November 27th

And after the terrapins came the lions!!!

Lions, buffalo, hippopotamus…you see it all here in Castelsarrasin!! Well, especially when the circus is in town!?! They were all on the other side of the canal and it was quite an amazing sight when I took the dog for a walk! I kept waking up in the night wondering if lions could swim!?? But looking at the poor things in their tiny cage they probably wouldn’t have had enough energy.
We have now finalised our travel plan. We leave here on 13th December and travel by train to Caen; we get the ferry from there to Portsmouth. So, if you hear of a springer spaniel causing havoc on the Paris metro…..??
They get winter weather here too! We have woken to frost on the decks on several mornings - but it has usually been accompanied by bright sunshine. Then there are wet, cold days too. It doesn’t have quite the same feel as English winter - but the leaves are beginning to fall at last, although the geraniums have not got the message!
[Still see our kingfishers every day. We got within 10 metres the other day and were able to get a reasonable photo.]

November 15th

Castelsarrasin

Jaques Cousteau was born here. The marina we are in is named after him.
The founder of Detroit U.S.A. came from here too. Cadillac cars are actually named after the French town of Cadillac which is only a few km away and he is the connection!
The rugby team is in Federation 2 - we watched them play in a cup match on Sunday. They slaughtered the opposition - very slick and fast!
The fishing is excellent! Paul has had carp, bream, roach - all big, of course!?? But, it was a bit surprising when the man on the boat next to us took them cook [carp and chips just doesn’t have the right ring to it!!]
…and on a funny note… we are quite close to the local secondary school! When the kids are out on the yards, the staff have a loudspeaker which is used to shout at pupils!?! We actually heard `Kevin’ [yes really, Kevin!!] being told to behave himself over there! Good to know that some things conform to the European standards!!! [the EEC Standard for Kevinness?]

November 10th

10th November
Sorted!!!
Having decided that moving about during winter is just too complicated, we have settled for a winter mooring. Our winter `home’ is in Castelsarassin - there is a marina with all facilities; a lovely town with good shops and a weekly market; easy access to Toulouse for trains/planes. [but not too near, luckily!!] There are other people living on their boats - this makes us feel less worried about leaving Havorn when we come back to UK for Christmas. So, who can get the cheapest flight to Toulouse? [Perhaps Paul could try a night of riots and then get deported….a free trip home!? He may struggle to get back though??]. The `chomages’ will be finished at the end of February, so sometime in March we will continue to head to the Med!

The weather seems to have agreed that it is time to be winter - it is definitely cool now, only 8 degrees today. But, we are well equipped with an electric heater and/or the boat’s heater which runs on diesel so we will not be cold. There are washing machines and dryers in the `capitainerie’.

Days are now filled with any combination of shopping [in town or further out, going by bike], walking with Dom, fishing, painting, writing, visiting cyber-cafes, cooking, watching local rugby, boat jobs, chatting with other boaties, knitting, sudoku, watching dvds, scrabble, crosswords, reading…each day seems to have a main project to give it some shape…how did we ever find time to go to work?

SORRY

Calling all blogger-followers! Sorry for the gap. We did not fall off the planet but internet access in rural France is non-existant. We continue to write regularly but our blogs have to be saved and posted just when and if we can…sorry!

locks!?!?

Automatic locks are `interesting’!! As we approach a lock there is a wire across the canal with a tube hanging from it. The idea is to pass close by and twist the tube - this triggers the lock into action! A yellow light flashes to let you know that your request has been registered. The water then begins to flush out of the lock before the gates open and a green light beckons you in. On the approach, one of us has to jump ship onto a concrete platform just before the gates. Whilst one of us [usually Paul] takes the boat in, the other [usually Sue] has to run up the stone steps clutching a boat hook. Having left ropes draped over the rail, you have to reach down, hook up the stern rope and wrap it round a bollard to help stop the boat. At almost the same time you have to run forward, reach down for the bow rope and also wrap it round another bollard.
After all this frantic action, the person on the top has to pull the lever which sets off the next part of the cycle. The lock gates close, the paddles close down…and then all hell breaks loose as the lock starts to fill with tremendous speed - the water rises at more than a metre a minute! This surge produces an amazing current as the water boils!
Once safely `up’, another pull of the lever, a deep breath and the gates open to return us to the tranquil waters on the other side!!
Now that may sound relatively o.k. but….with higher water levels, the locks, as you approach, are just a watefall producing a strong current in the canal. When the cycle starts, the waterfall stops but the excess water passes through culverts at the side, prodcing a cross current. The gates then open to reveal another waterfall at the other end of the lock producing an even stronger current. Trying to control a boat whilst reducing speed is not easy, jumping from the boat under these conditions is not easy, getting close enough for me to jump and not hit the side is impossible! Nobody has fallen in …yet. But there have been near misses and we bear the scares with some nasty scratches on the hull.
But, on a lighter note….we have recently climbed a lock staircase of 4 consecutive locks. Rather than repeatedly going through the jumping off bit, I decided to cycle up the tow path between the locks. Just imagine…crazy English woman on funny little boat-bike, clutching a boat hook….???

