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Albert spent the month dozing - rather grubbily
- in Decize.
Albert's crew, as promised in last
month's log - was grabbed by the boys and girls of the Hampshire Re-mount Repair
and
Recovery
Group,
who made with their pangas, chisels, screws, and
baling wire, and - with unbelievable skill (I hope) - installed a
plethora of spare parts into his failing undercarriage.
I nearly apologise for posting the obscene pictures on the right. I
had a long discussion with myself as to whether it can be
considered to be
in good taste putting pictures of one's insides on the internet,
but..................
Clearly I will not be heading Albert-wards for the next 6 weeks or
so - being thoroughly confined to barracks. One is
re-learning to walk with sundry hardware items that, although specially
designed to keep me vertical in my time of need, are either evilly
attempting to trip me up, being used as shooting irons by sundry
grandchildren, or at the very least hiding quietly in which-ever part of
the house I am not.
MAPS.
Having
got
that
lot
off
my
chest
-
dead
boring,
I
know
-
go
to
something
that
interests
me
intensely.
We
are
all
well
aware
and
well
used
to
the
3
forms
of
Navicarte
map
books
specific
to
the
actual
waterways.
(Are
we
not?)
However,
If
one
is
serious
about
wanting
good
map
coverage
of
the
environs
of
the
waterways,
then
I
have
found
Google
Earth
is
undoubtedly
the
best
-
super
mapping
over
satellite
photos.
BUT
I
find
it
almost
impossible
to
download
and
manage
on
a
GPRS
or
landline
link
-
in
fact
impracticable
-
and
very
expensive.
France
is
mapped
by
the
IGN
-
equivalent
to
British
Ordnance
Survey
-
who
produce
a
plethora
of
maps
with
names
such
as
"carte
verte",
"carte
bleu",
"top
100",
and
so
on,
frequently
heavily
defaced
with
large
tourist
orientated
icons,
scaled
at
1;100000
-
half
the
scale
size
of
British
O.S.
Landranger
maps,
and
I
am
afraid,
printed
on
rather
light
paper.
I
love
maps,
and
as
a
result
have
a
1:100k
version
of
all
the
maps
of
the
places
in
France
we
have
been
to,
but
they
are
completely
trashed
with
use,
sun,
weather,
wind,
and
re-folding
(in
some
cases
over
10
years),
are
dropping
apart
along
all
the
folds,
are
usable
with
care
only
in
the
cabin,
and
represent
quite
a
lot
of
money.
Did
some
research
on
the
internet,
and
found
IGN
also
publish
a
1:100000
-
same
scale
-
map
of
the
whole
of
France,
on
2
sets
of
2
or
3
CDs,
(sold
separately)
along
with
what
looks
like
a
very
good
road
map
at
1:250000
thrown
in,
and
some
GPS
software.
They
also
do
a
1:25000,
but
the
scale
is
too
big
to
be
manageable.
Cost
-
and
this
is
daft.
From
the
English
web
site
it
is
£130.00
per
half
of
France
(Nord,
or
South)
set.
From
the
French
site,
67
Euros
(45.00
+
extras).
Delivery
-
much
the
same,
just
a
couple
of
days,
same
credit
card,
and
no
fuss
with
customs!
I
bought
from
France,
and
found
the
software
and
destructions
are
all
in
English,
but
French
versions
are
available
on
the
disc.
The
printing
on
the
outside
of
the
CD
box
is
the
only
compulsory
French!
I
can
do
very
little
reporting
on
them.
I
have
the
CDs
for
France
Nord,
but
have
been
unable
to
do
more
than
load
and
croon
over
them
-
images
are
very
clear
and
sharp,
and
it
does
go
as
far
as
to
the
NE
border
and
the
Channel,
and
well
south
of
Roanne,
and
canals
and
rivers
are
marked
very
clearly
-
except
I
don't
believe
them
on
their
bridge
count
down
the
Roanne
à
Digoin!
They,
to-gether
with
a
GPS
gadget,
were
to
be
my
project
for
this
summer
-
but
the
Hampshire
Recoverers
have
put
paid
to
that.
I
didn't
even
buy
the
GPS
gadget
I
had
set
my
heart
on,
rather
fortunately,
as
Orange
France
reckon
I
have
enough
usage
points
on
my
phone
bill
to
qualify
for
a
new
phone
almost
free,
and
my
son-in-law
is
flashing
his
new
mobile
that
has
a
GPS
mapping
facility
built
in.
See
what
I
can
get
in
France,
when
I
finally
get
there
-
unless
someone
has
already
been
down
this
path,
and
can
advise
me??
I
have
had
several
gossips
with
the
purveyors
-
"Memory-Map"-
see
the
internet.
Apparently
in
use
I
would
have
the
map
displayed
on
my
lap
top,
and
will
couple
up
the
GPS
gadget
to
communicate
through
a
USB
cable,
and
it's
own
software
to
put
a
flag
on
the
map
on
the
screen
to
show
within
a
few
metres
where
I
really
am.
(This
has
got
to
be
an
improvement
on
my
normal
procedure,
I
usually
mark
on
the
map
where
I
am
with
a
large,
broad,
grubby
fist,
and
dare
the
map
to
answer
back).
Clearly
this
is
not
a
"boat
top"
navigation
assistant
-
rather
a
check
at
lunch
time,
orthe
end
of
the
day
when
on
a
bush
mooring.
So
what???
I
agree
there
is
little
need
for
a
GPS
on
the
inland
waterways.
Just
put
left
hand
hard
down
and
one
hits
land
in
about
15
seconds,
but
if
you
love
maps
like
I
do,
there
are
endless
possibilities,
and it
is
good
fun.
As
I
say,
I
have
tried
Google
Earth,
and
the
visual
results
are
far
and
away
better,
but
download
and
management
through
my
mobile
phone
on
GPRS
is
just
not
on!
Second
project
this
year
was
exploration
of
"hot-spot"
and
internet
cafes
within
reach
of
a
waterway
on
a
Brompton
Cycle.
In
passing,
for
all
I
know,
someone
may
have
already
done
the
initial
research,
and
know
a
lot
more
about
it
than
I
do.
If
you/they
have
please
let
me
know.
By
the
way,
an
invaluable
adjunct
to
this
sort
of
thing
-
a
little
freeware
screen
dump
programme
called
"FastStone
capture"
-
it
is
available
on
the
internet,
and
must
have
been
written
specially
for
people
like
us.
They
do
a
very
good
version
you
have
to
pay
for,
or
the
simplified,
free
one.
I,
and
my
entire
family,
use
the
latter.
Apart
from
illustrating
logs
with
maps,
it
is
unbelievably
useful
for
taking
instantaneous
records
of
internet
mail
orders,
invoices,
payment
receipts,
catalogues,
and
so
on.
|
St
Leger
de Vignes,
Decize
and
St
Leger,
Google
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