The Journey -
Rum Goings-on in Rosy

In a previous existence I was Shakin' Bill - cocktail shaker extraordinaire.  I still take an active interest in booze.  (There are bits about such things on this website).  Although I have dabbled in rum in the past, I'm beginning to get into this particular amber ambrosia a bit more seriously.

For reasons that are too distressing to go into, whisky and I don't get on - I find it too fiery when it is neat, too overpowering to be used in cocktails and unappealing when watered.  Gin is fine as a mixer, vodka adds tasteless oomph, and tequila, for me, is a 'party' drink.  French Brandy is too precious to muck about with - a soupçon at the end of a meal is sufficient.  I am very fond of Cyprus brandy, but in UK its price is uncompetitive (my favourite brands are Anglais and Loel 43).  Rum, I find, is becoming more and more appealing.

It is interesting to note that in UK, nearly all the rum comes from West Indian islands that used to be British, whilst in France it comes from French West Indian Islands - usually Martinique.  It is claimed that the oldest, still functioning distillery in the word is a West Indian rum distillery.

Fortunately, good quality rum is a reasonable price.  Good quality whisky (i.e.  malt and malt blends) are pricey, whilst the cheaper whiskies are debased by being mixed with liquor that comes not from a pot still, but from a continuous distillation process, and is known as patent still grain whiskey.  I believe that 'Choice Old Cameron Bridge' is pure patent still grain whisky.  I had a slug of it once, and it put me off non-malt whisky for life.

In the UK, one of my favourite rums is 'Old Trawler Rum' bottled, I think, in Edinburgh.  Here in France (and Belgium) Saint James 'Royal Ambre' from Martinique is readily available.  For my palate, rum is not too fiery when it is neat, but retains its taste and smoothness when mixed with water.  A small slurp in a glass of lager beer adds a bit of body, whilst my grandfather, as I recall, had a hot nightcap of milk and rum - I have a mind to emulate his habit.  Rum is particularly good when mixed with fruit and fruit juices.

I haven't yet discovered how to tell from the bottle whether the contents are a 'pure' rum (where all the liquor comes out of the same distillation) or a blend of rums from different distillations.

OFF AGAIN

We finished our maintenance tasks on the slipway, and prepared to set sail again, bound for France.

Our place on the slipway was taken by Anna, a barge owned by Ed.  He was having a quick check of her done by Balliol Fowden, who canalaholics may know from his days of running boaty businesses at Braunston Bottom Lock, and his links with The Barge Association.  Anyway, Ed is heading back to UK, (specifically Staines) with Anna.  He is exiting from Nieuport.

As a Europe-UK route, Nieuport has several attractions.  Its main one is that it is predominantly a marina, with a fishing fleet attached.  What it doesn't have is any cross-channel ferries.  Ferries are a pain, not only because they move fast, and demand priority over everybody else, but also because their movement generates BIG, uncomfortable waves.  The Nieuport passage might be a smidgen longer, but this is balanced by the lack of interference from ferries.

Temujin and Rosy headed off for France along the Canal de Feurnes - slipping easily through the water with their newly painted hulls - until they reached the first French lift bridge which was closed.  And wouldn't open.  This was a Thursday, and it will stay shut until Monday.  The story is that there was a scheduled 'chomage' (stoppage) at the next lock, which has over-run.  It is now scheduled to finish at Saturday cease-work.  Sunday is a holiday, so we can get through on Monday.  Such is life (being the last words of Ned Kelly the Oz outlaw/hero, prior to being executed by the Brits).

The mooring is not too bad.  A Champion supermarket is a mere 100 metres away, and it is a 15 minute walk to ….  the beach at Bray-dunes!!  So Fanny-the-Woof has finally had an introduction to the sea-side.  Unfortunately, the tides are all a bit wrong for us.  In the early morning the beach is deserted by both people and sea, but the wide expanse of wet sand is a wonderful running track for her.  The beach is 'safe' which means that it shelves so gently that it is hard to throw a ball far enough out to sea to get her swimming.

