Thursday 25th March- Friday 26th 2004 Pommeroeul to Peronnes and on to the dry dock.

Thursday 25th March 2004 Pommeroeul to Peronnes.

We moored next to the lock to the right of this photo (taken May 2011)

A cold night, 0.5° C. Grey clouds, sunny spells, showers. We took Bill with us and went shopping in Cora at Hornu. Some things were decidedly more expensive than their French equivalent! When we returned to the boat, Mike went to Peronnes with the moped in the car, left the car at the boatyard after having had a chat with Majorie, then came back on the moped. We set off at 2 p.m. waving to the keeper in Pommeroeul top lock as we left - he waved back! It was chilly and we had several short showers of rain, but only just a few drops. An empty German boat, Wartburg from Hamburg, came uphill in Peronnes lock one as we approached it. An hotel Luxemotor called Troubadour had taken up the mooring along the wing wall where we’d been moored before, so we had to tie up across the weir stream against the end dolphins. Luckily the end two were only about 16m apart (the others were 40m+) so we tied to them and Rosy came alongside. It was 5.15 p.m.

  

Friday 26th March 2004 Peronnes to dock.

The chantier from the lake -  photo taken in 2011

Another cold night 0.5° C. Sunny with white fluffy clouds. The moored Luxemotor left first thing, so we moved over on to the wall so that Mike could unload the moped off the roof (it would have been nigh on impossible to get the bike from the roof to the concrete walkway between the dolphins). He rode the bike down to the chantier (boatyard) and walked back. He came back with the good news that the Luxe was off the trolley and it was ours as soon as we liked. Peter sent an SMS to say he was having trouble getting us a spare gearbox oil seal. 

The trolley - photo taken in 2002

I grabbed the quittances and went across to the lock and told the keepers that we would be ready to move off in about ten minutes. I’d noticed a péniche heading uphill from lock two, so I thought we’d be able to just drop down after he’d come up. No such luck! The keeper seated at the table by the window said he’d got a commercial boat to come down. The other one stamped all the documents and gave me all of them back. I walked back to the boat to tell the others there was no rush to get untied yet. The boat that arrived was an 80m x 10m loaded, called Viam, which almost filled the chamber, no room left for us to fit in with it. We sat outside chatting in the sunshine and watching the greenfinches in the trees alongside the mooring. Another loaded boat came along, heading downhill. 

On the trolley in 2002 - (new paint, ready to go back in the water)

This one (called Belize) was only 55m long, so we’d have no problems fitting in with him. To our amazement when the lock refilled the loaded boat didn’t move straight away - narrowboat Santana came out of the lock, chugging away in the direction of Mons. We waved and shouted "where are you headed?", Julian waved back, but didn’t hear us so he didn't tell us where he was going! (Julian boats single-handed like Bill, but unlike us, he travels a great many locks and kilometres each year). We’d heard the woman on Belize screaming at someone and thought murder was being done until we followed them into the lock and went alongside. The boat was run by a young couple with a blonde-haired live wire of a toddler. Now we understood why all the yelling - he wouldn’t stay in the wheelhouse. Mum was steering, she smiled and spoke to us. Dad was seeing to ropes and cleaning down with a hosepipe. 

New paint - photo taken in 2002

Dad told Mum that if the child wouldn’t stay in the cabin she’d have to restrain him - she tried that and he was having none of it, he wanted to look at the funny boats too! He hung on the rail at the top of the cabin steps and grinned while we chatted to his Mum, who wanted to know all the usual things, where were we going, how we had got here, etc. It was 12.30 p.m. by the time we left the lock and started off across a windswept lake to the slip at Roelens-Maes. Majorie had told Mike that the bloke off the Luxe had been asked to coil up the ropes when he left the trolley, but he hadn’t done that, they were trailing in the water - she said to watch out for them. At least they were floating and we could see them. Bill took the uphill side of the trolley and we took the lakeside view. He’d got two posts to tie to at the bows, while we’d just got one and had to leave the boat wandering about, tied loosely until we were dragged up the bank. It was lunchtime and so I made a sandwich. Bill was getting tetchy. We later realised he’d never docked his boat before, so all this was a new experience for him. We didn’t like to say too much as he’d earlier made comment that too much information takes away the sense of discovery for him. OK, but it’s difficult to know how much he knows and how much he needs to know! Majorie’s Dad, André, came to see how we were doing and waved for Bill to move forward as Rosy’s bows weren’t quite over the trolley. Water in the lake was sloshing back and forth and the wind was gusting quite strongly, which didn’t make life easy. I helped by taking Bill's side bow rope, then he undid his two bow ropes which were still just looped around the posts and stood on the deck holding them, then he tied the two ends together. I ended up pushing our bows away from the post (we’d only got one post to tie to, so I had to keep us away from it as we came out of the water in order to position the boat on the trolley) and trying to keep Rosy’s bows central too with Bill’s side rope as we rattled up the slope. 

A good map of Belgian waterways - from the lock keeper's cabin in Bosuit
photo from Oct 2005

It’s a jolting, nerve-jangling experience, made worse by the fact that the boats list (not a lot but enough to be slightly disconcerting) as the boats ground on the trolley. Rosy was listing slightly to starboard and Temujin to port, each leaning towards the middle of the trolley. It was 2.45 p.m. when Majorie shouted “Stop” and André threw the switch to stop the winding motor. Let the work commence! Mike was not happy about the fact that the previous occupant had left a large steel wedge on the wooden top of the trolley and pointed out to Majorie if there was one of those under the bottom of the boat it could seriously dent the bottom! She looked very concerned about that - we thought the previous tennant would get a severe telling off. I went off to the village to use the callbox to ‘phone M. Lemaire, our "expert" (surveyor), pausing on the way to connect up the water hose so Mike could start work with the pressure washer and clean the weed off the boat hull. He said later that their “new” Kärcher was not as good as their old one, it didn’t fetch off all the weed growth. I called Lemaire’s office, just down the road from the chantier, in Bléharies, and the young lady (his daughter) who answered took details and said she would ask him to ‘phone me back. When Mike finished, Bill took over with the Kärcher and cleaned the gunge off Rosy. The weather changed around 5.30 p.m. and he had a shower of rain to assist with the pressure washing! Mike started refilling our water tank and when the tank was full I went over to the toilets to turn the water off, disconnected it and recoiled the hosepipe, draping the loops back where I’d had them from, over the bows of an elderly cruiser. Later there was a lovely sunset and a clear cloudless sky. 

