Seracourt to Guny

Saturday 3^rd August

Rest Day.

We had a lovely relaxing day at Seracourt, Kev cycled to the local superette and bought us our 2 croissant and 1 baguette  We had lunch at the café nearby that also is a Rainbow Trout fishing farm.  Lunch was lovely, a fixed price menu main course Rainbow Trout!  Very fresh.

We went for a bike ride after and visited the nearby British Cemetery where there are 1356 British soldiers and airmen buried mainly from WW1.  It was beautifully kept and very moving, especially reading the comments book.  Kev spent the afternoon fishing off the boat and tried to catch our supper…..no luck as usual!  I sat/lay on the roof of Rangali in the evening sun and ready my book.  Seracourt is a fantastic mooring, we were the only ones moored there for the two days, lots of fishermen and bullfrogs croaking

A relaxing way to spend the afternoon-Fishing

Sunday 4^th August

Seracourt (Canal St Quentin) to Guny (Le Canal de l’Oise a l”Aisne)

44km 14 locks 6 hours engine running time

Kev popped to the local shop for more baguettes and croissants, we decided as the bread was so nice from there that we would risk buying two days worth and it still being good for tomorrow.  Kev said he didn’t know how to ask for double the normal order so he said he’d have to go in twice!!!

A fairly long day we left at 9am and arrived at a fabulous mooring at Guny at 5pm

Canal St Quentin has proved to be a really enjoyable canal, so many herons, and very pretty scenery.  The herons never got to understand if they flew behind us when we came up to them they wouldn’t be disturbed again, what they do is fly a few hundred yards ahead of the boat and settle and do the same again when we catch up with them.  We then did a short section on the canal de la Sambre a l’Oise which was quite busy with large barges but the canal is long, wide and dead straight so very easy but not at all pretty.  We didn’t like the look of a possible mooring at Chauny so we carried on, knowing it was going to be another 12/13km until we could stop at the next mooring

We turned left into the Canal de l’Oise a l”Aisne at Abbecourt and had a very deep lock to contend with, 4m deep and it was going up for a change, the bollards weren’t in a very helpful place for us to be able to reach the bar you lift to get the lock to close and fill with water but we managed.  This short 48km canal we are on is lovely, surrounded by trees, quite narrow but large peniche still use use it.

We’ve been very lucky with the weather, another beautiful day and looks like its set for a clear day tomorrow too.

There have been loads of fishermen on Canal St Quentin, lots of families picnicking with their father but also we've seen quite a few women fishing too

Headroom is minimal for these big barges, this one is empty

Lovely mooring at Guny