Sunday 17th June - Montargis to Nargis

We left just before 9.30 as we had arranged for a 9.30 lock through with the eclusiers but when we arrived at the lock there was a boat coming up so it was getting on for 10 by the time we got through. We were then given a telecommande, a remote control for the following locks which we were very pleased about - no more lunch stops!   At our fourth lock of the day a very friendly eclusier was very chatty, ending up talking football with Skip!  Not being a hundred percent sure as to where we would stop for the night, we took a look at the village of Cepoy - the village looked nice but the mooring was fairly crowded and we weren’t too sure about the availability of power so we moved on.

After 6 locks we arrived at the next to find a boat coming up again.  After he left the gates closed so we left a few minutes before using the telecommande - no response!  We thought that maybe the locks did close for lunch after all!  Skip called the VNF and they did say that someone would come.  However at one o’clock still nobody had come so Skip called again and, finally an eclusier turned up in about fifteen minutes or so. An hour and a half of our day wasted - all in a days’ cruising I suppose!

Our next possible mooring was a couple more locks on and although it was a bit rough and ready with no power, we decided to stop anyway and tied off on a bollard and a mooring pin in the long grass!

Our neighbouring boat was an old barge with the unsalubrious name of Plancton.  We thought it was just an abandoned boat but shortly a man came on a scooter and made ready to leave.  Soon after his wife, son and little granddaughter arrived.  They set off in the direction we had come, saying they would be back in an hour.

The weather had been very mixed but  thankfully, no rain so far so we settled and had a bread and cheese lunch.   Crew will cook dinner later.
A quiet lazy evening on our country mooring!

15 km. 9 locks. 5 hours