One year of sailing!

A year to the day since we left Nottingham and went to Plymouth to learn to sail. We left Reims at 1200 after sorting out the problem with the new phone and having at look around the cathederal. Had a few near misses today. First was leaving some non rechargeable batteries on charge all night. They both exploded this morning. Then while motoring along we moved over for an oncoming barge as he had overhanging trees at his side - and right of way over us anyway. While still about a metre away from our side and doing about 4 kts, we went aground on a shallow bit. It sounded & felt like rocks - I even went down after to check under the floorboards! The front stopped and the back skewed around a bit, but luckily we didn't hit him. We only use the port motor so there was no problem with the starboard one hitting anything. Hopefully the keel shoes took the knock, but we'll see when we get to the clear (warm) waters in the med. In this canal on the downstream side of the locks, the excess water from upstream is jetted out of a pipe at a 45 degree angle to the bank, causing lots of cross currents about 10m away from the narrow gap of the lock. The only solution is to keep lots of speed on until you are in the lock chamber and then put the motors in reverse to stop in time. In one particular lock the pipe was right before the entrance. We were doing over 4kts as we hit the cross current. The wheel spun from lock to lock to stop us hitting the lock head on and it took what seemed like ages to get control again as I didn't have enough hands to put the throttles into reverse - even Mayuri shouted. We must have been millimetres away from sinking the boat. Stopped at 1800 after 13 locks and another long tunnel as the one we've arrived has shut until morning. Spent some time making another rope fender as the edge of the canal here is under water and the normal fenders just float, then polished some of the scrapes & marks out of the side - luckily nearly all have gone. Thought we were quite isolated here among the trees, so I' thought I'd sit out in my bath robe typing away and eating a big bag of foreign crisps but some people have just walked past - so were probably quite close to Conde sur Marne

Berry au Bac to Reims

Set off at 0804 with nice sunshine but mist still hanging over the water. Arrived at Berry au Bac after an hour and started the first of 10 uphill locks. A German motor boat followed us nearly all day which meant we were at the front of the lock every time. After a couple of near crashes we rigged the stern line round a block to the winch which helped keep us off the lock gates when the water surged but it was still a real struggle.
After dinner we hit a patch of thick weed that stretched across the width of the canal and the engine nearly stopped. I put the motor into neutral and went onto the other which also bogged down straight away. We drifted to the side and did some forward & reversing and the props seemed to throw off whatever we had around them. Pleased I didn’t have to go in to sort it with the dead hedgehog that was floating next to us. The Germans overtook us and left but we’d finished the locks by then!
As we entered Reims, I noticed an Aldi, so we pulled up, had dinner then took turns going shopping - too much to carry in one trip. The sides of the canal that had been lined with wooden planks had rotted away leaving just rows of metal bolts sticking out which needed some careful fendering. A few hundred metres later we came across a Shell garage. We tried to moor up alongside but went aground on the rocky bottom so went across the other side. The bottom was still rocky but a fraction deeper so I ran across with the 25litre container before any barges came past and sank us with their wash. Another few hundred metres later we came across the marina we’d been hoping to spot and moored up. Although it was after 1630 we went into the town to look for a phone or simm card and found a shop with someone who spoke English and bought one. - although it doesn’t seem to work so back tomorrow! We also bumped into the Germans who’d been following us all day in the same shop. The marina office was open when we got back, so we paid our 10 euros for the night and plugged in to the electric ready for some hot showers.

Kingfishers and Herons

Slow start to the day as we didn’t see the lock keeper turn up until 0900. I made use of the time making another fender from some thick rope we nearly got caught up in on the second day. The Ash forest we were in yesterday had changed to having quite a lot of oak, and to make it even more like England we had lots of rain. The lock keeper gave us another remote control for the other locks and we did 13 in all up and down and another 2km tunnel in between.
These smaller canals seem like the land that time forgot as they go through the forests, as the edges are hidden behind undergrowth and fallen trees hang out into the canal and herons with their massive wingspans swoop around all over. We (I) saw loads of kingfishers, twice with fish in their beaks but still wasn’t quick enough to get a picture. We finished at 2015, mooring up to the piles at the side (after our first attempt left us grounded in a shallow bit again!) We’re in the middle of nowhere on a double bend as it’s really difficult to find a spot that’s suitable to tie up next to and we have to stop by sunset so I’m hoping any barges that come past will be paying attention.

