More like a bathtub called Betty, but we loved her!
They show you how the boat works then give you the keys. Nothing at all about the 100 locks we have to go through. So we get around the corner and are confronted by this daunting sight...
Once your in and tied up, the gates close behind you and the gates infront open up hatches and torrents of water flood in. The lock fills up and the boat rises, once the level inside the lock is level with the water on the other side of the gate, the lock infront opens and you drive out on a canal 2-3m higher... Simple (in principal)
Simple, until you get 3 locks in a row that rise you 8m and there are 3 other bigger boats in there with you!
The first afternoon was a little stressful but by the end of the second day we had it down pat. Still hard work for the deckhand, the captain stayed on the boat and may have had it a little easier.
But the time between the locks (sometimes minutes, sometimes hours) was really relaxing!
Each night we would tie up to trees in different towns along the canal. Homps, Trebes, Carcassonne, Marseillite, Villesquelande, Paraza and Argens-Minervios.
This is the double walled city of Carcassonne, where we heard Jamiroquai play one night.
Paraza, the second last morning
Somewhere along the canal
But what i was most impressed with was when the canal crossed over rivers. They built bridges so that the boat could cross them...
I may have been so impressed I may have made Dom jump off several times and run ahead so she could take photos..
On atleast one side of every canal there was a towpath where the horse used to pull the boat along (before engines), but where they got to a river or valley crossing there was nowhere for the horses so they built them bridges!
And some other photos from the week
The windscreens and the roof opened up which kept the boat cool
The canal was built for 30m boats, ones this size drive into the locks and are wedged. Lots of the old cargo boats this size have been made into passenger boats with crew... Lazy holidayers!
Skipper Dom at the helm
Me doing what Dom did best (most). I cant complain, she worked hard when she had to..
'Locking up'
