Wednesday 3rd March 2004 Berry-au-Bac to Pinon.

Derelict lock house lock 13 Verneuil. Oise a l'Aisne canal

Even colder - 4.7° C overnight. After a frosty, misty start, we had a mild sunny day. Mike went to buy a loaf before we set off at 9.15 a.m. An older VNF lock keeper worked lock 3 Berry for us. Mike checked with him that it was OK to leave the car by the bins for a couple of days. Below the lock we drifted while Mike put the pins in to run the generator so I could do my ironing. Chatted to the skipper of the moored, empty péniche Lesage as we went past. The flow rate of the water from the Aisne, which runs the length of the long pound to power the Hydro-Electric-Power station at Bourg-et-Cumin, was about one and a half kilometres per hour. 

Lock chamber at 13 Verneuil

Bill had gone on ahead. An empty called Syljo went past at KP 30, as we were passing a grey-faced old coypu, the latter carried on swimming merrily along the bank as the wash from both boats bounced him gently up and down. Their other boat, Josyl, (which makes up a pusher-pair) was not far behind - we passed them at Maizy, it was followed by Sta Cruz, which was also empty. Then, as we passed the sugar works at Villiers, a loaded boat called Cathy went past, also heading uphill. Turned right on to the Oise à l’Aisne canal and into lock 13, Verneuil, which the tunnel keeper keeps an eye on using cctv - he sets the chain of automatic locks for uphill boats. There was a new war memorial monument alongside the lock. A young itinerant lock-keeper on a moped arrived to check the lock, he said we must to put a rope on a bollard for “securité” I almost asked him why. 

The ventilator fan at Braye tunnel

These next four locks must be the gentlest filling ones in all of France. Bill complied with his request, we didn’t. The lock keeper on a moped left us to it. I made lunch on the way up the flight as Bill was on the left (his preferred side, we favour the right - it's all to do with the hand of the prop) and was doing the job of lifting the lock activating bars so I was redundant. We arrived at the top at 1.10 p.m. Quomodo Vale (loaded) from Dombasle, was heading for the locks we’d just left. The big green fan was out of action at the portal of Braye tunnel. The fan itself was missing and a very old electrical panel (with loads of connections) was laid against the wall. The tunnel was dripping in places. Cabourg, an empty from St Jean-de-Losne, was waiting at the far end. The tunnel light turned to green for him as we passed through the portal. 

Lock cabin at 6 Pinon. Oise a l'Aisne canal

The middle-aged couple on board the peniche were still eating their lunch as they cast off. A houseboat péniche, called Joyau from Eisden, was moored above lock 9, Pargny. The lock was now automatic and so this time (sadly) there was no keeper with a big black dog to come out to work the lock. A short pound lead to lock 8, Chavignon, where the keeper was working in his garden. His two large Rottweiler-cross dogs were on the lockside. One came close to the boat and growled savagely at poor Fanny - and we were in the middle, being deafened. Varia, a loaded boat from Amsterdam, was coming uphill, heading for the lock as we left. Mike went inside to fix a wire that had pulled out of our radio. A short pound lead to lock 7, Chaillevois, where there were lots of VNF vans at the lock house, but no one was around as we dropped down in the chamber. Five kilometres to lock 6 at Pinon. We dropped down the lock and moored on the quay at the back of the Champion supermarket at 4.30 p.m. Mike went to look at Bill’s cooling system, it was still spewing antifreeze all over his engine room floor. After dinner Mike made up a temporary header tank, using an empty plastic five litre container, to fit into Bill’s system.

(Note: due to lack of photos from 2004 I've added ones of the same trip done in 2011, sorry if you've seen some of them before.)