BACK TO CALENDAR 2002

 

This Weeks "We're Here" Map

 

(The Map is a "thumbnail", same as the pictures - click on it for full size when connected to www.)

 

 

 

 

 

Gannay sur Loire to Decize. Canal Lateral a la Loire.

 

Again, heavy rain last night, after usual blustery afternoon.

 

Short day - only as far as Decize - but even so, couldn’t manage the last lock until after lunch.

 

This is the stretch where we - and many thousands of other boaters - have enjoyed seeing, year after year, a storks nest, complete with young at this time of year, on top of a broken off dead tree.

 

Sadly, the tree has fallen since we were last through.

 

However, some kindly person, or organisation, has cut part of the top of a neighbouring (live) tree, making space available for re-housing the family far more securely than before.

 

There they were as we passed - same huge bundle of scruffy nest, with 2 chicks heads peering over the top.

 

We moored up above tee junct down to the basin, and the Loire and across to the Nivernais. Entire mooring taken up by peniche, sitting half out in the channel on the bottom. Used sheet piles and chains close to him.

 

Visited VNF office just above the basin, to ask about the dry dock over at St. Leger at the foot of the Nivernais.

 

Busy for next 3 weeks, so decided against - still very undecided on how to play this one. The bottom needs cleaning, and bituminising, but we don’t want to spend the whole summer fiddling around waiting while dry dock owners run late on their jobs, and change their minds. Nor do we want to pay enormous amounts for perceived reliability. On the other hand, we don’t want a repetition of the Montchanin fiasco.

 

 

 

May 15                         Wednesday

Decize to Champsverte Canal du Nivernais

 

Spent morning in yesterday’s undecided state over what to do about dry docking.

 

Being deeply suspicious cycled across to VNF’s dry dock at bottom St Leger, to see if there was really a boat in it, and to ask the people working on it when they would be out. There was a boat in it, and there was no one working there at all. L.K. confirmed that since it went in no work had been done. Noticed water hadn’t even been drained.

 

Rang St Tibault - near St Cyr - and got quote. 350 € plus 17€ per day. High for a thoroughly ordinary set-up, and didn’t include pressure washer.

 

Raymondo "booked" until autumn!

 

Back to Joe Parfitt - arranged to set off at once up Nivernais to arrive 2 weeks time. Quote was 3000 francs (!), assumed TTC - hope so!

 

Great relief to have finally (split infinitive, ugh) made decision. Is it a factor of age - dithering and anxiety?

 

Left moorings after lunch, crossed Loire - could not believe same river as last year - and got to Champsverte - wiggly church spire - by tea time.

 

Moored up, and for the first time this season sat out for drinks and supper.

 

 

 

May 16                       Thursday

Champsverte to Panneçot. Canal du Nivernais.

 

The Nivernais countryside was at it’s most beautiful - late spring, bright warm to hot sunshine, Charolais cattle (white moos) standing up to their bellies in buttercups, all herbage brilliant green.

 

Untaxing day - 9.00 start, hour off for lunch, quick shop at Cercy la Tours for Petit Casino shopping, teatime stop, and moor up on nice empty mooring.

 

Sun brolley up for first time this year - midafternoon got quite overheated.

 

Had entire village mooring to ourselves - as expected, canal very quiet, when joined at 18.30 by 2 hire boats - one German with voices to with, moored up 6" clear of our stern. Undecided whether to run engine - "to charge batteries" (there is electricity on site) or to empty loo off stern.

 

Lovely day.

 

Gently enjoying evening peace, when moorings invaded by 2 sets of terrorists.

 

One moored up, having crossed the no passage danger zone safely and luckily just above the weir, and went quietly about his business.

 

The other did a storming 90 degree turn (quite skillfully - or luckily) and tied up with his stern some 5 cms (12") from our stern button, in spite of the fact that there was plenty of room on the rest of the moorings for at least 10 more boats.

 

This resulted in their after deck, where the occupants (guess which nation) sat till late drinking and laughing, some 2 metres vertically above, and 2 metres along, from our bed.

 

Lessons - 1. Help them to moor up, so that they end up where we want them, 2. If unavoidable, turn boat around so our living quarters are at the opposite end to theirs.

 

 

 

May 17                          Friday

Panneçot to Chatillon en Bazoir. Canal du Nivernais.

 

Another per perfect day, weather-wise.

 

At first lock at 0900 - well done us!

 

Chatillon, without incident, at about 1500. Hot and close, storm threatening.

 

Tied up in corner, by electricity in "usual" place, chairs out, into shade, collapse until evening coolth. Little energy after last night’s poor sleep. See yesterday’s log.

 

S.M. in evening, hurriedly, to avoid threatening storm.

 

Storm missed - 6 drops of rain, and overcast. Still hot.

 

Canal countryside quite superb, lush green natural meadows, hedges, and large trees standing on their own.

 

 

 

May 18                                   Saturday

Chatillon en Bazoir to Bazolles (the summit). Canal du Nivernais.

Rained for a large proportion of the night, and still raining at 0900, when start booked at first lock.

 

Bread run, first thing.

 

No L.K. tuned up - so put boat through ourselves, but waited till 0930 - when slightly wet individual did slightly shamefacedly arrive. Only waited, because if this L.K. didn’t phone ahead, we’d find no L.K.s anywhere up the line, however we got through.

 

Rain eased off, but last 3 days of beautiful weather not repeated - overcast and cool.

 

Pleasant run, but L.K.s up here not a very jolly lot - too many tourists? Surly and uncommunicative.

 

Stopped off at Christine and Pete’s cottage, where last year we spent a very pleasant couple of days with Eric and Leslie of N.B. l’Etale.

