Tuesday 26th May 2015 Marquion to Iwuy (Escaut). 25.8kms 2 locks

Leaving Palleul lock

8.5° C Sunny start with a cold breeze, grey clouds gathering so only brief glimpses of the sun. There was a game of boating musical chairs going on as we got ready to move. A loaded péniche (called Priscilla) left the silo quay in front of us and an empty pusher pair (with the lovely name of Sweetness) moved into his place, while another loaded boat was reversing up the canal towards us to go on the quay opposite us where Sweetness had just set off from. We followed Priscilla from Douai to the lock. A loaded Dutch péniche called Jolise, followed by a Dutch cruiser called Waterman, went past heading for Marquion lock. The crew on the cruiser ignored us (invisible again) but waved to

A few of the boats moored below Palleul lock at Arleux

Graham! Priscilla slowed off and came to a standstill on the bend before the last lock on the Canal du Nord, lock 1 Palleul, so we hovered behind it. An empty pusher pair called Imari came up the lock, then the boat in front of Priscilla went into the lock and down, so we went around the loaded boat and tied up on the quay above the lock to wait. Mike tried asking the keeper on VHF radio if we could go in with Priscilla but got no reply, so Graham went back down the towpath on foot

He can only just about lift it!

to talk to the skipper – he called the lock keeper who said one of us could go in with Priscilla, the other would have to wait, then Graham told him we could go side by side as we were narrow boats! OK! Another loaded péniche was catching up and we wondered if they would stop us going in. Then we spotted yet another loaded péniche behind that, so that would make another lock full and we’d be OK. Loaded péniche Sebastien came up, then we went down 7.1m with Priscilla. We followed the loaded péniche through the rows of moored péniches down towards Arleux and he stopped in a gap between the moored boats. As we turned right at the junction with the canal de la Sensée Graham called on the radio to say there was a fishermen on the apex of the bend who’d caught a big fish and so we both went wide on the bend and slowed down to watch him play it and land it – it was enormous. We’d not seen anyone catch such a big fish for ages. The canal de la Sensée is wide and deep and there are trees on both banks with a scattering of wooden chalets and caravans and small houses. The village of Fressies had an unusual tower (Mike took a photo of it) which was more like a town

Note the size of that tail - it's as big as the fisherman's leg!

hall clock tower than a church tower. Nothing moving. Lunch on the move. We passed a moored péniche called Cum Deo tied up at a quay waiting to load. Shortly afterwards a loaded Dutch péniche called Westropa went past, its young deckhand was busily painting the rust spots on its coamings. The Dutchman was being followed by a neat little Dutch barge conversion which was French-flagged. MR led the way into the old canal which leads to le Bassin Rond. A sign at the entrance warned that the depth was only 0.9m so Mike watched the echo sounder and noted that the entrance shallowed to about 0.8m below the bottom of the boat, making it about 1.5m deep, then the depth increased. A pretty little canal, much narrower with overhanging trees and lots of flowers along the towpath, which opened out into the wider “large” (basin) where some youths were having instructions on

Church tower at Fressies

windsurfing. Graham spotted a DB for sale and went to have a look. They wanted 150,000€ for it. Bit expensive. A guy on the trip boat moored on the far side asked if we were looking for somewhere to moor, thanks but no, we were just passing through, pausing to look at the barge for sale. We skirted around the windsurfers, most of whom were laughing, yelling and falling off (it wasn’t very windy). Turned right, no boats on the pontoon, past the retired péniches La Louve and Serenad, then turned right on

Le Bassin Rond

the Escaut towards Cambrai. A couple of kilometres to the first lock, Iwuy number 5, where the left hand chamber of the pair was activated by sensors, it emptied and we went in, then Jill lifted the blue rod and the lock filled, lifting us up 2.7m. A VNF man in a van arrived. He was shepherding a downhill loaded péniche called Baltes, which went into the right hand chamber. Graham had a go at improving his French and asked the VNF man if we could have a zapper (we’d need one to go back down the lock, which

