17.9°C
Overcast and much cooler first thing and although the sun was very hazy
temperatures soared again, well into 30s. (Top outside temperature today
38.2°C) We set off at 9.45am. 1.5kms to our first lock. When we arrived at lock
7 Vadonville (2.5m) there were no lock lights on and, surprise, the zapper post
didn’t work either. So we attached to a bit of piled bank by the zapper post
with one of our mooring pins. We hadn’t got a phone number for Verdun, so I
rang Givet and spoke to the very pleasant VNF guy at Quattre Cheminées and
asked if he had the local number for this section as lock 7 at Vadonville
wouldn’t work, he asked if that was on the Ardennes, no canal de l’Est branch Nord,
still the Meuse, he laughed and said he would ring them for us and get someone
to come out to fix it. It was 10.30am. Half an hour later Mike took a walk up
to the lock to try the intercom and found a VNF man in a van on the lockside,
doing a puzzle in a
book. All the electrics were off, he said he was waiting
for the electrician - be about five minutes. OK. Mike came back to the boat
just as a large Dutch cruiser arrived, going the same way as us. Mike told him
the lock was out of action, but VNF were fixing it. Just then the lock emptied
and we got a green light. Mike told the Dutchman to carry on into the lock and
we’d follow, if there wasn’t enough room we’d back out and he could go first up
the lock. Plenty of room and we had two VNF agents to chat with, the man in the
van and a lady in a van that the first guy called Madame McGyver! She fixes
everything he said, laughing. Told him Mike had gained that as a nickname too –
MikeGyver – by our friend Gérard at Condé as he said Mike could fix (almost)
anything. He asked if the boat had been built for Scottish canals, no – English
– Scottish canals have bigger locks and explained about our little locks. We
carried on chatting after the lock was full and the Dutchman had left. OK to
just turn up at the tunnel, yes. Were the last four locks on call out,
no all
automatic now (there was a keeper in car who operated the last four when we
were last here in 2006, as they were mechanised but not automatic back then).
Turned out our man in a van was the bloke who was operating the lorry with a
grab arm at Belleray last Wednesday. He asked how the weed was further on, we
said not too bad, just a couple of pounds were weedy. Told him we’d not been on
the Marne-au-Rhin since 1993. Turns out the electrics had gone off due to last
night’s thunderstorms – yes, we remember VNF saying that before about automatics.
Set off again at 11.40am. Three kilometres of canal, then through the flood
lock on to the next river reach with an electrified railway track alongside on
the right. Left the river after less than a kilometre and followed
the canal
into Commercy. At lock 6 Commercy (3.0m) a German boat called Friese was just
leaving the chamber going downstream. The man at the lock house was gardening,
his fishing rod was leaning on the rails by the top end of the lock next to an
old plastic garden chair. We went up the lock and continued on through the town
of Commercy. They had added a new pontoon, there were three boats on it, a
large DB, a cruiser and a new-build UK barge. The skipper of the last boat
asked Mike if he thought a boat of his length could turn around at Void. Mike
said yes at the canal junction. Strange question, he was moored with his bows
pointing downriver, the opposite way to us and we were going to Void (on Monday,
possibly, if it’s not raining). The big Dutch cruiser that we’d locked with
earlier was moored on the quay by the builder’s yard. On past the river weir on
our left, on the last navigable reach of the Meuse, just two kilometres, then
we were back on canal again. We could see the church with its twin spires in
Euville for quite a way as it was in the middle of a long stretched out village.
The Dutch cruiser overtook us while Mike was cooking his lunch. I said to him
don’t wait for us, we’re only going slowly. He was long gone by the time we
arrived at lock 5 Euville (3m). We went up and moored just above on a quay with
bollards between two boats that looked like they’d been there for years. One
looked like no one had been on it in years, it was filthy. Gave Mike a hand to
unload the bike off the roof. As we were doing so a young man walking past with
a fishing rod asked if we needed a hand, thanks for the offer but we have our
own method. OK. He stood fishing from the quay for about ten minutes then
wandered off again back the way he’d come. We had 3G, so we’ll be doing some
more catching up on the blog later.
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| A buzzard in flight |
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| Another ratty |
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| Church spires at Euville |
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| Moored on the quay above the lock at Euville |
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| The quay above Euville lock |
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