was empty and shuttered. 1.5 kms to the next. The Loca hovered above the lock waiting for the keeper to return and reset the lock. We passed a field of maize being harvested with a convoy of tractors and trailers taking the minced green stuff away. Another VNF car sped past heading uphill; an older lady with specs was driving. Lock 19 Digoine was ready for us and I pulled the cord again (four poles to choose from again) to start the slow drop of 2.84m. The lock house was lived in, probably by the lady keeper who returned in her car before the lock was empty. A man drove the car down to the next and came back again before we halfway down the 3.5 kms pound to lock 20. The lady with glasses arrived not long after and watched while we went through lock 20 La Gravoine, emerging 2.49m lower down. 2.7 kms through rolling farmland with Charollais cows took us to lock 21 Haillers. Down another 2.58m then 1.6 kms to lock 22, Volsevres. Down 2.53m and we said au’voir to our lady minder as it was her last lock. She reset the lock for the Loca who was not far behind us. It was 1.05 p.m. as we started the long pound, 5.2 kms, and we ate lunch as we went along. Our last lock was 23 L’Hyron, where we were watched over by on older man in a VNF car with two antennas and a flashing light on top. He asked if we were stopping and for how long. He gave Mike his phone number to call to continue down the locks when we said we didn’t know how long we’d be stopping (might be for the winter, who knows?) He sped off in the van before the lock was empty. Down another 2.73m and on to the pound leading to Paray-le-Monial, a famous place of pilgrimage to the basilica which dominates the town. Passing a park full of flowers and a splendid assortment of grasses we entered the outskirts. The layby was almost filled with Dutch Barges. On through the town to moor next to the cycle path/towpath beyond a British flagged tjalk and a couple of cruisers. The town fathers in their wisdom had erected a wooden pole fence all along the towpath to stop cyclists falling in. It made mooring rather awkward. Volunteers came off the other boats to grab ropes for us. M and D said they were going shopping at Aldi, then Leclerc. I gave Mike a hand to unload the fizzer off the roof which we did without resorting to using a plank as the towpath edge was higher than the gunnels. He went to get the car. The post office at Perrecy-les-Forges was closed, only open mornings during holidays, so he couldn’t collect the insurance certificate sent by our insurance man in Nevers. No French digital TV and French analogue TV was ropey.