Moored on the Escaut at Iwuy

isn’t manned - normally you have to call on the intercom and whoever you speak to presses a button to let you have a zapper which then slides down a chute). On our return we have to remember to post the zapper back into the box next to the lock cabin. A little further upriver we arrived at the silo quay which is no longer used. As I got off in the long grass with the centre rope, a man with a tractor towing a grass cutter asked if it was our car parked on the adjacent patch of grass that he was about to cut. (It was Graham’s) No, it’s our friend’s but we’ll ask him to move it. In the meantime Mike asked if he’d cut the grass along the quay first – he said he was only there to cut the square of grass where the car was parked, but OK he’d cut it for us. We shoved the boat out from the quay and stood off while he cut the grass. I handed Mike four bottles of 33s beer for him – he would only accept one. It was 3.30pm as we knocked pegs in and attached to a nicely mown quay. Mike and Graham went to retrieve our car from Moislains.

Monday 25th May 2015 Moislain to Marquion. 28.6kms 6 locks

Green everywhere, steep sloping edges

13.4° C Overcast and grey, colder (fleeces on all day) a few brief sunny spells. We set off at 9.05 am following MR with pins in, Markon drive engaged and washing machine on. A loaded boat came up Moislains lock and stopped on the quay; an empty péniche and a loaded 60m boat were heading for the lock. As we headed for the tunnel an empty péniche called Alain went past heading towards Moislains. The washing finished a couple of kilometres before the tunnel so we paused and drifted while Mike took the drive pins out. I took a photo to show how green the water was in this canal

Southern end of Ruyaulcourt tunnel

and how steep the sloping sides are. Amazed that we had a green light for the tunnel at Ruyaulcourt, straight in, no waiting. A cruiser came in from the opposite end and we passed in the wide section in the middle, which was designed for queues of barges to pass one another, all controlled by traffic lights. There were fluorescent lights all the way through the tunnel and emergency phones at regular intervals along the elevated towpath. As we exited we waved to the keeper in his cabin high above the towpath at

Tunnel keepers cabin at Ruyaulcourt 

the Northern end of the tunnel. A converted péniche called Blizzard was moored by the tunnel keeper’s cabin, with VNF emblazoned on its stern it is no doubt now used just for tunnel maintenance. The tunnel cutting was bordered by low banks covered with trees and the canal wound on to the first lock down off the summit level at lock 7 Graincourt-les-Havrincourt. A loaded pusher pair, Kim-Ank and Ja-Dy, overtook us just before the lock, so Mike called the lock keeper and told him we’d wait for the

Overtaking pusher pair

second locking as there was a pusher pair coming. The pusher overtook us and went down lock 7. We waited a short time, deposited rubbish in convenient bins, and before long a lone loaded Dutch péniche called Albemar arrived and went into the lock just after an uphill boat cleared. We followed it in, keeping fingers crossed that we would be able to keep up with it all the way down the six locks to Marquion. The skipper of the Dutch boat told Mike that his boat was loaded with grain to make beer

Lock house at Graincourt lock

in the Netherlands. Dropped down 5.6m and followed the loaded boat down the 1.75 kms pound to lock 6 Graincourt-les-Havrincourt. An empty péniche called Connemara came up, then we dropped down another 6.4m, holding our noses as the wind was blowing straight up the cut and wafting a very obnoxious smell from a factory below the lock. As we passed the factory all was revealed, it was named Artois Methanisation – they were rotting organic stuff to make methane, no wonder is smelled so bad. A boat was moored by the factory with Artois Compost on its bows, it was loaded

Top end gates and cill lk 5 Moeuvres. 6.4m deep

with stuff that looked like trees that had been stewed. 1.75kms to the next lock, 5 Mœuvres, something coming up in the lock so the Dutchman sat in the middle, which meant we had to do the same as we couldn’t get near the waiting quay. A Dutch cruiser came out of the lock then we went down, a drop of another 6.4m. Another pound of 1.75kms brought us to lock 4 Sains-les-Marquion and another wait. This time Albemar went on the quay, still nowhere for us to wait except in the middle being blown sideways by the wind. The bottom end guillotine gate was up for ages and the Dutchman must have spoken to the lock keeper on VHF (we couldn’t hear him as the channel is duplex – only the lock keeper can hear him) as the keeper said yes, there was definitely an uphill boat coming. Eventually a loaded 60m boat called Alriema came up, by which time a loaded péniche called Marie-Lou was catching up. Surprised that the keeper didn’t give us a red light and let the loaded boat join the Dutchman in the lock, but we went in and down 6.6m. After the gate lifted we could see that there was another loaded boat on its way up the short 1.5kms pound. As the Dutchman set off, the wave caused by the lock emptying had reached the next lock (no 3) and come back all the way to lock 4 and shoved the loaded boat back up the lock chamber, lifting it about a metre as it did so. We’d already untied so we just