Thursday 18th (to Wednesday 24th) March 2004 Waiting for the dry dock at Pommeroeul.

Thursday 18th March 2004

Getting cooler, but still a mild 6.9° C overnight, wind picking up later in the afternoon. We’d put the central heating on overnight expecting the temperature to drop lower than it did. The morning was misty. We had showers of rain which left a film of dirt over the cabin. Mike went by car to get some bread and took Bill with him as he wanted to get a Belgian ‘phone chip. Mike bought a small bloomer-style loaf called a “ferme” from Pommeroeul and they bought Bill’s SIM (10 Eu for the chip, plus 15 Eu worth of calls) from Quiverain, where they also found an auto spares shop where he purchased some oil seals. The oil seal for the moped wasn’t the right size, it was too big. After lunch Mike set the welder up; he started by repairing the rear view mirror for the moped by cutting the old threaded end off and welding a bolt in its place. While he was doing that I noticed the lock lights had come on! There was a man in the cabin - they must have to come and check the lock every now and again to make sure it’s still working OK! (There are two locks, but neither are worked as the canal below them is inacessible as the VNF haven't dredged it since the Belgians removed Antoing lock which altered the levels) He left the lights on and also changed the lighting around the basin so that the lights by the boats came on at night. No one said anything about us running the welder on the approach to the lock! Next Mike welded the plates together that he’d cut to make the flanges for Bill’s replacement manifold. Bill came out to give him a hand and keep him company.

Friday 19th March 2004 Pommeroeul.

8.9° C chilly blustery wind, showery, grey and overcast. Mike and Bill went shopping, (I stayed home), fetching groceries from Carrefour at Condé-sur-Escaut in France. He posted some samples of oil seals that he wanted to Peter (for him to get some in the UK for us) and found an MBK shop in Belgium and was told that they don’t make MBK’s for sale in Belgium with variateurs, but the man had got an old one which he gave him. Mike bought three new engine mounts - he told the chap we were going to Poland where the roads are rough and there are no MBK dealers.

Saturday 20th March 2004 Pommeroeul.

Miserable wet and windy day. I went out with Mike in the car to the post office in Blaton. It was shut on Saturdays. Had a look at the moorings above the first lock on the Blaton-Ath canal - they were non-existent and several cruisers had taken root next to bollards below the lock. Glad we had decided to go on by boat to Pommeroeul. Found a phone box and Mike called Glyn to ask him to look out for our invoices from the VNF. I tried ringing Helen as she had said that she wanted to come by train to visit us but I got the Belgacom answering service. Went to find the Super GB in Bernissart as we’d seen a few signs for it. We found it eventually. There must be a big rubbish collection due as there were piles of old settees, mattresses and flower pots, etc, everywhere on the pavements. Mike even slowed down when he spotted a PC monitor to see if there was anything else left of the PC on the footpath, scavenger! Called in a bakery in Pommeroeul for a loaf - whoa - expensive at 1,61 Eu and it was in a pink bag so I didn’t see that it was already sliced (we prefer to slice bread ourselves as they tend to slice it very, very thin).  After lunch Mike decided to have a look at the water pump to find out why it had been making strange noises. First he found it was leaking - that would account for why we’d got a lot less water in the tank than I thought before we filled up at the bunker boat. It had a hole in the diaphragm which would account for the noise and the slow rate of flow. Out came the two spares. Calamity, neither of them worked properly either. Mike ended up having to seal one up with gasket sealer as it was leaking too.

Sunday 21st March 2004 Pommeroeul.

Sunny spells, showery and still very windy. Mike went out in the car to find a ‘phonebox and called his Mum to wish her a happy Mothers Day (it’s not Mothers Day here in Belgium) and had to leave a message as no one was at home. He tried ringing Helen and also got the answering service. When he came back he checked her number and found we hadn’t been ringing the French prefix - thinking it was a Belgian number - when it was a French one! He went back to the ‘phonebox and called the right number - Helen said she’d been watching the rugger all weekend and thought it best if she came to have a look at the boat when it’s out of the water. I spent the afternoon cooking.

Monday 22nd March 2004 Pommeroeul.

6.3°C overnight. Sunny spells, showery. We went by car to Blaton. Mike went in the post office, posted a letter (stamp cost 52c) bought another ‘phone card (10 Eu) and the post from Glyn had arrived (for which there was no charge! Whoopee!) Mike tried giving Glyn a ring to ask him to also look out for the car insurance renewal from our broker, but his ‘phone line was engaged. Mike had forgotten to bring the fuel can with us and we needed petrol for the Honda generator, so we went back to the boat to collect a can and then went searching for a filling station. Found one by the village of Thulin. Back for 10.30 a.m. After  lunch Mike restarted work on the final stages of Bill’s exhaust manifold. Bill came over to help him. We moved the boat alongside Rosy to run our Markon generator to power the welder. Mike packed up and we moved the boat back just in time to sit down and eat dinner

Tuesday 23rd March 2004 Pommeroeul.