 

Had tea on Amity, their boat moored up opposite front door, saw over house - the genuine article of almost ruined French cottage being resurrected from scratch and dust with TLC and very long and hard work (and quite a bit of money).

 

On at tea-time, through the last 2 locks before the summit. Watered up at hire station - 2€, money paid included an old 20 centime coin - hilarity and objections!

 

Moored for night on wall between canal and etang de Bazolles. For once no wind. This is known as windy corner. Moored next to a hotel boat, which was re-stocking itself from a van some 400 metres away with everything being carried by hand in plastic bags by crew members. Would have thought they could have organised themselves better than that. The boat also has a continuous running generator. Hope it doesn’t disturb us!

 

Last night’s rain included a lot of Sahara dust, so boat both is and looks filthy.

 

 

 

May 19                          Sunday

Bazolles (the summit) to Sardy. Canal du Nivernais

Beautiful morning - unusual for Bazolles, no wind.

 

Booked for "09.00 a.m. at the tunnel traffic lights". Started up, and bimbled along at 0845, but to our surprise, at 0902, light changed to green.

 

Good run down the flight - good L.K.s - as before, for most of the way.

 

Enjoyed scenery, and weather - photos show.

 

Lunch in lock, next to one of the few remaining occupied house in this stretch... It used to be a "zone artisanal", i.e. L.K.’s cottages by people who did their own thing and sold the products to passers by.

 

Not sure about passers by outside the boating season - or even during it, but as far as we could see only 3 houses were still occupied - 1 by the potter, one by well turned out hippies (masses of them) and one by a pleasant bloke with youngish family who is always neat and tidy, but has never shown any visible means of support. As family toys include 2 cross country rambler 4 wheel bikes - support would appear to be adequate. Slightly startling to see 7 year old, with enormous bone dome, charging off down towing path.

 

Had lunch in lock opposite their cottage. Something wrong, when we started top gates were open, but kids closed them to get more conveniently to the house, whereupon we started dropping fast, and couldn’t get back onto boat. Presumably lower gate paddles had been left open to facilitate water levels in lower pound.

 

Rescued situation with manipulation of gates and paddles. Trouble on the Nivernais is mixture of paddle gear is such that it is not always possible to know if a set of paddles are open or shut.   Even the colours are different.

 

Last 3 locks after lunch, and into Sardy moorings. Burgundy seem to have gone, and the cottage and facilities at the end are vacant.

 

One Dutch barge - Vios - present. Offered to take lines, but, as usual here, we were already aground 3 feet from edge, and had to do usual untidy moor up with gang planks, and boat ends well off shore.

 

Visited Vios - a really lovely boat, well fitted, and lots of common sense in lay-out and design. Lots of red wine, too.

 

 

 

May 20                   Monday

Sardy to Tannay (Cuzy). Canal du Nivernais

 

A most untidy day.

 

Worked out how to set off, and at what time, but no sooner went down to lock, than joined by a Nichole’s hire boat that came up last night, and went to uphill lock, before re-traversing pound, and ending up with us going downhill.

 

All went well, till lunch time, we had own L.K. seeing us through the locks to and through Chitry les Mines. (Crowds of people and cars - to-day is a public holiday, but no Ted Johnson trying to baffle us all with his b.s. nonsense)

 

After lunch 1st 2 locks, and lift bridge fine. Then ghastly rickety wooden lift bridge. Got bridge lifting then it swung open fast under own inertia, and ended up almost vertical with terminal breaking crash. Ducked and ran, as it arose gathering momentum. Once boats were through, found no apparent way of lowering again - much too old and rickety.

 

Solved by physically climbing up road bed (almost vertical, in lifted position), until personal weight brought it down, and level again with fearsome shrieks and groans. Have no hesitation in saying whole thing thoroughly dangerous, and will probably collapse during season - taking somebody and their boat with it. From subsequent observations, suspect it should always have been left open, but is closed to give locals a good giggle. The "working" bridges are neat, tidy, well painted and greased, with winding handles, and are safe and secure.

 

Would strongly recommend to any boaters reading this, that the first, or southerly, of the 2 bridges at Diro 34, marked "pont levant en bois", and the last one (also wooden), just at the southern end of CBL’s base at Cuzy - Tannay - should be raised, (if lowered), and left up.

 

It was at Dirol, that the L.K. system completely fell apart. The L.K. that had seen us through since morning had already commented that a batch of boats further back had no L.K., and although we were "taken over" at Dirol, that man saw us through 1 lock, then disappeared, never to be seen again.

 

We arrived at next lock, stood around for 45 minutes, then American hire boat crew had a go at DIY. Unfortunately, hereabouts, no 2 paddle gears are the same, many have positions of paddles painted on them, but many have been changed recently, and the gear’s relation to the paddle position is unclear.

 

Managed, in short order, to drain our own pound, flood next one down, and get nowhere with putting boats through.

 

L.K. arrived briefly to correct paddles, said nothing, and re-disappeared.

 

Eventually youth suffering from advanced rigor mortis and mobile phone verbal diarrhoea arrived, and vaguely supervised proceedings, so that at least we made Cuzy - Tannay moorings - 2 hours to do 3 locks.

 

Met N.B. Benjàmin on the moorings - beautifully turned out in all over nearly white colour scheme (good for coolth), and when owners - June and Brian - returned from

their bicycle ride - great cyclists - shared G & Ts and red wine in shade of the poor pathetic Loco boat that’s been on the moorings for the last 2 seasons awaiting the result of the court case relating to their gas fittings and carbon monoxide poisoning to a customer.