Moored on the pontoon at Marquion

went back up the chamber with the flow. Scary. The péniche was lucky the wave didn’t catch him as he was going under the guillotine, as it could have damaged his wheelhouse - a similar occurrence on the canal des Ardennes completely demolished the wheelhouse on a large Dutch Barge belonging to friends of ours a few years ago. In French, the wave action like that is called a rebondissement and they are quite common, especially on short pounds. Lock 3 Sains-les-Marquion was not ready, another boat was coming uphill and Albemar went on to the quay again. We twiddled around in the middle being buffeted by gusts of wind as we waited. A loaded 60m boat called Baitulos (833 tonnes) from Arleux cleared the lock, then we descended a further 6.4m with the Dutch péniche in front. On to the last pound, 2.7kms to lock 2 Marquion. We passed loaded péniches Chrismi from Brugge and Mon Desir as we followed Albemar slowly into the lock. Down another 6.5m on to the long pound (6.65kms) leading to the last lock on the canal du Nord. The pontoon below Marquion lock was vacant so MR tied alongside it and, as it wasn’t long enough for us both end to end, we moored alongside MR. Mike and Graham went to move vehicles, driving back to Corbie, then taking one car on to Iwuy on the Escaut, our intended destination for the following day.

Sunday 24th May 2015 Cappy to Moislains. 20.9kms 8 locks

Wooden chalet alongside the Somme at Ecluse Vaux

8.4° C Sunny and warmer. Set off at 9 am following MR up the canal (the Somme is just a feeder now). I phoned to book a keeper to meet us at the liftbridge at Ecluse Vaux at 9.40 am. A cruiser went past heading downriver and the same keeper from the day before (with boxer dog) was at the liftbridge to open it for us. Twenty minutes later we were at lock 9 Frise, a shallow one at 1.70m, and we had a new keeper. A French cruiser called Blackbird came down lock 8 Frise and we went up, a deep

He had priority at lock 12 Clery, we had to wait

one at 3.20m. A pied flycatcher was flitting between the trees on either side of the canal as we left the lock. Black-headed gulls flew in front, a musk rat crossed the canal and a coot had abandoned her floating nest full of eggs, no doubt she’d be back as soon as we’d gone. Our keeper opened the liftbridge at Feuillères and was there to work the last lock, 7 Sormont, for us. On towards Peronne, then we turned left on to the Canal du Nord where we had a wait below the first lock, 12 Clèry-sur-Somme, as there

Waiting below Clery lock

was a queue. A single péniche went into the lock chamber and the gates came down behind him. Lunchtime. Another single péniche, called Kiev, moored on the left below the lock and we tied to the quay on the right to wait for the end of the keeper’s lunch break (they only close for lunch on Sundays) A pair of empty pushers, Paris and Paris2 moored a way behind us and a little later a loaded pair, both called Jules Verne, arrived and moored directly behind us. Over the next 6kms we had five deep uphill locks and loads of

Clery lock 12

downhill traffic. At 1.30 pm the lady keeper came back on duty and we followed Kiev into the empty chamber, strapped alongside MR and G put a stern rope on, no bollards for the bows so we sat behind the péniche (who rose ropeless) and gently rose 7.8m. Loaded boats Adeline and Emeraude came down as we went up the pound to lock 11 Feuillaucourt, up another 6.2m and on to lock 10 Allaines, passing two more loaded boats, Louveteau and Mober (the latter a beautiful Belgian boat, the cabin covered

