A Bird in the Hand

It's been a busy week, to say the least, which is part of the reason why it's taken me so long to get another blog post out. But we do finally have a resolution to our dilemma of where we will be putting the boat for the winter. 

The port captain at Hautmont was unable to give us a definitive answer on the 21st regarding whether he'd have mooring space for us this winter, which for us was as good as a "no". Hautmont had a lovely port, but it's not particularly convenient to getting to other French canals, so getting a "yes" after we've already left the port would mean--at a minimum--retracing our cruise of the last week in order to get back to Hautmont, and then heading back downstream again in the spring. Not something we really wanted to consider, so we submitted applications to two marinas in the vicinity of Paris. From Cergy we got a "yes we have space, here is a contract to sign" and from Port aux Cerises we got "received your application, we'll get back to you as soon as possible." We had a slight preference for Cerises, but it was a good feeling to have "a bird in the hand" with Cergy. Yesterday, Port aux Cerises let us know that they would be full for our requested months. So, Port-Cergy it will be as of September 1. It feels good to have that issue settled and be able to be a little more deliberate about a cruising plan for the next month.

Tomorrow we will cover the last 3 kilometers on the Sambre à la Oise Canal, and pass onto the lower reaches of the St. Quentin Canal. Now that we know where we will be wintering, we have come up with a cruise plan for the next month. We will continue to work our way southwest (not too far) and turn north on the Canal du Nord as far as the Somme River. The Somme is said to be a beautiful waterway, so we are hoping to finally be able to take our time as we cruise. The Somme has particular significance in WWI history, and although we saw some of the sights a few years ago during land-based touring, we're hoping to be able do a bit more. After the Somme we'll head back south on the Canal du Nord, and then onto the Oise River, and try to time our arrival into the port at Cergy no earlier than September 1. That's the current thinking, but if our boating summers have taught us anything, it's that change is inevitable. 

In the meantime, Friday, July 22 was departure day for us from Hautmont, but what would life be without a little unwanted excitement? We settled our bill at the marina, did the pre-cruise checks, turned the key and--nothing. No engine, just a dreaded "click." Lon's troubleshooting pinpointed the issue as a battery problem. We were directed to a truck repair facility in the vicinity for a replacement battery, but not having a car to get there made for all kinds of "fun." We loaded up the old battery in our bike trailer, and Lon tested the capabilities of his e-bike to the max toting that heavy battery up the hills between the port and the repair shop.

Lon purchases a new battery and gets rid of the old: we're grateful
we were in a town that had the appropriate shopping options

 Better late than never, we were able to depart Hautmont in the early afternoon.

Our last look as we were leaving Hautmont. It would have been nice to have been able to 
snag one of those barge mooring spots. Oh, well

We've been on the move at least a little each day since we left Hautmont. Normally we'd try to stop for a non-cruise day at least every few days, but this waterway hasn't lent itself to that very well. Whether it was cruising the Sambre River (the first two days) or the Canal de la Sambre à l'Oise (the past five days), it hasn't been easy to find appropriate mooring facilities and/or towns that offered an array of services such as restaurants or grocery stores or can't-miss sights. 

On the plus side, the river landscape was beautifully green and curvy. There wasn't much other boat traffic, or the curves would have been more of a challenge.

"Flower people" would appreciate the landscaping in Berlaimont

Our mooring in Berlaimont--just a quay, no power, no water. And stay away from the 
basin by the weeping willow or risk going aground!

The bridges are too low and too numerous for us to
deploy the bimini, so we are at the mercy of the sun

Farm fields and birds . . .

. . . and a village church adjacent to a cow barn. An interesting zoning plan

Remembrances of the World Wars are everywhere. This
memorial commemorates several dozen French and Tunisian
soldiers killed in 1940 in defense of the village of 
Catillon-sur-Sambre during the German invasion

Catillon-sur-Sambre has an impressive "Grand Place", but it was a very quiet
village on a Sunday afternoon. We are now off the Sambre River and on the canal

Shortly after we left Catillon-sure-Sambre we went through the last "up" lock and cruised several kilometers at the high point, the summit, of the waterway. Still a pretty cruise, but it was a bit nerve-wracking as well. Keeping an appropriate water level at a summit is always a challenge, but even more so in a year as dry as this. The water level was noticeably low, and at times our hull bumped the bottom of the canal, but fortunately we were able to power through those areas. We were more than relieved to get to our mooring at Etreux.

It pays to be rested up for the "down" stage of this canal, because of how numerous the locks are. After the first lock, the following 8 locks are automated and need to be taken in one "go" because they are so close together (all within 4 km). The following 16 locks have to be operated from each lock's control booth by an "itinerant lock keeper", e.g., vnf employee moving along with the boater, so they had to be informed of our starting and stopping details each day. Oh, yes, you can throw several lifting or swing bridges into the mix as well. The locks became automated again at lock 25, so we got a new Telecommande device. Our first day we did 14 locks, the next day 6 (and 3 swing/lift bridges), then 7, and today 7 as well.

Two cute dogs came out to see us at one of the locks

Our interesting mooring in Etreux. To get off the boat we had to walk on the metal top of the
mooring wall--a mere 12 inches wide. Balance beam was never my forte. And the other boat in
the photo caused us all kinds of problems when we were trying to leave in the morning. It stuck out so far into the fairway that we had great difficulty maneuvering around it. We overused the bow
thruster--with adverse results--so Lon has been driving without for a few days and doing great!

Lots of "straight" on the canal leaves little guesswork for

where the next lock is

A bike ride away from the canal shows us hills and farm vistas

This might need an award for most decorated lock house on the canal.
Many of the former residences of lockkeepers have been derelict

Not to be taken literally, this is the Sambre canal equivalent of last year's
 "Ici" (here) sign. The telecommande device is quite simple,
but if you're going downhill (as we have been), you need to press
the green button

Lon is up very early each morning, so he is able to 
capture some beautiful sunrises. This is a Sissy
sunrise (the town, not the adjective)

Sunrise at Etreux

What counts for a traffic jam on the canals. After our 14-lock day, we moored in the same spot as the two New Zealand couples we'd met in Hautmont. They preceded us out of the mooring the next day, and all of us had to wait for a swing bridge to be opened. Generally, the Sambre and its associated canal have had very light boat traffic