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