Friday 23rd June 2017 Soulanges to Condé-sur-Marne 40kms 8 locks

Dredging below Ablancourt

15.6°C Warm and sunny with a good strong breeze, a few cloudy spells. The Dutch cruiser that moored behind us the previous evening went at 7.30am – they were going back to the Netherlands via the Moselle and Rhine. We left ten minutes later at 7.40am, heading uphill first to turn the hanging pole then a U-turn to get back to the lock, 4 Soulanges (1.60m). A couple were already sitting at the end of the moorings, fishing. 2.3kms to lock 5 Ablancourt 

Mooring at Pogny

(2.00m) cool under the shady trees. The lock walls at lock 5 had at some time been made higher by about a metre to cope with fluctuating water levels as it was river-fed. It had no weir and had feed paddles permanently open. 3.6kms to the next. Had a short wait for a dredger, loading mud into the hold of Paraguay, to move over and let us past. Mike had to stand on the stool on the back deck to reach the turn-pole above lock 6 La Chausée. A VNF man in a van arrived, said bonjour and went into the lock cabin with an aluminium case (collecting data from the lock?) he stayed a few minutes and

Mallow on the canal bank near St Germain

then carried on down the towpath. 6.5kms to the next. Made a cuppa and sat out in the sunshine with a very welcome cooling breeze. A cruiser had just come up in lock 7 St Germain (2.70m) There were bins at the lock so Mike nipped off with our accumulated bagful (the bin at Soulanges had gone missing while we were moored there and never re-appeared) 4.75kms to the next. Mike phoned Chalons to tell them we were on our way back to Condé, it was one of the Chef’s co-workers who answered his phone and he said there would be someone at Condé later. A Dutch cruiser went past heading uphill. A DB was coming up in lock 8 Sarry (2.50m) we went in as soon as he cleared the lock. 5.9kms into Chalons and there were starting to get more and

Cathedral at Chaons-en-Champagne

more cyclists on the towpath. Took photos of two of the new-fangled weed gathering machines which were sat on the bank before the lock. No turn-pole above lock 9 Chalons – a sensor activated the lock. A very smart motorcycle was parked by the lock and a guy (who was definitely a biker) came out of the office to lift the rod as I put a rope around a bollard, then he fetched a windlass and wound the bottom end manual paddle up – none of the hydraulic paddles seemed to be working. A German cruiser was heading for lock as we left it – from Neass-am-Rhin, must be

Weed gathering machines at Chalons

another one bound for the Moselle then. 7.1kms to lock 10 Juvigny. Empty péniche Keiko from Terneuzen in the Netherlands was moored by the silo quay, wheelhouse down, car off-loaded, most likely off shopping in Chalons. Round the last bend in the canal at KP36 at 1pm, 13kms in a straight line all the way to Condé. Down lock 10, lock house shuttered and empty. 5kms to lock 11 Vraux (2.6kms) whose lock house was lived in and surrounded by masses of flowers. They had one of the biggest stores of wood we’d seen in a long time. An empty peniche, Maringo from Dunkirk was moored on the left under the long avenue of

Capitanerie at Chalons

tall plane trees, crew in the wheelhouse keeping cool – they said bonjour as we passed. A bit further on a DB was also sheltering under the big trees, a big hotel boat with bikes - must be having a rest between guests. A loaded péniche turned out of the Canal de la Marne à l’Aisne towards us, we slowed off so we didn’t meet Relicat from Paris in the narrow bit where there are the remains of an old bridge. Turned right at the junction at 3.10pm and saw that our old friend

Lock keeper winding a paddle at lk 9 Chalons

Gerard had “reserved” the pontoon for us, cordoning off our mooring place with some rope. Our next door neighbours were on their boat and came out to say hello and offer help with our ropes. The British cruiser that had been moored by our bows had gone, it must have been sold, a Dutch boat was temporarily in its place. Nice to be back – now to get connected to the mains electricity and retrieve our air con unit so we can cool the cabin down, then sort out the campervan ready for our next road trip….

