Three years ago we had taken possession of our Dutch barge Zonder Zorg after spending the summer on the Dutch waterways we made our way into France. France has a series of canals with the oldest, Canal di Midi, dates back to 1666. The canal system in France is not well used and the major traffic is tourism. The funds are not available for the upkeep of all the canals with its 2165 locks.
We made an early morning start from our previous night's mooring to arrive for the onset of lock service at 0900. All of the locks in this system have transponders operated by remote control. The remote was issued to us when we entered the waterways of France.
The lock had filled during the night and we had to wait and stand back for the turbulence of water that it is expelling. Inside the chamber, the ladder that I had to climb had been submerged and primed for me with wetness and slime.
The water level in this lock was 3.4 metres deep plus three additional feet of flood wall above. I carefully climbed the ladder with rope in hand, the other end of securely tied to Zonder Zorg.
The list of the world's ten most dangerous hikes crossed my mind.
I was amazed that this lock was unmanned, or quite possibly that they had not yet arrived. The empty control house sat at an awkward position, right on the edge, leaving no room for bollards. I had managed to secure one line and went searching for a boathook. I found a thick pipe with a hook on it; it was too long and too heavy for me to handle.
Michael secured the second line to the stairs and gave me the signal to turn on the water.
I watched from above as the massive amount of water started to enter the confined space.
The turbulence was powerful, but Michael managed to control its force.
Zonder Zorg's stern was dragged across and touched the other side of the lock.
It was a relief when the lock had filled; the doors had open and we were on our way.
We watched fisherman along the canals, some waving, some annoyed for disturbing their water and an excuse to why the fish aren't biting.
Remains of the old towpaths are still visible, but mostly in decay.
Some older trees, now hosting huge fungi, had also seen better times.
The scenery changed to a soft ripple effect.
We are starting to look for moorage for the night; we were tired.
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