Cercy La Tour - Decize, Day 14 - Friday 24/8/12

We left this morning in light rain, heading for Decize. Never thought I would welcome some rain! New rules on the canal from today, the lock-keepers can hold you up to 30 minutes if there is another boat travelling behind because of the lack of water on the canal. We were delayed over 1 hour in total and then had to wait at Decize until 3pm for the lock to open - same reason given, lack of water. We lunched alongside the village of Champvert, on board as there was no restaurants or even a bar selling sandwiches - what is happening to the french countryside? We locked through at 3pm and tied up in our berth no.69, our new home. 156 locks in total over 2 weeks - phew, we made it - it was an enjoyable trip but hard work and the lack of facilities on the canal and some of the almost derelict villages spoiled it a bit. A lot of the 'student' lock-keepers were really lazy and unhelpful too, especially the lanky boy in white shorts who was a big ignorant shite, but we suppose the lack of river traffic makes them that way. At least we got good tans and I didn't snap any nails off!