Summer DBA Rally and other bits!

We finally got back to Cambrai on Whit Saturday. The Channel Tunnel 'waiting to board' car park had been absolutely packed, but we found a nice grassy area signed 'Picnic' where we parked and did indeed have a picnic lunch in warm sunshine along with a million other cars.

We left Cambrai on the Sunday and were surprised how few commercial boats were showing up on our computer AIS screen, and really began to think maybe the locks were closed yet again! Then Alex noticed that the radio aerial was not pointing up into the sky as it should be and suddenly, all the commercials appeared on the screen, but even then not so very many on the go.

This meant that when we reached the start of the Canal du Nord we were the only boat around.

The first lock at Arleux was ready and waiting and so were all the rest to the very top of the flight. We did the whole flight in 3¼ hours but the best bit was from Marquion to the top, which took only 2 hours 5 minutes! That must be a record! Every lock was open and waiting but we had a moment of 'worry' when we could see on the AIS a commercial coming down towards us. Would they hold the lock for us or turn it round for the commercial? A close run thing – but they kept it in our favour, so the poor commercial had a 10 minute wait.

And so our first night was at one of our favourite moorings above Ecluse Graincourt No 7, on top of the world in peace and seclusion, with sunshine thrown in.

We were on a bit of a mission of course, as the trip to the UK had rather taken longer than expected and we were heading for the DBA Rally in Auxerre, but still, when we met a lovely Dutch couple, Anita and Peter on their barge BARRACUDA at St-Christ-Briost, we exchanged drinks, viewings and gossip, then again the next night at Noyon. 

BARRACUDA at St Christ-Briost

Their barge, newly built, with every gizmo you could think of was SO different from RICCALL that we viewed each other's barge with amazement! The steering position on BARRACUDA was like something out of the Starship Enterprise, complete with captain's chair on runners to move it towards the myriad of controls (360º bow thruster, autopilot, front and rear remote viewing cameras with 22” VDU screen, trolling valve, front and rear spud poles, multiple navigation aids, lever controlled hydraulic steering etc, etc). And they had managed to get 3 double bedrooms into their 22m of barge as well as lounge, kitchen-diner and an outside seating and dining area which could be raised or lowered (to cover it) at the touch of a button!

However, Peter did say that he was amazed how roomy RICCALL was when you looked at her size from the outside, and was generally very complimentary, which was nice as he has spent the last 15 years running a boatyard, building and repairing barges, including his own.

We spent a long day, for us - 68kms and 4 locks - and finally got to Pontoise, where we spent another pleasant night on the town quay – another of our favourite moorings.

Further on, and up the Seine at Bougival, we came across ANTHONIA and our friends, Jeremy and Carol, also on their way to the rally. An impromptu drinks and supper ensued and all agreed to make an early start to cross Paris the following morning. All went well, with each of us taking hundreds of pics  -

Approaching the La Defense business district of Paris

ANTHONIA in the distance, dwarfed by the Eiffel Tower!

and thankfully 'our' mooring at the Seine-Marne junction was available as usual, for us to breast up. Carol suggested a meal out in a local French brasserie which was just great.

Our favourite Parisian mooring, opposite the Chinese exuberance!

Watching the river cruise ships turn - great spectator sport

ANTHONIA left the next morning while we stayed to do more painting as the quay was at an ideal height.

Removing the masking tape is a tricky job when the paint is still tacky

We caught up with ANTHONIA and ESME when we reached Melun where they were both already moored and we stopped early for the day as the wind was becoming unbearable. The wind kept us moored for the whole of the next day as well - we just don't do windy cruising.

We all met up again at Sens - ESME, ANTHONIA, AURIGNY and several other barges which we got to know once arrived in Auxerre. But we had a laugh as we approached the mooring because Peter on Aurigny had told us there was plenty of room to moor but the barge Sabrina of London obviously did not know this. We had overtaken them in the lock (they were kept waiting and had moored at the back so we had to moor ahead of them) and when we were released we did our normal speed 8kph and they came rushing past at about 12kph to take what might be the last mooring spot. John apologised later saying they wanted to catch the market, but that evening over drinks one of their guests admitted they had actually been more worried about the moorings!

