Mosnac-Saint-Simeux Mooring Wall
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45°37’17.5332″N, 0°1’34.9824″W

to

Nicols Boat Charter Depot, Sireui
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45°36’20.8692″N, 0°1’30.6804″E

6 kilometers & 3 locks

Another chilly morning. I was up around 6:00 am & put the kettle on to make hot tea & coffee for the crew & to warm up the galley area a bit.

This also a pretty good time of day for me to begin working on the blog. It’s quiet & I can get a fair bit done before anyone else gets up.

I used to do a lot of my blogging while I was laying in bed at night but these past few years I find it harder to hold my phone steady because I keep drifting off & then whack myself in the face with it. Sitting at the table in the mornings with a cup of coffee or in the afternoons with a glass of wine has proven to be much more productive & less risky.

We left our mooring spot in Mosnac-Saint-Simeux about 9:30 am. We had 6 kilometers to travel & 3 locks to go through to reach our final destination so it was a relatively easy day.

Our first lock was less than a kilometer away & the sun was already getting stronger. Valerie & Catherine volunteered to operate the locks & David & I handled the boat.

Photo above – Catherine & Valerie working the locks at Mosnac-Saint-Simeux.

The staging area upstream of this particular lock is where we spent our first night on the boat 6 days ago.

After we passed through the lock we took a few minutes to look around &  recall the beginning of our boating adventure.

Photo above – the vineyard beside the lock at Mosnac-Saint-Simeux. We think these are the kind of grapes used to make Cognac. This was right beside where we were moored.

By the time we got back underway the sun was really beginning to warm us up. David was manning the helm & I was checking the charts to figure out how far it was to the next lock.

Photo above – We noticed swinging/swimming ropes tied to trees with nicely overhanging branches at several spots along the river. Looks like it would be fun to try – but not on this trip.

It wasn’t too long before we arrived at our next lock.

Every lock on this part of the Charente River has a house right beside it. “Back in the day” when the rivers & canals were important transport routes a lock master & his family would have lived in the house. He would have been  responsible for operating & maintaining the lock & perhaps even for collecting a toll fee for the use of the lock.

The rivers & canals lost their importance as main transportation routes when railways & highways were developed. Lock masters were no longer needed so the houses were often rented or sold off to people who had nothing to do with the locks other than the fact that a lock was right in front of their house.

Photo above – the lock masters house near the village of Champmillon has a small fenced in area beside it. When we got off our boat to get the lock ready we found that our activities were being closely watched by some of the residents from their comfortable perch.

And now there was just one lock left to go. At the previous lock a couple from Frankfurt, Germany caught up to us just as we were preparing to exit the lock. We had met & chatted with them a few days before. We helped them prepare the lock for their lift up & then we moved on. We told them that we would wait for them at the next (& final) lock of our journey.

Photo above – our German friends enter the lock before we close the gates & began filling.

Photo above – Catherine & Valerie take in some scenery & sunshine while we were en route to our destination, which was just past this bridge.

We arrived at Nicols Boat Charter depot around 1:30. We were glad to have made such good progress but also a bit sad that our boating adventures had come to an end.

Our galley was pretty low on provisions & there was a small pub/restaurant just a few feet away from where we were tied up so we went there for lunch.

After lunch Valerie & David decided go for a walk. Catherine took a nap & I worked on the blog.

We all had a pretty lazy afternoon & then spent some time organizing our belongings so we could be ready for an 8:00 am checkout the next morning.

Before we knew it, we were starting to feel hungry again. David & Valerie volunteered to be in charge of a galley cleanout dinner.  Catherine was in charge of preparing the vegetables. The crew came up with a very tasty salad & penne pasta with vegetables & meat sauce. I could take no credit for this meal so I volunteered to clean up the galley after dinner.

Photo above – David & Valerie working their galley magic.

Photo above – in no time at all we were enjoying another fine meal aboard our little boat named “Royan”.

After dinner & the galley cleanup we played a few more hands of euchre. I’m almost beginning to understand what I should be doing.

Even though we had not travelled far today we were all pretty tired so we turned in early & agreed to get up early to have breakfast, finish packing & do the last bit of cleaning before our checkout inspection.

Cheers!