Bram to past Carcassone

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We set off this morning and stopped at the village of Villasequelande just before 12pm as it had a sign saying that there was a grocery store 400m away. We followed the signs and found the store and the owner asked if we were on the Canal du Midi and offered to deliver our purchases for us. Hearing this, we bought a lot of heavy items (bottles of water and wine, etc.) to take advantage of not having to carry our purchases back to the boat.

After unpacking our shopping we had some lunch and when the locks reopened, we set off again.

The scenery was long stretches of canal framed by the plane trees, with vineyards often beside the canal.

In the afternoon, the wind had really picked up and it was very difficult to steer and get into and out of the locks. Sudden gusts would blow you to the side and on the journey we went through a few trees on the longer stretches of canal and suffered a few scrapes coming out of the locks. I even did a 360 degree turn.

The boats are hard to steer given the slow response with the steering and change of gear. It really isn’t as easy as it is made out to be and you need a crew that works with real teamwork.

We were blown around a lot today, both in the locks and outside them. It is particularly hard coming into a lock, inside it and coming out as when you have very low or no speed, you are buffeted even morewith the strong breeze. Then when you try to correct the course, it is very easy to oversteer.

We were all very relieved when we got through Carcassone and found a safe place to pull up and stop at for the night.

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Comments

[Modris Vilnis.]

Viewing photos
Great shots again. Sorry to hear about the rough weather. Wishing you fair winds for the rest of your journey.

[JulieAnn B]

Thanks Mike. No rain so far which is lucky as it would be unpleasant up top in the rain and also out on deck holding ropes in the locks.

[Andrew Pursey]

Canal du Midi
Now you can do your Rick Stein cruising impression. Good to hear that the locals are supportive of the tourists; the delivery to the boat was a smart move on their part.