St-Mihiel (blocked again)

As agreed with VNF we set off from Dun-sur-Meuse at 11.00am on Thursday for a place called Brabant-sur-Meuse.  It was a very still day but one of those where the sun never quite gets through; in fact, it felt quite chilly at times.  The first two locks were automatic and VNF met us at the third which was the first of 17 locks that have to be operated manually by their éclusiers.  Two guys were there to see us through and one of them also had his wife with him to help with the gates and paddles.  

The river sections became fewer and shorter as we headed upstream and rounding a corner on one of the longer canalised sections we were confronted by a large tree across the cut.  We took the boat up to the top end to see if we could saw our way through, but it was both too thick and too much of the trunk was lurking under the water.

No way of passing

I rang the VNF control centre to tell them what had happened but unfortunately the signal wasn’t very good, and it took three attempts to get the story across.  We’d noticed a few trees down on the river sections but as that is wider, they weren’t presenting similar issues.  They all looked relatively fresh windfalls and we assumed they were from the storm we’d had a couple of weeks ago on the night before popping back to the UK.  We would have been the first boat along since then, so it wasn’t surprising the tree was still there.

We were told to moor up and wait so we took advantage and had an early lunch.  Buddy was in his element as we could leave him outside and not worry about him.  After an hour we heard the sound of an engine and saw a tractor making its way through the undergrowth on the bank.  It had taken them an hour to travel three kilometres from the previous lock where the tractor was stored; luckily for us it wasn’t any further away.

Coming to the rescue

There were actually two trees across the cut, and we’d been wondering how they would remove them as they weren’t small.  The guys knew exactly what they were doing; one stayed in the tractor and the other was wielding his chainsaw.  They used a cable on the front bucket to lift the tree and move it about three metres further onto the bank. 

Manoeuvring the tree onto the bank

Cutting a section

Chainsaw guy then cut the exposed length and it was rolled onto the bank down to the river which was running alongside.

Neatly cut sections of trunk

We kept them supplied with coffee and within an hour the way was clear for us to continue.  Chainsaw guy said he would meet us at the next lock when they’d finished clearing up and made their way back.  He did say that he’d been up and left a gate open before they were called out so we could wait inside.

We soon realised it was going to be ages by the time they’d got the tractor back and retrieved their vans, so we decided to do the lock on our own.  Once we were in and tied up at the front, Karen went up the ladder and set about getting us through our first manual French lock on our own.  To be fair not many locks are manual so there haven’t been many opportunities, but it felt really good to be doing it on our own.  The gates are opened and closed by turning a geared handle rather than pushing on a balance beam as in the UK but a windlass is still required to open and close the paddles.

When we reached the next and final lock of the day, our man wasn’t in sight.  We were looking around for some likely looking trees to moor to when he arrived, and we were soon on our way into the lock.  Karen had worried that he wouldn't be happy that we’d gone through the previous lock on our own, but he gave us a very wry smile as we went through the gates.   There was a 10-metre pontoon below the lock in the next lock cut which was where we were going to moor for the night, so we arranged to meet him there at 10.00 the next morning and said our goodbyes. 

Our mini pontoon

The mooring was lovely and quiet in a place called Brabant-sur-Meuse which was a collection of about a dozen farms and houses.  Set up on the hillside overlooking the settlement was a German WWI cemetery which I’d visited a few weeks ago when passing through the village whilst moving the car.

Moored in the lock cut at Brabant-sur-Meuse with the Meuse beyond

On Thursday we cruised 12 miles up five locks.

Our éclusier had the lock ready for us by 9.45 so, as we’d been up early and were ready, we took advantage and set off for Verdun 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  It was lovely cruising weather and there were no issues to report for the whole journey.  Karen went for a run with Buddy between two of the locks and by midday we were going up the last lock of the day.  As we would no longer need our éclusier we said our goodbyes and agreed to set off from Verdun at 10.30 on Saturday morning.

We had an early lunch at Bras-sur-Meuse where we found a pair of commercial bollards.  We were able to use one of them at the front and tied the rear to a tree.

Lunch stop at Bras-sur-Meuse

Amazingly some of our summer plants are still going although none as strong as our black-eyed Susan.  Considering it was left un-watered while we were back in the UK for August and the weather has now turned colder, although we're yet to have our first frost, it is still green with plenty of buds on the way.

