Monday 21 September
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| Feeling good to be back on board |
As is often the case when we book tickets to and from
France, we forget the significance of the day we’re travelling. We often inadvertently find
we’re going on a Bank Holiday or the start of half term etc. so end up getting
stuck in the UK traffic. As the weather had cooled down I was off to the boat
for a week or two to do some much needed painting while Karen took the
opportunity to go to Norway to spend time with our latest grandchild, Samuel. I
bought a ticket at the weekend to travel down on the Monday planning to leave home
at 7am, completely forgetting that that would mean I would hit the M1 and M25 in the rush hour on the busiest morning of the week. To my surprise the traffic was relatively clear
and I got down to the channel tunnel in a reasonable three hours; I suppose
many people were still on holiday, especially those without schoolchildren. The
waiting area at the tunnel seemed to be full of old foreign sportscars and speaking
with a friend later he reminded me that it had been the annual Goodwood Revival
weekend.
Arriving in Calais I charged the car before setting off on the next stage of the journey. We always charge soon after arriving in France rather than just before leaving the UK as public chargers are so much cheaper as well as being more plentiful. I was travelling over to the eastern end of the Ardennes and was taking a toll-free, more picturesque, route which was only due to take 15 minutes longer than using the péage. The first part was on one of the autoroutes leading out of Calais and for the first time ever in France I was caught in a serious traffic jam; there’d been an accident which delayed me for nearly an hour.
When I arrived at the boat I was pleasantly surprised. Usually,
when we leave it for a couple of months or so, the roof and decks get covered
in leaves and other tree detritus such as seed husks. We’d left it in the open
with the only trees a distance away on the opposite bank so the roof was clear. Also, spiders
tend to take over inside so the first job when going in is to clear the webs and put the builders thereof out onto the bank. There wasn't much to do this time as there were very few signs of spiders. It was late
afternoon by the time I’d cleaned up the few webs, unpacked and eaten so I
spent the rest of the evening sitting outside planning my approach to painting
the roof of the boat.
We (well, Karen) have meticulous lists of what food,
toiletries, clothes etc. are left on the boat each time we leave it. Somehow,
there was no toothpaste to be found even though the list indicated that
toothpaste is left on board. As I was going shopping in the morning I added it to
my list. I was reminded of a recent trip we had in the camper when we used it
for a few days in the northeast when Karen took part in the Great North Run. We’d
parked up in a place called Ovingham and it wasn’t long before Karen realised
she couldn’t find the bag that we pack the toiletries in. Apparently, it was my
fault we’d left it back in Flecknoe! Anyway
it gave us a good excuse to walk to the local pub which was opposite the
village shop which was fortunately open. The lady owner must have thought
all her Sundays had come at once as we stocked up on the missing items.
Tuesday 22 September
Before I could start painting I needed to charge the car
and do some food shopping. The closest town is Sedan and I charged the car at a
country house hotel on the outskirts in a village called Frenois. I took the
opportunity to have a walk while waiting for the car and was soon back in the
swing of exchanging bonjours with the three or four people I saw. In the centre
of the village I came across one of the few lavoirs that we have seen that have
been converted into private dwellings:
Just around the corner from the lavoir was the village church:
The car was charged by the time I returned to the hotel and
I drove to the supermarket we often use on the way into Sedan. Every time we
have shopped there the same young man has been sitting outside hoping for food or
cash from the shoppers. He is a friendly and unassuming guy and I made sure I
bought something extra to give him as I left the shop. Arriving back at the
boat I had no further excuses to delay starting work so I started by clearing
everything off the roof. By the time I did that I was ready for lunch! As I was
on my own one of the first things I did after lunch was to hook our ladder
over the side in case I fell in. It’s surprisingly difficult to pull yourself
up onto a narrowboat when in 2.5 metres of water:
A little more procrastination occurred as I had to clear
the buddleia and other weeds seen growing on the rear fenders on the above
picture. The first tranche of painting was to be the burgundy that runs along
the grab rails on the roof edges and at intervals across the roof where each air
vent mushroom sits. I’d forgotten to take a ‘before’ picture so here’s one taken
early in the morning after the initial prepping had been started:
The above picture shows a phenomenon (posh word for delaying tactic) that arises at this time of year. Even though the days are still hot, the temperature dips at night such that condensation forms on the roof and clearly this has to dry off before work can start. Among other burgundy areas that I’ll also be tackling are the rear deck and tiller. I’ll get the side of the roof next to bank completed first as the canal side becomes too hot during the day. Once completed I will have to turn the boat around to get on with the remaining side. I had a pleasant day doing the preparatory work and also took in a couple of walks and was able to hear the whole of the first ODI against Sri Lanka.