Following MR and peniche Kiev up the canal du nord

in flowers). Up 6.4m. More loaded downhill boats, Vincita, a loaded Dutchman with a huge playpen atop the hold covers and Taifun from Saarbrucken. Up to lock 9 Moislains, where the one in front of the one we were following (Elisabeth from Terneuzen) was still waiting for a downhill pair to clear, Baise and Baise2 (an empty pusher pair) came down then he went up. We sat on the quay behind Kiev and waited for the next downhill boat to clear. Up 6.7m and on up to lock 8 Moislains, passing two more loaded boats,

Moored at Moislains

a pan and tug – Coelacanthe 65m long (966 tonnes) pushed by tug Linguenda and péniche Daevanos. Up 6.5m and arrived on the summit at 4.45pm. Above the lock was a long queue of loaded boats waiting to go down. 55m Cecinkel, péniche Euro, Ch’ti and VD a pusher pair, plus a couple of empty pushers were heading down the canal towards the lock. We hovered waiting to see who was going where, then we tied to the very end of the quay by the bridge. MR moored behind us. It was 5 pm. A loaded boat called Wallis arrived and moored under the bridge in front of us, Mike and Graham went to help the single-handed skipper moor. He moved on down the quay when there was space.

Saturday 23rd May 2015 Corbie to Cappy. 23.9kms 4 locks

11.2° C Overcast, then sunny with white clouds later. Set off at 9.30 am following MR

Engine at the museum in Froissy

upriver. The flow was back to a reasonable 1kph. I phoned the booking office to get a keeper at Sailly lock for 11.15 am. Yellow water lily flowers were just surfacing and opening out, ox-eye daisies were flowering along the canal banks. We were a little late arriving at 11.25 am and explained to the lock keeper that there was a problem and that we’d stay on the quay above the lock to sort it out. Up 3.2m and passed a group of canoeists heading downhill who went into the lock as we left. Tied on the quay by several deserted caravans. A cruiser came up in the lock and carried on upriver. Mike and Graham got their heads together and couldn’t see anything else wrong so we got the welder out and Mike put the head back on the bolt (a temporary measure until G can get a new one to replace it). He refilled the water and started it to see what happened, nothing untoward.

Engine in steam at the museum in Froissy

We had some lunch then I phoned to get the next lock worked. Got the answering machine so I left a message. As we approached the lock, 12 Méricourt, I had no phone signal on SFR, so G loaned his phone, which had a signal on Orange, and I called the office – they said a lock keeper was already there. He was, and it was the same guy as earlier with his boxer dog. The boats were still roped together so Jill said she’d like to have a go at steering a “widebeam” into the lock. Hmm, needs more practise - better luck next time! We didn’t knock any paint off but we’re going to repaint anyway! The keeper’s dog was constantly playing and when we asked how old she was, he replied that she was only 18 months old – still a gangly great puppy. On upriver to lock 11

Moored at Cappy

Froissy. Same keeper. Work on the lock house roof had stopped for the weekend. We sat alongside MR to come up 3.20m. Just 2kms to our last lock and liftbridge at Cappy. Mike took a few photos as we went past the little train at Froissy as there was an engine in steam by the museum, churning out loads of dark brown smoke. Our keeper was there at lock 10 Cappy, which was ready for us, and a great crowd of gongoozlers to watch us. Said au’voir to keeper and his dog as we went through the liftbridge. Lots of cruisers at Cappy and a British widebeam called Moongazer was tied up just beyond the slipway. We went right to the end of the moorings, and tied up to some new metal bollards, all recently installed. It was 5 pm.

Wednesday 13th May 2015 KP88 to Corbie. 12.5kms 3 locks

Starch factory Roquette at Daours.
click here for more info on the Roquette factory and its produce

3° C Sunny and warm. The boat behind us, Casey May Too, left at 9.15am heading uphill the same as us. I phoned the booking office at 9.30am and a pleasant young man replied and confirmed that there would be a lock keeper at Lamotte for us at 10.15am.  At 9.45am we set off again, heading upriver following MR around all the twists and turns of the Somme and arrived right on time at lock 16 - our lock keeper had the gates open ready for us. Work was going on apace at the old lock house turning it into a hire base for canoes, kayaks and bike for the Somme bureau de tourisme. Only a shallow lock of 1.3m, so we were soon on our way again. 4.5kms of fast flowing water, swirling around many bends up to Daours

