Saturday 10 October 2009

Saturday 10th October 2009 Chatillon-en-Bazois. C. du Nivernais


Grey, drizzle with light showers. Some of the hire boats set off downhill to Decize around 9.30 a.m. Carried on with the usual chores.

Friday 9th October 2009 Chatillon-en-Bazois. C. du Nivernais

Grey, showery with low hanging mist. M and D came over at ten just as the people on the DB in the corner were untying to leave; we drove to Champvert to have a look at the mooring. A long section of the bank had concrete bollards well set back from the edge next to a small park area backed by the gardens of houses. No signs of any electricity posts. The water tap was in a small toilet block (hole in the floor variety, but clean) next to the small water treatment plant, which was discharging into the canal. The pipe feeding the water tap wasn’t insulated and there was no valve to turn it off (maybe in the sewage works). We had to pass by the front of a house to get to the tap so Mike and M had a word with the guy who came out to see who we were. He said there had never been an electricity supply at the mooring or by the tap. We went into the middle of the village to the Mairie. The secretary asked us to have a seat and the Mayor would see us. She came out from her office, chatted with us (she was very helpful) and made a few phone calls. She said she’d arranged for an engineer from the EDF to come next week and take a look at the situation at the port to see if electricity could be installed. She would ring us, probably next week. A short way down the road towards Decize there was a small offline basin called Le Port de la Copine and we thought we would have a look at that. Looked like there were electricity posts around one end of the port, but all of it looked very old and not looked after. I was sure it used to be a boat club of some sort, or perhaps it was a hire boat base a long time ago. Back home with a pause at Verneuil to have a look at the church of St Laurent built in XI-XII century. M and I went in to have a look. It was tiny and had restored mediaeval murals on the walls and lots of ancient statues of saints. Interesting. Mike went to book the lock for ten the next morning but the keeper said the Canalous hireboats were leaving at ten plus there were more boats coming down the canal, so Mike decided to leave on Sunday morning instead. Good job we’re not in a hurry. 

Thursday 8th October 2009 Chatillon-en-Bazois. C. du Nivernais

Mild night after a thunderstorm and heavy rain; a grey day with a few light showers. We went by car to Decize, mainly for shopping, but also to have a look at a couple of moorings on the Latéral canal. Avril-sur-Loire had no facilities whatsoever, but a little further down the canal at Fleury-sur-Loire there was a nice layby with all facilities, a snack bar (it said it was open but it wasn’t) and a large Dutch boat on the quay. 



We went to find the Mairie to ask if it would be possible to stay there over the winter. A very friendly secretary took our details and told us we weren’t the first to ask and she would get back to us. Back into Decize to collect a few groceries. On the way back home via Cercy and the backroads we called at the other Fleury (the lock on the Nivernais) where the community of the village of Biches had installed a halte nautique. A very old and very derelict cruiser with Belgian registration number had been dumped there and not touched for a decade or more. The facilities were all locked up but there were wash basins and electricity points and taps in a camping-type toilet block which might be available. 





Took a few photos of the needle weir on the river l’Aron alongside the mooring and some balsam flowering in a drain. Found a tea plate sized field mushroom. A sign said electricity 5€, key at the lock house resto (which was now shut as it was out of season). Back home. The neighbours came over to find out how we got on. They were keen to have a look at Champvert on the Nivernais near St Léger-des-Vignes where they stayed on the way up the canal. Mike started work on the engine, replacing the old injector and finding a missing valve stem cap which had ended up on the edge of the push rod tube on the next valve over. It was lucky that it hadn’t gone down the tube or we’d have had a bigger problem. C came over to say he’d spoken to Corbigny and we couldn’t moor at Fleury on the Nivernais as that pound was due to be drained (presumably the wreck will have to sit on the bottom); he’d also spoken to the mayor (a very charming lady, he said) at Champvert who said that all three boats would be welcome to stay there over the winter and that there used to be electricity in the port which could be restored. On their return M came to tell us that there was no one at the Mairie in Champvert but someone told them that there would be someone there on Fridays. Change of plan, we’ll drive down there in the morning and ask about getting the electricity put on and staying for the winter there as Corbigny say it’s OK to stay there or at St Léger (the latter was full of DBs). 





