The Canal Latéral à la Loire Part 4

Already at Part 4 for this canal, shows how much longer it is than the Canal de Loing or Canal de Briare!

The evening of Monday 15th May saw us stranded on the wrong side of the lock gates at Vanneaux. This was nowhere near the disaster we originally thought. There was a waiting pontoon to tie up to and sufficient depth of water not to have to worry about grounding.

The 'marina' was a very short walk away, and when we got there we realised there were barely any facilities at all. A small shed housed a shower, a toilet and, right next to the toilet and bang in the way of the door, the inevitable urinal. What would the etiquette be if I wanted to go into the cubicle and a man was availing himself of the quicker option? Worse, what if I exited the cubicle and bumped into a man availing himself?

We realised that the shed was left unlocked which meant we were able to use it if we needed to. There didn't seem to be anyone around to supervise it.

It was a lovely evening so we carried on walking. The guidebook had said that Gannay, the village by the lock, was a lovely place but there didn't seem to be anything there. A faded map of the areas attractions including a phonebox. Am I being unkind to think that the other, illegible places of interest may have been a little overstated?

The surrounding countryside was beautiful. We walked alongside the canal for a little way. There was the usual mix of boats, some pristine, some abandoned and some in between. There was a boatyard with a crane, then beyond that a field.

Some creamy coloured animals were visible a way off. I thought they were sheep. We walked further. They were too bony and not fluffy enough for sheep so I guessed pigs.  When we finally got close enough to see them properly it was obvious that they were Charolais cattle, cows with their calves. So much for my degree in biology!!

We've seen a lot of Charolais from the boat. They are impressive animals, raised for beef, so the mums don't have the bloated udders we see on the dairy cattle more often seen in the British countryside.  

The cows noticed us as we drew near and started to move towards us to investigate.  There was a sturdy barbed wire fence between them and us, but to see a dozen big cows, all weighing around a tonne, staring at us from the other side was slightly unnerving, with the calves as well. We walked a little further. They followed us, all of them, with their calves.  

The fence changed, still the barbed wire but only some stakes in the ground between us and them. They got closer together, shoulder to massive shoulder. I remembered reading reports of people being trampled by cows protecting their offspring. We decided to go back. The cows remained, chewing the cud and watching us.

In retrospect they most likely associated humans with either being moved from field to field or being fed, so were just waiting for us to follow their normal routine. The gap in the fence was probably their gateway. We glanced back a few times, just to make sure they weren't following us.

Tuesday 16th May 2023

After breakfast I did some tidying around the boat and decided to empty the bins using the refuse point at the marina. As I went I met the lock keeper, a young woman who spoke a little English. She explained that another boat was going be coming through the lock downstream very shortly and that we could head upstream after that.

It was a chilly morning but we had our warm clothes on and were in good spirits. In some ways this time of year is ideal for a journey like this.  If it was later in the summer we would have to be constantly putting on suncream and worrying about overheating. It is much easier to add another layer of clothing. It wasn't cold like it is in the winter, but the morning temperatures tended to be around 8-10 C, alright if you cover your extremities and keep moving.

We were through the lock at 9.25, so it had taken about 15 minutes to get through (if you don't count the 14 hour wait on the pontoon). Over the course of the morning we passed locks 11 Gailloux and 10 Rozière, reaching 9 Clos du May just before midday having covered about 12 km. We told the lock keeper, the young woman I'd spoken to at Vannaux, that we'd be passing through the next lock around 1.30.  This allowed us to stop for a relaxed lunch at Garnat-sur-Engièvre which would be a change from continually pressing on and eating on the move like we normally do.  

We moored just before lock 8 Beaulon. There were several boats already tied up to the wall but as we approached we thought that the water looked a bit shallow. We couldn't go any further until after 1pm as the lock was closed for lunch so looked for another alternative.

A few boats were moored to the bank. One was small so not a safe option. The next was a motor boat around the same size as Libra. We approached. It was firmly attached to stakes driven into the canal bank with chains to secure it. We wondered if it would hold our extra weight. It looked pretty solid and there's no current to speak of so we decided to take a chance.

I used the boat hook to pull us close to it then slipped the midline around its cleat. It didn't move so Igor tied a line to the back.  We waited a few minutes to see if anything untoward happened but it was solid. We were able to turn the engine off and have some hot tomato soup to warm us up.

Libra has a decent bank of lithium batteries but without our solar array these don't hold enough charge to use power hungry appliances like the electric kettle, portable induction ring or microwave. They can only be used when the engine is running or if we are attached to shore power. If we are stopping for lunch and we want to warm food in the microwave I have to do it before we switch the engine off. Having the option to use electricity to cook saves on the necessity of constant refilling of gas bottles. To date we are still using the gas bottle we fitted immediately before we set off at the beginning of April, and we've been having hot food and drinks every day that we've been on board since then.

Once we'd had the soup (with some wonderful cheese, obviously) it was time to set off again.  We shared Beaulon with a riverboat. We were the first into the lock so got the full benefit of the influx of water as the chamber filled up. The lock keeper, still the same one, warned us that there would be a delay at the next lock as a bigger barge was coming through so the lock keepers would all be needed to supervise this. She was correct.

We set off down the canal again and saw a lovely looking barge coming towards us int he opposite direction, German flagged, called Willy. We moved out of its way and took photos. Yeah, I've got a very juvenile sense of humour so I shared them with family members with suitably smutty comments.

