Tuesday 11th August 2015 Euville to Demange. 32.8kms 16 locks

Three bridges at lock 4 Sorcy

15.4°C Misty, sun soon burning through then getting hot again. Three Dutch cruisers had filled the space on the quay overnight, two of them mooring side-by-side, all heading downhill. We set off before they did at 8.50am. 3.5kms to the last four locks we would do on the canal de l’Est branch Nord as this bit of the Meuse navigation is officially called. Three bridges before lock 4 Sorcy (3m) looked quite impressive. When the lock was

Note the green band - pound above lk4
had over one metre of water missing

full we noted that the water level in the pound was over a metre down. Wonder how that happened on automatic locks? A VNF man in a van went past and zapped the next lock for us so it was ready when we got there. He also lifted the bar, but didn’t speak. Up lock 3 Sorcy (3m) and the pound above was full and very weedy. The van went past on the towpath. Lock 2 Sorcy (3m) is right next to a big factory processing chalk for industrial use, its walls were coated with the stuff making it look like snow. There was a very white railway engine that we glimpsed between buildings

No it's not snow it's layers and layers of chalk dust

but had no time to photograph. Lock 1 Troussey (3.15m) We rose ropeless as usual and our white-bearded VNF man wished us a bonne voyage as we turned right on to the canal de la Marne au Rhin, heading for the Marne valley at Vitry. First we have to climb out of the Meuse valley, up twelve automatic locks, following the little stream called the Méholle. We’d only been on this canal once before, going the opposite way in 1993 as we went south to the Midi the first time. Paused

Weir on the Meuse from the canal aqueduct crossing it

to take photos on the aqueduct over the Meuse, where there was a little weir and lots of big fish visible in the clear water. Just after we set off again a large Luxemotor hotel boat went past followed by another ex-Connoisseur hireboat cruiser, both going in the opposite direction to us. The canal followed the noisy N4 dual carriageway, at least we were on the side of the hill higher than the traffic. There was a VNF tug moored by their workshops in Void. The quay and tap were there as we

Big fish skulking in the pools below the weir on the Meuse

remembered it, only thing different was the silo now had a big green mesh fence around it. The first lock, 12 Void (2.91m) had a VNF boat in it. We went through sensors on each bank which starts the lock operation, we got red/green lights, but then nothing else happened. Pulled into the bank and slung a rope around a sign and Mike went up to the lock on foot to find out what was going on. There were three of them, two men and a woman, sitting on seats in the shade by the old lock house outbuildings eating

More fish in the baby Meuse

lunch. It was 12.20pm. Mike asked if there was a problem with the lock. The driver appeared from somewhere, started the boat engine up and lifted the rod. Mike came back to the boat and we untied and went into the lock as the VNF boat went past us, it a scaffolding structure on top of it, ready to do work under a bridge. Up the first lock, all of them are about 3m deep with very short pounds between them. Lock 11 Vacon (2.94m) had a lovely lock house, with

The chalk factory and quarry beyond it

geraniums in window boxes. Lock 10 Haut Bois (2.91m) another with an inhabited lock house. There was a VNF man in a van there who asked if we’d come from Toul, no Euville, he asked for the telecommand, which we handed over as we shan’t need it again. He asked if we were going through the tunnel, yes. OK for 4pm to 4.30pm. Merci. Lock 9 Biquiottes (2.98m) it had no house just an old lock cabin. I made lunch. Water flushed over the top end gates. Must be something coming down the

Old towpath traction engine on the quay at Void

flight. Yes, a small yacht and a German cruiser. Lock 8 Varonnes (2.92m) had another nice lock house, lived in too. There was a lot of weed in the very clear water and big fish which were swimming up towards the lock keeping pace with the boat. Lock 7 Sauvoy (2.93m) below the lock was a mooring place with bollards and picnic tables. A couple with a campervan were having lunch, they waved. More weeds and fish in the lock chamber. Again the lock house was lived in. Above the lock the canal was

Old system of detection of boats for working locks.
Radar abv lk 1 Mauvages

full of water crowfoot, great beds of it with a gap down the middle where boat traffic had pruned it. Lock 6 La Corvée (2.94m) had yet another lived in lock house. The little stream winding through the fields alongside the canal was getting smaller as we were getting higher up the valley. There was a longer pound to lock 5 St Esprit (2.91m) which was right next to the road and had no lock house. Woods on either side of the canal were getting closer. Lock 4 Grand Charme (2.98m) No house. Our man in

The English version - and -

a van returned and lifted the bar then went in the

The French version in case you found the English to be Double Dutch

cabin. Mike spotted that he was towing what he thought was a compressor on wheels behind his van. It was actually a generator and he was using it to power the lock electrics (more problems with the recent thunderstorms or a more long term failure?) He did the same with the remaining three locks, none of which had any signs of lock houses, 3 Chalède (2.93m), 2 Villeroy (2.94m) and 1 Mauvages (2.90m). At the top lock there was a strange sign board giving information about the tunnel in English on one side and French on the other. We had to read the French to understand the “English”. We were surprised at the current rules. In 1993 there was a tug which towed boats through that was electric powered and hauled itself through the tunnel at snail’s pace using a chain which lies on the bottom of the canal and is fed through the interior of the tug. The tug did the trip back and forth twice a day, mornings and afternoons. Back in 1993 we were sent through in front of the tug, it didn’t tow us, and a man on a bike went through switching lights on for us and off after we’d passed. NOW, the tug is retired, but they still have a man who rides through on his bike (Elf and Safety??) The tunnel is lit throughout with sodium lights, plus the mandatary nearest exit signs every 10m plus low level LED lights which were only on at the entrance and exit. We noted they also had emergency folding gangplanks (what for and how they would be used we have no idea). The new rule that astonished us was that passenger boats (ie hotel boats) were only allowed through with their crew on board – what happens to the guests? Also there is a maximum of six people per boat. What happens to the excess if a big hireboat wants to go through, they can carry up to twelve? There is no horse path over the top of the almost five kilometre long tunnel so they can’t walk it or bike it. They must have to book taxis. I wish we’d asked. It was 2.5kms

An old engine shed

from the lock through a long cutting to the Mauvages tunnel entrance. In the canal there was a load of long grass-like weed with a path up the middle, like boating in a swimming pool. The man was there with his bike talking on the intercom as we went into the beautifully chilly depths. He overtook us on his bike and paused for us to catch up then set off again, all the way to the far end. Despite the drought we had a few drips of water from the roof which fell on our heads every now and again. We came out of the

Inside the tunnel

tunnel at 5.15pm. The man was on the intercom again. He locked a barrier in place and got in his van and sped off along the one car wide towpath in another deep cutting. Back in the sunshine was like being in an oven after the cold interior of Mauvages. At the junction we turned left to go to the end of the feeder arm which terminates after about 3kms in Houdelaincourt. The weed was so choked up we only made it through the flood gates before deciding that discretion was the better part and reversed back to the junction where we tied up for the night by the old tunnel tug. It was 6.10pm.

A folding gangplank on the towpath in the tunnel

Mauvages tunnel

Moored by the old chain tug