On Saturday afternoon, we were interrupted by the arrival of LaHoya, a UK owned Dutch barge with Joe, Barbara et al on boards.  Later, during a convivial evening, we learned that J&B hail from Birmingham where they have a narrowboat.  The barge is a recent venture, and is beautifully fitted out inside.  The bad news is that Joe still works, so they can only be on LaHoya for a few weeks each year.  The good news is that he is approaching retirement!!

… Time passes …

After those drinks on LaHoya, Sunday passed me by, though I recall (hazily) taking Fanny-the-Woof down to the beach.  And, I think, back.  Ditto, though with a bit more wakefulness, on Monday morning, returning in time to wave farewell to LaHoya.  After breakfast, we readied ourselves for departure, some two hours after LaHoya.

The passage along the Canal de Feurnes was quite pleasant, though the air is still chilly, and a blustery wind was blowing.  At the first lock - it is just outside Dunkirk - we came across LaHoya!!!  The automatic lock (the one we spent the weekend waiting for!!) was refusing to work.  I got on the radio to Dunkirk, and, after agreeing that his English was better than my French, we were promised a solution to our problems in 10 to 15 minutes.  Indeed, within 14 minutes a pair of waterway employees arrived, and tweaked the automatic mechanism into life.  Within 20 minutes we were all - Rosy, Temujin and LaHoya - moored in our secret mooring in Dunkirk.  Of course, it's not REALLY a secret, it's just that it is off the main line, and un-signposted, and I've never met anyone else who has used it.

The mooring is close to the VNF (the French version of British Waterways) offices, from which we acquired copies of the 2006 'chomage' list, known in UK as the stoppages list (which lists known maintenance works that require the navigation to be closed, with the estimated date of 'work starts' (generally reliable) and 'work finishes' (generally unreliable).

The mooring is not too far from the town centre and the extensive - though under-used - docks.  I headed for the town centre to get a French SIM card for the mobile phone, and to track down a Internet Café.

The next day, Tuesday, LaHoya bade farewell, and continued her journey.  We all had an early lunch, and then pootled for nearly two hours up to Bergues.  This town was fortified by Vauban, and much of the fortification is still extant.  There is a pleasant little mooring under the city walls.  It is free unless one wants water and/or 6amps of electricity, in which case it is 7 Euros per boat per night for the key to the water/electric box.  The town itself is well worth a wander around.  There is a disused, very un-round, round lock.  It has three entrances, one of which has doubled gates, so it could deal with a head of water on either side.  There are at least three bakeries and Veronique is there, plying her business as usual, this time in the guise of a Libraire, Papeterie et Maroquinerie.  There are the usual banks, beauty parlours, sun studios, hairdressers and dog-pamperers, but not yet a multiplicity of nail-studios.  In amongst all this are some exceptionally fine buildings.

The evening was surprisingly pleasant.  I was there a few years ago, when one could hardly sleep because of the *ucking *ucks quacking LOUDLY throughout the night.  This time, our entertainment was provided by a very territorial coot objecting to - and seeing off!!  - a rather inoffensive-looking heron.  Though, come to think of it, most herons look a bit inoffensive, especially when they try to take the huff about how their peace has been disturbed by one's presence. 

Prospective moorers may like to know that Vauban built his city walls such that one can just pick up a Sky TV signal over the top of them.

Meanwhile, Mike is dealing with an ongoing problem concerning petrol stations in France.  More and more are dispensing with staff, and are selling fuel exclusively through card machines.  Unfortunately, none of them accept credit or debit cards of UK origins.  The card issuers in UK say that they ought to, and the management of the fuel stations say that they ought to, but they don't.  A UK card that is accepted for payment in (for example) a Champion supermarket, is rejected by the Champion fuel station next door!  Finding staffed fuel stations is becoming increasingly difficult.