I told him Graham says he wants one!
Found the float tube online and its looks pretty good value to me!

lock 15. Going upriver we had more time to notice the extent of the factory that produces potato starch – it was very large and modern and, unlike a lot of the rest of the local industry, still hard at work. Lock 15 was not ready for us yet and the cruiser Casey May Too was waiting below the lock. Looks like we’ve been “grouped” by our friendly lock keeper. He might just as well work the lock once with all three of us together, there was enough room, just. The cruiser went right to the front of the chamber with the two narrowboats behind it. Slowly the lock filled, 3.20m rise. Our lock

Not much space left in this lock chamber. Corbie

keeper said he would work the lock for us at Corbie rather than go off to his lunch, which we thought was very generous of him, especially as a French cruiser appeared below the lock just before we left. On the next reach Mike changed gas bottles as one had expired when I went in to make a cuppa before the last lock, so I steered round all the z-bends between Daours and Aubigny. The keeper had told Graham that there were no bollards on the left side of the next lock, so we said if MR went on the right we would tie alongside. Again, we rose gently 2.80m and I hung on to MR’s stern line while Graham gave our star lock keeper some beer and a bar of chocolate (from his stash of Cadbury’s) to say thanks. The lad stayed and worked the lock again for the little French speedboat as well. The

Attention! Chefs at work. BBQ at Corbie.

skipper from the speedboat told us that he was doing a round trip from Paris back to Paris; he’d come all the way down the Seine, along the coast and back into the waterways system at St Valèry and up the Somme, and then he would continue down the canal du Nord and the river Oise back to the city. DB Aslaug was moored on the quay immediately above the lock, but there was space for us on the quay by the campsite (which has water and electricity, four hours for 2€ in the slot) so we followed the big cruiser, who was only staying for lunch, and moored beyond two Belgian cruisers, with the little DB Vagabond at the far end of the quay. We had some lunch then Mike and Graham went to fetch the car from Samara. When they returned we did a BBQ in the pleasant sunshine and used Mike’s concrete workbench for its intended use as a picnic table.

Tuesday 12th May 2015 Samara to KP88 by the N25. 19.4kms 3 locks

Heron hiding in a tree

13° C Overcast start, sunny spells with loads of clouds, breezy and cooler. Mike went early by car to get bread from the boulangerie in Picquigny. The man in an orange van arrived at 9.15 am wanting to know what time we were going, Mike told him we’d be at the next lock at 10.15am. We set off at 9.35am. Jill walked the dog and we followed MR along the 4kms of winding bends to the first lock, 19 Ailly. Through the lower chamber and into the top one. Jill was waiting on the lockside having beaten us by a good ten minutes and took Graham’s ropes. The control panel was on our side of the chamber so the lock keeper took our ropes and put them round the bollards for us. Up 1.9m with no problems. DB Aslaug was moored above the lock and we said hello to Bente and Kurt as we passed them on the long (for the Somme) lock cut. 4.75kms to the next and more winding bends with the river still flowing at about 4kph. A group of quite elderly male joggers went past, all waving and smiling. The average age must have been about seventy, the French do take their keep fit seriously around here. Just before lock 18 Montières I took a photo of a lovely old barn with

Leaving Ailly lock

half its roof caved in - there are so many derelict and disused buildings around here in want of some TLC. A new keeper was at the lock ready to take MR’s ropes as the “pupitre” (as they call the lectern type control panels) was on their side this time. Mike climbed up on our cabin roof to throw ropes round bollards. This one takes quite a time to fill as it’s 2.50m deep and the two chambers have to be filled as the centre gates were taken out when the put a new road bridge across the chamber. Another long lock cut as we headed into the outskirts of the city of Amiens. We’d

Why did only half the roof collapse?

told the last lock keeper that we’d be at Amiens lock 17 between 1.30 and 1.45pm, so we stopped for lunch just before the weir at a nice little quay with bollards. MR went alongside the bank and disturbed a fisherman, who was very pleasant about it so we gave him a couple of beers. Lunch. Set off again at 1.10pm and found the flow rate less than before so we arrived early by 5 minutes at the lock. MR came alongside and we attached to a bent and battered bollard, being very careful as there was an equally battered concrete sewage pipe that stuck out from the quay above the level of