Sunny spells, cloudy. 3.5° C overnight. Mike took Bill in the car to Peronnes as he’d made an appointment at the vet’s for Fanny. He picked up a loaf in Peronnes, 1,53 Eu - bread seems dear here. The vet said it might be something stuck in the dog's salivary gland - a delicate operation - but the swelling had to be reduced first and he gave Bill a prescription for a ten day course of pills and he just about got some small change back out of 20 Euros. They went to see Majorie. The Luxemotor was due to come off the big trolley on Friday, so we should be able to go on around lunchtime. She’d got a Surflo water pump, just what we needed, so Mike haggled with her a little and bought it for 90 Euros. He hadn’t got enough cash with him so she said he could settle up later. He went by car to Blaton to post another letter, this time the postage to the UK cost him 59c! (Cheaper in France 50c!) On his return he fitted the new water pump.

Wednesday 24th March 2004 Pommeroeul.

Weather much the same, grey clouds, sunny spells. Mike repaired the moped, replacing the variateur, then put the bike back on the roof. I got the sewing machine out and did a couple of patches on the bike cover, which had ripped in the recent high winds. Bill’s oil pressure gauge didn’t work after Bill had rewired it. He’d shifted the sender and the wire wasn’t long enough, so he’d added two bits and now it wouldn’t work. Mike went over on Rosy to help him put it right. Ran the boat engine and Markon and did two loads of washing, as we’d got half a tank of water and would soon be able to refill it once we get on the dock. After lunch we went out for a ride in the car. First we went into France to Mauberge and went into the post office where we queued for ages just to ask if the new postal tariffs applied to our cash machine card (the super 24 card will cost 18Eu per year from July onwards) but the guy said our 24/24 card would remain free of charge. Great, ‘cos our next question was going to be “how do we cancel it?” We rarely use it, but it could have been useful in an emergency when the post offices were closed and, of course, we wouldn’t be using it anyway for the next two years as we shall not be in France. We set off back on a scenic tour of the Val de Thune which was very pretty, but well manicured as there were lots of holiday residences along most of the length of its banks. Where there were no chalets and caravans the stream had been dammed to make fishponds. Into Beaumont and then north towards Mons, which we avoided by skirting to the south west. We’d seen signposts for Cora so we passed through Hornu to find it. It looked like a pretty large hyper, similar to its French namesakes, so we decided to stock up with groceries from there the next day. Cooked a quick dinner of egg and chips. Mike sat up late watching a version of “Das Boot” dubbed into English (he’d seen it before but in German with English subtitles).

Wednesday 17th March 2004 lock one Péronnes to Pommeroeul.

Ladder and floating "boulders) in Peronne lock.
(picture taken in May 2011)

Sunny, 6.6° C overnight. There was a layer of condensation over the roof when we set off at nine, the light breeze soon dried it. Met an empty called Tempore from s’Gravendeel at Wier bridge. There was a very smart converted péniche moored at the quay upstream of Wier bridge. An 85m empty, Asana from Antwerpen, went past, followed not long after by an empty péniche Santa Cruz, which we’d seen quite a few times before. An 85m long empty, Tarragona from Brugge, went by at 10.40 a.m. above Rouacourt bridge. 

Lock cabin and top end gate of Peronne lock
(picture taken in May 2011)

There were lots of people painting boats at Peruweltz yacht club, most of their boats were on the bank, they waved as we passed. Noted that there was a tap in the arm where they moor - a cut off bit of the old Peronnes-Blaton canal. Into a shallow cutting. We noticed one of the crows on the bank was distinctly brown coloured with lighter brown streaks down its back and across its wings. Definitely a crow though. The banks were covered in snowdrops. We passed the junction with the Blaton-Ath canal at 11.45 a.m. 

Emergency flood gate at Blaton
(picture taken in May 2011)

We talked to Bill and decided to move on as far as the junction with the Pommeroeul canal, which is at present disused as the bottom lock and the level beyond had not been modified since the change in levels when the Belgians removed Antoing lock, as there is a good quiet mooring there which we thought would be better for the dog than Blaton. The mooring was along a concrete pier pointing out into the middle of a large wide bassin above the lock. A tanker péniche and a hotel Luxemotor were moored at the end closest the middle of the “large” - we winded and moored at the end nearest the lock. It was 12.45 when we tied up. 

Mooring above disused lock at Pommeroeul lock.
(picture taken in May 2011)

There were a few fishermen around and people walking dogs. A slipway on the far bank was used quite a bit by fishermen with small day boats. I helped Mike unload the moped off the roof direct on to the concrete wall. There was a big gap between the boat and the wall due to a wooden balk used for fendering, but the bike went across that without using a plank, no problems. I did my chores while Mike collected the car from Valenciennes. The afternoon was balmy, like a spring day at 23° C! When Mike returned he said the variateur on the moped had been playing up and he needed to strip it down. He dismantled the variateur to sand off the depressions made by the ball bearings. He discovered he hadn’t got a spare oil seal, so he couldn’t put it back together. Chained it to the railings and put the cover over it, roping it down well as we were expecting high winds next day.

Tuesday 16th March 2004 Valenciennes France to above lock one Péronnes, Belgium.

Scrap berth in Valenciennes (picture from 2011)

Sunny and mild after 10° C overnight - spring is almost here! Set off at 9.00 a.m. At least we were pointing the right way to go against the flow! Back up the weir stream and turned left, under the railway bridge and into Folien lock, which was full and ready for us as Mike had called the keeper on VHF before we untied. Just us two narrowboats to descend. A loaded 80m Dutchman called Odysseus was waiting below the lock. Three kilometres to La Folie, the lock was filling, we dropped down again - just us two. 

Sharing Fresnes lock (last or first in France) with a loaded pushtow
(picture from 2011)

We couldn't believe how quiet it was, we must have found a slack time! I defrosted the ‘fridge on the 6 kms to the last French lock at Fresnes-sur-Escaut and just had time to repack it before we arrived at the lock. I’d got all the paperwork ready, plus the cash to get the sixteen day “vacance” licence. Rosy came alongside us. Mike took the rubbish across to the bins while Bill and I went to see the keeper. He asked for our licence and when I asked if we could buy one there he said no, he would have to take our details and the VNF would send us the bill. 