Moving on from Bergues, we returned to Dunkirk and headed inland.  The first lock (our second in France) was staffed, but even the cheery lock-keeper couldn't get it to work, and he had to call out maintenance.  The arrived fairly promptly just as we were finishing filling up with drinking water.  'Maintenance' got the lock going, and we had a pleasant cruise up to within 200 metres of the lock at Bourborg.  At that point the canal got shallow and a peniche appeared, coming towards us, and struggling for depth in the middle of the channel.  We were similarly struggling nearer to the bank.  We entered the open lock, and started trying to get a lock keeper.  (Our UK lock windlasses fitted the spigots on the gear that wound the gates open and shut, but the paddle raising and lowering gear was chained and padlocked).  About two hours later, at 6pm on a Thursday night, a lock-keeper arrived to let us through.  In those two hours we had recced the town and its mooring and, although there was no electricity available, had decided to stay for the weekend.

We had a pleasantly idle few days.  Mike and June did a bit of boat painting, whilst Fanny and I went for walks.  I have to run the engine for an 60 to 90 minutes a day to provide enough electricity for 24 hours - that is for lighting, computing and running the TV, Sky-box and stereo amplifier.  It's a joy to be back in France, with even small towns having a variety of bakers making wonderfully tasteful bread.

On the Monday morning, we were on our way for a short cruise up to Watten, where we found the town mooring on a backwater.  A newish looking narrow boat was there, left for the winter, otherwise the mooring was deserted.  The services boxes looked old, dilapidated and abandoned.  I half-heartedly tested an electric socket and Behold!!!!  It gave forth proper electricity - I mean the real stuff!!!  WITH an earth wire AND the live and neutral pins wired up the right way.  (It is pretty essential to have a socket tester with which to check these things, AND to have a lead that can switch the live and earth wires round so that they enter the boat's electric system with the right polarity).

We've decided to spend a few days here.  The weather is, apparently, set to worsen, and who wants to cruise in the cold and rain?  We have electricity and water, there are three bakeries nearby, together with food and d-i-y shops.  Fanny-the-Woof has some good open fields to romp in, which are big enough for use with the Aerobie, so she is REALLY happy. 

FLAGS ON BOATS

In response to several requests, I'll deal with this topic once more.

ONE: Great Britain is one of the few countries in the world not to have its national flag as its ensign.  I'm not sure why this is, but it is!!

In bygone days, when the British navy put to sea, it was organised into three squadrons, the Red, the White and the Blue.

Over time, naval tactics changed, as did the usage of the ensigns.  These days, the following pertain:

• The White ensign: this is only used by warships of the Royal Navy, with the noted exception that Queen Victoria permitted the Royal Yacht Squadron, based at Cowes (I think) in the Isle of Wight, to use it.
  
  
• All other British registered vessels fly the Red ensign.
  
  
• This left the Blue ensign going spare!!  It was decided that vessels owned by members of specified yacht clubs would be permitted to fly the Blue ensign (defaced) (i.e.  with the crest, emblem or insignia of their club) on their vessel, so long as they had an Admiralty authority so to do AND so long as they were in command of their vessel, AND so long as they were also flying their club's burgee.

Registered British vessels are obligated to fly the appropriate ensign, in most cases the Red ensign.

As most canal and river craft in the UK are not British registered (but merely licensed by British Waterways, the Thames authorities or what have you) they are not obligated to fly any ensign.

Vessels registered on the Small Ships Register ARE so obligated, though I don't see anyone on the UK canal system giving two hoots whether or not a vessel is flying a flag, or what sort of flag it is.

British vessels in foreign waters are another matter.  Such foreign authorities vary in their attitudes.

The Dutch authorities, when questioned by a British boater, responded that they couldn't care less what flags are flown and (I quote from my source) " … you can fly a pair of ladies knickers for all I care".

On the other hand, it is reliably reported that a couple of years ago, the French authorities extracted a fine from a British (Scottish) sailor who was cruising in French waters flying the Saltaire (the Scots national flag - a blue ground with a white St Andrews cross).

When cruising in foreign waters, it is customary to fly a 'courtesy flag'.  This is a small version of the ensign of the country in whose waters you are cruising, and the normal place to fly this flag is at the starboard cross-trees.

To comply with these requirements, many narrow boats in Europe sprout a flag-staff (at the rear and often rigged to the tiller), and a mast (constructed so that it is convenient to take down when a low bridge hoves into view).

Toodle pip!!

Bill