Linquenda the tjalk: September 2011

Linqui's lee board

A fisherman with huge side burns

Mamma's a fishin'!

Attie helping to repair a bike

Camping

Fog early morning

We have lots of creapy crawly visitors at night

Lock dogs begging for treats....they got some!

Sexy lock keeper!

Same one opening lock manually

Farmer all prepared for winter feeding

Well, dogs begged for treats but the lock keeper was not bad looking either

Fishermen around every corner....don't blame them

Caught them a little off guard

Automatic lock! Wish Fance had more of them! Pulling you up ever so slowly

World War German cemetary

Following a really welcoming and pleasant evening at Mouzon we travelled further South and stopped overnight at Dun-sur-Meuse, where we met and had drinks aboard with a German couple on their boat “Irmela”. He had also recently retired, bought the motorboat in Holland and planned to travel down to the Moselle, leave the boat there for the winter and next summer cruise Southern France. We were pleased to be able to share our own early fears and trepidation about ropes and moorings with them as his wife was also having a rather torrid time with this aspect of the adventure. She was not enjoying it and we hope that our experience and the fact that once one gets the hang of the ropes, develops a trust in your partner’s abilities and the crew becomes a team, the fears dissipate and one can begin to enjoy the freedom and marvellously changing scenery.

I was a bit puzzled when he related that they had had technical breakdowns with four of the automatic French locks on the way as we had followed exactly the same route and had had none. In fact we had found the French locks a less stressful experience than in Holland and Belgium as the crew determines the pace of entry and when the lock cycle should start. Only when safely tied up in the lock does one activate the closure of the lock and the water flow cycle. As there is no lock keeper there is no pressure to rush. Nonetheless, I stored his comment in the back of my mind as a little consideration going forward, a consideration that the next morning was brought into focus.

We were keen to get an early start the next morning in order to meet up with Paul & Lisa and Jens & Anya in Verdun, “Irmela” left port just as we were making ready to depart. We could have joined them in the lock, but would have had to rush a bit so I decided they should continue through the lock alone and motor on in their faster boat. As soon as they were in the lock we slowly cruised the 500m up the canal to the waiting position after activating the lock. The light sequence immediately changed from red “no go” to the customary green and red “get ready” indication and we sat and we waited and we sat and we waited and we sat! The lock had simply stuck in that position after the Germans had passed through! The mental warning to myself earlier that they might be accident prone or tend to do things out of sequence or over hastily had come true.

The French Waterway Authority, the VNF, hands one a remote control device at the French border and the beginning of the French waterway system, with simple instructions in English, Dutch, French and German not to activate the remote control more than once in a cycle and only at the appointed and marked receiver about 300m away from a lock. The fact that when we arrived at the lock before Dun with them behind us the previous evening they had pressed the button well before we had reached the activation point, jumped into perspective and possibly clarified the difficulties they had been having with the lock cycle.

Needless to say after waiting for a half an hour in the canal, we slowly went astern the half a km back to the marina and we moored up again and phoned the VNF to have the lock recycled. They sent a repairman to fix it and we departed again two hours later than we had intended. Rudi has a saying that things happen in a particular way because they must or are destined to so. We were not put out by the two-hour delay which meant we would not be able to make Verdun that day and we simply relaxed and took the trip at a more leisurely and quieter pace. After seeing the boats of our Swedish “friend”, who had now been christened by us as “HeyHey” for the way in which he introduced each sentence, and the Germans in marinas along the way we found an absolutely delightful, quiet mooring that afternoon on the side of the canal, which placed us in easy reach of Verdun the next day. We had a braai there and slept like babies feeling as remote from the hubbub as one can feel on planet earth. Only a few trucks or cars passed on the road about a kilometre away and this traffic faded to nothing after dark. Bliss indeed and thank you to the Germans for determining our destiny that day!

Unbelievably peaceful mooring. Beautiful just on side of canal.

We left early the next morning and did the 20 kilometres to Verdun where we were warmly welcomed by Jens and Anya who had decided to wait a day for us in their Luxemotor “Helene”. They had somehow unknowingly passed us on the way, probably in Namur, after leaving Zaandam a week after we had and were now in Verdun. Anya was in advanced pregnancy when they left Zaandam and was expecting the baby towards the end of Aug. We had worried about how they would cope on the canal if the baby announced itself between towns and without medical support, but they had delivered their first child at home with the help of a midwife, and were not too concerned. As it happened the baby was born to Anya on the boat at a mooring at the Consenvoye lock, assisted only by Jens, in the middle of the night the week before - the first baby to be born in Consenvoye in 41 years. The mayor of Consenvoye hosted them to toast the momentous occasion for the town and the baby was registered as Lorraine-Anouk, in recognition of her birthplace. They were the talk of not only Consenvoye, but the Lorraine region. Front page articles and photos in the local paper and people on the street regularly recognising them in Verdun as the celebrity couple.

Arriving at Verdun

The celebrities!