13kms long straight canal all the way to Conde-sur-Marne

Wednesday 21st June 2017 Ecriennes to Soulanges 19kms 7 locks

Sunset on the longest day. Soulanges

16.0°C Very hot and sunny, a few clouds building up after lunch. 42.5°C outside. Set off at 8.40am down lock 68 Ecriennes (3.10m) There was a burnt-out cruiser on the bank just before the lock, surrounded with mesh fencing. The lockhouse was lived in, but there was no one about. 2.6kms to the next lock and lots of early morning cyclists taking advantage of the cooler start to the day. We passed a loaded peniche called Burnaut,

Wind generators near Vitry

heading uphill (the unloading place seems to be below Orconte). A tern was following behind checking the wash from the big boat for any stunned fish, surprised if he’d see any as the churned up water was very muddy and weedy. I cooked some spuds and pork steaks in the pressure cooker to eat cold later. Lock 69 Luxemont (3.30m) had a shuttered abandoned lock house. We had a brief cleg attack, big ones – easier to swat. 3.5kms to lock 70 Frignicourt (3.10m) a

Peniche Anti-Lope washing down abv lk 71 Desert

cruiser (ex hireboat) had just come up lock 70, we passed it by the zapper post. An empty peniche called Anti-Lope was washing down just before the last lock on the canal and an empty called Modicum was moored by the silos above lock 71 Désert (3.40m). Mike handed in our zapper to the usual lock keeper and we chatted as we dropped down in the chamber. As we came out from under the big railway bridge below the lock we could see a loaded boat, Westropa NL

Cleaning down after unloading

coming through the narrow section through the next bridge, about 100m away, so we stopped and hovered to keep out of the weeds until he (and the cruiser trailing behind him) had cleared the narrows, then we went past them. The cruiser was a Belgian flagged ex-hire boat with a couple on the roof who were very sun-tanned. There was a long string of péniches at Chantier Garnier, some old ones waiting conversion to houseboats and a few newly painted working boats. La Doller

Modicum moored abv lk 71 Desert

was newly painted, Renaisance now a houseboat, Ste Maria had been shortened. Loaded boats Keiko and Celentas were moored side-by-side. Kiev was moored next to Scaldis and DB Majaj. Poulebot was empty and moored at the end of the line at the chantier. The Port-de-Plaisance entrance arm was filled with DBs, then two old boats in need of converting were tied up, one had Hamburg on its stern. The canal was still full of weeds and there were (unusually) loads of empty beer bottle in the canal (someone had a party and not heard of bottle banks?) Empty péniche Kendall was

Loaded Dutch boat Westropa below lock 71 Desert in Vitry

moored by the first silo at the junction with the canal Latéral a la Marne, its crew were catching the breeze in their wheelhouse and waved and said bonjour as we passed them. Masses of weed on the junction as we turned left at 11.20am. Empty péniche Feeling (named for the skipper’s favourite song, he once told us) was waiting to load at the second silo berth. As we progressed down the Latéral the weed got less, thankfully, so less spinning the stuff off the prop in reverse was needed. At last! The powers that be had cleared the site of the fuel depot that had

Site of the burnt out fuel depot

burned down years ago. Mike took some photos. Passing around Vitry on an embankment we had good views of the town and their campsite for passing Gitanes (Gypsies). Looked almost empty, they must be out doing farm work, several that remained waved cheerily as we went past. Empty peniche Paraguay was just leaving lock 1 Vitry (2.60m) and we passed by the turn pole and said bonjour to the skipper as we slid past and into the lock. 1.3kms to the next. Met a yacht without masts (from Hamburg) as we passed the old lime kilns and the site of another fuel depot, also long gone. A Dutch new-build DB was coming up in the deep lock 2 Lermite

Female damselfly

(3.90m) so we had a short wait while he cleared the lock, then we went down. 1.2kms to the next and it was getting really hot again 35°C and rising. Down lock 3 Couvrot a shallow 1.2kms. Loaded boat Aude from Maasbracht was heading uphill below Couvrot, we passed by the turn pole. 4.9kms to Soulanges lock. We stopped on the mooring above the lock at 1.30pm. There was a lone fisherman at the end of the shady mooring, he was OK as we went for the uphill end so we could get satellite TV over the trees. Loaded boat Rectif was coming up lock 4

Moored on the quay at Soulanges

and a Dutch steel boat went down. Not long after a new-build tjalk with a smoky engine came up. At 2.20pm loaded péniche My Way went down. Mike went on the moped into Vitry to retrieve the car. I started work on catching up on the photos and log, but before long I gave up as the temperature soared over 40°C in the boat and 46°C outside. Gave Mike a hand to put the bike on the front deck rather than on the roof. Really glad I’d cooked dinner earlier as to cook anything in this heat would be beyond the pale. At midnight it was still 35°C in the bedroom, so I put cushions on the floor and slept there. Mike braved the heat in the bedroom, heat doesn’t affect him like it does me.

