Saturday 15th April 2017 Tronville to Naix-aux-Forges 12.3kms 13 locks

Mooring at Tronville

4.2°C Chilly, grey skies and rain forecast. Mike moved the car to the car park down the hill in the town then we set off at 9.10am, it was about 1km to the first lock. There were new factories along the road on our left and the ruins of old ones on our right. A short wait below lock 27 Chessard while it emptied. 610m to lock 26 Nançois-le-Petit. A VNF van went past several times, up and down the canal. There was a spanking new lorry hub on our left as we entered lock 26. The canal water was becoming clear, but

Notice at Tronville in English, sort of,
regulations for passing Mauvages tunnel
? No shouting?

weed was starting to build up. We broke through a big wedge of the stuff to get out of lock 26. 670m to lock 25 Verlaines. The empty lock chamber was full of floating weed, it took some pushing to get through it to get out of the lock. A little girl watched us from the porch of the lock house, waving as we left. The prop had turned into a dishmop with all the weed attached to it. Mike gave it several spins in reverse to dislodge the mess. 1.37kms to lock 24 Maulan. Glad we’d kept the coal fire simmering, the wind was getting chilly. 350m to Villeroncourt, Mike took photos of the high viaduct carrying the N44 and the long flight of steps up to a house close to the lock which must have a wonderful view. 510m to lock 22 Ligny, taking photos of the two boats and four campervans around the basin. Off on the long pound 1.4kms to the next. Pompiers (firemen) were doing some training by the first bridge, paddling around in a small inflatable and hanging off the bridge on ropes. Mike hooted as there were swimmers in the canal who didn’t seem to notice the boat. The guys on the bank shouted a warning to the swimmers,  waved and shouted greetings to

Villeroncourt and the N44

us as we passed. Lock 21 Gainval was a shallower one than the usual 2.7m at 2.4m lift. 703m to the next, no lights on, but the VNF van was there. Didn’t have to zap it as we’d already got a red/green light at the lock. 703m to lock 20 the aptly named Grève (strike) as it did – refused to work. Our man in a van got it to work for us, then all the lights went off again, problems he said, but what we have no idea. 735m to lock 19 Givrauval, another shallow one, only 2.2m. We had a slow run up while 19 emptied. The lock house was lived in and had wisteria in bloom all along its fence. The church bells in Givrauval were ringing for midday mass as we

Steps to the house by Villeroncourt lock

left the lock. The keeper had asked if we were stopping for lunch as there was a nice pontoon and picnic tables a bit further on. Nope, pushing on. We ate lunch on the 1,385kms pound to lock 18 Longeaux. Although the house had been bricked up for many years the white lilac and the bright red flowering quince trees were the remains of a lovely garden. As we travelled the 1,590kms to the next lock Mike took photos of birds having an aerial battle. Lock 17 Menaucourt was the first of the chained flight – no more posts to zap – these activate one after the other all the way to the top lock. We’re not going that far, so our man in a van will reset them for us. These locks are not narrowboat friendly, especially if it’s windy. The access sensors (which start the operating sequence) are on the right at the lock entrance and the pole to get it working is on the left. Mike forgot the first one and went in the middle – it didn’t “see” us so he had to back out and have another go. Successful on the second attempt, but getting the boat across to the left meant going almost all the way to the top end gates and reversing back so I could reach the pole. It filled OK. Took some photos of the lovely old village of Menaucourt as

Basin at Ligny-en-Barrois - two boats and four campervans

we passed by. 730m to lock 16 Nantois, that worked OK, so did lock 15 Naix even though the poles (there are two at each lock, a blue one to shove uphill to get the lock working and a red one for emergency use, which stops the lock working) both were broken, dangling as they no longer went through their brackets that hold them off the wall – fortunately the blue one worked OK. It was 1.50pm as we tied up on the quay and the first few spots of rain fell as we were tying up and setting up the satellite dish, etc. It can rain all it likes now, we’re having a day off as it’s Sunday tomorrow F1 GP from

Lock 18 Longeaux

Bahrain, so here we stay until Monday.

Menaucourt

Buzzard fight