Anya and Lorraine-Anouck

Older sister Yu-Yu

Helene the birth place

We were invited for welcoming dinner by them and a fine evening was had on deck with various onlookers wishing us a bon appétit or engaging with the celebrity couple and their baby, Anouk. They left the next morning and we remained to spend a few days sightseeing and doing some maintenance, such fitting a new fan belt and general cleaning up.

From a boating and tourism perspective Verdun is brilliant. Free moorings with electricity and water are provided for both smaller craft and boats like ours of over 20m. The town has all services and shops you might need and is the site of the most debilitating battle of Verdun in which around 800 000 lost their lives during the First World War. All around Verdun one comes across cemeteries and monuments testifying to the enormous impact that that event has had on the region. Verdun goes out of its way to make the tourist welcome with a large tourist office providing all information one might want, brochures and guided tours and also even providing free use of little electric cars to get around to see the sights. We made use of one of these to drive out to the battlefield, memorial and Museum. These and the general geography in the area pay tribute to the terror of the battle, the organization of the forces and their weaponry.

World War Monument

Municipal free electric car!

Celebrating world War One

World War One field kitchen

World War One battle field

World War memorial

Bunker

Cemetary

Market morning

The first evening after departing Verdun we spent another peaceful night at the canal-side in a completely rural and agricultural setting with only the TGV (fast French passenger train) roaring past in the distance every now and then to disturb the peace. When night fell that also slowly ground to a halt, leaving only the pastoral night sounds to lull us to sleep.

The next 4 photos makes me wonder why we buy expensive plants at nurseries while nature offers in abundance!

Mooring

Braaing

Harvesting at the speed of lightning

Rudi: The following morning we set sail, so to speak for St Mihiel where Lisa and Paul were moored and waiting for us. How absolutely wonderful to slowly put-put around the corner into the harbour and there they were waving and taking photographs of our very professional entrance and a bigger S.A. flag proudly flying from the fore deck! I got a huge lump in my throat seeing them. A good friend is something very very special. Lisa looked a bit tired because they had had guests on and off for about three weeks and I immediately invited them to dinner to give her a bit of a break. We also immediately after tying up, had a safe arrival drink (or two) and it was so relaxing catching up on their news from the first of June when they left Zaandam. That evening Attie and I put on a typical S.A steak braai with all the trimmings. The following evening, Sunday, Lisa produced one of her scrumptious meals after which we played cards and just had fun. Oh yes, that morning the four of us took a walk into town to take part in quite a big end of summer festival. The fashion in France at the moment is “look-as-messy-in-the-layered-look-as-you-possibly-can-and-don’t-forget-the-frills-and-the-leggings”! Honestly! If you wore a mini 40 years ago, please don’t wear it now.

Arriving at last at St Mehil, joining Paul and Lisa. A good day!

Their Meander

Sun downers or safe arrival drinks

End of summer festival

Enjoying Myrtille Tourte

Fashion!!!!!!!!!!!

Old market place

The local firemen having lunch

...... and their band

Is this gorgeous or what?

Asking donations for local RSPCA

Linquenda and Meander

Dog rescue services putting up a show

The audience

Watching from our boat, I must admit that these dogs were incredible

Taken from the bridge with an invitation to a drink. Bless this woman!

Cathedral

Bye friends see you hopefully soon

Monday evening Paul and Lisa came over for a sun downer, which turned into a pasta dinner which turned into quite a late night of cards and I felt sad knowing that we would be saying goodbye again tomorrow for I do not know how long. Over to Attie again.

Matteas and his canoe in a lock right behind us

While in St Mihiel a German canoeist, Mattias Menzel, arrived whom we subsequently learnt had a heart condition which he had to regularly measure and control. He had left Germany in early May on a year sabbatical in his kayak, rowed up into the North Sea and along the coast to Holland, then rowed more or less the same route we had taken after working his way down from Friesland. His intention was to keep rowing South until the end of October when his girlfriend would bring him his bicycle and take his canoe back to Germany. He would then cycle down to Cadiz in Spain and take a ferry to the Canary Islands to meet up with his mother and girlfriend for a holiday at the end of November. He then intends to wend his way back to Germany under his own steam to start working again in May next year. He would go through the locks like other boats and could more or less keep up with the general pace at which barges like our own were travelling. Everything he needed is on that canoe with him. He even bakes his own bread! See http://www.menzels-reise.de/index.html

We had seen a narrow boat in Verdun and on the way after St Mihiel found it cruising just behind us. At the first lock we moored in I followed the canal etiquette of waiting for them to see whether they could fit in the lock with us, which unfortunately they just could not, being a metre longer than the space left. They backed out of the lock and we proceeded only to meet upon exiting the lock a most irate Luxemotor crew member who shouted that they had been waiting for us now for half an hour. Well, I doubt whether that was the case even though we had spent a few minutes trying to accommodate the narrow boat. I did wonder though where the Luxemotor might have been in a hurry to. When on the canals there is a speed limit of around 6-8 kmh and a half hour in the day is neither here nor there considering the actual pace which one can really achieve. Well, fortunately we have settled in to the relaxed pace and did not respond in kind. The end result was that we had made friends with the Irish owners of the narrow boat “Mable Rose” Mike and Rosemary Wray who invited us for a drink and visit on their boat when we arrived in Toul a day or two later.

