Ruyaulcourt Tunnel, Moislains, Peronne FR 23-25 April 2022 We finished this part of our trip on the Canal du Nord at Peronne where we will turn off for the Somme. We had some more adventures on the Canal du Nord, including travelling along a 4.5km tunnel, and then getting up close and personal with another barge, before spending some time in Peronne. Waiting for a lock - note the guillotine door at the other end of the lock letting another boat out downstream of us. Saturday we went through our first tunnel in Moondance. We went through the Ruyaulcourt Tunnel on the Canal du Nord. This tunnel is 4.35 kms long and it is mostly 6.2 m wide, although there is a 1.15 km section in the middle which is wider (12.3m) so that boats can pass. The night before the tunnel, we were watching TV and we saw a car drive up and down the road next to the quay. Eventually it stopped outside our boat, and a young woman got out and knocked on our door. After much half understood discussion, we called her husband on the VHF who was captaining a boat approaching the quay. As we were leaving in the morning, he wanted to take our spot on the quay and have us moor alongside him - they were staying the weekend. So at 8:30 at night we did that maneouvre. In the morning we agreed that it would be a good idea to follow a commercial up to the tunnel. Unfortunately when our ship arrived, 2 ships from the opposite direction also arrived so we had to wait for them to pass before we could set off. However "Bastie"(our new bestie) was going a similar speed to us, and, with a green light, we followed him into the tunnel. As the tunnel is only 6.2m wide, we kept an eye on the quay on each side, but in the end it was as straight forward as descibed in our map book. At the wider section we had to pass another boat coming the other way, but were able to continue on to the second narrow section without waiting. It turned out we were going faster than "Bastie" and we caught up with him and had to slow down. On leaving the tunnel we only had a few kms to our final mooring place just befor the first lock. We will now be descending after having been ascending all the way from Dunkirk. Ín the afternoon we went into the little town of Moislains. On either side of the school were gates, one marked "garcons" (boys) the other "filles" (girls). Probably at some stage the school was segregated. Also look at what looks to be a speaker system on the Mairie (town hall). Howard also had a fish. By the end of the day there were a couple of commercials moored in front of us, but we still expected it to be a quiet Sunday - surely they would have a day off. But no - when we called the lock in the morning, the lock keeper asked us to go after the commercial at the front. Then the captain of the boat immediately in front of us visited us and asked us to go in the front of the lock when we went down together, as they don't tie off, but use the engine to keep their location in the lock which would wash us around if we were behind them. We said that we were too slow to go down with him, but he said he only goes a little faster than us and the locks are close together so it wouldn't be a porblem. As he is 58 m long and we are nearly 22, and the lock if only 91, it was a tight fit. We were only about 1.5 m from the gate and the commercial was only a couple of metres behind us, so both Howard and I had to keep a close eye on our location. But the lock is very calm going up and down, so once we go the hang and if it was less stressful. The OHANA in the lock behind Moondance. After the lock we had about 3 kms to go to our mooring, and OHANA knew we were stopping at Peronne, however they decided to speed up and pass uson a fairly narrow straight. Our speed went from about 7.5 km/h to 3.3 km/h and we were sucked in and touched them at the rear. We tried to break free by going into reverse and using the bow thruster, and eventually got free. I think they also had to slow down to release us. Luckily no-one was hurt and no damage done, but it was a bit scary at the time. The Captain of the OHANA did call us on the VHF to apologise so we were all friends in the end. And we made it into the port de plaisance (shortly after). In the afternoon we cycled into town for a look around. The most impressive was the old castle, now a museum the Historial de la Grande Guerre (WWI). It had an modern extension at the back overlooking a lake. The most impressive buildings on the main square were the town hall and the church. Australians are popular here as they liberated the town at the end of WWI. In fact in front of the town hall are 2 french and 2 Australian flags. We went for a ride around the town including the Porte Betagne, and other fragments of the old city wall, as well as around some of the lakes. On Monday morning we went into town and, after a visit to the Tourist Information, spent most of the morning in the Historial. It had information about the history of Peronne and the castle, as well as a history of the great war. There was a video which put the whole of the great war in context (not just the local bit), and exhibition spaces that covered before during and after the war, including comments about the brutality of colonialisation before the war. There was also a room dedicated to the battle of Mont Saint Quentin which the Australians won, pushing the Germans back from Peronne in 1918. After a nice lunch, we did bit of shopping and headed back to the boat.
Although Peronne is on the Somme, we consider tomorrow to be the true start of our adventures on the Somme.
3 Comments
Karen Melchior
25/4/2022 08:40:41 pm
Beautiful photos once again, Deb! I love sharing your journeys and the descriptions of the people you meet. The tunnel sounds fascinating. Hugs to you both!
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Hazel
25/4/2022 10:01:32 pm
Wow lots of new challenges and experiences! Especially the tunnel. Glad to see you guys are back living the dream xx
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Hilary
26/4/2022 01:21:04 am
The tunnel looks really cool, assuming no stress from other boats. But your story of the minor rear ending sounds a bit frightening. I guess the Ohana was in the wrong for having attempted that maneuver in the way they did. I’m glad no major damage ensued. You’ve had enough obstacles to get seaworthy after the long pause!
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