Bows of overtaking pushtown (picture from 2011)

I’d taken the previous bill from Reims VNF, which he copied, and I made sure he knew we only wanted a two week one not a full year. I picked up the new list of charges and a map, two sets - one for Bill. The keeper (a rather nervous young man in his early twenties) had a call from a boat wanting to use the lock, it was for downhill so he started the lock emptying - good thing we’d paired the boats and Mike was on duty in charge of the rope. 

Barge loaded with thirty containers. (picture from 2011)

Bill and I climbed down the ladder chasing the boat (hate doing that!) as the lock emptied and got back on board as the gates opened. It was 11.20 a.m. as we left heading for Belgium. I sorted out the flags to replace the French courtesy flag and made a cuppa. Half an hour later Mariëlle, an empty from Farrsum, passed us heading uphill. At Hergnies at 12.20 p.m. a 64m long containerboat Manu from Brugge with radar turning - the skipper certainly couldn’t see in front of his vessel over the stack of containers - passed us heading for Valenciennes. Shortly afterwards 80m long “Nimo” from Datteln, loaded with 1,260 tonnes of scrap, followed on uphill. 

Turrets at Antoing Belgium. (picture from 2011)

The stream of boats was more or less constant after that, all heading uphill into France - an empty Adversa from Beaussart, then Sandra from Bourisville, a loaded 80m Dutchman. We had lunch. Met the next loaded boat at Mortagne, Samarkand from Marchiennes. Just around the corner we met Tanche an empty péniche from Brugge at the end of the new red and green markers where the channel splits for the Scarpe downstream of Mortagne. The loaded boat which had been following us, Galahad from Bléharies, overtook us at Bléharies bridge. The quay at Bléharies, as usual, was almost full of boats, an 80m empty St Louis, an empty péniche Rosalino with a loaded boat moored next to it, Bona-Fide, another empty 80m Johnny H and a nicely converted péniche-houseboat Marica de Bléharies at the end of the quay wall. 

Concrete works and chandlery/fuel barge Neptunia at Antoing
(picture from 2011)

Another boat overtook us, Laurmick a 55m loaded boat from Brunehaut, just before Hollain bridge and the junction with the Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes canal. Notec (hey! one named after a Polish river) from Douai went past heading upriver just before we arrived at Neptunia. We winded and moored against the small fuel barge, just downstream of the big chandlery barge, and the lad (le jeune) came to serve us with diesel and water. We took on a total of 850 litres of red gasoil and Bill had 400 litres. I paid for it at the bar on the big boat, paying the price quoted a couple of days earlier of 322 Euros per “tonne” (1,000 litres) Or 32.2c a litre - 22.5p (those were the days - RED diesel now forbidden except for heating and the prices have rocketed). Had fun filling the water tank with a two inch diameter hose - it’s as big as our filler tube, needless to say an air lock erupted back in my face to give me a nice icy cold shower! I went to see if they’d got any German courtesy flags, they hadn’t. Try again when we’re in Holland. It was coming up to four o’clock as we set off again, retracing our steps back to the junction. A loaded péniche called Okeanos from Conflans overtook us, followed by one of the small bunkerships just before we reached the TGV bridge. An empty 80m called Frimont was coming downriver. Rosy was in front. Another empty, Odra (another Polish river!) from Antoing (81m x 9.5m - 1,370 tonnes) was fast catching us up and soon overtook us (and the péniche which had overtaken us earlier) and was pulling away slowly. We saw the river bottom at the base of the bank protection rocks as he went past us, slowing us down to a standstill as he overtook. Sipisto from Wemeldinga followed after him as we reached the junction and turned left for Peronnes lock 2. I went in the keeper's cabin once the lock was full, explained what we were doing and paid for a trip to Blaton (1,05 Eu) and the return (60c). When we set off again the keeper said we must get a new quittance from him to go all the way to Maastricht. We carried on, up Peronnes 1 - the deep lock - at least it had got floating “boulders” (nicknamed the bollards once in the Netherlands and it stuck, now we always call them boulders, daft) to hang on to. I went in the cabin, taking Bill’s papers too, to get them stamped. The keeper, a cheerful middle aged bloke, explained that he had a trainee working for him - he was filling in the paperwork (almost stopping to lick the end of the pencil too!) while we chatted. I asked if we could moor above his lock in the corner - yes, no problem. He told me that they now had to charge for drinking water - 3 Euros a tonne! Dashed back on the boat as there was a boat coming up behind us. It was 5.45 p.m. as we tied up. A long, but pleasant, day’s cruising. Traffic was busy until closing time, then a loaded 80m moored bows to bows with us overnight. 

Pictures from 2011 again, sorry none from 2004 for this area.

Sunday 14th & Monday 15th March 2004 Bassin Rond to Valenciennes.

Sunday 14th March 2004 Bassin Rond

Mild 5.5° C. Grey clouds and chilly in the blustery wind. Mike started fabricating flanges for Bill’s manifold, working on the pontoon using the workmate bench which was rocking from side to side in the stiff wind blowing straight down the old arm off the wide. Trouble with our electric supply - he had to strip down our Honda generator’s carburettor, the main jet was blocked with a tiny lump of fluff and hairs. He went back to cutting out the shapes for the flanges but got fed up with the wind and gave up.

Above Pont Malin lock (photo from 2011)

Monday 15th March 2004 Bassin Rond to Valenciennes.

Even milder 8.5° C overnight. Cloudy, but at least the wind had died down a bit. Set off just after 9.00 a.m. turned left, on to the main canal, then right on the Grand Gabarit (high tonnage route) into Pont Malin lock, which was full and ready for us. There were several boats moored above the lock, two empty pusher péniche pairs, which were pointing uphill, and a loaded Dutch boat which was in the act of offloading his car. Just us two to drop down in the chamber. Mike put the pins in to run the Markon generator and I did the ironing (we’d got very little water left in the tank so I couldn’t do any more washing!) on the 8 kms reach down to Denain. 

