2007

BACK TO CALENDAR 2007

 

1.3 20 May to 26 May 2007

 

20 May 2007,  Sunday.    4 kms (canalside) beyond Plagny back to Nevers P. de P.     Canal Latéral à la Loire.

 

Day of high and low drama.

 

Poured with rain all night.   Really heavy.

 

Fridge started to threaten it was low on electricity at bedtime.   It does this by hesitating to cut in if available power is less than 12.2 volts., (by the same token it will switch itself off if available power - whilst it is running - drops below 11.8 volts - idea is to "save" battery - bit daft as that is one of the main reasons for having batteries - why "save" them?).   The actual symptom is a maddening clonk when cutting in, followed by wobbly noise as it doesn't catch properly, then a repeat, as it "tries" again.   Checked available power.  12 .8 volts - the thing was being silly - first night on engine charging by day, and battery only at night.   Spoke to it extremely firmly, and no more trouble.

Still pouring rain in morning, so did a bicycle runner back to Plagny for bread (boulangeries shut to-morrow - Mondays - and my siege complex is soon going to require psychological help) set engine to run to charge batteries (sucks to fridge), hung wet clothes in shower, and settled down at computer to do log, etc.

 

2 hours later decided to go on.   Stopped engine to check starting - in spite of repairs in Crown Blue Line base it had still been playing up, occasionally, as for the last (!) 4 years.  

No start.  Tried everything, just that maddening click from the starter solenoid, as before.  Had lunch, but didn't feel like eating a lot - visions of having to be rescued "by some time next week", long out of electricity for water, fridge, etc.   Panic mode approaching.   Remember Herself had said once that the thing sometimes pulled itself to-gether after a period of main engine cooling off, so attacked offending solenoid with a cold wet rag, and went off and talked amongst myself for a spell.  Rang CBL to see if there was anyone about that could help me - Sunday, of course, and all Sunday calls go through to their head office at Castelnaudray on the Midi!   Promised to ring back with ideas.   Went on fiddling with starter, talking nicely to it, discussing it's parentage, it's likely future, etc, and suddenly - off it went and started the engine.  Didn't dare switch off and see if it worked again.  Upsticked mooring, turned in the canal - possible half inch to spare as we got round - quite scary - and headed for Nevers embranchement, and the very sophisticated P. de P. complete with electricity, water, mechanics (presumably) and everything at the end of it on the River Loire.   Heading well down the embranchement when phone call - mechanic who did the job would be out to-morrow some time.   Good show - the base mechanics are there to look after their hire boats - not indigent winter moorers,

Ultimate - moored up in heavy thunderstorm, tried starter, and it worked beautifully.   However, it is obviously unreliable, and I cannot wander around French waterways wondering if engine will start again every time I switch it off.   We'll see.

 

Pleasant reasonably peaceful night in Nevers - every time I tried the engine it started!   They gave this P. de P new pontoons last year, and they have really done it well. Overnight - water plus electricity - €8.00.  Later on in the season the swimming pool complex - in the old end of canal into river lock - gets very busy.   There are several, again very sophisticated, pools - very neat and tidy.

 

Did a wander round and up to the centre of town to the in town Super Market, and boulangerie.   Covered myself in glory at the Supermarket by buying a box of dishwasher tablets instead of clothes washing ones.

 

The one way traffic system, combined with centre of centre being around the Cathedral, which in turn is on the top of the hill, all made for some exciting cycling.   The French are as good as the rest of us at ante traffic pavement cycling!

 

 

21 May 2007,  Monday.      Nevers               Canal Latéral à la Loire.

Fiddled around in boat until mid-day, engine still starting splendidly.    

 

Embarrassment when mechanic arrived at mid-day expecting broken down boat.   He had a good look all round, and assured me that there was now nothing wrong with bit he extracted and sorted last week, but that one of his boats had done the same thing, and after endless searching found an intermittently poor connection.   As this seems to have been the norm in several parts of the boat since for ever, and, of course one cannot find an intermittent fault unless it is faulty at that moment, there was nothing to be done except hope.

 

However, feel a lot more confident now than yesterday, when it wasn't doing it's thing, especially as weather has taken a major turn for the better.

 

Only thing is to press on and suck it and see.

