Winding our way north

This was our first really hot day, and it coincided with a non-automatic section of 22 locks. The day started, however, with more shower pump problems, which meant more bailing and sponging. But I won’t whinge any more.

We left early and through the morning we were accompanied by a pleasant young student called Maxim:

He comes from the Langres locality and is studying geology at Dijon university. He has the canal job for June, then he is off with his earnings  on a climbing holiday in Chamonix. I expect winding all those locks gates will have helped get him fit. And he can study the geology as he scrambles up the cliffs. He scootered ahead from lock to lock, getting them ready for us to arrive.

The thing about these manual locks is that it is good form to lend a hand. Actually since we are descending, all one can do is close one of the upper gates – here’s the captain in action:

And here's a rabbit – not quite sure why.

In the afternoon, our lock person was a lady called Sandrine – not so chatty as Maxim, but we did establish that she is in her forties and desperately trying to find a full-time job. She just has this month on the canal, then a month in a supermarket – and so it goes on, one short-term contract after another. Not easy here in France.

By late afternoon, as we approached Chaumont, back on the automatic system, there were lots of boys swimming in the canal. The water didn’t look either clean or inviting, but they didn’t seem to mind. Some even jumping off a bridge over the canal.

We found a convenient spot on the dock at Chaumont, with electricity and water to hand, and put on a wash. I dismantled the shower pump, found the impeller bunged up with gunge, but even after clearing that out, it wouldn’t work. So we will have to find a boatyard to fix it or replace it – there seems to be one in a couple of days. Till then, showers ashore.