River Meuse Weather
Good news. David has solved the problem of weed around the keel and propellor. When the problem became really critical- boat slowing and overheating- he decided to try solution 1, throw the boat into reverse and accelerate to churn up the water. It worked! We gained speed and are no longer overheating.
So far August has not seemed like summer. There has been a fair bit of rain about and only one day has reached moe than 25 degrees. Many days have been showery but the last two days have had more constant rain and today is only 15 degrees at 11am. Here on Anja we are very snug. We have been fortunate that there are few locks (our only reason for going outside) and those few have coincided with dry spells. Yesterday hardly anyone was moving on the canal- two boats were going our way, one a commercial barge, and we met one boat coming towards us.
Today is even wetter than yesterday but it seems as if other canal users have decided they can only wait one day before they get going again. After two hours we have already passed seven boats going the other way. We are quite sorry for many of the crews and realise why they waited- they cannot steer from inside so are stuck out in the open, or at best under a canopy or umbrella. We are very grateful for our comfy quarters.
The locks on this stretch are manual, staffed by uni students as a holiday job, and since David gets off the boat to help them with the gates, he has a chance to chat with them. They are unfailingy cheerful and polite, despite the fact that our presence in the lock means that they have to leave their warm dry quarters for the cold wet world.
On this stretch of the Meuse we have moved out of the forests and into farmland, with both crops and cattle, and rarely sheep. There are green rolling hills topped by forests in the distance. Because of the destruction of the First World War the houses are generally newer than in many other areas we have visited.
There is a good number of places to tie up at night. The spot in Verdun was particularly good as we were able to tie up in the centre of this major town. Other night time stops have offered us good facilities in quiet rural surroundings. The weather was too wet to allow us to take advantage of their picnic tables and boule courts.
Pictures show:
Verdun
Verdun monument
River Meuse plus town
Pont Canal building (built by Vauban in the 1600s. They used it and others to flood the countryside, thus deterring invasion). One of few left in France.
Best Regards,
Penny and Dave