Unloading sand into lorries KP3 R Escaut  (photo from 2011)

There were lots of boats in the arm above the lock, including a 667 tonne boat (61.5m x 5.10m) called Amoco Cadiz (really! and it wasn’t a tanker) manoeuvring in the entrance to the arm. VD, a péniche we’d seen lots of times, was moored on the quay wall above the lock, as was an empty 80m called Naiado. A pusher pair had just left the lock heading upriver so it was ready for us. A couple of teenage lads were rescuing some ducks which had gotten themselves trapped at the back of the open top end gates. We moored on opposite sides of the lock chamber until we saw Amoco Cadiz heading for the lock too, so we moved over in front of Rosy. 

Container port at Prouvy  (photo from 2011)

Mike made a cuppa as I steered down the next reach. Rony from Antoing was loading at the silo by the autoroute. At Prouvy Josyl and Syljo were both loaded, moored side by side up the arm. Sankara from Brugge (85m x 9.5m 1,571 tonnes) was loading containers, Ben-Gus (84.75m x 8.2m 1,260 tonnes) was loading grain at the silo at the downstream end of the quay. An empty pan, (71m x 10m) called Scot was being pushed upriver by a small tug called Spes Mea from Dunkerque, the crew waved as we passed. The island above Trith-St-Léger lock was covered in tall trees which were home to a very large rookery. 

Moored in the weir stream in Valenciennes but in May 2011

The approach to the lock was crowded with coots, ducks and moorhens and even a few dabchicks. The boat we’d locked down the last lock with had just cleared Trith, so we waited above, next to the left hand wall. We went down the lock with the containerboat Sankara which must have just finished loading as we passed it at Prouvy. It went into the chamber first and there was just enough room for us two behind it (lengthwise that is, there was enough width for four more narrowboats!) but nothing to tie to. We dropped down ropeless, Bill had lassoed a bollard not far from the sill. It was almost 1.30 p.m. when we winded above the lock next to a large college where all the teenagers were just returning after lunch. We reversed down the (at times) fast flowing weir stream where several old péniches, a yacht and a couple of cruisers were moored. We tied up next to a foot and cycle path separated from a road by a strip of grass and some bushes; beyond the road were a few shops - an electrical retailers and a place selling carpets, etc. Once secured and Mike had chucked out one of our small grapple anchors, (just in case the local kids have developed British kid mentalities and decide to untie the boat), so we won’t be off down to the weir at a high rate of knots in the dark, he went off to get the car. Bill did a couple of twirls around a tree (we’re still in France where trees don’t mind being tied to) with his bow rope for security. Mike was soon back with the car and a fresh loaf. 

Sorry, pictures again are from 2011 - taken in May not the cold blustery weather of March 2004!! 

11th to 13th March 2004 Time off at Bassin Rond

Thursday 11th March 2004   Bassin Rond

We decided to have the day off and go and visit Majorie by car to see what was going on at the chantier (boat yard). Bill had a few jobs to do so he said he would stay at home. It had been 1.2° C overnight, there were sunny spells and a cold wind blowing all day with occasional showers of snow grains – a good day to not go boating. North up the A2 and onto the A323 around Valenciennes, off at St Amand-des-Eaux and into Belgium. Picked up diesel at 72c a litre (cheaper than France where the cheapest we’d seen had been 75c at automatic pumps). Called in to the boatyard of Roelens-Maes at Peronnes-les-Antoing. Found Majorie working on a boat at the far side of the yard. She said she thought we were coming on the 15th April, oh dear, a passenger boat would be on the large trolley for two weeks starting on Monday. Nothing we can do but wait. (Perhaps the weather will improve a bit by then) We went into the office to check the calendar. Mike asked if she had any Morse cable clips, she had, she said she would add it to Bill’s bill! He needed one to make his emergency engine stop. Back to the boat via Neptunia’s chandlery barge, where I went on board to ask the price of red diesel after I’d elbowed my way through a gang of mariniers stuffing their faces with sandwiches and cups of coffee. 322 Euros per tonne (actually 1,000 litres not a tonne) making that 32.2c a litre. OK, we'd see them in a few days’ time. Mike called in the bakery in Peronnes for a loaf and the woman short changed him by three Euros - he went back for it and she was most apologetic. Back to the boat for lunch. Took Bill with us to get groceries from the Auchan hypermarket north of Cambrai at Escadoeuvres. (More Amateur radio stuff, sorry) Peter sent an SMS to ask about French Amateur radio repeaters. He said he thought he could conference link one with his local repeater. When we got home we sent an SMS to ask what that meant and found there was a way of doing it via the Internet. Mike put our 2m VHF radio set on and found we’d got a Belgian repeater just up the road in Tournai! ON0HT on R1! Mike put the Honda generator on to power the TV, etc, as we were staying put for the next few days. Watched the last episode in the series of “Water World” with trad narrowboats doing the Jam ‘ole run.

Friday 12th March 2004 Bassin Rond.

Just above freezing overnight. Cold windy and heavy rain in the afternoon. Ran the engine and Markon generator to do some washing. Mike took Bill to find a tractor place which might have an exhaust manifold as a replacement for his Polar heat-exchanger, the bloke wasn’t interested to order just one, this was after they'd found one which suited, but he gave them the address of the main dealers. After lunch they went out in the car and found the main dealers. All went OK until it came to the price - 220 Eu! Ouch! No ta! Mike turned his thoughts to alternatives, turning the thermostat housing round to use the Polar dry or maybe making a new manifold.