School of Engineering. Amiens

gunnels at just about the right height to take out a window. The keeper emptied the lock at 1.30pm and we went in and he took all our ropes as this lock is the deepest on the river at 4.40m deep with no recessed bollards in the wall and no ladders. Good fun. He filled it fairly slowly so, again, no problems. On through the city, passing the quay d’amont, where there was one moored British boat called Casey May Too, more FB friends of Jill's - they followed on later to moor

Beautifully decorated house in Amiens

at the same place as us. We carried on to the little quay upstream of the N25 motorway ringroad around Amiens, and tied to the end of the quay, leaving the rest of the quay for MR so that the dogs and cat could get on and off as they wished as it’s an ideal spot for them, no roads or houses and nice and quiet for the humans too.

A quiet mooring by the motorway

Saturday 9th May 2015 Longpré-les-Corps-Saints to Samara. 16.6 kms 2 locks

An old photo from 1996 showing how the staircase locks used to be
on the canalised Somme, with sloping sided turf lock bottom chambers.
This one was taken at Pont Remy lock

12.4° C Sunny at first, then then lots of clouds, but only a short spell of very light rain later. A white cruiser went past heading uphill around 10 am. Before we set off I phoned the lady to book the next lock for 11.45 am and we set off, heading upstream against the strong flow again, at 10.30 am. A large sign on the towpath proclaimed that the section of cycle path from Etoile to Picquiny had been funded to the tune of 920,000€ as a joint venture between Somme and Picardie. That’s for 12kms of tarmac. Three lady joggers jogged past and came jogging back again ten minutes later. A lone fisherman was trawling his livebait along the towpath side, fishing

Below Labreilloire
(pix taken coming downriver - lost the ones going up!)

for pike or zander. Another fisherman was hidden from view between trees on our right, he was sitting in a new type of floating seat for fishermen with his legs dangling in the water. At the end of the village of Etoile there is an old high concrete quay next to a factory that looked mostly unused, the quay had been derelict a long time. A sandpiper flew off in front and the warblers were singing loudly again. Madame phoned us at 11 am, she said the lock keeper was at the lock and wanted to know where we were. We told her we would be there

Below Picquiny.
(pix taken coming downriver - lost the ones going up!)

when we said - at 11.45 am. When we got to the lock, Labreilloire 21, there was no one there. It was 11.45 am. I rang her and said there was no sign of an orange van. She said she would ring the team, but doubted she could get anyone now before lunch! We moored in the slack water in the short lock cut right next to the lock gates. She rang back and Mike answered the phone – he wasn’t very happy – she said it would be after 1.30 pm and he gave the phone to me and I told her he was annoyed that no one was there to work the lock as promised. She said she would call the team again. At midday the orange van turned up with the same lad who had worked the locks for us the day before. He said he hadn’t had a call from the lady controller until just now. OK, at least he’d arrived now and we didn’t have to waste

A contented Daisy. At Samara

an hour and a half before continuing upriver. The single lock was full (we thought it had been empty as there was no water at all leaking through the bottom end gates) so he emptied it and we went up another 2.5m. The lady at the lock house was having a delivery of logs. One of her cats (there were at least two others by the lock house) was making a big fuss, first with me while we were waiting for the lock keeper and then with Graham in the lock and was trying to become a stowaway on MR. On to the 3kms weedy canal section at 12.30 pm. When we got to the end of the canal section, Mike had to do a hard reverse to get the stuff off the prop and release the wedge of blanket weed that was wrapped around the stem post at the bows – shades of UK boating. Graham did the same to rid MR of the clinging weed. 2kms before lock 20 Picquiny I phoned Madame again to

Our moorings at Samara

inform her that we would be at the lock in about twenty minutes. A few minutes later our keeper was driving down the towpath towards us in his orange van – looking for us? Noted he was on the phone. He turned round and went back to the lock. We keep telling them that our boats are not like the little cruisers and hireboats that they’re used to, that zap along at 10 to 12kph! (We only do about 7kph normally and the flow is reducing that to 4 to 5kph) The weir below the lock was flowing very hard across the canal from our right. Mike went to the right so that it didn’t throw us into the left hand wall, a bit too far