Tuesday 20th June 2017 Chamouilley to Ecriennes. 29.4kms 12 locks

Liftbridge and old railway swingbridge at Marnaval

13.2°C Very hot and sunny again (Max 36.7°C outside and 33°C in the cabin. All the cruisers that had stayed overnight had gone before we started getting ready to move. Chatted with the guy off the DB who was staying for a month to get some work done on his boat. Left at 8.50am. I phoned Vitry to book us a lock keeper, I asked if we needed one today, the lady said yes, for the liftbridge at Marnaval. Lock 56 Güe (3.10m) was empty, so we

Reflection in the gymnasium window. St Dizier

had a short wait while it filled. There was an interesting Z-bend under the railway which has traffic lights at the far side for uphill traffic so that they didn’t meet downhill traffic on the blind bends. Jets taking off from St Dizier’s airbase were very loud as we travelled the 2.1kms pound to lock 57 Marnaval (3.20m). Two cruisers were coming up so we had a short wait until they cleared before we went down. A young lady with a VNF van worked the black liftbridge below the lock from a cabin. Beyond it the railway swingbridge remains forever open to boat traffic. 4kms into St Dizier. A narrow (abt

New waterfront in St Dizier

3.5m beam) Belgian-flagged tug went past heading uphill. St Dizier’s waterfront had had a makeover with all new buildings facing on to the canal, new shops and a cinema behind the quay, where the cruiser that had been moored in front of us the night before was now moored. Opposite was a new sports centre and Mike managed to take a good reflection photo of the boat in the gymnasium’s big windows. Lock 58 St Dizier (3.20m) was very slow emptying. 1.8kms to the next past a large factory, YTO on the chimney – on

Site of marina in St Dizier

the gate it said Yanmar Tractor (Case Tractor’s smelly factory used to be where the new sports centre is) and next to it was a foundry, Focast, which was making a right old pong. Down 59 La Noue (3.10m) and turned sharp right on to a long, long straight section, 18kms before the first bend! To our left was the empty basin which used to house a pretty good marina many years ago. The perimeter fence of the air base was right next to the canal for about 2.5kms. 1.8kms to lock 60 Hœricourt (3.20m) a large Dutch steel cruiser was waiting below to go up. 2.3kms to lock 61

Anti-aircraft lorry at air base in St Dizier

Hallignicourt (3.20m) Mike took photos of a camouflaged lorry with a rotating radar dish (and a German symbol on the side of the lorry) which looked like some sort of surface to air anti-aircraft missile launcher. 1.5kms (and yet more foul smells) to lock 62 La Garenne (3.10m). The lady of the lock house said bonjour from the shade at her front door. 62 was also very slow to empty. The afternoon Eurofighter take-offs were pretty loud. 2.4kms to lock 63 Perthes

Donkey dozing in the heat.

(3.30m). Three adolescent lads in swimming shorts were playing about around the lock, sitting on the lock gates as they opened. One asked me a question and I didn’t understand him, so I asked him to repeat it – still couldn’t fathom what he was asking. He gave up. So did I. Below the lock there were parked gypsy caravans, so that must be where the kids came from, wondered why they weren’t at school. 1.4kms and checking for moorings but finding nothing, not even pilings with deep enough water. Down lock 64 Sapiginicourt (3.20m) and the canal became weedy after seeing none

Tonga unloading below Orconte lock -
 commercial activity again at last!

since before St Dizier, in consequence there were lots of dragonflies and damselflies and a Kingfisher flew past – hadn’t seen one for ages and then a tern diving for fish, not seen one of those either. I made sandwiches for lunch on the long 3.4kms pound. Down lock 65 Bruyère and, after the gates closed behind us as we left, two red lights came on – en panne! Weed in the gates? 2kms to lock 66 Orconte (3.30m). A VNF pusher tug Neptunius was moored at the end of the (empty, and very nice but no satellite TV due to trees) quay

Moored above lock 68 Ecriennes

for plaisance, which had a large sign forbidding péniches from mooring there. Below the lock by the silo, péniche Tonga from Sens was being unloaded by diggers into bulk cargo lorries. 2.1kms to lock 67 Matignicourt (3.10m). A VNF van went down the towpath but didn’t stop. Lock 67’s house was all bricked up. A fisherman was fishing just below the lock. Another 2kms and we were at the picnic quay above lock 68 Ecriennes. Nice mooring, partially in shade, but one disadvantage – again no satellite TV. It was just after 4pm when we tied up. Three quarters of an hour later cruiser a cruiser that moors at Condé went past heading uphill, starting their holidays – they asked if we were on our way back to Condé. Yes, we’ll see you later in the year. Tonga, now empty, went past heading downhill at 5.20pm. Half an hour later, loaded boat La Paix went past heading uphill – the crew spoke in passing - they’d probably been past us dozens of times while we’ve been moored at Condé.