 

Decided to press on this afternoon, but "improving" weather now threatening,  mooring comfortable,  like it here, so didn't - another €8.00!

 

Intrigued by way French can grow trees that are perfectly parallel all the way up to make perfectly symmetrical rails, or have massive pencil sharpener type machines that shave normal trees to make perfect rails - all identical.

22 May 2007,  Tuesday.       Nevers to Cours les Barres      Canal Latéral à la Loire.

Warm and sunny.   

 

Feel now that am really off.   Got away at 0915 but wretched hire boat (Germans) got away at 0900, and shut the lock gates without looking back, so had to wait while the lock - automatic - turned itself round.   

 

No worry, really, no target, no pressure, strong feeling (probably mistaken) that starter is going to behave.   Passed previous nights mooring, which looked a mess, grass part cut,  part flattened by rain, and part just trampled.   Noticeable that no canal side grass is being cut this year, either along the canal banks, or in the "halte nautiques".   Looks a bit messy and discourages from "bush" moorings as nettles rampant and grass seed heads come pouring into the boat.   Too bad!   My new mooring brackets/clamps are still proving to be just the biz.

Pleasant country - alternating huge expanses of maize under irrigation, and small farm paddocks.   Still flat Loire Valley.

Across the aqueduct that crosses the River Allier - a large tributary of the Loire - down the double staircase lock at the end, and moored up on the slightly bleak moorings beyond it for lunch - classic example of the passion for putting soft pea gravel down on moorings, rather than grass.   All the small ground up bits get stick to one's shoes, grind the paint off the foot steps, and get into the boat!  Nevers had bright red stuff, as does Roanne,    Found a tree just large enough to picnic under.

Fetched up at Cours les Barres, which has been a favourite of ours since 2000.   A 6 to 8 boat length of tidied up bank, a bit of a jetty with steel capping on the piles, some simple bollards, and an imaginative little garden - largely bushes, with gravel walks and lawns up the hill to the village.   There is a boulangerie, and I think an epicerie, and, of course, a bar tabac presse.   It also has a masculine/feminine coifuriste who is the tourist info bureau.!   There is one electricity and one water point on the moorings, and it is all free, so nothing else needed! 

The view across the Loire Valley from the Marie - just up through the top of the garden  - is great, and is always a good place to sit and - possibly - think.

 Always, in the past, have found a kindred spirit moored up here - it's a popular mooring - ready for talk and drinks, but thus time just 4 hurry along hire boats.   I was unintentionally slightly stand-offish, mooring right at the far end, under the only tree, which is really too far for electricity, but just made it with every last extension piece.  Think I had 50+15+15+about 18 metres of cable out, and tried a wash to see if washing machine would object to voltage drop resulting from too long a cable.    Far from objecting, it did the wash twice over without pausing.   This, however, may have been the result of my inadvertently pressing one of it's buttons when I was discouraging the thing from disembarking during it's spin drier walkabout process.

 

23 May 2007,  Wednesday.    Cours les Barres to 4 kms S of Charitie sur Loire.     Canal Latéral à la Loire.

Hot and sunny - really quite warm, making me think that the sooner I re-build the bimini (collapsed for winter) the better.

 

Watered before leaving - the flip side of the washing machine, water consumption seems to be quite high.

 

Marseilles les Aubigny for lunch.   Tied up at a very smart permanent jetty, that had the look of trip boat terminal all over it, but no notices - except one clear of one end saying local facilities for exclusive use of plaisanciers (that's us).  No trip boat came, and indeed did not see one on the canal.   Would not have enjoyed moving - strong off shore wind, and 2 or 3 hire boats swanning around awaiting the 1300 lock opening. 

  

Each year I pass through here Raymondo's yard seems to have yet more boats rafted out around his workshops.   It was here that we did our first bottom blacking, when he was quite a small set up.  He has taken over the old hire base N. of the locks, now, with another dry dock there-in.

During these last 2 days saw 2 loaded, and 1 empty commercials.   More than in the whole of last year on this stretch!   However, 2 swallows don't make a summer, and cannot believe that the road transport lobby will permit a return to water transport.

