Tuesday 10 May 2016.
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| 14 kilometers, 1 lock (twice), 1 bridge (twice), 3 hours |
Our plan is to spend the next few days exploring the
northern reaches of the Canal de Lys, almost as far as Armentieres where we
tried to find a winter mooring last year, only to be foiled by the shallow
draft. Thank goodness - Diksmuide was a far better choice.
First it was a short cycle into the surprisingly lovely
town of Aire-sur-la-Lys (translated, Aire at the top of the Lys) and a visit to
the huge Carrefour where we organise a one month unlimited calls, 2 Gb data
card.
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| Top to bottom - 100m perhaps? |
Back at the boat we contact the lockkeeper at the given number and try to
explain our intentions of travelling down the Lys to Sailly-sur-la-Lys – any
French speaking person would have been in stitches listening to our part of the
conversation but eventually we gathered that he needed to call his superior to
get an okay and he would phone right back. And he did! After his very patient
15 minutes of trying to get us to understand that we could not get as far as
Sailly because the water depth at Melville was less than 1 meter (we draw 1.15
meters - Allaince Francaise really must include ‘depth’ and ‘draft’ as part of
their Beginner Course vocabulary) – we agreed that we would go as far as
port
Saint Vernant where we intend spending two nights. Treize heure trante?
D’accord!
So at 13h40 he arrives and we proceed through the lock
and the following lifting bridge
until we spot his vehicle at the Ecluse Cense
a Witz – but the lock doors are closed
Now we are informed that there has been
a major regional power outage and we cannot proceed further nor, for that
matter, can we return to Aire. No electricity means no lock or bridge openings.
So we moor up for the night in quite an idyllic country spot and with a storm
fast approaching, bid lockie farewell and make ourselves comfortable
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| The view opposite. |
Five
minutes later he is back with the news that the electricity between us and Aire
is back on and would we like to return to the town. Being uncertain when
electricity will be restored to the rural northern section of the region we most
regrettably give up on exploring the lovely upper Lys
and make our way back to the
Halte Nautique at Aire – we found out where it is by consulting another guide,
‘Inland Waterways of France’ by David Edwards-May – 8th edition. Not
the nicest position but a little more protected from the surge and at least we
are on a pontoon so the fenders can do a proper job.
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| Looks good except for the mini-wreck and grain/alcohol factory just ahead |
And then the heavens opened – and we had left our
non-waterproof, self-focusing binoculars on deck, hadn’t we…
Tomorrow we head down the Ancien Canal d’Aire portion of
the Liaison, to Bethune.
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