Friday 3rd July 2015 Givet to abv Vanne-Alcorps lk. 21.1kms 6 locks

Givet to Charleville-Mezieres train

17.5°C After another very hot and sticky night a hot sunny morning, temperature building up to the mid-forties again by mid-afternoon. Cruisers seemed to be setting off from Givet every half hour as if organised by someone. Mike went to the boulangerie and bought two loaves for the freezer before we got ready and set off at 9.35am after two cruisers had gone past five minutes before. Surprisingly the two cruisers in front were only just going into 3 Fontaines lock as

Liftbridge at the end of the lock cut abv 3 Fontaines lock

we got there, must be really slow at getting them through the little lock - little being 40m x 5.5m which is small in comparison to the previous 85m x 12m lock size in Belgium. (The first two locks after Givet are deep with a tunnel between them – cutting off a huge loop of the river - so although they were once fitted up to be automatic there is always staff on duty) Another cruiser turned up as we were doing a circle in the wide river section below the lock. They went in first, as they should – always the smallest boats go in front going uphill. A very pleasant young man hooked our ropes and placed them

Old needle weir under reconstruction at Montigny

on bollards for us (we did fore and aft as the incoming water always makes the boat yo-yo back and forth on a single centre line). The boat in front was a small Dutch built cruiser. My fore end line was way too far in front so the water flow took the bows away from the wall but Mike reversed and pulled it back in. Mike hopped off when the lock was almost full (3.28m lift) to ask the keeper if he could change our zapper as he’d tried it several times and sometimes the green light didn’t work. The lad said ask at the next lock. OK. Mike took the loop off the bollard for me and the skipper on the

Old garden observatory in Haybes

cruiser said you can take mine off too. Cheeky so and so. Mike took it off for him and didn’t tell him off. Followed the cruiser through the tunnel – it took Mike a few minutes to find the right switch for the headlight (rarely does it get used here sur le Continent as practically all tunnels are illuminated but not the 565m long Chooz tunnel) A delay at the far end, the two cruisers in front were still in the lock at Ham, so we had to wait for it to be turned round. A young lady who was practising her English worked the lock for us, up another 3.20m. Mike asked her about our telecommand and she

Vanne-Alcorps lock from the lock cut above it

phoned someone who called her back. Use it and if it doesn’t work someone will come and sort it. OK. Mike had told the cruiser’s crew to carry on without us as they were bound to travel much faster than us, about 12kph to our 7kph. Not a sign of them for the rest of the day. 4.76kms to the next lock. A long lock cut with a bridge and high level liftbridge on top of that at the end of it. We passed the first downhill cruiser on the river reach as we ran up to Mouyon. A row of modern sculptures were lined up along the right bank at Aubrives where the sculptor lives. No one about at the first DIY automatic

Wild mooring in lock cut above Vanne-Alcorps lock

lock although it was a base for mobile keepers and there were several vans parked outside the lockhouse/office. Up another 1.6m, ropeless, on our own again, in the gently filling lock. 3.96kms to the next lock. A short lock cut and we were back on the wide river - there was another big flock of Canada geese, must have been fifty plus. The next downhill cruiser was a Dutchman, its skipper was dressed just in swimming trunks, he asked the old question that we hadn’t heard for quite a while – “Did you cross the Channel in that?” Answer “Nope, the North Sea to Vlissingen” that sets them thinking ‘til we put them to rights when he added “On a lorry, on a big ferry boat!” He’d gone before he could add 22 years ago.

Wild mooring in lock cut above Vanne-Alcorps lock

Through Vireux-Wallerand where we used to stay overnight on a quiet old quay where péniches used to stop, but the local authority extended the quay, added water and electric posts and a base to hire little electric-powered dayboats. Now they’ve put up a sign that says no commercial boats and they charge pleasure boats for an overnight stop. We don’t stay there any more, neither does anyone else from the looks of it – both quays were completely empty of boats. (turns out there was a water scooter event on so no sane boater would stay there during that) Montigny lock was having its needle weir replaced with a modern automatic weir. Shame to see the ancient needle weirs going, but they were dangerous for the people working on them especially in times of flood and very labour intensive. Up another 2.5m, a long lock cut and back on to the river, 5.34kms to the next. Up another 2.12m. The lock house was now derelict, empty and shuttered. A short lock cut and back on to the wide Meuse. The needle weir was still standing but a crane was there ready to hammer piling in to start making a modern replacement. A group of noisy teenagers were swimming in the river by the stop gates at the end of the lock cut. They clung to the gates as we went past – hope they don’t do that when a péniche passes (not that we’ve seen any yet). 3.2kms to the next lock. Passing through Haybes we noted that there was a row of five campers by the quay, a man fishing in front of one, a lady sitting outside a shed hoping to hire out more of the electric dayboats and just one little boat on the quay (with water and electric posts) next to the resident cruiser that offers charter with skipper. Another place we no longer stay at. Doesn’t look like they’re making a killing from overnight boats. Up Vanne-Alcorps lock, rising another 2.14m. Tied up in the sizzling heat just above the lock, using GPS to find the deep spot we’d used before and got in the cabin as soon as possible to get in the shade in front of a ventilator fan with lots of ice cold water to drink.