Tuesday 21st May Get off the river Tout Suite

With another very wet morning, something we now took for granted, we were in no rush to leave and it was 10am when the eclusier knocked on the side of the boat asking us of our plans for the day. Caves of Bailly for lunch and then accolay for the night, I reported.
We set off half an hour later and by the next lock I was happy to see normal temperatures on both engines. The rain had abated to a steady light drizzle as we meandered through some very pleasant countryside and a couple of more locks. Arriving at Vaux, we recieved the grim news. "The navigation is closing tonight, the river is in flood and you must get off the river by tonight" the wet and concerned looking lockeeper confirmed my morning plans were ok as accolay is on a canal side cut. "how long is the closure?" I tentatively requested even though I new the answer. "je ne sais pas" perhaps 1,2,3 days perhaps a week. The skipper surpressed a few choice words but at least we had the cremant degustation just one lock away to look forward to.
We slip along a canal cut to enter the next lock spying the scots and english couple whose hireboat we had followed and locked with prior to our emergency fanbelt stop yesterday waiting to come back in the opposite direction. Strange, I pondered.
"Where are you going, the river is closing in 20 minutes (locks close for lunch 12 to 1), we have been told to get off the river tout suite"
"Thats not what I have been told" I boldly reply fearing the worst and tasting that cremant being poured back into the bottle.
I engage the drowned eclusier. He confirms the bad news. I argue that the last lockkeeper told me differently. He makes a call to the "chef"
Ok, you can proceed to Accolay but tout suite the locks will remain open for you so vitesse.
No degustation but at least we would make more progress. We soon passed the caves of Bailly as I pushed Doucette pleased to be given the all clear to break the 8km per hour speed limit these engines needed a bit of work. By now it was lashing down again. It must be serious for the guys to open locks in their sacred lunch hour so we were getting special treatment. This was confirmed at the next lock when the chef himself careered to a halt in a van with the usual female eclusier both exiting the car hurredly devouring sandwiches. The chef again encouraged me to tout suite as we exited and he would see us at the next lock.
we rounded the next bend and I spied a very low looking bridge. With the water so high, airdrafts were badly affected and we had all the covers up due to the rain and had just cleared a couple of bridges by a centimetre. This looked tight aswell with arched sides looking dodgy. I slowed almost to a standstill as we entered with Collette guiding me through from the bow. I spied something hanging low toward one side. It was a protection netting on a bar sometimes found on the sides of the bridges.
I warned collette who got a boat hook and tried to push it up as we were already half way under the bridge. She could not move it. I stopped the boat which, having no way on, immediately drifted sideways off of dead center where we cleared by mm`s. the tear as the canvas caught whilst I frantically pushed against the bridge sides was inevitable, but I daren`t hit the throttles. I managed to ease her toward the stbd side of the arch where we could just pass the bar and still clear the bridge and oh so carefully hand over hand in the old barge methods, slipped us through.
The damage was limited to a 2 inch tear in the hood canvas which the crew confirmed was an easy repair but it was still a very good reason to say "bloody rain" again. the covers would not have been up, the river would not have been so high and the arch would have been easily dropped and we would not have been under time pressures. all of which contributed to a slightly stressful few moments. As I said to the crew, it would have been strange to have had an incident free passage given our previous days. This picture of the offending bridge was taken some days later, click on photo and note the dropped iron net right of centre:-

we were now late on parade for the following lock where we new our gallant eclusiers would be impatiently waiting. they had other fish to fry with the massive work required on the many barrages in this sector of the Nivernais. On approaching the lock, I spied a madame dog walker wildly waving her hands indicating for me to slow down. I waved to acknowledge but the throttles stayed put. She got angry, very angry and was jumping up and down almost apoplectic now shouting at me. Still a tad stressed from the bridge incident, I was in no mood so I screamed back at her to go tell the vnf who were watching me just 200m away and that I was speeding at their request. She looked like one of those helium filled dolls where the helium had not been turned off. She just seemed to get bigger and bigger and redder and redder. I waved a cheery au revoir as I concentrated on the lock approach waiting to hear the pop as she undoubtedly exploded whilst spitting venemous abuse in my direction.
The lock keepers were laughing as I entered pointing toward her, they had witnessed the whole incident. They regarded the damaged cover giving that old french shoulder shrug "merde, mais c`est la vie"
We got to the Vermenton cutting without further incident and just had one lock to pass through to reach Accolay. We were now off the river so were safe but the last lock was still a hurdle as the eclusiers wife explained that he had been away at the barrages all day and she did not know when he would be back. she would text him. We sat on the waiting pontoon for an  hour before our two familiar friendly vnf couple pulled up apologising for the delay but explaining there were many problems today. We passed through the lock and I gave them a beer and a bar of chocolate as a token thankyou for thei sterling efforts in getting us here.
Accolay of course was full. It has a sloping quay which is not ideal for Doucette with twin shafts. We rafted alongside an obviously empty hire barge. A rather smart barge  "Randall" out of Southampton was in front and I decided I could squeeze in if she moved astern or forward 15ft which was possible.
It looked empty and a knock had no response. Half an hour later I spied movement. Tim from Norfolk was the owner and proprietor of the holiday barge. A very nice bloke, he soon moved and offered lots of local advice. He was here for two weeks having no clients til then. Delighted considering the weather.
Moored and with electric and water, I was happy to pay the young lady who called for our nightly fee the staggering 2 euros 60. In the evening the sun even popped its head through just to let us know it was still there.

 

 A baked camembert with smoked sausage,  potatoes gherkins and fresh baguette was a nice way to finish another interesting day.