Gallic Peregrinations #3 Being chased by a hydraulic pump!

I did, previously, mention that the erstwhile owner of VDN is no longer sharing this earthly plane with us . . . leading to the almost complete lack of any sort of hand-over, from a person knowledgeable about the workings of this boat. This has engendered multifarious frustrations, which I shall: occasionally as we go along; enumerate (in no particular order) as M.F. #1, etc., etc..

M.F. #1 - Only some, about 50%, of the 12volt switches: on the power distribution panel; are labelled/identified . . . and some that are marked, are marked incorrectly!

VDN is equipped with a bow-thruster mechanism of the hydraulic kind; driven directly from the 5-cylinder, 64HP, Beta Marine diesel engine; and a fairly powerful beast it is! That's when it is working!!! It hasn't be in the best of health for quite some time, and if we're going to have this piece of kit, 'twere best it works correctly. The engineers (I use the term loosely) at Atelier Fluvial, diagnosed an incorrect alignment of the pump coupling; requiring a new coupling and heavy-duty bracket, plus - what appeared to me to be - a brand new pump! I had my suspicions about its operation and, as the first few days of the trip progressed, my suspicions grew to near certainty. By the time I made meaningful contact with A.F., we were nearly at St. Dizier; to where young Guillaume was dispatched, to deal with the issue. 

Guillaume is very shy, but the black lump is the star of the show.

Now Guillaume has almost zero English; certainly much less than my acquaintanceship with HIS mother-tongue. But by resorting to the magic of Google Translate, I brought him round to my thoughts that a mating face, on the inlet side of the pump, was allowing the escape of a small drip of hydraulic fluid whilst the pump was rotating, but not working, and a consequent ingress of air when the pump was being called upon to push the front end of VDN, to the right or the left (Starboard and Port, to those of you of a nautical bent). As the joint in question had not been undone since leaving the factory, I certainly did not fault G’s workmanship. Off he went with a huge chunk of cast-steel, whilst we proceeded along our tortuous route (vaguely) Nor'-nor'-west; having first explored the offerings of an excellent Italian restaurant, in Saint Dizier's central square, and the historic fortifications of the town.

Guillaume next caught up with us in Reims, where our greatest challenge was correctly pronouncing 'Reims'! I won’t bore you with our many and various - and incorrect - attempts at articulation, which caused a mixture of hilarity, eye-rolling and lip-curling. The nearest we could grasp was that the ‘m’ is pronounced as an ‘n’, and the ‘s’ as a ‘ce’; all uttered with a throat-clearing kind of bark! A word not totally unlike: ‘Wraunce’, but with a Pythonesque usage of the tonsils!

Back to the engineering issue . . . it was fixed. Nuff said! With all engineering issues having been dealt with (Did I mention the ‘hot battery’ concern? Never mind. I sorted that out for myself, with the e-mail aid of my electrical guru: Jim Latimer; and the removal of one battery, like very heavy piece of dentistry.)

M.F. #2 I'm sure that Jacques had a perfectly sound reason for the meandering, and confusing, wiring around the battery charger and 2kw. inverter, but I shall wait until our Irish electrician: Damian; casts an experienced eye on that particular ball of knitting.

By-the-by; Reims cathedral is impressive in the extreme; though I was enjoined to ‘sling my hook’, merely for rendering the first verse and refrain of John Tams’ ‘Only Remembered’.

(No appreciation of the folk arts, these French security guards!!!) 

At Vitry-le-Francois we had completed our passage on the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne and been making our way (again, vaguely) Nor’-west, on the Canal de l'Aisne à la Marne. The highlight (or, according to your point of view, the low-point) of that was 'Le Tunnel de Billy' - under Mont de Billy - a mere 2.3 kms. Not a scratch! I'm getting the hang of these tunnels.

Now: onwards to the Canal lateral to the Marne.