The Journey -
Rosy at Decize

Before going any further, I think we ought to get this gin thing worked out.

Ever since my incarnation as cocktail Shakin' Bill, I've done my best to consume my fair share of the world's output of gin.  It was, therefore, a touch worrying to arrive in Europe and discover that there is a country here with its own major gin industry - namely Holland, which produces lots 'n' lots of Dutch gin.  I got stuck into it with some gusto, only to discover that there are two sorts:  'oude' and 'jonge' which translate neatly as 'old' and 'young'.  Please don't (like me) be led astray into thinking that one sort must be old and the other young.  I was drinking a bottle or three with a Dutch boating couple the other night when they let me into THE secret.  'Oude' gin is made according to an old recipe, whilst 'jonge' is made by a new recipe.

This couple own a narrow boat 'Lady Camilla' (I think) that used to be owned by Mike and Val(?) Creswell, and are doing a wonderfully professional job of repainting the roof.

But I'm getting ahead of myself …

I left Chatillon-en-Bazois on a Monday morning, and pottered down to just below the lock at Fleury, where all sorts of nice things were advertised.  Unfortunately ... although there is a clean wash-house/shower/toilet, the only electricity is for the lighting thereof, and the only water is for the taps etc.  within it, i.e. there are no ships' bunkerage facilities.  Plus the mooring is a touch shallow, so that every time the downstream lock was filled, Rosy's bottom settled on the putty, and she leaned over at an uncomfortable angle.

I went to bed at 10ish, to an overcast sky.  I don't know why I awoke at 1.30 am, but I did, and saw stars twinkling through the open cabin slide.  I got up, and went outside.  The sky was perfectly clear, and totally moonless, so that the stars were etched bright, and the Milky Way was clearly visible.  And then one, two, three and four shooting stars arched across the sky.  Mmmmmm!!  One of the joys of boating.

In the morning the world was a very misty place, and there were reports of flooding in Austria and Prague.  I set off, and the sun burnt the mist off by about 11am.  I pulled into the mooring at Pannecot to discover that it was at a municipal campsite, was going to cost me 8 Euros per night, that it was next door to a railway line and that the large notice boards were not filled with useful tourist information (like where the nearest bakery is) but a long list of things that I MUST do, and an even longer list of things that I, my children and my dogs must NOT do.

So I left.

One of the good things about morning only boating is that you have the rest of the day to put things right if they go wrong!! 

I was now aiming to moor at Cercy la Tour, but about a kilometre or so before the Cercy lock I came across a lovely mooring under some shady trees, so stopped for a wonderfully peaceful, quiet mooring.

As I wanted to spend a few days at Cercy, I thought I would set off lateish the following morning, in the hope that the hire boats would have left their moorings at Cercy, and hence that I would have the pick of them.  It wasn't until about 11am that I set off, when around the first corner I met the good ship 'Castor' coming the other way.  So we stopped.

'Castor' (not as in 'Pollox' (sorry) but as in 'beaver' (if you speak French)) is owned by Clare and James and their woof Oriel.  Castor overwintered near Rosy in Briare, whilst Clare, James and Oriel overwintered in their home in the Charente region.  We had lunch (including camembert cheese and fresh blackberries) and caught up with the news, and set off on our respective voyages at about 1330.

I moored at Cercy la Tour at about 1405.  Cercy la Tour used to have a massively built tower, and it was a pretty important place for quite some time.  Shortly after the invention of gunpowder it receded into a sleepy torpor, which is where it still is - especially on hot summer days - which is what was happening when I was there.  Only the base of the tower now remains and yes - it's pretty big.  I also found a very interesting bridge.  It's only a little bridge, carrying the canal towing path over a small side arm.  The towing path is carried up the abutments, so that the small span is carried over on a level.  The span is not supported by I-beams, but it is suspended by a rudimentary suspension system.  I tried (and failed) to get Madame in the Tourist Office interested in this historic structure.

My stay was rather spoiled by xxxxx - one of those people who tell long, involved, complicated stories, about their own close family members (who I do not know) complete with every irrelevant detail, and indeed, every detail carefully considered to ensure authenticity as in '... it was on a Wednesday.  I know it was a Wednesday 'cos the milkman wants paying on a Wednesday, and I wanted to see him anyway as I wanted half a pint of double cream to go with the apple turnover I was going to make for tea ... or was it a pint of double cream? ...' etc.  etc.  At the end, one is often asked to agree with their sexist/racist/ageist/STUPID point of view.  Grrrrrrr!!!!  I was caught up in one of these stories before I realised it, and my only way out was oblivion, so I took to the drinking and rather missed the next day.

I didn't leave Cercy la Tour until the Sunday (or was it the Monday?  No!!  Definitely Sunday - I think, 'cos ...) and cruised down to St Leger des Vignes, intending to stay for several days.  It's a nice mooring, quietish, but close to shops.  Unfortunately the nice little electric and water points are caged in and locked up and you can't get at them.  Met an Anna from Carolina who, a year ago was cruising the Canal du Midi with her husband Dan in their rather nice luxe-motor, when he had a heart attack and died.  She and some friends brought the boat back up to the St Jean de Losne area, intending to put it up for sale, but she eventually decided that she and Dan had gone boating 'cos they like it, and she still likes it, so she runs the boat on her own.  I think she gets friends in to help for the tricky bits, so I have my fingers crossed that she has me on her list - I've not yet been on a cruising barge, and I'd like to expand my education a bit.

The lack of electricity caused me, yesterday, to lock down onto the River Loire, and motor round to the moorings by the Tourist Office in Decize - the only moorings on that level with electricity.  I had some tricky bends on the way in, and foolishly, cut a corner.  I thought we were going slowly, and on checking the wake saw that we were stirring up quite a bit of mud.  Fortunately it was soft, and we ploughed through it - but the sailing directions in Decize mean what they say!!  In the evening there was a massive electric storm.  Sheet and forked lightening and heavy clouds, but not much thunder and not much rain.

Decize is quite a pretty town, and I'll stay here for a day or two.  Madame in the Tourist Office provides an internet connection for 2 Euro per 15 minutes.

Toodle pip!!

Bill