surprises!!

From Egrets…
There are so many Kingfishers on this canal! Having always considered them as something of a rarity, we now see several every day. Perhaps it’s just the change of speed - it’s surprising how much more you see when you never travel at more than 5 miles an hour! Sometimes the Kingfishers perch on a branch and sit and watch us drift past; yesterday we saw one hover above the water with the bright sun glinting on its rusty-red plumage. Other delights have been a purple heron, woodpeckers, sandpipers, grey and yellow wagtails, buzzards, jays, water rail, little grebe and, best of all…
…from dolphins to turtles!! [or were they terrapins?] Yesterday we saw 2 turtle/terrapins warming themselves in the sun on the edge of the canal. We were so shocked, delighted and even disbelieving…but then we saw some more!! Now that’s amazing!!

4th November

4th November
One of our favourite `easy’ drinks has always been Buzet, so we headed straight for the Halte Nautique at Buzet as soon as we left Fontet. I went to explore this very tiny village which gives its name to so many bottles of wine! Meanwhile, Paul was fishing - he has been catching these really ugly cat fish, and today he caught one that weighed in at about 3 pounds. He also caught a 5 pound carp which was much more exciting.
Whilst mooching about I happened to chat with a girl in the tour boat office - she casually mentioned that the locks all stop working after the 3rd November…and it was the 2nd!! We knew all about the `chomages’ which is when parts of the canal are closed, emptied and serviced; but had never heard anything to suggest that the locks would stop operating. Hmmm….
Paul was able to ring the office, and in his best French, find out that yes, the lock would stop operating automatically, but that they could be opened for us if we rang the office at 3p.m. every day to say where we were going. So we had to leave Buzet sooner than we planned and head on quickly towards Toulouse.
Today, the light pattern at the locks was different, but we were surprised to find that they still worked automatically. We were even more surprised to find out that they closed between 12.30 and 1.30 for lunch…but they’re automatic!!???
We came across a lock operator at one place - we were sure he would be surprised to see us, give us some explanation of the system…instead he showed me the handful of mushrooms he had just picked and told me that he was going to use them to make an omelette…a very surreal moment. We left feeling even more confused!
But, at precisely 3p.m. [so very English] Paul made his appointed phone call. They said we were now out of their area and the arrangement was no longer valid and that probably things were different…what!!!
We then met the lock operator from Moissac - he knew nothing at all about lock closures and could foresee no problem in us plodding along on our own sweet way.
Confusion reigns! We are moored in Moissac; plan to stay here for a few days; but lets see what tomorrow brings.

31st October

Monday 31st October
Although Havorn has been at Fontet all week we have been on holiday!! A friend of ours has a house in France - she was coming over for half term so she came to join us!! We took her for a delightful trip up the canal where we introduced her to locks, tying up to trees and cob-cooking!! The weather was perfect - lovely warm autumn sunshine, amazing colours in the Plane trees, which line the canal, and Kingfishers!!!
We then went back to her house which was just lovely!! We did some washing, visited beautiful medieval towns, did more washing, visited her family, did more washing, walked round lakes, did more washing and ate and drank far too much!!! We celebrated Paul’s birthday with lunch in Bramtome - here the river goes in, through and round the town which is squashed at the base of the cliff. There are little shops in the caves where we watched glass blowing and bought more wine. We watched coypu diving in the river and re-emerge chomping on reeds. We also did some excellent people watching as there was a wedding in the church there. And…yes, the Kingfishers were there too!
We are having such a good time together on the boat, but it was so good to see somebody we both knew and could just chatter with. We had lots of fun and thoroughly enjoyed our short break…and the washing smells lovely!!