18 locks to canal de L’Oise a’ L’Aisne

Must have been going uphill until yesterday as all 18 locks we went through today were downhill. It’s really easy compared to going upwards. We went through a couple of towns - St Quinton & Chauny but most of the day was through forest & countryside. Still seeing a couple of cormorants, loads of herons, kingfishers and swifts darting around the boat. I even saw the first lizard but didn’t get a picture - even at 4kts if the camera’s not ready your past too quick. Most points for the day was for spotting a beaver - and I did get a picture, although everyone will say it’s a rat as you can’t see it’s flat tail - but it did have one. It started to swim out to cross the canal, but realised half way across it wasn’t going to be quick enough to get past us and turned back.
We would have been finished by 1800 but for getting stuck in a shallow bit while looking for somewhere to tie the boat to. Luckily after shifting all the water containers and waiting for another boat to come past to makes some waves, we just managed to reverse off, but the engine took a real hammering. Now moored just outside the first lock gates on the canal de L’Oise a’ L’Aisne which we’ll be joining tomorrow - if we don’t get crushed by a barge as it’s really narrow and your not supposed to park here.

Locks and Tunnels

Late start this morning as I didn’t even wake up until 0800. We parked up last night next to the lock, so before we slipped the ropes at 0830, I pressed the remote control button to set the thing working, but it didn’t. In the end two red lights came on which meant it was broke. We went up to the control booth and pressed the remote intercom and tried to explain in French which lock we were at and the problem. A while later a man came to the lock while we were back at the boat. The lights changed to one red and he went again. When we pressed the remote it still didn’t work. While I went back to the intercom to explain again, Mayuri set it working somehow. I ran back down to the boat and just as we were going through the lock the man came back. I think he thought we’d pressed the button to go down instead of up but he wasn’t too unhappy.
The route is really nice and after a couple of locks, we were caught up by a German boat. We went further forward in the lock so he could come in behind us. Everything went ok in this lock but the next one didn’t have a mooring cleat in the right place and we were forced near the doors at the front of the lock. When the water started coming in to raise us the boat became cross ways on in the lock as neither of us was strong enough to hold it in place against the turbulence, and two new scrapes were added. The next lock was as bad although no damage was done so we decided to stop for dinner and carry on our own after and stay toward the back of the lock and choose the best mooring bollards for our non canal shaped boat.
After 19 locks we finally came across the German boat again. Him and about 6 other boats were all tying together in a convoy to be pulled through a 5.7km tunnel by an electric barge. It only goes twice a day so they’d been hanging around for ages. We threw him our ropes and set off. It took 1.5 hours to get through and we were freezing by the other side. We decided to stay at the next convenient place to moor up. An hour later we came across another tunnel. We didn’t know how to tell if there was anything coming through in the opposite direction but luckily saw a barge ahead of us going in. We went a bit faster to catch up and just followed him through. It was about a kilometre and after we came out this one we had to moor up as it was 2100. By 2110 we found a spot although we’re touching the bottom as its not very deep. Just hope not too many big barges come past in the night as it’s a concrete ledge which doesn’t go too well against a fibre glass bottom!

Hot water and electric again

Off at 0805 this morning. About a mile on from where we moored we saw two guys who we passed yesterday in a little boat nicely moored up against a proper quay for free - typical. They caught up with us in the first lock of the day and followed us until we turned off. They’re also off to the med, but the fast route through Paris as they only have enough cash for a 30 day licence - students.
A lockeeper gave us a better map so we decided to get off the canal du nord and onto one of the smaller ones. We end up coming out in the same place as we already planned - Chauny - but it’s more scenic although there are quite a few more locks. Half an hour after turning off I noticed a little bit of Shell petrol station sign through the trees, so we decided to pull up and fill the 25 litre container.
At the first lock on this smaller canal the wind was really blowing - it’s been hat & coat with the shorts all day today - and the lock was much smaller than the last few. After we were in - with a bit of translation help from some people who had passed us on the towpath on bikes - we understood from the lockeeper that this and the next lot of locks are automatic. He gave us a little remote control and went.
The big locks are so easy compared to the small ones. The entrance is 5m wide, we are 4.1 + fenders which doesn’t leave a lot for cross currents and wind. To minimize the effect of the cross current you have to get a fair bit of speed up to and past the lock gates - I just hope my aim stays straight through the next 31 locks. The turbulence is also a lot rougher as they fill up - sending the side that’s not got all the fenders on it towards the opposite wall.
At the next lock the lockeeper was there to see if we had learned what he showed us. At the third he wasn’t so we must have looked fairly competent. The rain had started by now so as it was 1725 we’ve pulled up just before the next set of locks ready for tomorrow.
We’ve filled our water tanks & containers at the locks and as we motor all day we have lots of hot water for showers and electric which means a proper cold fridge and computers etc..

Is it a lock?

