Unexcused Absences

Final lock of the Midi Canal

Sunday morning we hit the big street market in Toulouse, then finished off the last four kilometers of the Canal du Midi before entering the Canal de Garonne. As mentioned in last week’s recap, there is no difference from our perspective, but the Garonne Canal was built about 150 years after the Midi Canal, so from here on out we’ll be on the “new” canal.

Because of the strict operating hours of the canal locks, we are somewhat tied to the whims of the French canal workers union (locks are only open 9am to 12:30pm, and again from 1:30pm to 7pm). As such, we had hoped to make it to the Emballens lock (near St Rustice) on the Garonne Canal, after which there’s a 2.5 hour stretch without a lock.

Heather's Faux-o-let

Unfortunately, we missed the last lock by literally 5 minutes and had to spend the night tied to an abandoned barge (there were no mooring bollards) on the side of the canal. No worries, Heather whipped up one of her amazing “field conditions” meals, and we enjoyed a night of camping out in the middle of nowhere. She’s been intrigued with the local dish of Castelnaudary, the Cassoulet, ever since Week 4, so she put together her version, the “Faux-o-let,” which involved more butter and less duck lard than the official recipe!

Docked next to Avesol II

Monday we had a lovely drive into Castelsarrasin, a small town but a major stop for canal boating folks. The town has cheap moorings (2.50 euros per night) plus a few fun things to see including three churches (!), a few boulangerie, and a chantier fluvial (boatyard/boat repair place). The chantier came in handy, as the leak in our hydraulic system had moved from the “minor annoyance” category to the “somewhat concerning” status by Monday. We docked in the port right next to “Avesol II”, a boat that I had been following through its blog for a couple years. Once secured, I told the owners that I had been following their travels while I was in the “want-to-buy-a-boat” phase, and they said that they were new owners as of one month ago, and that the previous owners had taken down their website, which is a shame, as it was a nice site. The new owners were a lovely Irish couple, and the boat (which they gave us a guided tour of) was as lovely in real life as it was on the internet. Canal boating is a surprisingly small world.

This week's crop, corn!

Tuesday we went at the leak in the hydraulic drive system in earnest. Two workmen came over from the chantier fluvial, and within a half hour had found the source of the leak, which was in one of two O-rings in the pressure indicator bypass line. Now, the problem was to find a couple of compatible O-rings of the same diameter, thickness, and pliability as the 20-year-old ones on Après Ski. Fortunately, this was “corn and grain” country, which meant that there was a lot of agricultural machinery which runs on… hydraulic drive systems. So a quick trip to the tractor store and our mechanic returned with some new O-rings. Once installed, they sort of did the job, but because they were not the actual matching O-rings there’s still a small (but manageable) leak between the reservoir and the low-pressure filter header. If you had told me a year ago that I would even know what a low-pressure hydraulic filter header was I would have suspected you were daft.

Colorful house

Tuesday evening was forecast for thunderstorms, so that afternoon I set out in earnest with the caulk gun to fix a few of the biggest leaks around our many windows. A former charter base mechanic (British) explained to me how preventive maintenance works at a charter boat company. A boat will develop a leak in one of its windows, and one week there will be a strong rainstorm, where a leak manifests itself. It’s a rule that leaks generally materialize directly above a sleeping bunk, so that the leak gets maximum enjoyment from dripping water on a sleeping guest during a rainstorm. The guest returns the boat and complains about the leak, so the charter company gives them a discount on the diesel fuel and hopes that it doesn’t rain next week. This goes on for several presidential administrations, after which the company has refunded four times more in diesel fuel costs than it would have cost to fix the leak in the first place. This is the difference between good management and smart management; good management compensates the guest, but smart management fixes the leak. Needless to say, the good ship Après Ski (formerly the charter boat Comet 13) has more than a few leaks. Not a huge deal, though, we have a caulk gun and a tube of 3M 4200 Marine Sealant.

Port in Castelsarrasin

That evening, between thunderstorms, Heather suggested we go out for pizza, which sounded like a fine idea, as I was mere minutes away from developing a severe case of carpal-tunnel syndrome from squeezing the caulk gun all afternoon. The local pizza place was decked out like an American biker bar, complete with pictures and carvings of Harley-Davidsons, photos of various 1950’s actors, and a large poster from the movie Easy Rider. The pizza was not spectacular but definitely filled the void, and we retired back to Après Ski for the evening.

We had a nightcap with a friendly couple about our age (a British chap Mike and his Romanian wife Alena) who were new to canal boating, in fact their boat had just been delivered by camion (truck) from England that day, so they were asking us about how the locks work, what canal travel is like, etc. It was fun being the “expert“ for once. They had owned several businesses in the UK and had become fed up and had chucked everything (I believe the British term is “sold up“) and bought a canal boat and were planning to live in the south of France for a while.

