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| New concrete and safety fences - even fences round the lock house! lock 14 l'Esperance |
1.4°C Cold with grey clouds. Set off at ten. An empty
péniche called Franca from Wasserbillig (on the Moselle) came up lock 16 Wez
and then we went down. There were two VNF men in a van on the lockside with a
ladder, looks like they’re doing lock house maintenance. Slowly down the 1.15
km pound to lock 15 Beaumont as there was a cruiser coming up in the lock. Mike
had a look through his binoculars to find them doing likewise! They waved. The
crew of the cruiser called Sheratan were all outside and well-muffled up
against the cold. A fisherman was sitting on the towpath side, right opposite
the layby above the lock using a long roach pole. We went to our left to go
round it but he hauled it in. Then lock 15 refused to work. Mike went to the
top end and put his hand over the
sensor, still nothing happening. The VNF man
in a van from Wez went past (he’d been taking photos of the twin lock house
roofs) so Mike waved to him and said the lock wouldn’t work – he shouted to
someone in the VNF yard who came to sort it out. He did the same as Mike, hand
over the sensor, he walked up to it and lifted it and it worked! Then he said
you have to leave it one minute after entering the lock before lifting the rod!
Yeah, OK! It worked. I made a cuppa to warm us up as we set off on the 2.8 kms
pound to lock 14 L’Esperance. That worked OK. Mike took pictures of yet more
new “health & safety” fences (to keep the public from falling in) now
around lock 14, plus new concrete and even a security fence around the lock
house.
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| Frences, notices, safety life ring, lock 14 l'Esperance |
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| Port de Plaisance, Reims. The first white boat is in the port, the rest are houseboats moored beyond the port |
2.2 kms to lock 13 Sillery. As we set off there were swallows flying up
and down the canal catching insects in the silent sugar works of Bhegin Say.
The VNF man in a van went past heading back uphill in a cloud of dust. The Port
at Sillery above the lock looked almost empty. Hotel boat Princess was being
repainted ready for the new season and on the pontoons there were just three
large cruisers and narrowboat Sulaskar, plus a bateau-ecole day boat. Another fisherman
was fishing opposite the basin just above the lock. As there was a strong side
wind I dropped a rope around a bollard to keep the boat against the lock wall
just while Mike lifted the blue pole. I made sandwiches for lunch as we set off
along the 7.55 kms pound into Reims.
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| Centre de Congres, Reims. Note yellow bendy-bus. |
Mike paused by the new VNF offices to see
if they had a replacement for our very tattered flag. It was 1 pm and no one
was there. As we set off again a guy on a bike stopped to chat to Mike in
English. He strongly advised us not to stop in the Port-de-Plaisance due to
thefts, but we weren’t going to stop there anyway as we’ve seen the city many,
many times before. Mike twisted the pole to start the sequence for the flight
of three but it didn’t work so he had to reverse and do it again, then it
worked. Into lock 12 Huon, surrounded by vandal-proof fences as were the other
two in the city. Down the lock and we spotted the first new duckling of the
year and also noticed that the badly damaged wall on the right hand side had
been repaired.
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| Flour mills, Reims |
For years there had been getting less and less concrete as the
commercials entering the lock were bashed against the wall by the force of the
weir on the left below the lock shoving their bows to the left. The weir was
still as ferocious as ever but being narrow we could avoid hitting the wall.
The VNF keeper came up the towpath on his moped as we started down the 650m
pound to lock 11, while road traffic along the Quai de Pré aux Moines on the
right hand bank was very busy. The lock had filled for us, we went in, I lifted
the blue rod and we dropped down lock 11 Château d’Eau. Still no one living in
the nice but heavily fortified house alongside the lock. Out on to the 750m
pound to lock 10 Fléchambault, our last lock of the day. The VNF man on a moped
flew back down the towpath to the bottom lock.
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| Warehouses, Reims |
When we got there the lock was
ready but there was no sign of the VNF man except for his crash helmet on the
desk in the lock cabin. It was 2.10 pm as we left the lock. Two girls launched
a rowing skiff from the rowing club as we went past heading into the city
centre. Past the row of permanently moored houseboats, retired péniches and a
restaurant boat, then past the Port where one brave soul had left a cruiser
called Romi moored at the uphill end of the moorings, albeit behind a high
fence with a locked gate. The rowers
caught us up as we left the city but didn’t come past; they paused for a while
then returned. The basin called Port Colbert was empty, no boats, and the
mooring at the long quay by the PUM steel works was also empty – where have all
the working boats gone?
Just one empty boat (St Joseph, from Paris) was moored
before the gates. It’s clean paintwork down to waterline indicated that it
hadn’t been anywhere in quite a while. Noted that the towpath on the left hand
bank had been tarmaced for a cycle piste and was being well-used by cyclists,
walkers and youth with roller blades. We passed a yacht from Ostende heading
towards the city as we ran past the empty quay. Around the corner the canal
went through a long tree lined cutting where we were sheltered from the wind
and it felt quite pleasant. A Dutch steel cruiser called Zinnin went past at
the end of the cutting. Looks like the P-d-P will have two customers tonight!
We tied up at 4.35 pm next to an old factory above the lock at Courcy. Glad to
tie up and get warm again.
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| Old dock before Port Colbert, Reims |
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| Port Colbert, Reims. Commercial loading and unloading quays |
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