Canals

Slipped our mooring lines from around the trees at 0820 this morning. Arrived at our first lock before long. After yesterday we learned not to be near the entrance when the levels drops due to the fierce cross currents. Mayuri also jumped out before I went in with the boat so that she could go up the stairs and be at the top of the lock to catch the ropes without having to climb the slippery ladder attached to the wall inside. Everything went ok, but It takes a lot of work to keep the boat straight even when your expecting the surges from the sides. We went up about 8m and when level with the top, Mayuri jumped back in and we set off.
Half an hour later the next obstacle came into view. Because we don’t have a map, we’re still not sure whats coming up next. First we thought it was a tunnel as it looked too big to be a lock but as we got closer the black bit that we thought was the hole in the tunnel turned out to be a huge black steel gate. I pulled up and Mayuri jumped out and headed up the hill via the steps. The lights next to the gate changed to red/green (get ready) and the steel door started to go up, leaving a hole in the massive wall to go through. The currents were really strong and I virtually went through sideways, but once inside it was ok. Once inside it reminded me of the deathstar in starwars as the door slid down behind me, leaving me at the bottom of this massive concrete box about 100m long, 15 wide and 20 high. I saw Mayuri looking down from the top and shouted that I’d never be able to throw the rope up. It turned out that there were cleats in the wall that go up with the water. I pulled up next to one and tied on, then the bloke operating the lock whistled down and pointed for me to go further forward. I went along and moored up again. It took about half an hour from being outside to being level with the top. The depth sounder read 18m. It’s one of those things you have to see to understand how huge it is - 30,000 odd tonnes of water just to raise a 3 tonne boat 18m.
The next lock only went up about 3m and Mayuri didn’t even bother to get out before hand. We motored for the rest of the day through what looks like a coal mining area - it was a bit like sailing up the M18 past Doncaster, but with a few nicer villages in between. At one point we came across a fork where the two channels were the same size. I guessed the right and hoped for the best. Luckily a few minutes later there were signs showing we were on the right canal. The other went to Brussels! This canal now is the main route through to Paris and the barges are huge. They come past varying everything from gas to gravel. The biggest yet was 95 metres long by 10 wide and 1500 tonnes carrying lorry containers. They seem to be travelling a lot faster on this canal and as they come past the waves are like being on the sea again which is why when it got to 1930 we decided to turn off into a port de plaisance rather than tie up with my home made mooring stakes - that pulled out straight away yesterday - even though it cost 9euros.

Calais to St Omer

As usual we were rushing around at the last minute this morning to get everything ready . We cast off at 0755 ready for the bridge that opened at 0802. The rain that had been really bad all night had stopped but it was still really windy. We were the only boat to leave the marina. The sea was really rough as we motored around to the Carnot basin after getting permission from Calais port control - things were even getting thrown around inside the boat! As we entered the narrow channel that leads into the basin the bridge hadn’t been raised. With the engine in neutral the wind kept us going at a good speed and as the bridge started to lift we squeezed under. At the other side of the basin, we waited at the lock gates, just floating around. After a while the guy who had just opened the bridge for us arrived on a scooter and went into the control box. Ten minutes later he was on his phone and twenty minutes later two more guys arrived in overalls. Just after nine the gates opened and we entered the lock. After the checking of all our paperwork and licence, the water level rose up and we finally locked out into the French canal system.
We pulled up straight away and went as directed the day before into the VNF building to see the lady who did the licence. The next four bridges along the route are low and have to be lifted. She called the bridge guy (students on summer holiday) and arranged for us to meet him at the first bridge in 45 minutes. He arrived early and took all our details again and the opened the first bridge. We motored through and he came past in his van and did the same thing another three times over the next few miles.
The canal was fairly narrow with big patches of weed. A few times the engine nearly died as something got wrapped around the prop. We switched to using just one prop - the one nearer the centre of the channel but it still kept happening. Our first meeting with a boat was a motor cruiser from Bristol coming in the other direction. Shortly after we had our first meeting with a peniche. As he approached I noticed behind the cargo hold (and in front of his mobile home) a speed boat that he could lower into the water - then a scooter - then a jet ski. As we got level with him we saw the new Peugeot 406 parked on the back. A few hours later we caught up with another going in the same direction as us. I stayed behind him for ages but eventually got bored and went for the overtake. I couldn’t remember the sound signals for overtaking so I just started to go past. The gap wasn’t as big as it looked from behind and by the time I was halfway past I was starting to wish I‘d stayed behind. We hit a thick patch of something and the engine started to labour. I pushed the throttle forward and hoped for the best. The revs stayed the same but the engine didn’t stop. By the time we were past there were leaves & all sorts in the cockpit where the starboard hull had been a little too close to the side. I don’t know what was hanging off the props but it really slowed us down and took ages for us to pull a gap on him. Just as I was starting to though, another low bridge came up. I went into the lock cut thinking we might just squeeze under but the radome was just too high. By the time I’d reversed out the peniche was waiting too. A while later a girl came and opened the bridge and we went under. Now I thought we would get out of the embarrassing situation of continually getting in this guys way but a few hundred metres later we came to a lock. We both went in and he said hello again.
As we had no map, we kept taking either the biggest fork at each junction or the one that was pointing south. It felt like we were going in the right direction but in the afternoon we saw another catamaran with a british flag moored up so we stopped to check. He had a spare canal book so we bought it off him for 10euros. We were on the right canal too.
As the day had gone on I’d gone from shorts with two teeshirts and a fleece to just the shorts & sunglasses by dinner. By tea I had a good sunburn. The guy in the peniche overtook us again later in the day on one of the big canals and at 1815 we pulled into a slip and tied the boat to some trees (as my stakes made from offcuts of wood from the mast support don’t seem to work too well!) and called it a day. We’d done 28 miles on the log and were near a town called St Omer.

