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.