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| Below lock 19 Pont l'Eveque |
5.8° C
Sunny and hot. We left at 9.15am, winded at the end of the arm and set off to
the junction with the Latèral à l’Oise. Mike called the keeper at lock 19 Pont
l'Eveque to tell him we'd be about ten minutes. OK, the lock would be ready for
us. Turned right on to Lateral à l'Oise, then right again on to the canal du Nord.
Loaded boat Loma went past, he'd just come down the lock which was now ready
for us, guillotine gate up and a green light. All the locks on the canal du
Nord are operated by lock keepers. We
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| Coming up in lock 18 Noyon |
entered the chamber and went on the right
hand wall while MR took the left. Fore and aft ropes wouldn’t work as the
bollards inset in the walls were too close together. Centre rope on the second
set and the guillotine closed behind us. The lock filled with the aid of side
pounds and we rose 5.8m effortlessly, lifting the rope up on to five bollards
as we went. Waved to the keeper in his high lock cabin at the tail end of the
lock as we left. A short pound
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| Leaving lock 18 Noyon |
took us to lock 18 Noyon and a repeat of the previous
lock, except the force of the water coming in through the bottom of the chamber
forced us off the wall and over alongside MR where we continued to rise,
ropeless, while chatting with Jill and Graham. Left the top another 5.8m
higher. 5.8kms to the next lock. There were a few boats at the grain silos in
Noyon. Veridis Quo and Antinea were waiting to load, L’Atlantide was loading
and Star had finished loading and its skipper was washing his hold covers down.
I’d been
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| Below lock 17 Seraize-Haudival |
doing my notes on my tablet but its battery went flat so I had to
revert to writing! Once clear of Noyon the countryside opened out into wide
fields and copses with scattered villages in the distance. The banks were
covered in cowslips, warblers were staking their territories by singing loudly
and today was a brown butterfly day. A
VNF man paused from strimming the grass around lock 17 Seraize-Haudival to take
photos using his mobile phone as we went into the lock and rose another 5.8m. Again
the boat
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| Panneterie tunnel |
was blown off the wall and we ended up alongside MR. Another pound of
5.8kms to the next lock. A loaded boat called Voye Do Cir went past heading
downhill churning up the muddy bottom. As we were getting close to the next lock
another loaded boat, El Paso, was catching us up so Mike called the keeper. He
said the commercial would go up first and we could lock though after. We tied to
the waiting quay below lock 16 Campagne. El Paso went in and up and the lock
was soon turned around and we went up. A 5.6m rise (and we didn’t get blown off
the wall this time) and we were
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| Loaded peniche Pamy |
soon on our way again. On to the 16.4kms long
summit level at 12.45 pm. After about 1km we arrived at the 1km long Panneterie
tunnel. El Paso was still in the tunnel and we had a red light, so we attached
to the quay to wait. Loaded boat Murene came out of the tunnel followed by a
large German cruiser, then we had a green light and it was our turn. I made
lunch and we ate it going through the tunnel which had towpaths each side
(although the one on our right was mostly under water) and was lit throughout
with fluorescent lamps (some of which were broken). Out into the sunshine
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| Moored in the layby at Ercheu |
again
at 1.40pm. The tunnel traffic light behind us changed to green and not long
afterwards another loaded boat went past, this one was called Pamy. The first
bridge after the tunnel marked the Department boundary between the Oise and the
Somme. A couple more kilometres to go to our mooring and we met another loaded
boat called Baltes, followed by an empty called Geo-Dem, just before we tied up
in a piled layby near the village of Ercheu. It was 2.30pm. Set the chairs and
table out on the bank and Mike lit our BBQ using Graham’s fast-lighting device
(must get one or make one). Jill cooked on board but they joined us to eat al
fresco. Lots of boats went past while we sat out in the sunshine, including at
least half a dozen push-towed péniches and several cruisers all heading towards
Paris. Two loaded péniches arrived after lock closing time and moored side-by-side
in our layby overnight.
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