Calais

Spent the day getting the licence to get onto the canals, food shopping, simm card shopping (no luck), squeezing as much diesel & water as we could on board and generally getting soaking wet in the rain. They don’t sell fresh milk in Calais and you have to buy stamps at the railway station?
All set for high tide at 0802 tomorrow when the bridge opens and we can lock into basin carnot and out the other side into the canal system. Saved a load of money by not buying the five Navicarte maps that show us the route from here to the med as they also don’t sell them here in Calais! We have a small scale map showing the whole of France, with parts of Holland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy so if no one hears from us again we might be somewhere there.

Mast down

Up at 0730 today as the chandler told us to be next to the crane at 0900ish. 25 split pins had to be unbent & removed, electrics separated & bolts loosened. The sails, boom & other bits were taken off yesterday ready. Luckily the thunder & lightning had finished and the rain stopped for us. The mast came down ok and we motored back to our berth with it balanced on the roof like a big battering ram, 2m longer than when we set off. I spent the rest of the day making a frame to support it properly with some bits of wood we bought in Poole, strapping the sail battens, boom & everything else that’s too long to fit in the cabin onto the mast as well. We were just about done & cleaned up by 2130 - the first 14 hour day for a while!

Channel crossing

19.07.07
Moved out of the Wellington dock into the Granville dock yesterday so we could leave today at three hours before high water. The wind was gusting 23kts and leaving the berth was a little tricky, but went ok. We were allocated a berth under the marina office which gave us fantastic internet reception so I downloaded a couple of programs to watch when we get to France. We’ve just about finished all the faulty towers, father teds, blackadders and x files, so we’re moving onto documentaries now - ants!
The lock opened at 1215 and as usual we were the last ones out. The forcast was variable 3 increasing to NE7, showers & good visibility. With no wind we couldn’t even make 4kts for the first couple of hours, but then the wind increased to 12-17kts and we motorsailed at 6 - 7 kts the rest of the way. At least the showers bit was wrong and it was t shirt & shorts weather with nice sunshine. The shipping lanes were really busy, but we only altered course a couple of times to miss ships. We didn’t bother about the ferries & they didn’t have any problem weaving between us & the ships in the TSS.
Unlike everywhere else we’ve been, no radio communications are used to enter Calais port, just traffic lights. When we arrived, five hours after leaving Dover, four French boats were just entering with 3 red lights showing - so we just followed. We entered the inner basin on green lights and picked up a mooring buoy. I thought we’d be there until the morning when the road bridge opened to let boats through into the marina but twenty minutes later there was another mad rush when everyone left their moorings and headed for the bridge that was opening. We quickly threw off our lines and made it through - last - and into the marina.
Only been here an hour, but already found out that you have to bring your own hose pipe to fill the water tanks - so I’ve been lugging the jerry cans around and the electric supply cant take our 2kw heater!

Janix's photo journey Dover to Calais

tea time swim

In Cuba they swim with the dolphins - here in Dover we swim with the ferries. Can't believe how warm the water is today. Lots of channel swimmers practising, but I only managed about 500m as I'd just finished two curries, with naan bread, popadoms & half a bar of chocolate 15min before.

I've just realised you can make the pictures bigger by clicking on them!

Wedding

Back up to Scunthorpe for 5 days for Nicole & Tims wedding.

This is the only photo I have of them together.

Thanks for the cleaning job Daniel - Hertz will never know about you being sick all over the back of our car!