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July 2004 update
We soon found that there are some big boats (peniches) up on the northern canals! 1,500 tonnes is very common and they were daunting at first, but the VHF marine radio and Pamela's French came in very useful in letting these big boys know our intentions. Lots of grain is transported by canal over here and very often the overnight mooring/stops might be at the side of large grain silos.
BIG BOATS UP NORTH
Quite often the lockkeepers can be contacted by VHF and again, being able to communicate with them, there is never any doubt as to what we are about. As you may know, last year we found that our car was never in the right place. But the people on the working peniches take theirs with them.
THE CAR GOES TOO
When we arrived at Bethune, we met up with Paul and Karen again on their wide beam boat "Pedigree". They were dropped in at Calais the same morning as us. They arrived at Bethune the day before us and met Brian and Doreen who, would you believe, come from Clayton West (near Huddersfield) and own Kirklees Light Railway. Their yacht "Orion" is having engine trouble and they were waiting for someone who was going to come and take the engine away for repairs.
ORION WITH ENGINE PROBLEMS
We hit a spell of hot weather sooner than expected and the table came out onto the back deck sooner than we anticipated. We also found a need to put up mesh at the opening windows to stop the insects getting in. In a place called Cambrai we found a place that sold Mosquito nets so we bought one for over the bed. It now looks like a four poster bed and the net certainly does its job.
It was at Cambrai that we met Neil and Carol on "Comfrey", a narrow boat that was put in at Terneuzen in South Holland the week before we arrived at Calais. Apparently the trip from Terneuzen is not to be recommended as some of the boats up there are of 3,000 tonnes and resemble ships.
Carol introduced us to the delights of her bread and butter pudding which is absolutely superb. David didn't think he liked bread and butter pudding until he tasted Carol's and now he is well and truly hooked. It's wonderful!
Neil and Carol have Barney as their third mate and Gromit wasn't initially impressed with this addition to the group, but they are quite good friends now.
GROMIT IS NOT IMPRESSED
We have had a niggling problem with the stern tube leaking and even though it was refitted in March under warranty, it soon started leaking again once we were on the move in France. Being away from Ledgard Bridge, I couldn't see the point in calling them so this is the first they will know of the recurrence. The leak usually slows, or stops dripping, overnight and as long as the bilge pump keeps working it could wait until the next lift out. Unfortunately though the bilge pump decided to pack up at one point! Luckily it was spotted in time and Neil had an old pump that he carried as a spare so we managed to cobble up a bilge pump. We are now watching out for a ships chandler so that we can get a couple of pumps (one spare each).
We might try something a bit more high tech when it is next refitted - something with a bit more flex perhaps or that doesn't set too hard.
On the 4th of June we left Cambrai heading towards the St. Quintin canal but before getting to St Quentin had to negotiate two tunnels. The first is six kilometres long (Souterrain de Riqueval) and the other is two kilometres in length. For the six kilometre tunnel, you are towed through in a convoy, with the heaviest boat first. There were only us and Comfrey, so there was nothing to panic about there. We just had to try to concentrate for two hours so that we didn't rub up the side of the tunnel (sorry about the paintwork Harvey!). We eventually found that the best way is to go through with the engine on and in gear, keeping the towrope slack and trying not to get too close to the tug boat in front.
HITCHING UP TO THE TOW TUG
Over here in France the war memorials and cenotaphs always seem to have a prominent place in the villages and towns. They seem to be very well looked after and can be quite dazzling in strong sunlight.
WAR MEMORIAL
Now some of the overnight moorings are better than others, but generally they are quite good. The next picture shows one of the exceptions.
ANY OLD IRON
The same site seems to have lots of old relics knocking around including the old dredger in the next picture which has seen better days. The word along the cut is that British Waterways might be interested in it when they start their next modernisation programme (only joking!).
JUST THE JOB FOR BRITISH WATERWAYS
Now we know that we are only a few hundred miles south of Yorkshire and Lancashire and we have all probably seen globe artichokes before. But David just felt it was time to have a go at cooking one so we bought one and consulted our Delia Smith book. Apart from misreading a little and dismantling it upside down David managed to get it to the table and the general consensus was "much ado about nothing". We will probably stick to peas and carrots etc. in future.
ARTICHOKE - NEARLY DID!
The working boats over here are quite big (as we've mentioned before) but you can imagine that when they are empty they look even bigger. The cargo which is up front brings the front down in the water and allows the skipper to see where he is going. But when empty, up goes the front and believe it or not, they use cameras on the bow with a screen in the wheelhouse so they can see where they are going. Some even have a hydraulic wheelhouse, which goes up and down, just like a lift. They have to make sure they can then get under the bridges.
TIGHT SQUEEZE
We have seen a couple of classic vehicles on our travels so far, including the one that our friend John Barraclough suggested that David might buy with "corrugated bodywork". The next two pictures aren't exactly what he had in mind. But the red one is 28 years old although the other Citroen seems to be going to seed a bit!
CORRUGATED PANELS
GOING TO SEED
David has suddenly got this fixation about pulses and can't understand how people can live without them. This is not a health thing although they are supposed to be good for you. But they are so tasty and filling in a cassoulet and it doesn't cost much to make. Of course David always did have trouble keeping these things in proportion and cassoulets are no exception. If you look at the size of the pan on the four ring hob in the next picture you will see what we mean! It was David's best cassoulet to date and could have fed six easily, although four of us saw it off.
