The weir at Vilosnes |
8.6°
C Hot and sunny. Peaked at 41.5° C in the afternoon. We set off at 9.05 am
heading up to Planchette lock 25 (2.5m lift) only five minutes up the little
river section. The lock was set for downhill traffic, Mike gave a short hoot
and the young man turned the lock around for us. I shouted to stop him opening
the second gate but he went round anyway, saying there was lots of floating
weed in the chamber. He was right, some of it floated out. He took my centre
line and we were up the lock in no time. No lock house
any more just an old
cabin for him to shelter from the sun (or rain) in. On to the 4kms long canal section. There was
a small boat moored by a campsite which looked like a permanent resident. A new
pontoon (about 8m long) had been added to the corner of the silted up layby at
Sivry. Through flood gates and past a long needle weir and we were on the next
river reach up to Consenvoye lk 24 (1.3m). The lock was ready for us and two
VNF keepers, a lady with long black shiny hair and a man (both thirty
somethings and
wearing shorts and boots) came out to work the sloping sided
lock as we tied alongside a pontoon that slid up rails as the lock filled. The
lady asked where we were going, Mike said up another three locks. 3kms of river
(the last until Verdun) and we were at lock 23 Brabant (3.10m) where a young
man came to work the lock. The lock house was well looked after and seemed
lived in. Canal now for the rest of the day. Another 3kms to Samogneux lock 22
(2.20m), where we passed the first boat of the day – a large Dutch cruiser on
its way North. A young lad and an older man worked the lock. The house
looked
empty and the swallows were using one wall to cling to for a rest before
swooping after the ever-present flies. Keep up the good work! On the next 3kms
length of canal we saw lots of big dragonflies and butterflies. As we headed
for the bridge in Champneuville, we passed another downhill boat, a Belgian
yacht. The lady of the boat was having an ecstatic moment, flapping her hands
and going ooh, oooh! Narrowboats have this effect on some people. When we
arrived below Champneuville lock 21
(3.76m) there was another boat in it ready
to descend, so we hovered for a short while. This time it was a French flagged
Dutch steel cruiser – called Yvonne – with name boards on the sides so we
didn’t get chance of a photo (sorry Yvonne, next time!) A young man came and
took our centre rope. The bollard was a bit too far forward and the one further
back towards the tail end gates was too far back. Ended up taking two turns
around the centre roof dolly and Mike kept the engine in reverse while we rose
3.76m, not helped by having the wrong paddles opened first. We coped, just
eased off the wall a bit but all under
control (we’d have done it better with
no ropes on at all but the lad would not have been happy with that as
practically no one else does it like that). On to a lovely bendy shady pound,
7.5kms to the next lock. There were loads of hazelnuts ripening along the
non-towpath side and walnuts too, plus masses of cherry trees (fruit gone,
probably birds had them) no nuts ripe yet. To our left through the trees we
could see tractors in the fields on the low sloping hillsides, harrowing the
now empty wheat fields. The canal ran on an embankment above the little river
Meuse which curled and twisted through more empty fields. A VNF van went past
heading down the canal on a track down by the river. As we went into
Vacherauville the van went past again heading uphill. Looking for us?? Maybe
not. Another new pontoon had been added in the village so we decided we’d had
enough and stopped. This time the pontoon was longer than the boat at about
25m. It was 2.15pm and two very cheery fishermen were installed across the
canal from the pontoon. They waved and said hello as we tied up. Had some lunch
then Mike went to look to see if there was somewhere to park the Xsara, yes.
Gave him a hand to get the bike off the roof and he went back to Vilosnes to
get the car. I did the photos first then did the log before checking to see if
the antenna on top of the mast could find any Internet as the dongle certainly
didn’t. It didn’t improve matters, gave up. Gave Mike a hand to put the bike
back on the roof still with an audience of fishermen on the opposite bank.
Sweltering again.
Attached to pontoon in Consenvoye lock |
Swallows clinging to lock house wall |
Kingfisher on a post |
Muskrat crossing the canal |
Moored at Vacherauville |
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