The Canal Latéral à la Loire: Part 1
The Canal Latéral à la Loire starts in the most impressive way possible, with the utterly breathtaking Briare Aqueduct. This 660m long bridge that carries the canal across the Loire is a marvel in so many ways that words almost fail me, or rather the opposite. If I got the thesaurus I could just copy the synonyms for fantastic and that would start to describe it.
Enough of that. The Canal runs for 196 km and was built so that boats would no longer have to navigate the treacherous waters of the Loire. Having now glimpsed the Loire from the viewpoint of a couple of aqueducts I can only say how pleased I am that the French engineers in the 19th century had the foresight to do this.
It has 36 locks. By contrast we negotiated 30 locks in the 50ish km of the Briare Canal so there are a lot less locks per km in this canal.
About 5km past the aqueduct is the marina at Châtillon-sur-Loire, which is small and quiet and easy going. It’s a good place to stop, everything you need is either there or within walking distance. We stayed there two nights as it was just so very pleasant. We were lucky enough to catch the Wednesday market, half bankrupted myself buying cheese but it was so worth it.
12thMay 2023
Once past the viaduct the scenery is subtly different from the Canal de Briare. That canal seemed to be surrounded by forest on both sides for a lot of the way. The Lateral Canal might have trees on one side but is more likely to have open fields on the other. There were fewer herons too, and less friendly, they'd just take a look at us and disappear.
The scenery is beautiful but the canal is hard work. It is narrow and the water is clogged with stringy weed. This wraps itself around the rudders which slows you down and messes with your ability to manoeuvre. Every km or so, or even more frequently, we had to reverse to try and free the weed, then use the boat hook to pull it away from the rudders. It's like vines, very tough and very awkward.
We set off just before 10.00 am and by 11.15 were nearing Lock 38 Maimbray, our first lock on this canal. Ahead of us was a floating hotel barge, C'est la Vie. It was halfway into the lock, going back and forwards at a hopeless angle. We had no choice but to assume the skipper knew what he was doing but it didn't look like it at all.
It was a slight surprise that the locks were ascending again, as our last few in the Canal de Briare were descending. Pity, the downward journey is easier but at least I know what I'm doing by now.
We resigned ourselves to a wait. If the skipper managed the manoeuvre on the next attempt he would need to enter the lock, then the gates would be closed, the upstream gates opened and the boat would be lifted and he would leave. This takes at least quarter of an hour. Once he was out the lock would need to be emptied so we could enter. This didn't seem to be happening.
Just after 11.30 C'est la Vie reversed further, at an angle across the canal, and the lights went red. We approached and the skipper told us that there was a problem with the lock and that someone from VNF was on the way. He advised us to go back to the nearest mooring and try again after the lunchbreak ended at 1pm. (To remind you, French lock keepers have a sacred lunch hour from 1200-1300 so don't mess with it).
The canal was too narrow for Libra to turn so we reversed to a disused factory we'd seen a couple of hundred metres back and moored on its wharf.
Just after midday a powerboat went past, travelling in the opposite direction to us, and said that the lock was open. We decided to wait until 1pm, couldn't face untying the lines and finding a deserted lock while the eclusier laughed at us from behind a sumptuous three course lunch (I exaggerate. The lock keepers use common sense and often let you out of a lock just after 12 or into one a few minutes before 1pm) .
We untied just before 1pm but when we arrived at the lock there were no lights on. We called VNF and (I think) they said they'd send someone over right away. In any event, that was what happened. The eclusier arrived and did his stuff and we were away before 1.30.
Lock 37 Belleville was a manual lock, much turning of handles involved to open each gate individually and control the flow of water. Igor helped open one of the lock gates (there are two) for us to exit and we were through in 12 minutes.
At Lock 36 Houards we met our first female lock keeper, a middle aged blonde lady who made short work of the manual controls with a little bit of help from Igor. This lock took 25 minutes.