Wednesday 23 September
The boat is on the canal des Ardennes which is not used by
much commercial traffic these days so it was interesting to see that the water
level was relatively high. Some of the canals in France that are hardly used
by commercials have been closed for some time now this summer due to low water
levels. A couple of locks away is a hire boat base and I‘d noticed a couple of
boats passing the previous day. Hire boaters are spoilt for choice here as they
can head out onto the beautifully scenic river Meuse either upstream through Sedan
and Verdun or downstream through Charlesville-Mézières and then to Givet at the Belgian border. If they don’t fancy the river then
they can take the equally scenic, but quieter, route up the canal des Ardennes.
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| VNF work boat passing first thing |
I spent the day finishing off the prepping with breaks mid-morning and mid-afternoon to take walks on one of which I was delighted to see my first Wall Brown butterfly of the year. As I'm working near the junction of the canal and the river my walks naturally take me along one waterway or the other. When I’m walking I feel a strong desire to have a cruise and rather suspect than when I turn the boat around I may just indulge myself and take an hour or two off on a cheeky jaunt.
Five years ago, when we first came down the Meuse, we were looking for a documented mooring by the lock at the entrance to the canal des Ardennes as it's always good to tie up temporarily rather than hovering in the river waiting for the lock to set itself. Try as we might, we couldn't find the mooring and the same thing happened when we came along two years later. On one of my walks I found the mooring and realised that the bank and the mooring had been cleared of undergrowth making it impossible to miss from water or land:
Thursday 24
September
A slightly
cooler day was forecast which was ideal as I was hoping to get the initial coat
of burgundy topcoat on. First though I had to apply the masking tape which took
most of the morning leaving just enough time for a walk before having lunch.
After eating it was one more clean with white spirit of the area to be rolled
followed by a couple of hours or so putting the paint on with a small roller. A
few privately owned river cruisers came past while I was working so, compared
with when we were here earlier in the year, it felt busy which was good to see.
I’ve been
keeping an eye on the forecast because if it gets too hot I won’t be able to
paint. At the beginning of the week it looked like it was going to be in the
mid 20s for the next fortnight which would be about the upper limit for
painting. This has slowly been changing in the wrong direction with
temperatures in the high 20s on their way and probably hitting 30 after the
weekend. All I can do is take each day at a time but at least I should be able
to get a second coat on tomorrow. If it does get too hot then I’ll change focus
and get as much preparatory work done as possible on the rest of the boat even if it leaves it looking like it has measles.
Friday 25
September
Friday was the
day for applying the final topcoat of burgundy on the port side of the boat. I
was just about ready to start when, unbelievably, I could hear the sound of a grass
cutter coming along the bank. Grass cutters and strimmers are a bane to boaters
as they can throw up stones and suchlike that can damage their pride and joys.
I wasn’t so worried about that, it was more the dust and debris that would have
landed on wet paint if I’d already started painting. I sort of accepted that
the grass would be cut around the boat because it would make it easier for me
working alongside it. One of the guys did tell me that they would blow
everything into the water once they finished. So I put all the stuff I took off
the roof on Tuesday back on and went for a walk while they finished.
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| Strimmers finishing my stretch of bank |
By the time
they’d finished and left I still had to give the boat a good clean and ended up
losing half a day. I had lunch before starting painting and it turned out to be
quite fortuitous as shade falls over the boat between about 3pm and 5pm so
hopefully the heat won’t have affected the paint.
About
20 boats are kept along the stretch where we’re currently moored and when we
first saw the mooring five years ago it was pretty dismal and we never dreamt
we would keep our boat there. It seemed the majority of the boats were very
unloved and a couple were semi-submerged. Over the intervening years the boatyard has obviously
tried to smarten things up as there are only a couple of boats that don’t look
cared for now.
You probably can’t
see our boat in the picture above because I took the photo when it was in the
shade but the following picture illustrates how fortunate we were to choose
this spot. It also shows the campervan area at the far end and also the two
less cared for boats that remain (moored directly behind us). The campervan area has a mix of people on holiday visiting for a day or so and vanlifers who stay for weeks on end judging by the vegetation growing around them.
Actually, it’s
three less cared for boats because at the far end is an old 38m peniché that's in
a sorry state.