Saturday 13th March 2004 Bassin Rond

A milder 5.6° C minimum overnight. Cloudy mostly, but a few sunny spells. Did chores in the morning. Mike went by car to get bread from the village. When he returned he rewired our car immobiliser. After lunch he spoke to Bill about making a new manifold to replace the Polar. He said OK. He told Mike he was having trouble with battery charging, but he thought he could fix it. He emptied out the coolant while Mike and I went to Castorama (big DIY shop) at Petit Fôret for some iron pipe fittings, purge taps and brass reducers for Bill and a spare purge tap for us, plus some hand cleaner. On our return at 4 p.m. Mike went on Rosy to make a start. I relit the coal fire - we’d left it closed up without adding any boulets so it had gone out.

Wednesday 10th March 2004 Masnières to Bassin Rond

WW1 obelisk at Masnieres

Cold -0° C overnight. Odd flurries of flakes of snow, chilly, grey and overcast. set off at 9.30 a.m. Marylene had loaded and was off down the locks before us at 9 a.m. Bill spoke to Mike about wiring his temperature gauge sender when we got to Bracheux, lock 6. It wouldn’t work after he’d wired it in - he’d got the washers in the wrong order, so he changed them round as we dropped down the lock, it was all OK after that, breathe a sigh of relief! A cheery gang of VNF woodcutters below the lock shouted hello to us as we passed. Down lock 5 Marcoing and then along a short pound full of very loud ducks to 4 Talma, bottom of the three. A yacht was moored in the basin below Talma. Blackthorn trees were almost ready to burst forth into flower along the next pound. A solitary youth on the towpath gawped at the boat with the typical stare of a village idiot, then he tried to beg cigarettes off Bill - who doesn’t smoke. Down 3 Noyelles and along a short pound to 2 Catigeul. 1.6 kms to the next and flakes of snow started falling again, blowing in our faces. More work was going on in the copse on our right, a tractor pulled over a partly sawn-through tree with a resounding thud, then the chainsaws started up to chop up the trunk. 

Empty peniche abv Cantimpre

The non-towpath side was covered in the larger version of snowdrops that grow here called spring snowflakes. Down lock 1 Proville, the last on the St Quentin canal. Two boats were being unloaded by a digger dropping the cargo into a trailer hauled by a tractor at a builder’s yard. Export from Anzin was already empty, with Euro from Dunkerque half empty. Just above Cantimpré, lock 1 (numbers start again), in Cambrai the navigation changed to the canalised river Escaut. It was just on midday as we arrived at the keeper-operated lock. 

Moored boats in basin at Cambrai

We were busy spotting the boats in the basin, among them two narrowboats, The New Buffoonery of Winchester and Kells; the Murrell's Luxemotor Friesland was there too. The keeper worked us through his lock, operated from a cozy cabin. He came out and told us to keep together through the next lock as it was automatic and then went off to his lunch five minutes late at 12.05. Below the lock an empty called Ger-Jac from Béthune was moored and just one converted péniche was moored up the arm with one empty moored alongside it. 

Aqueduct over Escaut at Noyelles

Down lock 2 Selles with three Shetland ponies cropping the grass on the non-towpath side above the lock. I made a hot sausage and egg sandwich for lunch as we ran down to lock 3 Erre. More new signs (Mike remarked that France seems to have gone sign crazy over the last couple of years) by the sugar works commanding pedestrians and fishermen not to stop within 50m of the signs. A text message arrived from Peter, we said we’d answer it later it was too cold to take gloves off! Snow was blowing across the flat fields as we went along the long pound down to lock 4 Thun l’Evêque, where the cheerful, chatty chef (boss) from the gang of VNF woodcutters was waiting for us, his white van parked on the lockside. 

Old shops for sale (2011) at Bassin Rond

We dropped down the lock and he went off in his van to operate the next lock for us. Salinas from Gent was loading at the silo at KP 9.5, while Forez, also moored on the silo quay, had just lost a large diameter bore tube overboard. We went to try and help fetch it out as the skipper was lying along his gunwales to try to reach it. My short shaft was far too short to reach it. Bill came back to offer his longer pole. I asked the chap if he wanted to try from our bows as it was nearer but he declined. We came to the conclusion that he was a bit embarrassed at having help from plaisanciers, so we backed off and went on down to the next lock wishing “bonne courage!” to him and his missus, who’d just fetched a small grappling hook on a length of cord. The keeper at lock 5 Iwuy asked for our papers and vignette. 

Pontoon (repaired in 2011) Bassin Rond

He looked out our purple card and said it was no good, I replied that we wouldn’t escape without paying at the last lock before Belgium. He laughed, he was pulling Mike’s leg when he said having no licence would cost him lots of sous! The last couple of kilometres down to the Bassin Rond seemed to get even colder. We moored next to the mouldering old pontoon, which had less and less wooden planking each time we moor there, this time the passerelles had been blocked off with “access interdit” signs on the fencing. It was no problem to step off the pontoon on to the bank anyway! It was 3 p.m. I sent an SMS to Peter and Mike went to get the car. I boiled a bacon blade bone joint then turned the meat into a stew for dinner with onions, carrots and pearl barley. (The rest is Amateur Radio stuff – non-Amateurs please continue to next posting!) Peter sent an SMS to ask us to help test his new HF antenna - a carbon fibre fishing rod! It worked well on 20m he said - but we couldn’t hear him, the skip distance must have been wrong. Tried 40m, but it was very crowded and the stations tuning up obliterated Peter’s signals. Not to give up, we moved on to 80m and found that was much better, although there was lots of interference from adjacent stations spreading over several kcs of the band. Mike went to record to record something on TV after handing the microphone over to me, but found that switching on our little Handy Mains inverter wiped out Peter’s audio signals. A few minutes later he disappeared into the noise anyway, so we switched the HF set off and ate the stew which was still just about warm. (Oh! the days pre-mobile internet!) 