We entered 7 Bessais just after 2.20 pm and realised that there was no lock keeper in sight. We were fooled for a moment as there was a man waiting to take our ropes but he wasn't in the VNF uniform and it was obvious he wasn't going to do anything more. We turned the engine off.  About 15 minutes later the lock keeper arrived and he explained that he'd been helping the barge get through the lock. Must have been Willy!

Our plan was to moor at Dompierre as it's a reasonable sized town. We set off down the canal and the riverboat that had been with us in the lock made clear its intention to overtake us. We moved to the side, we were in no hurry, but the canal shallowed very suddenly so I had to wave at them and, via sign language and bad French, communicate that we couldn't let them past as there wasn't enough water. They slowed down and dropped back behind us.

The turnoff for Dompierre was only another couple of kms and as we approached there was a sign warning that the depth was 1.4m.  That was fine, our draft is less than that. We took the tight turn and very narrow entrance under the bridge carefully and headed up the canal.

It seems that the sign was very optimistic - 1.2m, 1.1m, 1m. We carried on slowly, an old man walking his dog on the towpath beside us easily keeping up. We were only a couple of hundred metres up the canal, would it get any better further up? There was still two more kilometres ahead. We really didn't want to get stuck so we revised our plans. Igor put the engine into reverse as there was no room to turn and we slowly worked our way back.

The junction of the main canal with the Dompierre branch was right by lock 6 Besbre. The riverboat was moored on a waiting pontoon because the lock gates were closed. We waved to them and told them why we'd come back. As we spoke the gates started to open. We offered to let them go first, it was only polite (and it's much less effort in the lock when there's a boat ahead of you) but they waved us on.

Unlike most of the locks we've been through in the Canal Lateral, which are manual, this lock was semi automatic in that the lock keeper didn't have to turn handles to open and close the gates.  

We told the lock keeper why we changed our plans as we'd said we wouldn't be using this lock today. Luckily he didn't try and tell us there was 2m of water in the Dompierre branch like some of the keepers we've met would have. Instead he suggested we saw some of our keel off to make it shallower.

He asked us when we would be setting off tomorrow. We have some commitments in the UK next week so had been researching where we could safely leave the boat. The prime candidate was the town at the end of the Lateral Canal, Digoin. We had heard very favourable reports and our planned overnight stop, Diou, is just over 20 km from Digoin, a comfortable distance to travel in a day if the water is reasonably weed free.  

All this meant that we didn't need to make an early start so we said we'd be setting off around 10.30 am. The last few days have been constant motoring for hours at a time. It's good to be making progress but we were starting to feel we might benefit from a break and the later start would be much more relaxed.

After the lock there was another small aqueduct.

We weren't prepared for what came next.

The garden of the house next to the aqueduct had some odd statues and knick knacks in it. As we approached closer we saw what we first thought was a scarecrow but turned out to be a man sitting in an enclosure, dressed in black and wearing a zombie mask, waving some toys at us enthusiastically. We certainly weren't expecting that!

We only had another 4km or so to reach Diou. The canal was shallow so we had to take care as we approached, plus there was a stiff cross wind. As Igor approached the canal wall the wind hit the bow and swung it almost to the other side of the canal.

We are so light that when we are going slowly we have less momentum to resist an awkward gust. In addition, weed around the rudders stopped them from doing their job properly, making the aft of the boat act as a pivot.

Igor struggled for a minute or so to regain control of the boat. It was trying to turn around. Luckily the canal wasn't too narrow at this point (and nobody was watching, most important) and he soon managed to get us back on course. We approached the bank and I was able to step off and secure the midline to a cleat. There was a big British barge already tied up with a line of washing flapping in the wind.

As always we took a lot of care in securing the boat to the wall. We put lines at the fore and aft along with the original midline, then put fenders in place to prevent the aft with the rudders from getting too close to the wall. Satisfied that the boat was secure we went exploring.

This Halte Fluviale was right next to a school with a playground and public toilet, and a very short walk took us to a supermarket. We carried on as Google Maps said there was a garage nearby.  It was another 10 minutes walk but diesel was expensive, 1.99 euros/litre and it didn't look like it was open so we decided to delay buying any. We've seen diesel for 1.65 euros/litre elsewhere so this was way over the top, even for a small village. If we were desperate we'd pay that but we still have a 20 litre canister unopened on the boat.

We went back to the supermarket and bought the makings of dinner (yep, all the restaurants were closed, what a surprise). I wanted to use up as much of the perishable food that we had as I could, so I bought some thin steaks and served them with potatoes and salad. It made a pleasant change from something from a tin.

We spent some time discussing whether to stop tomorrow and go home, or if it would be better to press on to the Canal du Centre. Both options were appealing. We were both nearly ready for a break, but as time moves on, the canals are getting busier and the weather is warming up, a mixed blessing. There is a temptation to keep up our momentum but this risks changing our mindset from pleasure cruising to delivery mode. On previous long journeys we have always had external pressures to complete them, usually to get back to work. It's been an absolute joy to take our time on this trip, the only constraint being the ****** stupid Brexit related 90/180 day restriction on Brits spending time in the Schengen zone. We counted up our days. Still well within the limits for now.

We decided to sleep on this question. I'll let you know the answer next time.

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