Wednesday 9 April
Despite going to the Marina office about five times to pay there was never anyone there, so at 06:15 we slipped away after a free night's mooring. The morning was glorious - calm sea andthe sun just rising. We still did not have a working electronic compass, so had carefully plotted the course on paper the night before. Our paper course plot and passage plan were very helpful, as we had all the VHF channel numbers and other information to hand.The crossing was extremely smooth. The forecast was for winds 2-3 and good visibility and this was correct. We checked our position every 15 minutes on GPS and found that we kept very closely to the predicted course. We saw little shipping on the way, but kept one large ship in sight for a long way before being sure that it was going to pass behind us. we could see land the whole way. The tide was a little stronger than predicted near Calais and we had to steer a more easterly course than planned to keep above the harbour. The entry lights were red when we arrived so we drifted around just above the harbour entrance for a few minutes until the radio suddenly said "Calais control to small barge waiting outside the harbour". We responded and were asked to enter quickly, before the next large ferry arrived. We had to tie to a buoy for an hour before the bridge opened to let us through to the marina. Once through we were immediately directed to a mooring. The sun was still out and we explored the town and found a good restaurant for dinner, but not before downing a bottle of Champagne to celebrate.
Thursday 10 April
Another beautiful day. After breakfast we walked to the ferry terminal with the Bickfords and said goodbye as they left on the 11:00 Seafrance, very speedy, boat trip back to England. We found the waterways office where we were to purchase our licence, but it was closed until 21 April, so just hope no-one challenges us until we can get to another office. At 13:45 we filled up with diesel and left the marina on the 14:15 bridge opening. Neither Reed’s nor any of the signs in the marina indicated what should be done to enter the ship lock, so, in blissful ignorance, we went straight in. We thought that this was the entry to the canal system, but it was still part of Calais Port Control. After someone waived his arms and called at us to switch to VHF channel 17 we spoke to Port Control and were asked to move swiftly out of the lock. Moored next to a tug, we bounced around for half an hour until a monster ship, the Arco Beck, emerged from the lock that we had been occupying. Told to go through quickly after the Arco Beck, we obeyed our instructions and waited patiently at the next lock for about 45 minutes until the lock keeper arrived and finally let us through into the canal system.
Again I tried channel 22 (as instructed on the papers given to us by the lock keeper) with no response. A telephone call produced an immediate response and a VNF employee turned up within 10 minutes. He drove ahead and opened all the swing bridges as we approached.
During the approach to one bridge a loud warning sound came from the instruments, and we noticed the engine temperature at 100 degrees. We shut off the engine and coasted through the bridge, steering on bow thruster, and watching the motorists getting a little impatient at our slow progress. As we passed through the bridge we tried the engine again and the problem cleared, so we carried on for an hour or so until we reached another lift bridge that was closed for the night.
Wednesday 16 April
Looking at the journey ahead we decided that an early start was in order, and woke up to a heavy frost on the ropes at 07:15. We reached the first lock by 08:00 and were soon on our way. As the sun rose the frost cleared and we warmed up inside the wheelhouse. Late in the morning we noticed that the battery level had gone down from 79% to 64%, instead of charging up to 80% or more as expected. We found a small ‘bassin’ and pulled over to investigate. After another call to Piper Boats we were directed to the alternator area. I found that the belts were a little slack and, on trying to adjust the tension, noticed that the tension arm no longer had a bolt holding it in. Luckily I found the bolt below the engine and put it back. But, as is so often the case. I had every spanner except the one needed to adjust the belt tension. Fortunately an adjustable wrench managed it, and, on starting the engine again – voila – we were charging again.
We carried on down the Canal du Nord and soon reached the Canal Lateral de l’Oise. The locks changed here to smaller, double locks, more reminiscent of Thames locks. Descending them was much easier and less stressful. The waterway changed from a concrete sided canal to a tree lined river. After a short while we passed the last lock and into the Oise proper. Here the river opened out even more and the current quickened. There were fewer barges, and with the double locks there were fewer lock delays. We took on fuel and bought river guides at Compiegne, and sped on our way at 14 kph downstream. The floating fuel tanker at Compiegne has an excellent chandlery attached. We asked the lady at the fuel barge if the flow was normal, and she replied that it was slightly stronger than average, but there were normally no restrictions on boating. There were more similarities with the Thames – mooring sites seemed to be at a premium. We did find one or two small villages with moorings but they were full or had limited draught. Eventually we had to pull over at Verbier and pleaded ignorance of the ‘defense de s’amasser’ (no mooring) sign. We moored at a slightly run down boat club and there was no sign of anyone around.