Written at Bègles,
which is a reasonable port de plaisance some 5 km outside Bordeaux;
there is a good cycle path which I have used to get there. There is a
good bus and tram service, but the last bus from Terres Neuves (the
tram terminus) to Bègles
leaves at 8pm. Stick to the bikes. The bloke who runs or helps run
the port de plaisance is helpful.
Bordeaux is a lovely city with a great tram
network. I went on a guided walk, which I enjoyed, the guide pointing
out the many beauties of the city's architecture, including
mascarons, the stone images by balconies. I also went to Compas
Marin, a nautical shop at the western end of the basin (bassin) in
town and bought a proper chart of the southern end of the Gironde
(7427L). I tried to buy other Breil guides but no go. I should
have bought a tide table.
On 3 August we left Bègles
for Blaye, a town on the Gironde with a castle owned by a troubadour
I had read. I had also read the Breil guide to the Gironde, but not
carefully enough. I thought I knew about tides but, apart from
mooring at Bègles,
had no experience of tides so fast and with such a range. Of course
we went with the tide, which ran fast, and got to Blaye early in the
afternoon, mooring at the end of the pontoon, facing the ebb. I went
on land, gave the tourist office an exorbitant €20 for the mooring;
I was given no receipt (which is very unusual) or warning about the
tides: this I find irresponsible; where I live I would have had to
sign a disclaimer, undertaking not to sue the authorities if
something went wrong. I then went to see my troubadour castle. When I
got back to Mathilde the tide had turned (as it does) and
water was washing unpleasantly into her stern. When another boat left
and yet another moved forward, I turned Mathilde so that she
could face the flood, and all was well. After that I saw a small sign
at the mooring saying: moor facing the current. I pumped and sponged out Mathilde's
bilge—it could have ended badly for her.
By then I had seen what I had wanted to in
Blaye. I left around 0500 the following morning, at slack water
(which is a very short period). The buoys in the estuary are lit, so
I made my way, using the chart, to the mouth of the Dordogne, where I
hung around a bit, because the buoys there are not lit. Once in the
Dordogne we were doing 16 km/hr, which means the flood must have been
about half that, because I chose to go slowly through the water,
bearing in mind the debris. We passed a few moorings (shown in Breil)
and eventually moored at Libourne, on the river Isle. As I went for a
walk away from the pontoon I could see, once on land, the signs
saying: don't use this pontoon, it's unsafe. There is another pontoon
a hundred or so metres away in the Dordogne itself; it was locked and
it was Saturday. Libourne is very pretty, with defences built by the
Black Prince (a town can't really hold its head up
in this area if it doesn't have defences built by the Black Prince or
was not pillaged and burnt by him). Later in the afternoon we went a
couple of km up the Isle, which was pretty, though certainly not in
the class of the Baïse. The
ebb was still flowing, so I anchored mid-stream (I had seen no
tourist traffic all day). At 1930 I heard a roar and saw the mascaret
coming up; I had time to start the engine and face it, though it was
only 20' I mean 2' or so high and would not have done much harm
anyway. It's just the terrifying roar that made it sound like 20 feet
high. So now I know that: one minute you have the ebb, then next
minute you have the mascaret, the water in the Isle has risen by a
metre and there is a strong flood. I went back to Libourne, moored
and had a drink.
There is a bit of flotsam in these rivers,
which bumps against the hull when moored. When Mathilde is
moving I like to keep a lookout and move through the water not too
fast.
Guys at the river bank at Libourne told me
that the mascaret at the mooring was not a big deal, and the pontoon
rose with it. I was not sure: it probably would have been all right,
but I did not want another cleat pulled out by a sudden wave, perhaps
with the boat rising faster than the pontoon.
I could have gone further up the Dordogne but
I wimped out and headed back. I got under way so that we would not
face the mascaret when moored. We bounced around a bit when it came
but it was not a problem at all. Went back to Libourne, moored and
waited for the ebb. We left shortly after noon, and soon the current
was running at 6 km/hr. I got to the Gironde and hung around for the
flood up the Garonne, mooring at Bègles
a bit after 8 p.m. At slack water near midnight I moved Mathilde
a bit further in, to a pontoon where the current was not so strong.
This was for comfort rather than safety. I don't turn Mathilde
here, but she is moored facing the flood. A sign at the office gives
times for the mascaret, but most days there is none—depending on
the moon.
We have the Loire on the agenda
for next year. I may have
another go at the Dordogne then. I think I would then
plan to go from Bègles
to somewhere upstream of Libourne in one go, and I would avoid a full
moon, i.e. choose a time of lower tidal coefficient.
.................
Back in Meilhan I saw a notaire about my problem with Cathare Marine.