Rudi: That afternoon we found a lovely little mooring in Lay St Remy, a tiny one street agricultural town. Inhabitants mostly farmers or retirees and also a very busy organic farm and a small grocery shop which was closed. I had run out of cigarettes and we needed bread so we took the bikes and cycled to the nearest town, Foug, which took us about 15 minutes. It is a quiet village and not one pub or restaurant in sight, a bit dilapidated and very old! Lots of character though. In Lay- St Remy we had a very friendly French neighbour and his gorgeous Labrador, Bella. She came over to say hi and asked for a treat, guess she is used to that by now. A truly agricultural town with interesting architecture where the houses that face the main street all seem to have garages/barns at the ground level that run from the front to the back of the houses, obviously to deliver produce from the fields. We saw one farmer sorting potatoes in such a barn. The streets of the town were clean and flowers everywhere and much of the traffic was in the form of tractors and trailers.

Meander on our tail

Two for cars and one for trains and the bottom one for boats

Lovely one horse town

Organic farming

Lovely old and forgotten Foug

Today we received terrible news from our son Riaan. His girl friend Lorraine, has lost her brother in a motor bike accident. I just do not know how one copes with the loss of a child. Our hearts go out to Lorraine and her family.

The following morning we set off at 9am and soon had to go through an 800m tunnel, 12 locks and 10 kms down to Toul on a blustery day. We passed Foug again and this time it took us one and a half hours to get there, because of the tunnel and the first 2 locks! That afternoon quite late we arrived in Toul after travelling for 5 hours. I was knackered, handling those ropes all day long and it was hot. The marina didn’t have mooring for us, because of Linqui’s length so we moored right next to the lock.

Tunnel

Lock

Give nature a chance and she will take back.....lock gates

Incredible wild flowers

Autumn starting to show her colours

Bolder for boaters

Attie: We temporarily moored on the canal at the lock under an enormous no parking sign across the canal from the regional VNF office next to the Port de France, in order to find out where best to moor for the night and where we could find a diesel mechanic to look at/listen to an unusual tapping that had developed in our engine before meeting up with Paul and Lisa in St Mihiel. The port unfortunately had no adequate moorings left. However, the friendly VNF lockkeeper was kind enough to allow us to spend the night at the lock entrance on the promise of moving into the Port or through the lock the next morning. The Capitainerie came round late afternoon and offered the use of fresh water and electricity upon paying the regular mooring fee and that we could move into a mooring in the harbour the next morning so all was well.

Earlier horses pulled barges through canals and then these trains

Matteas' camping

Next morning the relaxed VNF lockkeeper said it would be fine if we remained there until the mechanic had been around to check the engine. He arrived that afternoon and we reset the tappets, which unfortunately did not stop the knock, which now seems might require a more substantive overhaul day of the engine which might take two weeks. We decided to continue carefully on our journey to Pont de Vaux with the intention of having the motor overhauled in the winter. Linqui has behaved very well so far and we have confidence that she will get us “home” to Pont de Vaux. On the same day we received the good news that our birth certificates, which we had applied for in order to complete our applications for the extension of our long term French visas, were ready and our dear friend Eddie would pick them up that afternoon from the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria and email them to us. Hopefully all will now proceed quickly and our visas will be ready at the friendly Mairie before we even reach Pont de Vaux.

We had left St Mihiel at the same time as Mattias in his kayak and passed through the first lock together, and although we were a bit faster on the long open stretches he would soon catch up with us when we moored at the end of the day and no sooner had we moored up in Toul than he arrived to set up camp on a grassy patch under the trees in the marina. We marvelled at his chirpy demeanor that held up even when the nights had been stormy and wet.

Mooring just outside of Toul

Rudi: The following morning we went through the lock just to the other side where we moored again with lots of space and not another boat in sight. Marvelous! The turrets of the Cathedral St Ettiene showing above the old town walls and moored quietly under the Vauban ramparts where we had a signal to watch the start of the World Cup Rugby!! Ok, Attie is now a happy camper, he can watch his beloved rugby. He watched 3 games yesterday and later we went shopping at the big super market, Inter Marche and we had to walk quite far. Attie not impressed, mumbling if anyone ever again says to him that it is just up the road he is going to insist that they must explain exactly how far is not too far! Last night we walked into town to visit the Cathedral, because it would be lit at night with a son et lumiere show and what a beautiful scene awaited us. All the colours of the rainbow, an hour film about the history of Toul and a narrator with an unbelievable Darth Vader voice and very (over) dramatic music. Bur all in all an interesting outing. This morning of course the Boks played against Wales and fortunately won. That was too close for comfort guys!! We spent 2 nights here and left after the rugby.