Locks, locks and more locks!! We have been through 54 locks in the last 7 days of navigating. They're very straight forward as everything is done for you. We have our own éclusier (lock keeper) who scoots/drives along to the next lock and prepares it all and then does the whole procedure for us. Sometimes we have two or even three éclusiers to ourselves as there are no other boats around. You can help if you want (see below) but the éclusiers don't expect it.
Some of us work hard at it......
Others are more relaxed.
The difficult part is getting into the locks as we don't have much spare room on either side and the lock walls can be very unforgiving. The other thing we have to do is tie up so we don't get pushed around when the water is let in, it can be extremely fast.
Lassoing the bollard in a lock
My lassoing skills have improved greatly. The bollard is actually further away than it looks. All I need now is a horse and a cowboy hat!!
All the locks have names, this one's my favourite, especially for the girls!!
My favourite lock name!!
4 comments:
I must add to the blog again! The journey you are on now is fascinating, really enjoying your posts. you must get to know the èclusier quite well (?) do you have to tip hom?
Keep it coming!
Anne W
You can tell it's early morning! Apologies for errors on last comment....
"Tip him!"
A
No you don't have to tip him, hom or her! They change several times a day as you move out of their area into another. They're employed by VNF (voies navigables de France) to whom we pay an annual fee. Pleased you're enjoying the blog. M
However, I should add, if they are very helpful, really nice and are with us all day, a bottle of wine or beer does come out of the cellar!
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