Grey, misty morning, sun out at lunchtime for a short while then lots of grey clouds but no rain. Mike went for bread. An English couple had arrived to move the boat behind us, a Dutch cruiser; they were off to St Leger. We set off first at ten. D came over to lend a hand with gates. Yet another different VNF man, a large quiet bloke with a moustache. Down 15, Chatillon, and The Big Boat followed. 4.7 kms to the next lock. Through the flood lock, 16 Coeuillon, and a blonde lady in a VNF van drove past us on the towpath. An ex-hire Connoisseur cruiser went past heading uphill and another VNF van went uphill as we went round the last bend before the lock, 17 Eguilly.
The blonde worked the lock, slowly. Lock18 Meulot. The large guy with tosh arrived to help the girl, she spent most of the time shouting into her phone. It was 11.40 a.m. when we left the bottom en route 1.9 kms to lock 20 Brienne; by the time we arrived there it would be midday and they were off to lunch. No mooring bollards above the lock, which was empty, so Mike banged a stake in for the centre rope and I made some sandwiches. An older man arrived and worked the lock, nattering to a friend all the time he was working, slowly. It was a short distance to Fleury, lock 21, round a long bend. The old man from 21 was coming to work it after he’d locked The Big Boat through. I stepped off and opened a gate as the lock was full, boat in and I closed the gate and closed the paddle. Then we waited for the keeper to arrive. Today, being Sunday, the café in the old lock house was open but not doing much trade. A couple a with small child were sat at one of the tables by the front door; they left as the lock emptied. The keeper was on the phone all through the locking booking the locks for us for the next day. The Big Boat arrived before we left the lock. The wreck (an old Belgian cruiser) was still by the campsite facilities below the lock. If what the VNF said was true it will be sitting on the bottom as that pound is due to be emptied in a couple of weeks’ time. 1.6 kms to lock 22 Bernay. The lock was empty with both bottom end gates open. Not knowing if there was uphill traffic due, we tied to a bollard to wait the arrival of our lock keeper. The Big Boat arrived as the keeper filled the lock. He insisted that we went in the lock together - as an experiment, he said, to see if they would fit - if not they could back out again. Our stern overlapped The Big Boat’s bows and our bows were on the gate as the lock emptied. I kept a close eye on our bows and D kept a close eye on their stern. The old guy had another friend to natter to as the lock emptied. I told him if we kept the right gate closed (the one our fender was on) he could open the left gate and we could slide across and get out. The lock emptied and his nerdy friend started opening the right gate as the keeper opened the left, shoving us back into The Big Boat until D shouted. Not doing that at the next. It was his last lock. Heaven knows why he wanted to do that, they’re not short of water and we weren’t in a hurry – just being a lazy bone idle whatsit and didn’t want to work the lock twice if he could do it once, eh? He was on the phone again as we left. It was 3.00 p.m. as we started on the 4.3 kms pound. The canal is now fairly straight after all the bends following the course of the Aron. No signs of life until the road bridge linking the villages of Mont and Limanton, then there were walkers, cyclists and fishermen fishing from their cars on the towpath. I made a cuppa but had to make myself a second coffee as the first one had a fly in it before I got to the stern! Loads of flies about as the weather had warmed up, the sun had come out and we’re in cattle country. Our new keeper at lock 23 Saigne was one we’d seen on the way up, a large chap with glasses. He wanted The Big Boat to share the two remaining locks with us. M said no. it was too dangerous and risky for his boat. D came to lend a hand with gates, Mike shut a gate and lifted a bottom end paddle. The keeper said we’d come uphill together. No we didn’t. We could go down the locks below Cercy together, he said that the locks were the same – no, they’re not, these are 10m shorter! A short distance to lock 24 Anizy. The lock was full with a paddle up. I stepped off and wound a gate open, the boat went in and I closed it then closed the paddle. Spoke to the French skipper of a small private pénichette moored below waiting to come up. He was off up to Baye for the winter; we wondered how long they’d kept him waiting. When the lock keeper arrived he wound the paddles and went through the booking procedure again - he said his own lock was the next one. The French guy went back to his boat and cast off to go up the lock. Waved to an elderly man sitting in the back cabin. Looked like the younger chap was working single handed. It was 4.30 p.m. as we tied up in the basin above the weir at Panneçot. Connected to the electricity once Mike fixed the two pin plug. The Big Boat arrived twenty minutes later and we almost filled the wooden edged quay. We were on the bottom and had to sit the boat on submerged tyres. Internet very slow 53Kbs
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