The thought of the 5640-metre tow tunnel had started to give us sleepless nights! but we found a good overnight mooring spot just below the penultimate lock, which gave us plenty of time to be at the tunnel entrance well before the 11 o’clock tow-through. But as we loosened the ropes to set off a heavily laden barge rounded the corner, so we had to give it precedence of course, and it lumbered slowly through the lock ahead of us. At the next and last lock (all doubles) we were both penned up at the same time and we got chatting to the bargee who turned out to be Dutch, so of course, he could speak 6 languages and English fluently. He gave us some hints on going through the tunnel and in the event there was only his barge and Riccall there on the starting line.
We were ages early, which was fine, and we spent the time collecting baulks of timber, which, we had been advised, would help to fend us off from the walls of the tunnel if they could be attached so that they projected beyond the boat.
It was raining, so we had to leave removing the wheelhouse roof until the last minute and we had stayed well back from the Dutch commercial in case other commercials arrived. The order for the tunnel tow is laden commercials first, then unladen barges, then the bigger bateaux de plaisance like us and the tiddler jelly moulds at the back each tied to the boat in front.
Because there is no running of engines in the tunnel we had to make a choice between using the usual wheel which would of course be un-power- assisted and thus very heavy, or using the emergency tiller system for steering. Alex chose the tiller system, which in the event was definitely the right choice, but this did require last minute disconnection of the hydraulic ram and insertion of the tiller and adaptor at much the same time as removal of the roof! We were doing it all almost as we set off.
Roping to the barge in front was done using a double cross rope system, the beauty of which was that Louise could alter the tension on each rope after we had set off to get our bow into the right place. To start with the tensions weren’t right and we were scraping along the side of the tunnel. doing damage to our handrails and snapping one of our hastily acquired timber fenders. We are glad to say that we got our own back and took a great chunk out of the tunnel wall!
The trick is to get the ropes so that the bow is tending towards the towpath side (port if going south) the edge of which is smooth timber, nice to rub against, and well away from the brick/stone side. The timber fenders need to be on the other side and rather stouter than ours!
But once we had got the tow tensions right things became easier. Alex still had to watch like a hawk and take corrective action with the tiller for the whole of the two and a half hours! Judicious use of a bucket was necessary on several occasions: fortunately the tunnel was well lit by strip lights so he could see where to aim!
Having emerged from the tunnel we quickly stopped to reassemble the steering but as we thought the next tunnel (self-propelled and only 12000m) was close enough, we didn’t bother putting the roof back on. We hadn’t reckoned with the Dutch barge which progressed ahead of us at no more than 3km/hr. The rain became more earnest and even though we had done a thorough job of clearing the wheelhouse, we covered all the surfaces to keep the worst off and stood under our golf umbrella.
At last the second tunnel appeared and we stopped just inside to let the commercial get ahead. But even on tickover we slowly caught him up and by the other end of the tunnel his exhaust fumes (fortunately not toxic) had filled the entire space we were travelling in and turned the whole atmosphere a ghostly orange. The air was becoming steadily worse and worse and we were very glad indeed when we emerged into daylight and clean air. We stopped briefly to replace the roof (at last!) then as soon as we were out of the tunnel approach narrows we stopped for a well deserved and very late lunch, which also allowed the Flying-Dutchman (not) to get ahead.
By five o’clock we had had more than enough for one day and, unable to find a suitable official mooring, we asked a lock keeper if we could moor just before the unused 2nd lock in front of his house. “Oui. When will you leave?" “Neuf heure demain” we said. “OK”
The next day we were ready to go by 9.30 but a commercial appeared and from then on it was rush hour in slow motion at our lock until 11.30 when at last the lock keeper took pity on us and let us through but this time he operated the normally unused 2nd lock, which he could presumably have done at any time in the preceding two hours!!!!
The rest of the rather grey day passed with no problems and only a few passing commercial barges, and we found a pleasant place to moor for the night on an unused wharf at a little village called Jussy.
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