Yesterday, we travelled to Saint-Mammes which is a barge town that sits at the junction of the river Seine and the river Loing. We also visited Moret-sur-Loing, a picturesque town on the banks of the river Loing. The river Loing has been canalised and heads in the direction that we planned to go. This was our first experience of France’s narrower canals and this proved to be a problem.
Firstly, we discovered that the speed limit for the canal is 6 km/h, which is 3.2 knots. With the engines at tick-over Jomima ‘speeds’ along at 5.5 knots and, even on one engine, she does 4.5 knots. This, not only meant that we were potentially speeding, it also mean that she was a bit lively when taking her 4 m width into the much narrower (5.2m) locks.
Secondly, the bridges are much lower at 3.5 m. To negotiate these much lower bridges we would have to lower the radar arch and remove the canopy. The weight of the arch is such that this meant leaving it down all day. Both yesterday and today it rained very heavily and there is no sign of this weather pattern changing for some time. Jomima would therefore have to be steered and managed, through anything up to 150 locks, from an exterior helm in the rain. Not a prospect that Ann was looking forward to at all. We therefore made the decision to turn Jomima around and head back to Paris and the English Channel.
Firstly, we discovered that the speed limit for the canal is 6 km/h, which is 3.2 knots. With the engines at tick-over Jomima ‘speeds’ along at 5.5 knots and, even on one engine, she does 4.5 knots. This, not only meant that we were potentially speeding, it also mean that she was a bit lively when taking her 4 m width into the much narrower (5.2m) locks.
Secondly, the bridges are much lower at 3.5 m. To negotiate these much lower bridges we would have to lower the radar arch and remove the canopy. The weight of the arch is such that this meant leaving it down all day. Both yesterday and today it rained very heavily and there is no sign of this weather pattern changing for some time. Jomima would therefore have to be steered and managed, through anything up to 150 locks, from an exterior helm in the rain. Not a prospect that Ann was looking forward to at all. We therefore made the decision to turn Jomima around and head back to Paris and the English Channel.
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