24th October

24th October
From Egrets to Kingfishers…..
eventually, on the costal waters, there were so many Egrets that we stopped shouting out every time we saw them; now, on fresh water, it’s the same with the Kingfishers who dart everywhere as we travel up this very pretty canal.
We have settled for a week or so in a tiny basin off the side of the main canal , a`Halte Nautique’. It is close to the small village of Fontet, and only a couple of miles from the town of La Reole. This is a lovely spot and makes an excellent base for walking, cycling, fishing and getting a few boat jobs done. We have even hung a washing line in between two trees!! Unfortunately the local museum of Monuments made from Matchsticks remains closed!???
Yesterday, we cycled into La Reole to watch the local rugby match. We really enjoyed it - beer for sale from a pump by the gate, much brawling and some good rugby. For most of the match there was less than 30 players on the pitch - our lowest count was 12 v 13 as yellow cards flashed!! The funniest part was watching the referee being escorted from the pitch by 3 security officials!

17th October

17th October
Another keynote point…we are in the canal!!! But what an epic trip!!!
We left Pauillac to motor back to Bordeaux - this is a recommended half way halt and we had timed it to fit in with Peter returning to England. It was blowing force 5/6. Without a steadying mainsail it soon got quite unpleasant. Our neatly stowed mast began to wobble and there was a mad dash to tie on more and more lashings, but even so it just did not feel right in a short, choppy sea.
Fortunately, we flew back up the river on the flood tide. This time we planned to stay at Begles which is only accessible once the mast is down. We approached the first low bridge with pilot books all ready and open at the right pages…`go under the white painted arches’ they all said…but the paint was long since gone!! We turned the boat downstream to give us some thinking time. The flood tide was still running so hard that at 2000r.p.m. we could barely inch forward. Eventually we decided which arch was the least grey and uneasily went under it. The only problem was with two delightful characters who decided to throw stones and spit at us as we passed underneath.
Not long after tying up at Begles, the tide turned. The current and speed of this water has to be seen to be believed! The boat was constantly being pulled and pushed, despite numerous springs, as the tide surged and boiled for the next 7 hours!! We were up all night - it’s so noisy, uncomfortable and plain frightening!! Then, within an instant the tide turned and was even worse! Within 20 minutes the tide rose over 1 meter as small tidal bores flooded up the river. Apparently, these bores eventually merge and further upstream build to one bore of more than a meter.
We were glad to leave...if only we knew!!! Our instructions [from Pauillac] said to leave at 6a.m. So, in the dark we headed upstream. Within the first mile we hit fog!! It was so dense that we could see neither bank and had to totally rely on the gps. The tide was too fast to go back so we had no choice but to go on! Every now and then the tide would swirl us round and trees would seem to loom from every angle. We even managed to turn 180 degrees at one point - only the sudden lack of speed made us realise what we had done. The gps was good, but even it was confused from time to time, especially as we passed under power lines. It really was a nightmare. Paul was on the helm while I leapt from side to side watching for shadows of trees and barked instructions . Then with day break, it went! Just like that!!
So now we are in the Canal Lateral de la Garonne - we have passed through two locks and have moored in Castets en Dorthe. All is intact, it is blissfully peaceful and the winter of inland waters lies ahead.

15th October

15th October
In the end we didn’t leave Pauillac at all this week - it was either weather, or tides, or, or, or…
So, today the mast came down!! Planned rather than accidental! It’s a very slick operation here, but even so it took 5 men and a dog! Leaving me to take the photos. Most of the preparation was done in the days before. Peter and I took the sails up onto the `prom’ where there was more room and got them neatly folded. Paul even went searching around and found some good bits of wood that him and Peter were able to build into supports. It really looks very neat with very little overhang - we are pleased to see just how well it all fits, making this an excellent boat for canals. It cost 47 euros but within that there was a voucher for a free bottle of wine - Rose de Pauillac 1997!
Whist in Pauillac we discovered the Caves des Mets D’Oc on the edge of town. This is where you buy the local wines straight out of enormous stainless steel tanks via a hosepipe! They wouldn’t allow any tasting so we took the plunge and bought a 3 litre plastic `cubi’ which was filled with `Merlot’ at 1,60euros per litre! The prices actually started at 1,15euros a litre! [Now this is better than 2,500.]And, well, having bought it, you have to try it…out of the cubi…in the street…Paul and Peter disowned me!!! Aged in plastic…It is actually good plonk!!