Black-eyed Susan still going strong

We were coming into Verdun by 2.00pm and, as the mooring was about 1.5 kilometres from the nearest big supermarkets, I dropped Karen off at one of them on the way in.  After mooring up I checked that the water was on and was glad it was otherwise we would have had to ask at one of the locks as we knew there was only one more water point until we turn off onto the canal de la Marne au Rhin. which was still a couple of weeks away.

Approaching the centre of Verdun

Buddy and I walked back to the supermarket to fetch Karen’s shopping while she went back in again to get a couple of bags of dog food.  I took the shopping back to the boat and then walked back to help out with the dog food.  We managed to get a bag in each of our hiking rucksacks and to be honest we were shattered by the time we got back and put the shopping away.  We’d finished just as our monthly call with some English boater friends was due to start.  After an early dinner we collapsed for the rest of the evening watching our football team in action.  As usual, we were subjected to an excruciating second half but at least they hung on to a win.

On Friday we cruised 14 miles up four locks.

It was quite foggy on Saturday morning, and we hoped it would clear by 10.30 when we were due to leave.  There was one other boat moored at Verdun and it was also the only other one moored there when we came down.  It had a licence for July only, so we assumed it was going to be left there until next year (you only need an in-date licence if you actually move).  When Karen took Buddy out first thing, she came back quite excited as she’d noticed there was someone on the boat and her theory was that he worked in one of the bars on the quayside.

Empty bars by the foggy mooring in Verdun

We wouldn’t normally cruise when there’s reduced visibility but with no other boats around, we decided we would still leave as agreed.  To our surprise, whilst we were having breakfast, the other boat went past; we were no longer the only boat on the move on the canal.  As they were heading the same way as us, we felt we were still safe to go.  We left about an hour later and were soon heading up the lock in the middle of Verdun where, despite the weather, there were a few gongoozlers and they asked the usual questions such, ‘is everything in miniature?’, ‘how did you get it across la Manche?’ etc.

Leaving the lock in Verdun

The fog didn’t lift until nearly midday but once it went, the sun was out for the rest of the day, and we had a pleasant hassle-free cruise up to Ambly-sur-Meuse.  Our éclusier for the journey asked if we didn't mind him practising his English and I have to admit it didn't sound like practising was even required.  When I thanked him for his service as we left the last lock he told us that we must remember that it is his job!

On the way we went through Dieue-sur-Meuse and noticed the earlier boat had moored up alongside other overwintering boats in a small port, so we were back to just us on the canal again.  That was until we arrived at the spot we wanted to moor at Ambly-sur-Meuse.  We couldn’t believe a commercial and a VNF work boat were already moored there! Fortunately, there was a very short pontoon just below the lock, so we tied up there for the night.  We were sticking out across the lock exit but weren't really worried as we were leaving early on Sunday morning.

Sticking out across the lock tail at Ambly-sur-Meuse on Saturday night

On Saturday we cruised 11 miles up five locks.

We had yet another different éclusier on Sunday for our trip to St-Mihiel and, like the previous day’s guy, he had our first lock set a quarter of an hour before we were due to leave, so we set off at 9.45am.  This was the last time we would need an itinerant éclusier to operate the locks for us this year as after St-Mihiel all the locks are automatic.  It drizzled off and on during the journey and at one exposed lock the wind got up so much that Karen had to get off and open the second gate as we were concerned that we may have hit it on the way out.

As we were about to leave the penultimate lock the éclusier asked if we were OK to continue as the next pound was low and limited to a depth of two metres.  As that is practically deep enough for a narrowboat to operate as a submarine, we avoided laughing but told him we only had a draught of 0.7 metres and were more than happy to carry on.  Before we said our goodbyes at the final lock, he made a couple of trips behind the control hut to bring us some logs.

As we’re on the upper reaches of the Meuse not many sections are navigable, so the majority of the journey was on the canal itself.  In fact, we only had one river section and we joined that a couple of miles before St-Mihiel where it runs through the centre of the town.   

Arriving in a grey St-Mihiel

On Sunday we cruised 13 miles up four locks making it 50 miles in four days of cruising which is a lot for us - no wonder we felt shattered.