We carried on. The canal shallowed to around 1.3m depth. This was OK if a little worrying as we draw about a metre. The lock keeper at 35 Peseau was a man, uncommunicative, quite unlike all the others we have met so far.
Whilst Libra handles well inside the lock chamber we have issues when we exit it because she is so light. Being light means that a single rope secured about the mid cleat is all that is needed to control her position as she rises or falls. The downside is that as soon as we are exposed, any crosswind will blow us to the side. The bow especially has no real weight so acts as a wing when the breeze hits it, moving wherever it wants until it meets the resistance of the canal wall. As there is only about a foot to spare on either side, making our exit in cross wind is a bit tricky.
Igor worked out that if he walks alongside the boat, holding her in position away from the canal walls until we reach the end of the lock and then jumps back on we make a better getaway. Lock 35 was the first time he tried this, and it worked. I was terrified he wouldn't be able to get on board and this would leave me in sole control of the boat. I really hope that doesn't happen.
The water level between locks 35 and 34 Bannay was even shallower. The canal widened into a basin but around the PK165 area the depth dropped to 1.2m then right down to 1.o m. When we reached Lock 34 we told the lock keeper, a bright young girl, what we had experienced. She was adamant that the depth of the canal was at least 2m everywhere and wouldn't be told otherwise. If it's in her manual it must be correct.
We left Bannay lock around 5.10pm heading for the Port de Plaisance at Saint Satur. 'Port de Plaisance'. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?
It was reached by taking a sharp turning to the left (heading southwards) to a disused stretch of canal that used to lead to the Loire. There is a tall building on the right bank and the wind is funneled down from the top to the water so that you have to fight the breeze to make your approach. We had to enter the turning in reverse as otherwise we wouldn't have had control over our movements.
An explanation for non-sailors: if you have the wind with you you're at it's mercy if the direction changes. Same with tides in tidal areas. It's all very well going quickly but this means sacrificing control. If you go against the wind (or tide) the resistance means that you can fine-tune your movements. It sounds a bit counter intuitive but believe me it works.
The Port de Plaisance is full of old, rotting barges and boats are moored to most of the wall space. We have to be careful of our rudders in these shallow places so our only option was to moor to a rusty barge called Marius. At least we knew it wouldn't be going anywhere.
A British motor boat came in after us which confirmed that we had left enough room in the fairway (i.e. it got past us with a bit of room to spare).
We walked into town and bought groceries and then explored the so called marina on our way back from the shops. There are some highlights on the way to the supermarket, here are a couple of the most notable.
The marina sits in a disused stretch of canal that used to connect to the Loire. You can still see the old locks which look like they could be brought back into service without too much fuss. Beyond these is the river itself, which looked far less scary than it does from a great height. No restaurants anywhere in sight on our route so I made (what I judged to be) a fabulous kidney bean and aubergine curry using a tub of Patak's curry paste I brought from the UK for moments such as this. Would you like the recipe? Oh, OK:
Fry onions and peppers, add curry spices to taste and Pataks madras paste. Add a tin of rinsed kidney beans, fry a minute and mix everything together then add a tin of posh French aubergines Provencal. Cook a few minutes for the flavour to develop. I served it with rice and a fresh baguette from the supermarket. The baguette was a local substitution for the usual naan bread. Splendid.
It was getting late by the time we had eaten. After dinner there was no incentive to go for another walk. Negotiating our way across Marius had been challenge enough in daylight. There was barely a foot of floor space free of obstructions, everything covered in grime, peeling paint and boat bits that were clearly allowing the law of entropy a free run. I went to bed, taking comfort in the fact there wouldn't be any passing river traffic as we were in a dead end and the canal was closed for the evening.
I'll carry on with our journey up the Lateral Canal after a good night's sleep!
By the way, comments are welcome at Libra Sail | Facebook. I'm working on putting a proper comments facility on the page and will keep you updated.