Sorry, still a dearth of photos from this date - here's some from 2011

Tuesday 9th March 2004 Vendhuile to Masnières

Tunnel chain tug, still plodding on in 2011

It was sunny but cold when we got up. Temperature outside had been down to 2.5°C overnight. It clouded over mid-afternoon and we had snow blizzards. Set off at nine. I got the bed up to find extra woolly hats, gloves and scarves. I put the bed back in order whilst en route to the first downhill lock in the Escaut valley. Side-by-side again with Rosy as the automatic locks were working OK like that. Down 17 Bosquet, 16 Moulin Lafosse, 15 Honnecourt, then a longer pound of about two kilometres wound down to 14 Bateux and 13 Bantouzelle. 

Cafe & tabac by lock 17

More bends to 12 Vaucelles. The locksides were wet where someone had reversed - both sides, so it must be a péniche - and the water was murky after the mud had been stirred. We met an empty heading uphill called L’Atout, from Watten, the skipper said he hadn’t seen us as he’d left us just enough room to get round a left hand bend between his bows and the bank. We could see the boat in front across the long sweeping bend down to 11 Tordoir, where we caught up as he was entering the lock. While we waited for him to clear the lock, I went inside to turn a stale loaf into bread pudding and cooked a hot sandwich of fried luncheon meat and eggs to warm us up. Down 10 Vinchy, 

In the control cabin at Crevecoeure

then 9 Crèvecoeure, where a VNF man came out from the control centre cabin to ask for our papers. I went in to the office to collect them and had a chat with him. He said he’d been to Cardiff last weekend. It didn’t dawn until I got back on the boat that France had beaten Wales at Rugby. I told him I was English not Welsh! He asked if we were going back to England, no off to Belgium to dock the boat and paint it. As we left the lock I ‘phoned Christelle to tell Jean-Max that we would be at Masnières around 2 p.m. She said she would tell him and ring us back. 

Moored in 2011 at Masnieres

Crossed the tiny river Escaut on an aqueduct before lock 8 Saint-Vaast, then ran down to the last lock, number 7 Masnières, eating hot bread pudding. Bill said he would have made some custard to go with it. Mike said it wasn’t one of my best, but still ate it. Christelle ‘phoned, Mike answered, she said she was coming to pick him up at 2.30 p.m. We moored to the quay by the road bridge and park at 1.20 p.m. Mike tested Bill’s temperature sender and thermostat, but he could detect nothing wrong with either. Christelle arrived just after three, she’d done a small diversion. She came on board for coffee and she tried some traditional English bread pudding. Jean-Max called at 4.15 pm to find out where she was, we were still chatting. She took Mike back to St Quentin to get the car and collect Gaétan from his minder. I put the Mac on to catch up again. Prepared a stir fry ready to cook for dinner as soon as Mike returned - he was late back as he’d been out to find a motor spares place with Jean-Max in St Quentin to get a new thermostat for Rosy.

Sorry, photos are from 2011

Monday 8th March 2004 St Quentin to Vendhuile

Long straight section before Lesdins tunnel. Aug 1993

We were up bright and early at 8.00 a.m. to get ready to move off. The temperature overnight had been down to 0.9° C, we had sunshine all day but with a bitterly cold northerly wind. Mike set our water tank refilling. Bill went to try and get tablets for Fanny but the vets and the pharmacy didn’t open until 2.00 p.m. Jean-Max and Christelle came back from taking Maeva to school and Gaétan to a minder. Jean-Max had collected bread for us while he was getting theirs. I took Christelle some books. Mike went to sort out a problem Bill had with a short circuit on Rosy.

The very famous Riqueval bridge
 (see below for link to WW1 picture) this pic taken Aug 1993

He’d dislodged a wire to his ammeter which had shorted the battery main cable. We set off a little later than intended at 10.55 a.m. Decided that going through the automatic locks side by side was the best method. We motored through St Quentin and up lock 22, St Quentin, a short distance then up lock 21, Moulin Brûlé. The number of water fowl on the canal through the town was astounding, ducks and coots for the most part, but also lots of moorhens and a few crested grebe. It was 12.10 pm as we went up lock 20, Omissy, then 19 Pascal and I made lunch en route to 18 Lesdins, the top lock. 

Southern entrance to Lesdins tunnel. Aug 1993

We had to go slowly on the first bit of the summit as a VNF man had told us that an empty was coming through the tunnel and we would have to wait for him. We passed Sahete from Strasbourg moored to the bank just before the tunnel lights, wheelhouse down, skipper probably having a bite for his lunch before starting the descent. Power on, I started the washing machine running. I set up our hand-held spotlamp to look for evidence of the German WW1 occupation of the tunnels when they were part of the fortifications of the Hindenberg Line. We passed several bricked up doorways but there was nothing more interesting in Lesdins tunnel than rusting bollards set at the base of the wall all along the towpath, plus a panicking moorhen galloping along the towpath in the dark until I shone the spotlight on it. Came out of the tunnel at 1.10 p.m. into the shallow summit cutting. 

