On the way to Agde

Our next stop after Homps was La Somail. This whole stretch of canal
from Trebes has the best scenery we have seen plus it winds round
following the contours which makes it more interesting to navigate,
though trickier when one meets other boats which we are doing more
frequently now. The most spectacular view we had to date was south of
Homps: it was blue skies and clear air and we could see across the
valleys to where the foothills got bigger and the mountain ranges
started, real picture postcard stuff.
The biggest problem for us has been meeting the big barges, usually live
aboards but sometimes hotel barges, which seem more common on this
stretch of the canal. Although we have right of way (we are going
downstream) we usually opt to kill our speed and dive to the bank rather
than risk too close an encounter as these things weigh 60 tons or more.
Because of their size these barges also have to go slowly and occupy all
of a lock so if you get behind one you are badly slowed, this happened
to us as we left Homps and lost us nearly half a day we reckon.
Unfortunately I got a mild upset stomach whilst we were in Homps and so
we have decided to go via Agde rather than via Narbonne to the sea as
that way we do not have to do any locks for 54 km and avoid the worry of
the very low bridge at Narbonne and getting across the Aude. The
downside of going via Agde is that it means at least 1 extra day in the
canal before we get into the Med.
We had a walk around La Somail and it is as attractive as we remembered
it, though with an even bigger fleet of hire boats so it is best visited
mid week when they are all else where.
Tonight we are in Poilhes having stopped early for the day, another
small, old, attractive town on a hill side with basic shops and a
peaceful atmosphere rather spoilt by the very noisy female ducks who
have being a recurring feature of our stops since Castlenaudray.