MY BEST YET
By late May we had spotted our first Muskrat, which looks a bit like a beaver with a normal shaped tail as opposed to a flat one. It reminded us of those hedgehog boot cleaners you have by the back door. Since then we have spotted quite a few and they all seem to be doing the same thing which is swimming about with large clumps of grass in tow. They seem to take it from one bank of the river or canal to the other where to us at least there seems to be some grass equally as nice. They always seem very busy, so we assume that they must be building nests just now.
The villages are starting to look quite pretty now as the window boxes take shape and it's nice to see that everything that is done to make them look so good isn't spoilt by loutish behaviour. Seriously, the youngsters here seem totally engrossed with the opposite sex and spend most of their time walking or sitting out with one another as it were. They rarely drink anything other than soft drinks at the cafes and as if on a curfew they all wander off home at sensible times. Ho, and get this! They say good evening and/or goodnight when you pass by!
PRETTY OLD VILLAGE
FORTIFIED ENTRANCE TO THE VILLAGE
STOP PRESS: David has found a cure for red wine stains on T shirts. Not that he misses his mouth too often! But he did the other day and as luck would have it, we had a bottle of red which, for want of a better word, was awful. So David thought, why not soak the whole T shirt in red wine and see what happens (it was canary yellow which no one seemed to like). Anyway he had a partial success, but thinks there are two things to bear in mind. Firstly, don't let the original stain dry. But secondly, and much more importantly, soak the garment in the same wine as the spill.
As you can imagine, we meet lots of different people on a daily basis and Gromit seems to have an effect on some of the females who have had pet cats in the past.
We met Steve and Lesley at a place called Mouzon, on their catamaran "GEE BEE". They are Australians and have a love of Australia's famous boy band the Bee Gees. Lesley took a particular liking to Gromit as he reminded her of one of the cats they had. They have been sailing in and around the Med. whilst working a little when required and are making their way back to Blighty to sell the boat and hopefully find a nice little cottage. Hope they do and have a wonderful life together.
STEVE AND LESLEY ON GEE BEE
Just before we said our goodbyes to Steve and Lesley, they told us about a lovely little stop over, which was only 7.5 kilometres away. Now we aren't known for long days and distances but this was only going to take about one and a half hours at best and only one lock. We decided to have a look as we passed and they were right. There was nothing there but a little oasis of peace and tranquillity out in the middle of nowhere. So that was the end of cruising for that day.
A LITTLE OASIS
Not surprisingly, we don't actually get wonderful weather everyday. But it is never cold even if it rains. So a stop over like this, when it is sunny, arriving about 11:30 (we don't normally get under way until about 10:00 am) is a real lazy day.
While we are on the subject of distance etc., our best day's distance is around 35 kilometres and we usually do between 5 & 6 kilometres per hour. The most locks in one day was 28 (YES 28!), but we haven't had to push a gate, wind a handle, or even get off the boat yet.
In fact after the 28 locks the lock keeper came out of his little office with what I thought was some sort of badge or reward for having done them. In fact he gave us a little yellow remote control for the next batch of locks, which we could point and zap at a post as we approached the lock, so that the lock would be prepared ready for us. We had heard of these but weren't sure whether we would be on that part of the network. A sign said that the remote was for the next seven locks. But the improvements must have happened faster than the sign writers, as we must have used this remote control for 20 or more locks before they asked for it back.
Barney is a common sight as we meander down through the departments of the Ardenne and Lorraine on the canals. The scenery is very English often like the Dales and sometimes like the Lake District. Now Barney might not look the happiest dog in the world but if you could see him with Neil and Carol you would see what I mean. He has however no interest in anyone else whatsoever (with the exception of Gromit and his whereabouts and, of course Gromit's food bowl).
MY DEN, IN THE ARDENNE
We must mention our mobile allotment before finishing this update. Pamela's sister Pat bought us a really nice terracotta herb pot. We didn't plant anything in it until we got to France as we didn't know what was allowed. But we did have a little rosemary plant which we probably bought in Skipton last year. The rosemary didn't look too well until another Pat (Pat Wilson - who lived on a narrowboat in Huddersfield with her husband Dale) gave it a coat of looking at (hope all is well with everyone at Horbury) and it now looks quite healthy. So, we now have, in one state or another - lettuce, rosemary, thyme, corn salad, chives, coriander, and especially for Gromit, some catmint. It doesn't look much on the picture but it all needs to be kept an eye on daily with regard to the sun and moisture.
LOOK AT THOSE LETTUCES
It seems strange not seeing relatives and old friends/workmates (and some of the younger ones too). But we do think of you all and look forward to a reunion at some point. We do intend having a calendar on the website as soon as we can, with dates which are unavailable for visitors, either because we are away from the boat or we already have people expected to visit us. Our prospective visitors so far are expected for:
the last week in July;
the last fortnight in August;
October Half Term;
Christmas and New Year.
WE ARE HERE
At present we have just arrived in a place called Verdun. Sadly, it made its mark in 1916, during the First World War, when there were 700,000 people killed in a ten month period of fighting. A very large monument and crypt honour the forces involved and we should be able to let you see pictures in the next update.
We intend heading south generally and the next major river before the Saone will be the Moselle as we bypass the West of Nancy. It could still be a month or so before we get to the Dijon area but there is no rush and anyone thinking of visiting with a need for a caravan/campsite need not worry. There have been plenty along the river/canal and camper vans and caravans are often made welcome with electricity available in the villages.
We are still working on trying to get a French phone, French gas bottle connections etc. You would think we had just arrived from Mars and asked if we could marry the Pope!
At any rate, all the best for now
David and Pamela (& Gromit)
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