Departure 10.10am. Trip time 1hr 39min, 5.6 nautical miles.
Woke early& by 7.30am I have collected another 45 litres of fuel & the tanks are topped with some for Ron (later). Pleased to find a boulangerie open. Croissant, pain chocolat & 2 baguettes for breakfast with poached eggs. Leave mooring & turn into a 1.5 knot current. Rains have impacted. Get to first bridge & slam into astern as realise that haven't dropped wifi ariel or VHF ariels. Sunny suddenly & we enjoy an hour & half drifting along Somme to accompaniment of birdsong and my best singing voice.
Pont Remy lock appears. I have been pre warned by the eclusiers that there is a very strong current right next to the entrance and to make matters worse It is being modernised. I enter with speed into the lock at a 30degree angle into the side current and hope the current straightens me and i am relieved to see doucettes's bows straighten as i feel the current take hold. I stop once clear and inch into the new concrete slopy sided outer lock under instruction to hold ground in middle using motors as there are as yet no holding bollards. Chaps start to close lock gates but stop & reopen. 2 more boats approach. It is Tony, Yvonne & friends. Suddenly we have 3 boats in the outer lock, all loose & fendering off each other & the concrete sides. Now the water starts flooding in. As they rise, currents & flows in all directions & pretty mush bedlam ensues but thankfully no damage to anyone & after an interminable time the gates are finally opened& on we go. There is a huge cat med bound on the quay & owners Steve & Jill take our ropes. Steve had built the cat from scratch taking him 4 yours. It was a tad ugly to my taste but incredibly luxurious inside and he was rightly very proud of her and so it was that he was so upset at having smashed the port hull and holed it high above the waterline on entering the aforementioned very tricky lock. How he would cope with this leviathan in later locks did not bear thinking about. The 2 steel boats fill remaining 2 spaces.
We enjoy cheese, chorizo, crab pate & pâté de compagne with a baguette ancienne washed down with a leffe. Tony knocks window & presents me with a 7% l'abbaye bruin Belgium beer. Very nice.
After lunch we stroll into Pont Remy. A lovely little village but sadly the chateaux is in ruin & no longer open. Back to the boat, mum steals a duck egg much all our shock & horror & sleeps off her guilt with an afternoon nap. Collette chores while I remove radar dome & VHF ariel to ease the stress of the lower bridges. The radar stores in the anchor locker which has become a fantastic storage zone with its tardis like quality. The ariels just fit across the wheelhouse roof & with my new magma deboxed & fitted to the stern rail Doucette is looking more prepared for the campaign ahead.
We cob 3 utterly enormous belly pork slices each 3 ribs wide & gluttony results as we demolish one each with cous cous & roasted veg. Mum looks particularly happy as she sighs with contentment at the last digestion following a gripping battle with the side of meat and with a trickle of pork fat still glistening she licks her lips one last time. It was all over except for the cake!
Weather - still overcast but dry & sun occasionally breaking through.
Locks - 1 of 3
No comments:
Post a Comment