Rich man's country cottage on the upper Seine . . .

. . . but there's still commercial activity to contend with

Verrry tight fit

ANTONIA  and AURIGNY had an earlier arrival time at Auxerre, as did the other barges so they left before us and ESME and RICCALL brought up the rear sharing the locks and moorings up to Auxerre.

We arrived at the last lock just up river from Auxerre at the appointed time to be greeted by the rally organiser, John Best, who showed us to the mooring position allocated to us. This was the first in line after the lock but we had to moor well out from the quay with our biggest tyres under the boat as it was very shallow. However, the advantages were that we had no boat moored outside us, we weren't right in the thick of the action (some might think that a downside, but not us!), we were closer to the town and well away from the children's playground and public outdoor swimming pool.

The rally itself was a great success with a trip to a 'cave' (wine cellar), wine tasting and buffet lunch on the first day, boules competition, champagne reception and dinner on the second day, boat race and evening BBQ in the Auxerre Port de Plaisance on the third day. It was all very sociable and we got to look round several other barges and several sets of people looked round RICCALL- some of them prospective barge purchasers who were gathering information and asking questions.

Thirty barges and 120 attendees - quite a rally!

Jeremy of ANTHONIA winning the boat race

Here's a link to the official rally video if you're interested:

https://vimeo.com/223883595

 

But on the way to this event we had had two failures: the LED UV steriliser unit started showing a RED light instead of a GREEN one, and the PV panel controller went phut! and stopped working. Pearl Aqua were very concerned that the Aquisense unit had failed so soon and agreed to send a replacement asap to Auxerre to wait for our arrival. And the suppliers of the PV controller said they would do the same. Both parcels arrived as promised and were waiting at the Port de Plaisance when we arrived, so that was a great relief. Alex installed both units in double quick time but while the steriliser was fine, the new PV controller failed after about an hour! We asked the supplier to send another one express delivery and we would wait where we were until it got to us.

After the rally our next destination was Reims, where we had arranged to leave the barge for a couple of weeks while we returned to the UK for Louise's son Robert's wedding to Amy. (Note to children – why organise these things during the cruising season? So thoughtless!!) So we were to retrace our steps to Paris, then up the Marne to Conde and turn left for Reims.

On our way to Paris we were joined by our old friend Derran, who was to spend a few days with us. After some confusion as to exactly WHERE we were waiting for him (Derran doesn't have a sat-nav in his car which would have helped with our position coordinates) we finally got him on board.

Onward and our favourite mooring in Paris was again available and we had supper in the same bistro as 3 weeks previously – again perfect.

Louise and Derran at the Isles des Meldeuses 

Well I never - a glass of wine (or more) to end the day!

Lovely Meaux mooring again

At Lagny Derran caught the train back to collect his car but at Meaux and Isle les Meldeuses he cycled back, which apparently made for some interesting route-finding, despite taking our reserve sat-nav with him!!

When it came time for him to leave, he gave us a lift up to Cambrai where our own car had been left, because we had worked out that the journey to collect it from Reims would be extremely tricky, (4 to 6 hours with 3 changes of train), whereas collecting it from anywhere on the Marne, from Reims, was much easier.

By the time he left, Derran was becoming quite a useful extra crew-member – steering, throwing ropes and helping to moor and un-moor. It was lovely to have him with us, but we also appreciate being just 'a deux', which we then would be for the rest of the summer.

A few days later, we arrived at Vandieres, our 9½ out of 10 mooring, where we planned to spend a couple of nights. It's a beautiful, peaceful spot with a panoramic view of the champagne vineyards covering the valley hillside.

When we arrived we were delighted to see a couple of peacocks on the staging by the mooring, 

"Hey, this looks interesting!"

but you can have too much of a good thing, and by the time they had come on board several times and tried to eat Louise's flowers we decided enough was enough, 

"We were hoping for a ride . . ."

"This is a good perch"

so discouraged them by zealous use of the deck-wash hose and eventually they got the message.

We were now within a couple of days of Reims and our next UK return.