2007

BACK TO CALENDAR 2007

 

1.2  13th to 19th May 2007.

 

13 May Sunday   

Rained - rushed around ineffectually on moorings in Decize doing endless  "odd jobs"

 

14 May Monday 

As Sunday - also cold and wet, but spent time fitting new bow button.   Horrid job - essentially done over water, so tools, shackles, etc all going splash, whilst self partly on land partly on boat struggling to maintain balance, and discourage boat from wandering off and splitting me.

 

15 May Tuesday 

as Monday - re-did the buttons with chain only - abolished cat's cradle of wire, turn buckles etc.

 

16 May Wednesday  

big shop with trailer behind Brompton.   First time used trailer behind yellow Brompton as last year left hitch on "my" bike - the red one - in England.

 

17 May Thursday   

Nearly off - but so cold and wet stayed in Decize and did useful things.   

Arranged necessary wiring and switch on control panel so loo holding tank could be pumped out while boat the move, rather than old practice of finding quiet stretch of canal, stopping boat in middle, and going down to "bathroom" and operating pump out switch whilst peering out of hopper window with mirror to ensure no boats coming, and no spectators liable to take offence .

To-morrow - regardless of weather - we go.

 

 

18 May Friday                              Decize to canal side 1 km N of Fleury.

And to-day we went!

Started betimes with dash - on bike - across town to take advantage of cheap offer of little electric fans in le Klerk, to get suddenly much needed hair cut, and, of course, bread.

Pulled out at 11.30 dull dreary, but muggy.

Actually off!!!!!!!  very strange feeling - almost lonely - but which way?   Possible to go lefty - or Southish - back to Beaulon, where I was very happy doing boat things last year, or turn right and have settling down cruise in dreadful looking boat to Belleville which has similar facilitie4s as Beaulon plus a nuclear power styation, and is more popular and well known.

Stopped for lunch to try out new "mooring" brackets.   Been on about these things - brackets that enable safe mooring to the tops of the sheet piles that so much of the canal banks are now revetted with.   After total failure in UK in getting anybody to make them for me - big firms, and one man outfits, drawings and photos provided - boating friend got them made for me by a craft metal worker, whose normal output is gates, fences and other nice old fashioned blacksmith and wrought iron work.

Total success - except tried to be clever and sloppy and not do up the screw clamp holding the thing positively in place.   Gravity insufficient, but found this out right at the beginning - even though one bracket went into water  (on rope, so pulled it out!).   Increases safety enormously, and mooring up simplified and quickened.

Countryside beautiful - to me.   They have had a wet spring, and although the small grain crops are well into ear, everything is a luscious green with lots of nice white Charollais moos lying in the grass chewing.   Flattish country - this whole area is riverine valley - la Loire - with the canal running more or less alongside the river from Briare, where it crosses the river and charges off N over the watershed and ends up in the Seine at St Mammés - to Digoin,  where it does the same and ends up in Saône just above  Chalons-sur Saône.

I keep taking photos of what I think is beautiful scenery, only to find, once again, that you cannot just do that - photograph is just a narrow horizontal strip of interesting subject across the middle - and dull sky and grass or canal side in back and foreground.

19 May Saturday              canal side 1 km N of Fleury. to 4 kms (also canalside) beuond Plagny.

Biked back into Fleury for bread - questionable as to why I didn't moor up there last night, but too many other boats about - 1.

Cold bleak start - but still strngely muggy. Sun emerged mid-day, and got quite hot, to the exctent of looking for shade for mooring under.

 

Beautifully peaceful green country side with only occasional locks.   Still much loud bird song.  Intensity such that clearly audible in Australia during conversation with ex-officio crew member.   Over telephone, of course.   Also Cuckoos busy.

 

Think I have commented before on smooth management of these locks on this canal.   Each L.K. has 2 locks and a van.   Sods law arranges that invariably, when one arrives, L.K. is at other lock.   However, his mobile phone number is stuck up in office window, and a quick call, and along he comes in a shower of dust and pebbles. 

 

Lunch moor up a bit untidy - tried to do it under a tree with thick bank undergrowth from boat.   Slightly shallow, so when I pulled one end in, other end wandered off over canal, and when got boat close in and oarallel, just too far to reach piles to clamp brackets - a learning curve - moor up very loosely on firsat end so it can swing out but remain tied whilst doing other end!

Got into silly situation in late afternoon - wanted to moor up, but Sat evening, and big town Nevers closwe, so wanted remote mooring, or fully secure.   Kept finding one or the other but hivered and hovered and went on too far and too late.   Found reasonable spot, but had to do a lot of grass cutting, leaving the whole place in a mess.

Otherwise OK - heavy rain in night.