Judging by the
portholes at the front it was, at one stage, being converted into a residence but it seems the project has gone rather awry. I do remember that when we came
through five years ago there was a friendly couple with a young child living and working
on the peniché but they seem to have long gone now.
Anyway, back to
the painting. As I’ve now finished the port side I will have to turn the boat
around so that I can get the other side prepped and painted.
Saturday 26
September
The first job of
the morning was to turn the boat around and also take on water. This meant
going up a lock where there was a boatyard above it where I could get water. It
was the boatyard we pay for our mooring so I knew there wouldn’t be an issue
just calling in to get water. I set off as soon as the locks opened because it
was going to be a hot day and I wanted to get as much prep done before it got
too hot to touch the boat. Although I did know there was the window of a couple
of hours in the afternoon when it gets shady and more prep can be undertaken then.
I set the lock
in motion using our yellow canal des Ardennes télécommande and slowly made my
way around to wait for it to be ready. I’d forgotten how people stop and stare
and take photos when they see the very rare sight of a narrowboat and I was
suddenly aware that I would have an audience going up the lock. Going down a
lock on my own is fine as I just hover the boat in the middle with no need for any lines. Ascending is a
different matter as it involves a fair amount of walking inside the boat to get
from one end to the other, climbing ladders (which I didn’t have to do this
time), getting a line looped over a bollard and then setting the lock in
motion using a metal rod in the side of the lock that is often in an inconvenient position. As it was, it all went fine and when I got to the top there were two
hire boats wating to come down.
When I arrived
at the water point I needed to spin the boat around first. Again, I had an
audience, this time of hirers who were waiting to have boats handed over to
them. I was halfway through my manoeuvre when I realised that I had no centre
lines as I’d taken them off when clearing the roof. Hoping I didn’t cock it up
I slowed the turn down and made my way along the gunwale with a line and tied
it on to the centre ring on the roof as quickly as I could. By the time I
returned to the driving position the turn was complete and I felt rather proud
of myself for avoiding any embarrassment.
While waiting
for the tank to fill I disposed of my recycling and rubbish then had a chat
with the boatyard owners. By the time I got back and moored up again nearly two
hours had passed.
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| Heading through the hire boats |
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| Going down the lock |
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| Emerging from the lock |
Looking at the picture above I hope you can see the difference between the side where the burgundy is nice and glossy and the other side and hatch cover that are all faded.
It was a full-on
day of prepping but I made sure I got a walk in and also managed to see a Queen
of Spain Fritillary by the boat which was another first for the year. They are
very rare migrants to the UK but this year several have been seen along the Sussex
and Hampshire coasts. I also planned out the rest of my time here, realising
that I need to do a spot of food shopping on Sunday morning. Nikki and Gorete
on Puddleduck got in touch in the afternoon and we arranged that I would spend
a day and night on their boat on my way back to Flecknoe as they head for their
winter mooring in Belgium.
There’s a bar
up by the boatyard and it’s always busy but I deliberately kept away during the
week, having a drink by the boat instead, leaving a trip to the bar as a treat for
the weekend. I went up for a drink after I’d cleaned up but found it was
closed. To be honest that’s quite French for it not to be open when you’d think
it would be their busiest day.
On Saturday I
cruised two kilometres up and down the same lock and saw four boats on the move,
all hire boats.
Sunday 27
September
It was clearly
going to be too hot to put the first topcoat on until the boat was in the mid-afternoon
shade and had cooled own a bit so I drove into Sedan in the morning. I had a
bit of food shopping to do so I did that first and then took the opportunity to
buy my duty free allowance of wine. The shop that sold Karen’s wine only
had four bottles left so it would mean going back during the week to top it up
to a dozen bottles. My wine is sold by E. Leclerc and I knew they had a massive
hypermarket in Sedan so made my way there. I’d forgotten it was Sunday and they
were closed all day so I would have to go back when I return for Karen’s wine.
On my return I had
lunch and then went for a walk to wait until the boat was in the shade and had
cooled down enough. When I got back I put on the first coat of burgundy on the
unfinished side. When I’d finished painting I then had another evening sitting
outside until it was dark. I hadn’t forgotten it was the ODI series decider
against Sri Lanka and I managed to listen to the whole match during the day.
As Monday was forecast
to be another day that would be too hot for painting until later I decided that
I’d get as much prep done of other areas whilst waiting. This would hopefully
stop other rust spots spreading and make the job easier if I come back later in the year. If I don’t come back until we both come over next year then at
least the surfaces will be protected over winter and still make the job easier
to finish.