Can anybody identify the flower? - I thought it was a balsam but can't find it in any of my field guides. A garden escape perhaps? (Found it! 14.10.2009 Looking in the wrong books - Impatiens Balfourii - a garden escape, very delicate looking flowers)

Wednesday 7th October 2009 Chatillon-en-Bazois. C. du Nivernais

Grey clouds, occasional showers of rain in the afternoon. M and D came round to have a bit of discussion about the winter moorings. We all went to see the Chef down at the VNF workshop just below the lock. Found him at work so we had a short chat. The pounds to be drained were from above lock 15 (where we are currently moored) to below lock 10, and no, we couldn’t stay below lock 15 on the river fed section because of the danger of flooding. He suggested contacting the VNF at Corbigny who are in charge of all the Nivernais to find out where we could stay. He said maybe at Braye or at Chitry-les-Mines. We decided to have a run out in the car after lunch as no one was answering the phone at Corbigny. We found a VNF guy at Les Granges who was very helpful; he said they were emptying the pounds either side of the summit and couldn’t guarantee the water level any of the pounds below once they had no feed. He suggested seeing the man who runs the hire base at Baye on the summit, which we did.




He was busy putting wooden posts along the banks so he could moor more boats stern to the bank as he was stacked out with small cruisers and had no room for long boats like ours and The Big Boat. He also said he didn’t take liveaboards as he’d had problems in the past with people ringing him at 2.00 a.m. to tell him the electricity had gone off! He was very nice about it and said to try LeBoat at Decize. D phoned them later, they were fully booked.

Tuesday 6th October 2009 Chatillon-en-Bazois. C. du Nivernais


Getting warmer but occasionally wet. Seems like all the boats that have been in the basin for ages are leaving, soon.

Monday 5th October 2009 Chatillon-en-Bazois. C. du Nivernais

Rain in the night; grey clouds, a few sunny spells plus the odd light shower. Boats were moving so we moved too, next to the wall parallel to the cut, bows towards the upstream corner. A little later The Big Boat moved on to the pontoons next to C’s boat. Chatted with F off a replica DB (been moored next to C for ages) who said he was off to Decize next week and an Australian guy from Perth (part owner of an ex-hire Connoisseur). The latter was booked to moor at Baye on the summit for the winter and was going back home to Oz.

Sunday 4th October 2009 Panneçot to Chatillon-en-Bazois. C. du Nivernais

Grey, overcast, chilly morning; sunny spells between dark clouds in the afternoon. Left at ten and followed The Big Boat up to lock 24 Anizy (2.02m). The Big Boat went up first. The guy who lived in the lock house worked the lock, he told M and D that the two lady lock keepers were bringing another boat up. They turned up in their van and helped the man from the house empty the lock for us and we went up, then they drove off to do the next lock for The Big Boat. Two hireboats arrived below the lock. Just as we left the lock our engine started making a strange knocking noise and puffing out blue-grey smoke! Mike went in the engine room to try and source the problem. It was running on three cylinders. He thought it was an injector and said we could manage to get through the next few locks and fix it at lunchtime. 
1 km to 23 Saigne (2.64m) and the ladies worked the lock. I went up the ladder to do the ropes. The stern lady with the glasses had already told M that they couldn’t stop at Chatillon and he ought to turn round and go back to Decize and now she asked me where we were stopping for the winter and, when I said Chatillon, she said no, no, no, you can’t stay there we will be emptying the pound on the 9th November! She said go back to Decize. Yes, fine, well we might carry on. On the 4 kms pound I steered while Mike found the spare injector out. The Big Boat had already gone up the next lock 22 Bernay (2.43m) and was heading for Fleury for lunchtime. The new keeper had worked The Big Boat through 22 and had left a paddle up to empty the lock and gone up to Fleury to work the lock. I stepped off below the lock and opened the gate, took the ropes and closed the gate. The keeper, a younger bloke, came and said we were OK in the lock over lunchtime and he wound a paddle so the lock would fill. Mike started work on the engine; a crowd appeared from nowhere and watched through the open doors! Started the engine up and it still made the same noises. Rocker box cover off and he found that a locking nut on a tappet adjusting screw had come undone, which had allowed an excessive tappet gap and a push rod to displace itself - it was that that had been making the knocking noises! Mike finished the repair and started the engine up at one o’clock as the keeper came back from lunch. He opened the gate and we set off on the short, 1.5 kms, pound to the next lock. Fleury lock 21 (1.89m) was ready with both gates open. The lock house was now a café and doing a good trade, but they’d put a large metal fence all along the edge of the road blocking access to the lock so I had to cross the bridge over the tail of the lock and cross the lock gates that the keeper had already shut to get to the boat. Mike had climbed the ladder to sort out the ropes. What a stupid place to put a fence; there was no gate in it and the holes in it were kid sized, not adult. The keeper just jumped over it, I’m not that agile! I opened a top end gate for the keeper as there was downhill traffic. 720m to lock 20 Brienne (2.32m) and the keeper flew up the towpath in his van. The Big Boat was still in the lock and just about to leave. A DB came down (the crew didn’t help the keeper at all) and then we went up. Mike dropped me off on the right to close the gate as the keeper was on the left.  It was his last lock, he’d done three. I opened the top end gate again. A France Afloat hireboat came down as we left. 2 kms to lock 19 Villard (2.39m). 

