La Redorte – May 16, 2018

Ah, no rain overnight, and although it is still cloudy and windy, there is hope for the end of winter.
We unmoored and motored the half km to the next lock set, a triple, and became third in line for the first opening of the day.  The first in line was a large steel canal boat run by a troupe of jolly Scots.  The second, a rental, took the front slot on the other side of the lock, and we tucked in behind, and were helped by, the Scots. The final area in the lock was taken up by a private yacht flying a Swiss flag.  I think he touched  up his paint significantly  on the lock entry.  They are very nice, and we have waved to them several times since. 

The locks on the Canal du Midi are elliptical rather than rectangular as you might expect, but it means that there is a narrow entry/exit – smaller gates were cheaper in the 16th century, I guess.  It was a tight fit in the lock and we followed that grouping through the three locks of the flight.  As soon as we were released, they were all off in the distance.  The speed limit on the canal is supposed to be 5 km/hr, basically a walking pace, but most boats seem to do more than that.  Our tub does that at pretty much full throttle. Actually, I think it is governed off, as the last half of the throttle doesn’t add any speed.

The next 8 km was across a flat area of grapes and olive trees, unbroken by locks.  The sun came out, although  the wind was still strong and cold.  That gave the opportunity to use the upper steering station, unusable in the rain, but offers a much better view.  Vic stayed below and  worried. We arrived at Marseillette just before noon and stopped for lunch, missing the last lock transit.  The listed resturant was invisible, so it was bread and cheese.  I happened to feed a duck our old bread, and we were mobbed.

From then on it was a double lock set every km or so.  At the last lock the lock keeper tried to get cute and mix the directions. We were two going down, and one coming up.  When the water was half way, the gates opened, and we changed places, not in the order I would have chosen, but aside from some paint and fibreglass removed, it all worked.  And apparently saves water.

At last we arrived in La Redorte, and Vic’s vacation started.  We were tied up, the sun was shining, she had a drink in her hand, and there was a resturant at our front door.  At last.

I walked into town to the worst supermarket I have ever seen.  It appeared to be well on to going out of business.  The one thing they did have in supply was booze.  The supermarkets in France sell hard liquor in name brands in full size bottles (of course),  but they also have pony sized (20 ml) bottles of generic liquor in sealed blister pack  packages.  For the discriminating rubbie, I suppose.
So Vic is physically exhausted after handling the ropes for 13 locks today.  Full credit to her for doing that.  We are more than half done.  It is certainly a blessing that we are going down, not up.  Up is certainly a lot more work than going down,  and even more difficult for two people.  We may not have been able to do it going up. In discussion with a German couple at dinner, we found out that the bigger boats not only have bow thrusters, they have stern thrusters.  No wonder it looks easy.  This boat we have is like trying to steer a coracle.  I would do the ropes, but Vic is confident that she could not steer, so that leaves it to me to look embarrassed while she does the work.
The book says this town’s sole industry is based on the grape.  We are moored in front of two gigantic silos that presumably hold some of the produce.  There are four more further back.



So at nightfall, the sky is clear, and although not warm, it is at least not cold.
Oh, a random word about the toilet facilities.  Each of the boats has a toilet, the bigger ones probably several.  The results go straight into the canal, but they do have the decency to grind it first.  Visibility in the canal water is limited to a few inches.  Vic’s greatest fear is falling in, as she would have to burn all her clothes, and boil herself.