MR moored at Samara

right and we were listing hard to the right as the strong current caught us, not for long as he increased power and shoved the tiller hard over as we headed sharply for the left bank. A fisherman sitting on the left bank looked on, astonished at the power of the water and our antics! Graham was following, so he didn’t go quite so close to the right and didn’t list as much as we did. Into the top chamber of the lock and the lad took Jill’s rope. Mike got on our roof and put a fore end line round a bollard for me. I couldn’t see where the bollards were and there were no painted markers on the edge of the lock wall. Soon up another 2.30m. The keeper had already told us there was a boat on the mooring above the lock - there would have been space for us to moor beyond the cruiser, called Dolfyn, but we carried on to moor a couple of kilometres further upstream again at Samara by the park. MR moored on the pontoon so they could get the dogs off easily and we tied up as before by the wooden landing stages with our bows on the end of the pontoon and a pole to keep the boat off the bottom. Mike and Graham went back to Abbèville to collect our car. The towpath was very busy with cyclists and walkers.

Sorry folks! I accidentally deleted all the photos we took today so I've had to improvise with an old one from 1996 and ones taken coming downriver, plus Mike retook ones of this scenic mooring in the woods close to the old Roman Camp. There are golden orioles in the woods here, we can hear them singing, but frustratingly we can't see them...

Friday 8th May 2015 Abbèville to Longpré-les-Corps-Saints KP123. 18kms 2 locks

Waiting below Pont Remy for a downhill cruiser to clear the lock

8.1° C Overcast start, calm no wind; later sunny spells and a light breeze. There was a fisherman right behind us on the moorings and no one about on the DB Aslaug, as we set off at 9.30 am, following MR out of the lock cut back on to the river, but now heading upstream against the flow which was about 3.5 - 4kph. Engine revvs on for 8kph and doing about 4kph. The current slowed down as we went further upriver and we were doing on average 5 to 6kph. I phoned the waterways office and today a lady

Replica chaland at Pont Remy

answered, I told her where we had started from and where we were going plus our arrival time at lock 23 Pont-Remy, about 11.30am. OK. What a difference a few days makes at this time of year, the hawthorne and elder were all in flower and all the buds on the trees had become tender new green leaves. Graham said on VHF that there was a cruiser coming downriver. We moved to the correct side of the river for navigation (our right) as we’d been chasing the calmer water where there was the least flow. The boat was a speedboat style small

Replica Gallo-Roman boat builders hut

cruiser, French flagged, called Four Winds. The crew waved as they skidded round the bends at speed with the flow and they were gone. With the flow they would be adding another 4kph on top of what they normally cruise at which is usually 10 to 12 kph for a light craft with big engines like that, so they would have zipped past at 14 to 16kph so no wonder they were past in a flash. As we went past the village of Epagnette there were horses and geese in the meadows to our left and a sandpiper went past in the opposite direction, yodelling loudly as he went. We arrived at Pont Remy lock at

Pont Remy celebrating VE Day

11.30am as a cruiser was just coming down. As the cruiser, called Chat Lune, went by its skipper told us in English that there was a very strong flow coming from his left as he came out of the lock. Yes there are two weirs on this lock, one on either side, both flowing well. A young man with an orange van was working the lock. His control panel was on our left and he took a rope for Jill. Mike flicked a rope around a bollard at the stern but I had no hope of getting a fore end line around a bollard as it was at least 2m further on up

The Chateau de Long

the chamber. Never mind it’s only about a 1.5m rise. Mike put a centre line on as the lock filled and I held that as he’d detached the stern line. The young man advised us to ring again to book the next lock. We paused briefly at the mooring a bit further on in Pont Remy, next to the replica Gallo-Roman huts, built where an archaeological dig had found evidence of boat building. My phone had no signal so Graham lent me his and I called the lady again to tell her we’d be at Long at 1.30pm. To our great surprise we could hear the distant sounds of a marching band and saw them appear on the bridge behind us, Pont Remy was celebrating VE Day. Pushed on again at

