Mascaret

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.

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Back in Meilhan I saw a notaire about my problem with Cathare Marine.