Tunnel tug towing a cruiser Aug 1993

A very chilly wind blasted across the fields as we passed through Bellenglise. Bill let Fanny off on the towpath for her to trot along while the boat was moving - the first time he’d tried doing that, she seemed to take quite well to it. I turned the washing machine on to tumble dry for the last twenty minutes until we got to Riqueval, and the entrance to Bony tunnel. We moored up at 2.15 pm to await the tow at 3.10 p.m. A VNF man came for our papers, no, we couldn’t pay him today, they would send us the bill by post. I gave him our last invoice from the VNF for last year’s péage (licence). He photocopied it and brought it back as we were getting ready to set off. Bill had put a long line on his bows to our stern. We trundled up to the ancient chain tug and took a single line from the young chap off the tug. Once the “râme” was sorted out we set off. I tried to tell one VNF workman that we wouldn’t be breaking any records today with only two boats and that the record was seventy four peniches in the good old days before they built the Canal du Nord. He didn’t understand me! I had to resort to telling him again in English! Then he understood! I got the video camera out to record what might be our last tow through Bony by chain tug as there was talk of the VNF replacing the tug or stopping towage altogether. It took from 3.20 pm until 5.10 pm to travel the 5.67 kilometres underground. At the far end a convoy of péniches was waiting for the tug, three loaded Dutchmen, Ancilla from Othene, Evolutie from Amsterdam and Vincita from Rotterdam, with two empty French boats at the rear - Sta Maria from Denain and Gourbet from Dunkerque, the latter was motoring to catch the rest up as we came into Vendhuile. We moored in the village, before the road bridge, next to a sloping bank that was crumbling with the amount of undermining by rats or moles. It was 5.30 p.m. when we tied up. After a lovely sunny day we had a superb sunset. Mike finished doing his engine shutdown routine while I made dinner.

The very famous bridge at Riqueval - see the WW1 photo

and a bigger image of the WW1 photo

Note: No photos from 2004 so I've added earlier ones from Aug 1993

Sunday 7th March 2004 Jussy to St Quentin.

Chris - mariniere, actor and good friend 2012

3.5° C overnight. Sunny spells and showers (some very heavy) all day. Set off at 9.15 a.m. I did my chores on the run up to St Simon. An empty from Marchienne called Cassia was moored by the houses on the left and Marylene was waiting to load at the silo quay before the Point Y, the junction with the canal de la Somme. Bill was in front, but paused by the sensors below lock 25, Pont Tugny, for us to catch up. We went through with the regulation twenty metres between us. Still the stupid lock went “en panne” - the red light at the top of the rods was flashing, not the green one! We ‘phoned the number in the book, on answerphone, I left a message. Eventually the itinerant turned up and sorted out the lock. When Mike questioned him about what had gone wrong, he said we’d gone through the sensors too fast. We fell about laughing at that – narrowboats too fast? He said the computer had registered three boats! Then he said there was an empty coming down and that he would be at the next lock. 

Bateau-theatre Cristal'Canal leaving Conde for Paris in 2012

We passed Lore from Nancy at KP 64. Bill waited before the next set of sensors and this time we went through side-by-side. The lock, 24 Séraucourt, opened and we went in - still side-by-side - and the lock worked perfectly. There was no sign of the mobile keeper. The lock filled with four gate paddles lifted causing quite some turbulence in the chamber, which was almost wide enough for three narrowboats. We exited together. It started to pour with rain. A long line of fishermen sat along the left hand bank at Fontaines-lès-Clercs. A fishing contest in the rain! They must be as mad as us! The rain continued to pour down as we motored into the outskirts of St Quentin. The sun came out as the rain stopped just before we reached the quay and tied up behind theatre-boat Cristal-Canal, which belongs to our old friends Jean-Max and Christelle. 

Bateau-theatre Cristal'Canal leaving Conde for Paris in 2012

It was 1.00 p.m. No signs of anyone on board. Mike wanted to get off to collect the car while the sun was still shining, so we unloaded the moped and he went to fetch it from Jussy. He was back at 3.00 p.m. having passed through a hail storm in the car (luckily). We put the moped back on board, then Mike ate a late lunch while watching the Grand Prix. We had a visit from three cheeky lads, all aged about twelve, who wanted to come on board. I was delegated to speak to them. Mike went out the back and they went off to talk to him instead. Bill came out too and they must have felt outnumbered because they left. 

Bateau-theatre Cristal'Canal leaving Conde for Paris in 2012

Another squall came over so we battened the boat down before it poured. After we’d had dinner Mike went to look see if there was anyone on board Cristal-Canal. There was, they’d been at home all along! Jean-Max asked if we wanted electricity, so Mike ran out a cable and connected up. Later we went on board for a natter. Their daughter, Maeva aged nine, had just come back from two weeks’ holiday with some friends who live near Belfort and was due to go back to school in St Quentin next day. Their son Gaétan aged three, was getting bigger, so Christelle said she had had to find a child minder who would have him during the day so that she could help J-M get on with converting the downstairs of their apartment from two bedrooms to three now that they’d had the péniche’s old ballast tanks opened out. 

Jean-Max - wind-swept marinier, actor and good friend. 2012

Christelle took us downstairs to look at the work under construction. Maeva and Gaétan were playing in the theatre, which was loaded up with their belongings while they were working on the reconstruction. The kids were playing “cabins” under the mattresses leaning against the rows of theatre seats. J-M was making three new bedrooms and converting the ballast tanks - port side for wardrobes and starboard for a shower and toilet. Christelle said the kids were sharing Maeva’s bedroom and she and J-M were having to sleep on a mattress upstairs on their living room floor. It will be wonderful when it’s finished and also when the terrace on the theatre roof is done too. We went back upstairs. Bill came over to join us with his wine box of Merlot. J-M had opened some champagne from Condé and we toasted our favourite French village. I told them that it was Gérard’s sixtieth birthday the day before, so Jean-Max tried ringing him to wish him a belated happy birthday. (For those who don’t know, he lives in Condé and is the Port manager)  I said it was also the last night of the play “La Bonne Anna” at the village hall in Condé, which Alix was directing. Christelle told us that the theatre company called A.C.T.E.1 was composed of Alix’s Am-Dram students. We chatted until 10.30 p.m. Bill had departed a little earlier to go and feed Fanny the Woof. Christelle said they were going to be performing in Beaucaire this summer, and not Avignon as previously planned. Back on board our boat Mike relit the coal fire - we’d left the front of the Torgem open and the fire had gone out, he also lit the Refleks central heating too as the temperature was dropping sharply.

More pictures of Cristal'canal

and their performances for next month (December 2013) in Nancy 

Still a severe lack of photos from 2004, pre-digital for us!