A honey buzzard flew over and landed in a tree on our left so I had a good look at him through my binoculars. The sun came out from between grey clouds as we wandered around the big sweeping bends as the canal followed the river valley of L’Aron. Both gates were open so Mike dropped me off to close a gate for the keeper then grab the ropes. A new young man worked the lock. The lock house was derelict. Out through one gate. 1.9 kms to the next 18 Meulot (2.39m) and the keeper went past us in his van. One gate open for us. I stepped off below the lock and did the ropes. The grass along the right hand side was full of small bright yellow butterflies. It was our keeper’s last lock (he did two) The house was lived in and a typical keeper’s house, untidy and surrounded by stuff. A Canalous hireboat was moored above the lock on the start of the 3 kms pound. I made a cuppa. Lock 17 Eguilly (2.42m) had the right hand gate open (all the previous ones that had single gates open were on the left side). I stepped off to do the ropes. A very pleasant old chap worked the lock with a different technique to the others. A friend of his in camouflage gear arrived and crossed the gates to chat then went off to collect walnuts. The old man only had one lock to work today, he said his own lock was higher up the valley. 4.7 kms to the next. Through the open flood lock 16 Coeuillon and round wide sweeping bends with fishermen on both banks on the first one. Another old bloke worked the lock, 15 Chatillon (2.45m), with the assistance of another white haired gent. I got off on the steps and went up to do the ropes. The keeper asked if we were continuing and I said no, then he asked if we were leaving in the morning and I said no, I don’t think so. OK, he smiled. The world and his wife were doing their Sunday promenade around the basin and locks in the town. The Big Boat was moored on the canal bank beyond the basin and we tied up behind them. M and D came out to help and chat. It was 4.30 p.m. We connected into the electric box (16A split between three boats) on the corner by a British cruiser. M got his car going (there was a wasps’ nest under the bonnet!) and then gave Mike a lift back to Cercy to collect our car. 

Saturday 3rd October 2009 Panneçot. C. du Nivernais


2.0°C overnight, a chilly start, sunny and warm later. Mike’s early morning recording of the F1 qualis from Japan had worked OK. Mike went to see the neighbours and check the depth of water along the quay in front of The Big Boat. He decided it was as shallow as where we were (there was an old sloping stone wall, so we’d had to drop tyres below the bottom of the boat), so no point in moving the boat. I suggested he left the car where it was until we got to Chatillon. Because the weather on Monday was going to be wet we all thought moving Sunday would be best.

Friday 2nd October 2009 Cercy-la-Tour to Panneçot. C. du Nivernais



Chilly start after a cold night, but warm in the sun. A light mist covered the surface of the river, but no Autumn fog this morning. The Big Boat followed the French cruiser into lock 30 Cercy (2.47m) and I walked up to give the keeper a hand, leaving Mike to finish untying from the pontoon. The keeper (a large chatty bloke, fiftyish) said he had four locks to do today. Chatting as I gave a hand to wind the gates, he told me he used to steer the Aster (wooden péniche owned by the department of Niévre and used as a trip boat, now moored at Decize) but not for the last seven years (because the boat didn’t meet current ‘elf and safety conditions for transporting the public). He asked if we were OK with one gate and I said yes, no need to open two for us. Emptied the lock and I wound the left hand gate open as there were three bollards that side and only two on the other. Then closed it behind the boat and sorted the ropes out. The keeper filled the lock, opened the gate for us then drove off in his VNF van to work the next lock for the two cruisers. 2.7 kms to Chaumigny 29 (2.0m). The lock emptied as we got closer and the left hand gate opened, so we went in. The keeper took the ropes for us and worked the lock. He asked if we’d open the gate as he was off to work the next lock for the others. 3 kms to Isenay 28 (2.3m) Another VNF van drove down the towpath/cycle piste, not our keeper - must be the chef keeping an eye on things.
A new wooden fence had been erected either side of a spill weir where excess water from the canal ran over a lowered section of towpath and into a channel to the river. The fence was another health and safety item for the cyclists, although why the authorities thought they would fall in the canal there is anyone’s guess. Mike took a photo of the little château du Temblay on the hill before the first Nivernais lift bridge. This one is left permanently open to boat traffic.





