2008
BACK
TO CALENDAR 2008
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- 1.5
20 to 26 April 2008
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- Last fiddled with 03 January 2009 and should be on axmw44.
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- 20
April 2008
Sunday
in Beaulon Canal Latéral à la Loire
- 21 April 2008
Monday
in Beaulon Canal Latéral à la
Loire
- 22 April 2008
Tuesday
in Beaulon Canal Latéral à la Loire
- 23 April 2008
Wednesday
in Beaulon Canal Latéral à la Loire
- These 4 days were a continuation of the days at the end of the last log.
- In between the cold damp/wet weather, essential clean-up
and tidying work was
done, along with a bit of wandering around, and some "just sitting".
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- Visited on Wednesday by very old
boating (now nonboating - sigh) friends. Apart from thoroughly
enjoyable chats about past
adventures
- and lunch, they removed the several large items that I was moaning about
last week. i.e. non wind tunnel fan, the bulky lanceless
pressure washer, the fuel, the clothes spider, and several other bits and
pieces.
- Great relief - these sorts of things
slowly gather and make permanent homes for themselves. The fan
has sat on the end of the sofa/bed in the cabin for 3 years, and the place
thankfully looks quite empty without it. The fuel has sat in a
filthy bow locker for even longer.
- Weather improving, but with it has
come the demise of the mobile phone signal - probably unconnected - ,
resulting in internet work becoming a major frustration, as it
"drops" the connection every 2 or 3 minutes. . One
wonders if there is a break down, whether they just forgot to switch it on
after last week-end, or there really is something wrong with my gadgetry.
- As a matter of interest - internet
connections. For the first years on the boat I used a simple
mobile phone connection - straight down the mobile line at 6 bps, but 3
years ago I was shown how to do GPRS. With this scheme I pay only what
I down and up-load, and it claims a speed of 115 bps, but reckon that is nonsense
- about 56, same as a landline would be fairer.
- At home, I use ordinary broad band, and in
Australia, Thailand, and anywhere else I can get it I use wireless
broadband. Regrettably haven't, so far, found any Wireless
facilities on the canals!
- 24 April 2008
Thursday
Beaulon to Decize Canal Latéral à la Loire
- Lovely run in cool but clear and occasionally
sunny conditions.
- Love this length of canal - everything looks
like an old friend - even the L.K.s are mostly known to me now.
- Lunch canalside just above - just above,
or after Gannay.
- Into Decize, and found our winter mooring
"just" vacant. A large English steel cruiser had left me
just 50' 6" between his stern and the wall for my 50'4".
- Greeted all old friends, gossiped as is one's
wont on these occasions, and tried to decide on what to do
next.
- Across to Intermarche for quick shop.
- One problem of single handering, I find,
is an inability to make clear decisions, and to stick to them.
Thus, intention this year was to do big circuit - Decize, Moray sur Long,
down Seine, turn right just before Paris up the Marne to Épinay
and Condé, lateral to Vitry, Marne a la Saône over
the top at Langres and down to St Symphorien, down the Saône to Fragnes,
and up the
Centre to Decize. BUT rather over 1000 kms, and there is a necessity
for me to be back in England by 1 July for installation of a tin
knee. At max 20 kms a day, the arithmetic was poor, and so put
the idea on hold.
- Decided to go - very slowly - up Nivernais,
down Yonne, and back from Moray on "4 canals" to Decize.
25 April 2008
Friday
Decize to Champvert Canal du Nivernais
- After wittering around most of the morning,
decided to get off up the Nivernais forthwith, stopping at the big
supermarkets between the first 2 locks for fuel and stores.
- River is only just open after floods, and got
myself confused following a hire boat down. Thought he had
probably been briefed, and when he turned hard right into town moorings,
began to follow him, even though we crossed a line of red and white painted
markers.
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- I can never remember which side is which
without looking it up, so didn't, but reckoned that I knew the way well
enough without that.
- I Didn't.
- Red and white are left to the right going down
river - and having crossed the line they were now on my
left.
- Ouch.
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- Nipped quickly back, and fortunately did not
cross a barbed wire fence line, or anything else, nasty - but singularly
stupid, anyway.
- Met old friend L.K. first met first trip here
in 1999. He remembered - or at least he said he did -
too. Seen him often and often since, of course.
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- Moored up on S.M. jetty, jerry cans ashore -
and in for the sweat haul. Had already emptied all 4 cans into
boat's tank, and now brought down a total of 6 more - 2 on a double run -
more. Only just got the 2 in to the tank - slight bubble over at
end so tank is now utterly full.
- Also stored away 4 more full cans.
Fear going down to Montchanin with lot of weed, and a bit fast, got through
a lot of diesel - also at the end of last season I left topping up to be
done at CBL pumps, and they charge very high, from 20 to 40 cents a
litre more than the S.M. and I don't think we filled her right up.
- Have said for a long time this jerrycan
re-fuelling is for the birds, except in exceptional cases. This
possibly was. Anyway, it is now done!
- (Cost of diesel is now 1.20 something a
litre. Remember filling up at StJ de L for 45 after our
trip up the Doubs on our first year!.)
- When finished with diesel, back up to S.M. for
a few items of shopping.
- Total operation took just under 3 hours.
- Met L.K. as arranged and up to village of Champvert
1.5 kms up canal.
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Moored up on simple grass village mooring - no
facilities, but quiet and empty, and knocked off - knackered!- It got quite warm and spring like over the
course of the day, although we started in gray overcast.
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- 26 April 2008
Saturday Champvert
to Cercy la Tour
Canal du Nivernais
- Cold night, but early morning sunny and misty.
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- Decided, after yesterday afternoon's efforts,
to have an easy day.
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- Did.
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- Up to Cercy la Tour - 10 kms!
- Sunny all the way, and through some of the most
attractive Nivernais scenery - small fields, paddocks, now strongly green
- Noticeable that spring is noticeably further on
- with the green "haze" now closing in fast. Also
noticed that the oil seed rape is now fluorescent yellow.
- Kept passing spots we moored up over the years
- quite weird.
- This was a lovely run, and very glade able to
do it on own at dead slow speed, stopping frequently in the middle of the
canal to play with camera.
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- Moored up and knocked off at lunch time!
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- Pictures
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- Top Left
Disorganised chaos, Beaulon
- Top
right forward chestnut, Beaulon
- Mid
Left First rape this spring.
- Mid Right
Bucolic Nivernais (between Cercy la Tour and Decize)
- Bottom
Left Champvert Lock early morning
- Bottom
Right. Nivernais Country.
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- Being much hassled putting pictures
into the site this year. The programme insists there should
be no capital letters or gaps in any file names.
- My camera labels photos with a capital
P at the beginning of it's name and JPG at the end!
- The programme is meant to change
all capitals for lower case in the course of uploading.
- It doesn't.
- I now change them manually. - inaccurate.
It won't let me just change the titles. insists on removal of old picture,
and insertion of new.
adventures
- and lunch, they removed the several large items that I was moaning about
last week. i.e. non wind tunnel fan, the bulky lanceless
pressure washer, the fuel, the clothes spider, and several other bits and
pieces.
Centre to Decize. BUT rather over 1000 kms, and there is a necessity
for me to be back in England by 1 July for installation of a tin
knee. At max 20 kms a day, the arithmetic was poor, and so put
the idea on hold.
Moored up on simple grass village mooring - no
facilities, but quiet and empty, and knocked off - knackered!
