Chitry-les-Mines (lift bridges don’t work like that)

What’s going on here then?

We noticed there was a touch of frost first thing on Sunday morning as we got ready for a day’s cruising.  This included moving across to the other side of the port to top up with water and a wander into the port car park to get rid of the rubbish and recycling.  We had finished our jobs in time to set off with Martin & Hilary on Ma Belle at our agreed time of 10.00am by which time all traces of the frost had long gone.

Our new bikes fitting snuggly – just need to get a new bike cover

It was our first time sharing a lock over here and we were a little concerned because, as Ma Belle was nearly the width of a lock, we had to go up behind each other.  Boats need to be held using lockside bollards when water is being let into the lock to avoid them being bounced around.  As these locks tend to only have two or three bollards we were also concerned that we wouldn’t both be able to attach ourselves securely.

Sharing locks

Martin & Hilary keep their boat at Auxerre and are only out cruising for four weeks before they have to be back as they have booked in to have the boat repainted.  They did say, because of this, that they weren’t too concerned about any bumps and scrapes along the way.

  

Our original plan was to cruise until lunchtime and then moor up for the rest of the day.  In the end we cruised all day with Ma Belle doing nine locks together without any bumps or other mishaps.  It was probably the most rural cruise we have had, passing very few villages.

Cuncy

We moored for lunch at Villiers-sur-Yonne which was where we were originally going to stop for the day.  There was a massive 38 metre barge already at the moorings which rather dwarfed our two boats.  The large barge was operating as a travelling bed and breakfast and at 38 metres is the maximum size that will fit into the (relatively small) locks on this canal.

Moored for lunch at Villiers-sur-Yonne 

Plane trees have been planted along many stretches making it feel like we’re driving along a French road.  One particular stretch had plane trees on one side and oak the other.  It was obvious, looking at the trees, that mistletoe really doesn’t get on with oak and that’s why we see far less mistletoe in the UK.  As in the UK the oak is one of the last trees to leaf whereas the plane trees were beginning to look quite green.

   

Only 100 kilometres to get to the end of this canal

A local dog waiting for Buddy to reach the top

In the UK we never travelled with fenders down as there is a danger of getting stuck in locks.  Several times we have helped people who have become stuck because they haven’t lifted their fenders.  This can happen in double locks as well as single as some double locks aren’t wide enough to take two narrowboats with fenders down.  The other problem caused by not lifting fenders is that they can snap off when a boat becomes wedged in a lock and then they can get caught around propellers or jammed in gate paddles.

Anyway, the point of mentioning this is that we do travel with fenders down over here as the locks are wider and the boat needs to be held in gear against lock walls where you really need to have some protection to prevent damage to the paintwork.  However, I fell foul of having the fenders down when pulling up to let Karen off to operate a lift bridge at Asnois. The landing stage had a strip of timber along the edge to help protect boats from the bare concrete side.  I hadn’t noticed that it had partly come away and suddenly the long zigzag fenders at the back were being lifted up against the side of the boat as their restraining ropes caught between the board and the concrete.  Luckily, we had nearly stopped so there was only a little damage to the paintwork.

Unfortunately, it’s also one more scratch that needs to be repainted in the not too distant future.  We keep saying we need to take a few days off to treat and make good the odd scrape on the paintwork.  We did do several spots on the roof last summer at Bugsworth basin but then got out of the habit.

The lift bridge at Asnois

We did come foul of one of our fenders once.  We were going through Uppermill below Saddleworth Moor on the Huddersfield Narrow canal on our old boat.  As Uppermill is touristy we had lots of gongoozlers at the town lock and as we went in we stuck fast much to their merriment.  It took a while to work out what had happened but one of our rope fenders had dropped down making us too wide for the lock.  The only way to get loose was to open the upper gate paddles and let the force of the water push the front up to release us.  Since then we have always checked that no fenders have dropped down by mistake.
 
Our last lock of the day was our first staircase lock over here, what the French call an “écluse double”.

Looking down at the bottom chamber of the écluse double

Martin & Hilary were stopping for the night at Tannay where there is a small port.  We fancied staying out in the countryside on our own rather than doing that, so we stopped soon after leaving the last lock.

Moored in the far distance in the corner on Sunday night before Tannay

Monday was a run day for Karen, so we didn’t set out until midday.  We had arranged to meet the éclusier at the first lock at one and as we only had 3km to travel to the lock so knew we had plenty of time to spare. Just as well as we had a little difficulty at the first lift bridge.

In the UK the controls for lift and swing bridges are usually by the lifting/swinging mechanisms which are usually on the non-towpath side, the ‘wrong’ side of the cut.  This invariably means that they are troublesome to negotiate as single handers as the moorings will be on the towpath side and by the time you’ve opened the bridge you will realise you’re the wrong side of the cut and can’t get to the boat to bring it through.

We haven’t got used to the controls being on the ‘correct’ side over here.  I dropped Karen off and she started winding a little handle and after about 50 turns had raised the bridge about 6”.  It was clearly going to be a long job.

The little turning wheel

Just before she started getting exasperated, Karen remembered that she may be on the French 'wrong' side so walked over the bridge.  Sure enough, there was the control unit and she soon had the bridge up 😊

 The controls on the ‘correct’ side and in English & German too!

Another advantage of the controls over here is that they enable you to stop the lifting once the bridge is high enough.  We have been used to waiting until bridges are raised to their full height before they can be lowered again.

Leaving the offending lift bridge which happened to be at the entrance to a disused lock

At Tannay we passed a hire boat base and were glad we had moored where we did last night as the port moorings are right opposite the boats.

Hire boat base at Tannay

It was a lovely sunny day and there were plenty of butterflies around including our first painted ladies of the year. 

Dirol looked a sleepy village with lift bridges at either end but both were kept in the open position so we could go straight through.

Sleepy Dirol

On the other side of Dirol was a large sawmill and wood yard.  Along the canal-side were many tree trunks that were being sprayed with water.  This is done, apparently, in order to keep a certain beetle away and it also makes them easier to cut.

Timber being sprayed with water

At one lock we had to wait as two boats were coming down.  Yet again, these were the only boats we saw on the move all day.

Waiting for boats at Mont lock

I know we have said how friendly and helpful the éclusiers are but the guy who took us through our last four locks went the extra mile.  Not only did he make sure he was ready to take a line from Karen he made sure the rope protector was in place over the lock edge.

Our helpful éclusier

The lock cottage at the penultimate lock had been turned into a bar and I must admit it was very tempting to stop but sadly it was Monday.

Converted lock cottage at Marigny lock

We were stopping at Chitry-les-Mines for the night but, once again we fancied mooring in the country, so pulled up before the town moorings.  We will stay at Chitry on Tuesday and have arranged to meet our éclusier after lunch on Wednesday at the next lock.

Monday night mooring at Chitry-les-Mines

Over the last couple of days, we have cruised 31km up 18 locks.  There are fewer than 30 locks left to ascend before we get to the summit and then start the descent down to meet the Loire at Decize.  Compared with the ascent which is just over 100km up 81 locks, the descent is shorter at 70km and there are only 35 locks.  We have done a bit of outline planning and expect to hit the Loire in two weeks’ time.