The lock was empty but the gates were closed. I got off on the stone edge before the bridge over the tail end of the lock and walked up the stone steps to open and close the gate and take the ropes. I lowered the bottom end paddle and wound half a top end paddle. Our keeper returned and carried on filling the lock. He said we could stay in the chamber for lunch and he would see us at one o’clock. I asked if we could run up to the next lock and he said no it was full – could we work it ourselves? No, interdit, not allowed – and if the Chef saw us then the keeper would be in trouble (well, we knew that anyway, but it was worthwhile asking!). OK. At one o’clock we carried on up the 2 kms pound to lock 27 Moulin d’Isenay (1.96m) the last lock for our keeper. Passed through the remains of the stone base of an old lift bridge, now long gone. Into the lock and I got off to close the bottom end gate and take ropes again. Our steerer of Aster asked where we would winter and I told him we were hoping to moor at Chatillon. We said thanks and bid him au’voir as we set off on the 4 kms pound to the last lock at Sauzay 26 (2.45m) where we would have a new keeper to work the lock. Spotted the Charollais cows in a field adjoining the canal were licking big salt blocks, hadn’t seen any of those in years. I got off at the bottom of 26 and did the usual with the ropes. The new bloke was very cheery, another large chap. He’d been burning some garden rubbish and the smoke was blowing across the lock chamber. The house looked empty but the garden was well looked after, so perhaps the keepers here do gardening while waiting for boats. Told him we’d stay in Panneçot for the weekend to watch the F1 from Japan. He said our friends were there waiting for us. 1.5 kms to go. Through the flood lock (the pound is fed by the river l’Aron) and round the corner to the mooring above the river weir. The Big Boat and French cruiser were moored on the wooden edged quay. M came out to tell us it was shallow on the left side, he’d touched bottom. There wasn’t enough space for our 18m on the quay so we took the right hand side of the square basin and threw ropes round bollards. There were reeds along the edge so we couldn’t get right next to the grassy bank and Mike put our short plank out. He checked that we could receive satellite TV and discovered we could get digital French TV for the first time in ages. Signs on the electricity boxes said 8€ a night, but we’d been told that no one collects the money out of season. Mike lit the Refleks central heating as the temperature was dropping.

Thursday 1st October 2009 Cercy-la-Tour. C. du Nivernais.




Warm and sunny, with a few white clouds in the afternoon. Did some shopping by car in Decize, then trundled back home along the scenic route through the villages of Champvert and Verneuil. A French owned new cruiser was still moored at the upstream end of the pontoon, they were on their way to their winter mooring on the summit at Braye. Also they were setting off next morning at ten, like us! As long as there is no fog, they said - Mike asked if they’d got radar, no! A loud claxon? No! 

Wednesday 30th September 2009 Cercy-la-Tour. C. du Nivernais.



Still warm and sunny. Decided on the spur of the moment that we’d have a ride out in the car. I made a picnic lunch and a flask of coffee. We headed off to the Morvan. East to Château-Chinon then north through Planchez to the Lac des Settons where we paused for lunch on the shores of a deserted reservoir which was decked out for summer traffic but no one was there. Mike took a photo of the fishing regulations which were translated (very, very badly) into English and German. 


