We set off at exactly the time we had advised the last lock keeper yesterday under a threatening sky - a slightly rare occurence for us! It was an hour to the first lock so time to wake up, or so we thought.
On arrival J's throwing arm finally hit the target, getting a subdued Bravo from the keeper, but there ended our success; as we were locking down we thought we'd break a habit and try with a single central line rather than the usual fore and aft - big mistake! An unexpected gust of wind had us well out of shape, and then to make matters worse the line got stuck on the cleat and had to be cut free, leaving us drifting until then engines could be restarted - the lock keeper merely shook his head :-(
The next lock was calm and still, but we had two ropes on anyway - tranquil! If it ain't broke, don't fix it, we are a two rope boat and no mistake!!
Some phone calls today confirmed at that our alternative route from Paris is well and truly open (today!) so will keep an eye as we progress in that direction to be sure not to get caught out again.
Back at the lock / wine cave and we stocked up on Sancerre, hoping to share with visitors some time in the near future - again, keeper not in the know about the canal du Centre, and we saw out friends from Digoin on the way out who wished us luck on the new journey.
We had to wait at the next lock for the lunch break - and realised on arrival they were in the process of draining the section we were in; with the depth sounder screeching a regular alarm (the fish finder that is, the actual depth sounder melts down at vital moments and was reading 109m!) we could see the lock was on free flow, and the keeper confirmed he was significantly dropping the level we were to leave for works... Phew, pretty thankful we were going the right way there! And the other side we are positively wallowing in a comfortable 2.1m of water!
Another couple of locks before we called it a day at Chatillon-Sur-Loire - its the Le Boat rental depot, and we asked about any contacts for a lift and transport option (hedging our bets!) but they never take the boats out so he was little help. Otherwise its a nice (paying) mooring with all necessary shops in town within easy walk - and the weather held for us all day so very grateful for that. Tomorrows a busy day (that stretch with lots of linked automatic locks) so a take away is on the cards. And we must study the book a bit - all the way in the other direction we moored for free, but suddenly we're paying most nights?! Bit of investigation needed!
Photos to follow
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