Port de Moissac

Wednesday we set off for Moissac, a town that had been recommended to us by several fellow boaters, and it did not disappoint! Great morring space, vibrant town, several churches to explore, and the marina was run by a British couple, so at last, I could describe all the boat projects I wanted to do in my native language (albeit with words like “knackered“ instead of “messed up,“ and “nicked“ instead of “borrowed“). Still, it was better than trying to describe technical boat things in French, although I now  know how to say prop shaft in the local language (arbre d’hélice).

The marina also ran a small chandlery, so I quickly disposed of 145 euros on things at the top of my acquisition list (round bow fender, stainless snap and a voltage-and-current meter for the batteries).

Our lady of the cheese (Fromagienne?)

Thursday it was more caulking projects, plus a little explore around town and a visit to Le Fromage Rit (The Laughing Cheese). The place was run by a man and his daughter (or niece, I never figured it out), they sold various artisanal local products, and they were very favorably inclined when we explained that we were American and wanted to try their cheeses. His daughter/niece (Julie) patiently took the time to let us sample all kinds of delicious cheese, and we ended up going back to their shop two more times during our four-day stay in Moissac. I think we bought eight different types of cheese! We got to talking, and we mentioned we had sailed in the Caribbean and she said she had worked at a small restaurant/hotel in Les Saintes, a small group of islands off of Guadeloupe. In 2001 four of us had chartered a sailboat in Guadeloupe and sailed to Les Saintes, and so I pulled up some photos of our trip on the internet, and amazingly we had a photo of the four of us at the same restaurant where she worked a few years ago! A very small world. A little more talking, and we found out that although she’s only 25, she is running for regional political office. She was very excited to learn we were from Washington DC, which is ground zero if you’re a political type, I guess.

Moissac

Friday I installed the voltage/current meters, and then we took the bikes for a spin around town and up the hillside on the way out of town to a delightful spot with a great view of the village. We found a kebab stand in town, and I successfully guessed that the proprietor was Moroccan, which he found amusing, so he gave us the “etudiant“ (student) deal (kebab, fries and drink for 5 euros) for lunch.

Pirates! In French!

We passed by a movie theater on the way back to the boat, which gave us a silly idea; to watch a Hollywood movie in French! We returned back to the theater at 8pm and watched Pirates des Caraïbes – la Fontaine de Jouvence (Pirates of the Caribbean – The Fountain of Youth). It was pretty fun, because even though we only understood a fraction of the dialog, you have to admit the movie isn’t very complicated, plot-wise, so we definitely got the gist of the thing. Heather (who hates monkeys) got a particular thrill as Johnny Depp said (dubbed in French), “Je déteste cette macaque.”

Swimming in the Tarn

The weather got warmer and warmer all week, and by Saturday highs were predicted in the mid 90’s. The kind folks running the marina suggested we take an excursion on the Tarn river. We locked down to this once-navagable river and set out exploring the swan preserve where the Tarn flows into the Garonne. Then, we headed upstream along the Tarn, found an old tree caught in the stumps along the bank and executed a totally non-British-Navy approved mooring involving this old tree and a dead branch. In the shadow of an abandoned Chateau, we spent the remainder of the hot afternoon swimming in the river for the first, and possibly only, time off Après Ski (one does not swim in the canals, for various reasons I won’t get into here).  Incredibly, on this perfect summer day, the river was absolutely deserted. We saw only one other boat with two young fisherman … how sad that the four of us were the only ones enjoying this gorgeous, clean river.

On the Tarn below Chateau de Livrade

Waterskiers (that’s you, Joe, Adam, Glenn, John, et al.), don’t read this next bit – you have been warned. The river was about 120 yards wide, and had crystal clear water, several mile-long straight sections, and it was a windless, gorgeous Saturday afternoon in late June… and there was no one using it. The water surface was like butter. No wind, no wakes, no other skiers… heaven. It’s not that skiing wasn’t allowed, either; we even passed “le club ski-nautique”, complete with slalom course laid out, but there was no one around. I repeat, Saturday afternoon, gorgeous weather, flat water, late June…

All-brick construction

This week, both the weather and the architecture have changed dramatically. We are now experiencing highs in the mid 90’s, cloudless blue skies, and absolutely no rain; proper south-of-France weather. The architecture has changed from all-limestone construction (churches, bridges, locks) to all-brick construction. It’s probably because most structures in this area were built before the advent of the railroad, and each area was forced to use local building materials. There must be a brick mine around here somewhere…

Week 6 Numbers:

• Kilometers: 95
• Locks: 32
• Engine hours: 17
• Cost of moorings: 25.70 euros

Total Numbers This Season:

• Kilometers: 415
• Locks: 133
• Engine hours: 90
• Cost of moorings: 200.30 euros

The big abbey in Moissac

The small church in Moissac

Another church in Moissac

Église St-Pierre, Moissac

The big mill in Moissac, supposedly in use since 1474, now a hotel

Just upstream of Moissac

Week 6 History