Drove south again through the forest on tiny, winding, bumpy roads through Gien-sur-Cure on the hill down to Anost, where there was supposed to be a reserve for sanglier (wild boar). We went through the town but saw no signs for the reservation and no signs of any piggies either. Gave up and tried to find the road through to Bussy via Sanceray and ended up on a farm track which lead us back into Anost where we found the “main” road to Bussy. South to Corcelles and on to the D978, turned off and ran south down the gorges de la Canche, (river invisible below the road through banks of trees) to St Prix then Glun-en-Glenne on the hilltop. Took the D500 past the source of the river Yonne and wound our way south west through small villages; Dragne, les Bourbas, Sanglier, Le Niret and La Queudre, to the small spa town of St Honoré-les-Bains, which although it had a thriving modern Casino seemed to have seen far grander days. West into Vandenesse, then southwest back on the flat following the valley of l’Aron and the canal du Nivernais back to Cercy-la-Tour. 

Tuesday 29th September 2009 Cercy-la-Tour. C. du Nivernais


Warm and sunny. The chores and a few repairs ready for winter took priority.

Monday 28th September 2009 Decize R.Loire – Cercy-la-Tour. C. du Nivernais


Warm and sunny. We finished wiping the boat down - it was running with condensation - then set off just as a downhill cruiser cleared the canal. It was very noisy along the first stretch of canal through St Léger-des-Vignes as there were roadworks and a loud jackhammer digging up the tarmac. Took a photo of the old tug, Ampére, which was out on the bank. The first lock, 35 Loire (1.51m), was ready for us and a young man worked the manual lock for us – even taking ropes! (We used fore and aft ropes on these keeper manually operated locks) Above the lock on the left bank Aster (a restored wooden boat of the type used on the canal) was moored by the dry dock and there were six DBs moored (mostly dead boats) and a couple of cruisers. The same young man worked lock 34 Vauxelle (2.4m) for us. A perfect locking, I told him as we left. I asked if there had been many narrowboats this year and he said yes, mainly in September. He’d been opening just one gate for us but as we left he opened two as there was downhill traffic. Along a factory fence there were a dozen large plane trees whose branches, in full healthy green leaf, were being pollarded already. It suddenly dawned on me that they were having all the branches taken off complete with leaves to save the mess of sweeping up the Autumn leaves! Crafty! We passed two downhill boats, one French cruiser and one hire boat, by the first road bridge. Just beyond the basin, called Port de La Copine (the Girlfriend’s Port), a new metalled path appeared on the left - now there were cycle paths on both sides. The only traffic we saw was one lady power walker and, later, a couple of elderly cyclists. A few minutes later and we were out of Decize and houses gave way to rolling fields, low distant hills and grazing Charollais cattle as the Nivernais canal followed the valley of the tiny river l’Aron. Lock 33, Champvert (2.27m) was empty with both gates open. Then a man in a red car on the towpath stopped to tell us he was off to lunch and he’d see us at one o’clock.  The lock keeper! Mike asked if we could wait in the lock, yes no problem. We’d just passed a mooring quay with bollards. We threw ropes around bollards on the lockside and had lunch. A Locaboat had moored at the quay. When our keeper returned he said the Locaboat would be coming up in about an hour and we could wait for them at the next lock and he would work the two of us through together as we were both going to Cercy. Another wait. OK. It was 3.3 kms to the next so up went the sunshade as it was starting to get hot. Fly swatters came out too as there were many stable flies about (they look like houseflies but they bite) due to the number of horses and cattle in the adjacent fields. Halfway to the lock the red car flew past us heading for the lock. The keeper must have changed his mind. Seen any sign of the hire boat? he asked as we went into lock 32 Roche (3.07m). Nope and the last straight was a long one, we could see as far back as the stone remains of a former swing bridge. 



Mike said they must be enjoying the wine, he said no - the cheese! He worked the lock for us. I asked if there were many boats at Cercy, he said he would ring his colleague, the lady who is keeper for the next three locks. He seemed surprised that we spoke French. Only one boat on the pontoon. Great. He asked when we would continue. Wednesday at ten, provided it’s not raining. He told us the TV had said cold at night but warm sunny days all this week. Good. 7.7 kms to the next lock and we weren’t going through that until Wednesday. The tarmac on our right became a grassy path, then there were sheep grazing and a fence across the path! The canal banks were higher and the edges sloping stone as we got nearer to the river section. Mallow and scabious flowered in the grass. Through the flood lock and on to the Aron; round a left bend and we tied on the end of a long pontoon. There was one hireboat moored about 20m in front of us and a gap of about the same upstream of it.

Sunday 27th September 2009 Decize R.Loire

Warm and sunny. The park alongside the boat had been taped for a running race this morning. We carried on with the new double glazing and did the port side window. Mike watched the F1 from Singapore.