Bluebells, and pink ones, at Long

12.20pm to get to the next lock for just after their lunch break finished. The same young man was there to work lock 22 Long for us. This time the control panel was on the right so he put my centre rope on a bollard for me and also crossed the lock to take Jill’s rope too. We rose another 1.5m. Gave the lad a couple of bottles of 33s to say thanks and have a good weekend. Above the lock there was a cruiser called Marie-Celeste moored, we apologised as we went past as the young keeper had asked them to move up expecting us to stay there but we weren’t stopping. On upriver past the lovely Château de Long, taking photos of its turrets and statues and as we were

Moored at Longpre-les-Corps-Saints

passing its back doors, a lavoir (wash house) where the castle’s washer women would have washed all the laundry in the river, and all the greenhouses built to supply the nobility with fruits and vegetables out of season. There was a cruiser moored in the shallow muddy arm where we’d stopped on the way downriver and then about 1km before our intended mooring another cruiser went past heading downstream. Getting busy for the long weekend. Graham and Jill moored next to the pontoon at KP123, it was shorter than we thought, only half the boat was attached to it. Once they were moored we tied alongside. It was about 2pm and there were lots of people walking the towpath. Within minutes of being let out Daisy cat had caught her first mouse of the day and ate it.

Tuesday 5th May 2015 Long to Abbèville KP140. 17.3kms 2 locks

A moored peniche houseboat

13.8° C Sunny first thing, then it started raining when we were getting ready to leave. Set off out of arm at 10.15 am following MR back on to the river. The guys building the new weir were starting to place a line of piling across the old weir, they paused to watch the nutters with the funny boats go past in the pouring rain – well, at least they were getting paid for being out in the wet! Not far to the first lock, Long 22. Past the stately home on the banks of the river called the Chateau de Long, an 18th century mansion complete with extensive greenhouses all along the river. A sign said visits possible.

Chateau d'Epagne

A new keeper was there to work the first lock for us. We were a bit early for the booked time of 10.30am, so the lock was full but the gates weren't yet open. The guys working on tiling the roof of the old lock house paused to watch as we dropped down 1.50m. The keeper asked how far we were going, just to Abbeville and we’d stay there for a couple of days. He said he would close down the barrage at the next lock as there was a lot of water flowing today. Along the next reach the wind started blowing a gale to add to

A paddle for filling up a lake from the river?

the torrential rain. The wind was blowing so hard that twice our brolly folded flat on one side as the stays bent, we were surprised that we managed to straighten it out. When there was a lull in the gale we put the umbrella down and braved the horizontally blown deluge in waterproofs. In the town of Pont Remy there was another good mooring next to several reconstructed iron age houses and two replicas of ancient boats, a dugout canoe and a wooden punt were moored just beyond the halte nautique. True to his word the keeper had stopped the weir from flowing until we were in lock 23 Pont Remy. As we enetered the lock chamber he was on his way back from the automatically

Mooring in the lock cut at Abbeville.

operated weir after opening it up again. On the lockside there was an orange lorry, a short wheelbase with four huge wheels. I asked if it was a quatre-quatre (pronounced cat-cat) a 4x4? Yes he said smiling and I said that’s very useful at times here, yes and more smiles. He said to watch out for a couple of boats that were coming upriver. Down another 1.50m in what used to be a turf sided lock and continued along the last reach into Abbèville, at least the rain had stopped and the sun came out to dry us out a bit – the wind was still fiercely blowing the trees (and us).  Another grand house stood close to the river at the village of Epagne Epagnette. We noted several fishermen ensconced in tents and wondered who were the daftest to be out on a day like today? There were two moored boats on the quay in the lock cut at Abbèville. The English couple off a Pedro cruiser called Lady Bess (they were the boat the keeper was expecting but they’d sensibly decided not to brave the wind and rain) they offered to move back up the quay a bit so we could both moor. We carried on towards the lock and winded, just about, and went back to moor between Lady Bess and MR as Graham and Jill moved MR back a bit so their stern end was overhanging the quay. It was 1.10pm. I made some lunch. Satellite TV was a bit iffy with the trees blowing about wildly. Graham took Mike back to Samara to collect our car.