Downhill all the way now

No post for the fourth of July, which was a shame, even if there wasn’t much to say. At least we would have liked to greet American friends who may be dipping into this blog. However, the little town of Attigny, where we spent the night, failed to produce any connectivity. Such is life. More importantly, however, Attigny did – to its eternal shame – produce some low-life who managed to snap off our flag staff and make off with it and the attached red ensign. All done without waking us – presumably some kind of lasso. Very irritating.

Anyway, we did various chores, including weekly engine checks, and made a quick foray to the Carrefour supermarket, before heading off to scale the impressive 26-lock echelle, or ladder, of locks up to the summit of the Ardennes Canal here at Le Chesne.

Neither yesterday’s longish trip nor today’s produced much scope for the photographer’s art. A touch of the bizarre at this lock yesterday:

Here we head up the ladder:

Here we met a 38-metre commercial barge, or peniche, travelling down the ladder backwards, immediately followed by a second, also travelling in reverse. There was no apparent explanation for this, but doubtless they had their reasons. Tough on those following behind, since it meant they went through the locks even more slowly than usual.

We made our way up the 26 locks – in just eight kiometres, or five miles – without trouble, though a hoped-for stopping place for lunch did not materialize. The whole system is automatic, with each lock sending a signal to the next to get ready for you. So there were very few delays – occasionally a brief wait for someone coming down, and once a malfunction, which was quickly sorted.

Our locking technique is pretty slick now – we cruise in and up to the control rods – almost all on this section towards the uphill end of the lock on the left. Diana then hooks on to an adjacent ladder with our grappling hook, and once the boat has stopped, operates the control rod. We then move back to the other end of the lock where the water will be calmer, as the lock gates are closing, not bothering to put a line round a bollard, but holding the boat steady with the engine.  So far, so good.

Here we embark on the final three locks, where just to keep us on our toes, the control rods were on the right on the way in!

Le Chesne seems a sleepy sort of place, but offers water and electricity for free, which is generous. We are docked under quite an impressive 14th century church.

Tomorrow we start heading downhill – all the way to Amsterdam! More importantly, there is a canal-side filling station at  Pont au Bar, where we plan to spend tomorrow night. The tank is almost dry!