Ship's Log"Moondance" is for SOLD
We wish the new owners the best of luck and an enjoyable adventure. We thank everyone else for their interest.
Ship's Log
After some local excursions around the Pas de Calais area we started our trip South
We had a busy day preparing for departure and didn't get away from our mooring at St.Omer, Pas de Calais, until 1520, so our first day's run was only three hours. We passed "Flanders lock" at 1545, passed "Fontinettes lock" at 1600 and berthed at "Air sur la Lys" at 1830.
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Aire sur la Lys was voted a pretty and interesting small town by all aboard. We particularly liked the floodlighting of the cathedral tower for an hour after sunset.
Left mooring at 0830 and entered the "Canal de la Deule", (devil's canal), at 0930. Ran 5 hours without passing a single lock and moored at "Douai" at 1330. We found a peaceful, rural mooring just off the main canal.
No movement today. We explored Douai and found it very much to our liking. There are plenty of buildings of architectural note and lots of interesting sights generally. I took our "Solex" moped for several trips around town and drew lots of appreciative comments from the locals. This moped is a recently made replica of the bike that people now in their 50's used to ride to school when they were 14. It's very nostalgic to them and they point and wave. I think we have "Le style", (and without that what's it all worth!)
Left our mooring at Douai at 1100 and this was a busy day. We passed eight locks on our way to Cambrai where we moored at 1900; an eight hour day.
Cambrai is a pretty, medium-sized town. I did my license here three years ago so I know it quite well.
We departed Cambrai and headed down the Canal St. Quentin, through two tunnels, one of which, at just under 6 kilometers, is the longest canal tunnel in France. One is towed through in a convoy by an electric tug.
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Here we are moored at St.Quentin:
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From St.Quentin we headed down to Compiegne on the canal du Nord. This was our jumping-off point to join The Seine for the trip through Paris.
The junction of Canal du Nord and The Seine is at Conflans St.Honorine and we ran up toward Paris, stopping one night at Bougaiville and then mooring for a week at Port Sisley in the Paris area of st.Denis.
We moved past the last lock before central Paris on Saturday late afternoon and moored alongside a large peniche before starting at 0700 Sunday morning for the run through the centre.
This way we were able to avoid the "bateaux Mouches", the tourist sightseeing boats which have a reputation for creating dangerous wakes. By choosing this time we were able to look at some of the sights instead of being 100% focused on the navigation of the ship.
We got through the first lock the other side of the city, at the junction of the canal du Marne and The Higher Seine by 1100 and stopped for the rest of the day, and for one night. We were tired after the early start and the concentration of negotiating the city centre.
From here we had a run of two days to MELUN where we planned our escape from the commercial network and onto the Canal de la Loing and the Canal de Briare.
A couple of days takes us down to Montargis, where the Canal Du Loing becomes the Canal de Briare. Montargis was lovely. Here it is
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Between Montargis and Briare one passes "Rogny les sept ecluses" The old cascade of 7 locks has been replaced by a more gentle staircase of 6 locks. The old locks are an EU heritage monument. Here's a picture of them:
Here's a picture of us passing one of the staircase of 6 locks coming out of Rogny:
And here we are at Briare:
And My! How the weather has changed. Here's the first snow of the year
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And look, it's summer again -- July -- I put the canopy back up. The interior was heated for all the 6 months we have recently been away, and everything's just fine. This is a very well-run port. It's certified as an EU "Blue Flag" facility, and the Capitan du port is efficient, conscientious and "sympathetique". Powers stays ON in your absence, and a problem with it would be noted and corrected promptly! I hadn't previously appreciated the value of this quality, having never previously really encountered it! The peace of mind afforded an owner absent for part of the year is a thing of value, -- (and I haven't yet even got around to raving about the WiFi that embraces the port through a system of repeater-transmitters surrounding the basin! This is all good stuff!
She needs a good scrub and polish externally. I've washed her, but it's not enough. There is "bloom" on the topsides instead of a shine. Her various "scuffs" show. I'll get onto this soon.
I got a late start on the season because of commitments overseas, but we'll soon start doing short cruises with friends from our base and will enjoy what is likely to be our last season on these beautiful waterways. We have other marine plans afoot!
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