 

It was Marseilles les Aubigny's claim to fame that the Canal du Berry branched off westwards here for Tours and the West and North West.   While there are organizations working hard to re-establish the canal, it is like several of the English canals - the land was sold off, the canal filled in, and little or no trace now exists   But what a masterpiece of a system it would be if one could encompass the South of France,  Brittany, north east France, the Low Countries, Germany, and Eastern Europe.   Even just being able to go across to Brittany from the main French network would be wonderful.   Not in my time, methinks.   Having said that, there are lengths marked on the map as being "in water", complete with facilities, but not, however, contiguous, and other lengths shown as "under construction" or maintenance.   However, between Tours and Angiers (on the Maine) there is nothing marked at all.

 

Sad.

 

Ended up 8 kms up the canal on same spot as last year, my note in the book being "revetts, cattle, shade".   Suspect it actually reads  "revetts,  nettles,  shade".   As a mooring, OK, but a lot of nettle and long grass clearance was necessary before comfortable, and had really traveled a bit far since breakfast this morning to enjoy clearing the land, although did enjoy sitting in open with well iced G & T.

Found I had lost one of my new fenders - cross!   Cord had untied itself.

 

24 May 2007,  Thursday.        Charities sur Loire to Bannay

Found lost fender going walkabout in middle of canal - suspect it went well down canal on surge, and then fortuitously back to me in the morning.   It certainly wasn't about last night.

 

Very pleasant motoring all morning, with usual adequate (at least 90 minutes) lunch stop no where in particular, where abortive attempt made to moor up without leaving boat. This, of course, is the famous Sancerre and Pouilly wine region, and the countryside is dotted with vineyards, between the maize, grazing, and small grain crops.

 

Called in at St Thibault at tea time - had some thought that it would be a good thing to moor here overnight, go to S.M., and do things.  Somehow didn't feel like it, and although it was already 1615, decided to go on,

 

Moored up temporarily - visited 2 narrow boats in the dock at the end having heard rumours that they were being painted, but no one about, no work having been, or being done, and didn't know either boat, so - rather foolishly - pressed on.

 

After pressing on out of St Thibault found that canal ran close alongside a busy main road, so cursed myself for not stopping in St Satuur (St Thibault - all same difference)

Stopped canalside at 1730 where canal and road parted a bit, behind a fuel depot.   Tied up nicely - certain amount of grass clearing necessary - settled down to G & T and supper, then every blue flashing light and siren in this part of France came screaming down the road - literally dozens of them.    Worried stiff that officialdom regarded a narrow boat moored inconspicuously behind a fuel depot could be a terrorist threat.   

They continued down the road - fortunately.   I could probably manage the French for "I do not carry bombs on my little English Barge", but would sooner not get involved.

 

Got IGN (equivalent to our Ordinance Survey) out to see that another 2 kms the road crossed the canal and disappeared.   Must keep more eye on the maps and Navicarte, and read my old notes carefully.

 

It was actually quite a nice mooring - very quiet, and the fuel depot was quite small, all on it's own out in the country, low and reasonably unobtrusive.   

 

25 May 2007,  Friday.             Bannay to Belleville

Woken by a hotel boat heading south - passengers on deck reading!   

Wandered off in cool overcast weather about 0930,  picked up bread at canalside village, but arrived just above Belleville lock just too late to get through before lunch.

Noticeable that the cooling towers at Belleville - 1 km from the canal here, have been visible for the last 2 days - they are enormous.

Meant to have quiet afternoon of continuing to clear up, but first weather turned iffy, then rained heavily, the fridge started behaving very badly indeed.  Same symptoms as last Sunday, refusing to cut in properly after quiet period, claiming there is insufficient voltage to work it.   Before, it would pull itself to-gether after 4 or 5 attempts, and get away - now even with mains electricity, it wasn't having any.   Turned it off when I went to bed, them tricked it into working for a bit in the middle of the night  -  but obviously, it is sick.

.

26 May 2007,  Saturday.         In Belleville

Woke up to wet weather.

Programme was de-frost fridge, get it out of it's sulks, and working properly again.

Found trouble - feed wire by switch burnt almost completely through - why?   Poor connection to fuse holder, with too much current going through it, causing heating?

Anyway, replaced wire, replaced fuse, checked connections, and all joy.  A sweaty job, done largely kneeling down. (not my current favourite position).

Had to turn it down after, combination of cooler weather and de-frost - couldn't get the ice out.

Almighty thunderstorm in evening - right overhead.   Very heavy rain.