CANAL DES ARDENNES
What a pretty canal this has been, but shallow! We’ve spent most of the distance so far with about 0.5m below the keel and some miles with only 0.2. Stressful for the skipper; But the scenery and the villages, together with the great little Halte Fluvials - all free, with free water and some with free electricity too, more than made up for it.
The bread, the wine the cheese, just fabulous food even in the small shops. Had a lot of great evenings with fellows yachts and the odd bankside BBQ as well.
Downsides - these locks are bloody narrow! and the water is full of weed and leaves so there is the daily chore of cleaning the raw water filter to stop the engine overheating and the algae water in places has left us with a filthy hull but these are minor irritations compared to the fun we have had on this section of the trip.
A couple of days ago we descended the Montgon locks, all 26 of them in a row - the first 20 were fun, after that we were looking forward to a stop and a beer!
Our friends on Barracuda got stuck as a torrential overnight rainstorm had raised the water level such that they couldn’t fit under a bridge- the guys from the VNF lowered the canal levels for them so they were only held up for an hour or two.
Heading for champagne country soon.
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| The tunnels feel very narrow |
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| The water rushes in - hang onto your ropes! |
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| Charlesville-Meziers square |
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| I jump off the boat and carry the mooring lines up the ladders. |
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| Dave using his swim time usefully |
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| Cockpit mascot |
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| A great night with our boat friends |
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| b-b-q time |
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| Leaving a lock - 1/2 m each side to spare |
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| A bit silly - nearly at the end of our 26 locks. |
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| Barracuda approaching a lock. |
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| The locks now need you to twist a pole to activate. |
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| You need a lot of fenders on the canals! |
Carole's Interesting Facts:
No. 7 definition of a pessimist: Someone who puts prunes on their all bran.
No. 8 Some locks need very long mooring ropes.
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