Port Ilon to Port St Louis

We set off to Port St Louis having only heard very negative reports. I'd like to tell you that these are misguided, but that would be a big fib.

The trip up the river was only around 40km and we covered it in around 5 1/2 hours. No locks today, just  chugging along against the current at a steady 6 km/h (about 3.5 kts). We passed under the D1 road bridge near Vernouillet and the marina was a little further ahead on our left. A couple of men were fishing from the pillars at the entrance. We entered.

The first pontoon was empty apart from an abandoned looking sailboat with its mast secured along its length. The owner must have had the same idea as us, maybe they'd already reached the south of France and come back, then left their boat and their dreams to fester.

The pontoon itself was thick with green lichen and algae. It was very narrow. Further on we didn't know how deep the water would be.  Igor decided that as we'd only be there for one night we may as well moor here and then it'd be easier to get out in the morning.

The pontoon was very low and when we got there I didn't feel at all confident jumping off. We were more or less stopped and pinned to the pontoon so thankfully Igor came along, took the mooring line and jumped off. He was surprised at how bouncy the pontoon was. I've had experience of these things which was why I was reluctant to jump.

We tied up and switched the engine off. He went and had a look around and when he came back he told me that a lot of the boards were missing along the pontoon between us and the marina buildings.

As we started getting ready to go to the capitanerie to pay we saw an older chap in a blue baseball cap heading down the pontoon, jumping precariously across the missing timbers. There was nobody else he could be looking for. He came up to us and said the equivalent of 'You can't park here mate, it's dangereux'. We had to untie and Igor reversed all the way to a different mooring where thankfully all the boards were intact.

Why wasn't there a sign warning us not to moor there? Tying up a boat is a lot more involved than parking a car. It took us about 40 minutes to move around a couple of hundred yards, and would have taken a lot longer if we hadn't had help from one of the guys in the office.

I decided to risk the facilities, or should I say 'facility'. There were two loos, a mens and a ladies. The mens was locked. The ladies had no seat, but, surprise, did have paper. It also had a sign on the wall saying to flush nothing as it was on a septic system.  It didn't smell.

The shower was locked with a sign saying a shower would cost 1.30 euros. I didn't bother.

There were no signs to say where the capitanerie was, the guy who helped us moor had just waved in the general direction. I explored a bit and found it and paid the 13 euros for the night. I didn't think we'd stay any longer than that.

Once we were settled in the new location we walked into town and found a huge LeClerc supermarket about 2 km away. We'd been tempted by the idea of another Indian meal as there was a curry house called Punjab next to the supermarket but decided that curry is not the reason we are travelling in France.

We had a very quiet and peaceful night and in the morning filled the water tank and set off up river, aiming for the Halte Fluviale in Rueil-Malmaison.

Amenities: To call the amenities basic is an understatement. One working toilet, one shower that you have to pay for, no soap or hand towels/dryer, no warm water. I've seen a lot worse but then I travelled in Russia when communism was failing and I also went round some Aboriginal camps in Australia. At least there were no redback spiders here.

There are no electrical sockets. I'm not sure there's even electricity in the toilets, I didn't go there after dark.

There is shore power and water on the pontoons. There is no diesel.

Marina office, boatyard and staff: The staff were friendly and helpful. The capitanerie is supposed to close at 7pm but the guy waited for us to return from our walk before locking the gate. Just as well we didn't stay out for a meal.

The boatyard has a lot of abandoned looking boats, which contrast with the speedboats which all look new and well loved.

Overall impression: This marina is such a wasted opportunity. It's in a lovely setting, another gravel pit, and is within easy reach of the nearest town with supermarket, McDonalds, boulangeries, butchers etc but it's totally run down. It's like nobody has spent anything at all on it since the day it was opened.

The owners are really missing a trick here, with some proper investment and renovation it could be a gold mine. It's in a very convenient position, it's sheltered and secure, it just looks and feels like it's being abandoned. What a pity!