Itinerary

  • Mon 28 April Christchurch to Le Havre.
  • Tue 29 April arrived in Le Havre
  • Tue 6 May Mast Down. To Risle via Tancarville Canal.
  • Wed 7 May Set off for Paris
  • Sun 12 May Arrive Paris Arsenal
  • Thu 16 May Paris to St Mammés
  • Mon 20 May Leave St Mammés on the River Yonne heading for Auxerre
  • Mon 27 May Leave Auxerre on the Canal du Nivernais heading for Dezise
  • Mon 16 June Leave Dezise on the Canal latéral à la Loire heading for Digoin
  • Wed 18 June Leave Digoin on the Canal du Centre headining for Chalon-sur Saône
  • Sun 22 June Leave Chalon-sur Saône heading South on the River Saône
  • Tue 23June Leave Givors on the Rhone heading for Port Napoleon and the Med
  • Wed 2 July Port Napolean, scrub off, mount mast, set up for sea etc.
  • Thursday 10 July Sail for Toulon

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Onwards onto the Med

The canal stage of our journey is now finished. To see what happens next, please click the link below and bookmark the new blog....
First Year on the Med.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Down the Rhone to the Sea

The Rhone – one of the biggest rivers in Europe and certainly one to be treated with serious respect. It represented 1/3 of our journey (as the crow flies) through France but occupied less than a week although we could easily have spent much longer. It has strong currents, vicious winds, enormous locks and lots of huge fast commercial traffic. On the other hand, it runs through some of the most ancient and beautiful towns in France and some of the best wine regions (Cote du Rhone, Chateau-Neuf-du-Pape, etc).
To be honest, we didn’t do it justice. We were in a hurry after the long delay in Decize and deliberately missed out some of the best bits – Lyon, Macon, Beaucaire, etc. We took advantage of the current to do up to 80Km per day or to spend ½ a day sight seeing and then do 40 to 50 Km to the next stop.
Despite our hurry, we saw some wonderful and some stunning places.
The first stop was Givors 20K south of Lyon. They have great pontoons, pretty much empty. The strange thing is that they’re padlocked and chained from the land so you can’t get ashore and they can’t get in to charge you!

Vienne has amazing roman remains. It was a really important place during roman times – with a huge excavated site and excellent museum. In the center of town is a complete roman temple still standing. Apparently it was converted into a church in about 700ad and remained so until the god botherers were chucked out in the 18th century and it was restored to its former glory. At least its religious status preserved it though. The public quay on the right hand side before the foot bridge is solid and free but has no services.

Valence was a bit disappointing. The marina is huge and there is even a chandlery close by – but it is expensive and it is a long treck by bike into town or to the supermarket. The town is interesting – good shopping, beautiful parks, winding shaded streets with occasional squares. The church is impressive but speaks of wealth and power rather than of peace and tranquillity. This was also an important roman town but the remains are not as well preserved as elsewhere.


Viviers is something else. It’s only a large village really but time has passed it by. Most of it is built on a huge rock and the mediaeval houses cling to it as the alleys wind up to the church at the top. The church is a real gem – you must see it if you stop. It is a single open plan roman / gothic space – no hidden side chapels here. The walls are covered with huge paintings and even larger tapestries. The whole edifice has a sense of peace that makes you talk in whispers. Thw town square down below is shaded by trees and very French. The small marina is cheap and very efficient – although beware of teh submerged dyke. You MUST pass between the green and red posts or you will hit rocks – lots do each year apparently. The pontoons are seriously odd. They are attached to a high concrete wall at one end. There is a float at the other end but the pontoon surface is mounted ion stilts about a meter in the air. You will need your fenders high – indeed the pontoon was Above our decks and we had to tie the fenders to the pontoon!



From Viviers we left at 7.00 and shortly went through the huge Bollene lock (22M high). Very easy because like all the Rhone locks it has floating bollards so you just tie on tight and drift up or down.




By lunch time, we had done the 40K to Avignon – and what a place! You could easily spend several days exploring. The fabled bridge on which everyone dances ( Sur la pont d’Avignon, tout la monde dance dance ...) is only a shadow of its former self - only the first three of the original 24 arches remain. It was first constructed with wooden spans by the Romans. In the 12th century it was reconstructed in Stone. King Louis “the good” then destroyed it. It was rebuilt again in the following century but was neglected and the Rhone finally washed so much away that it was closed in the 16th century. L & I were first on at 9.00 in the morning and did a quick waltz just because we could.
The popes were resident in Avignon for many years and left huge palaces and churches. Anyone who thinks that the Catholic church has anything to do with spirituality or peace will finally have their illusions crushed by these edifices. They are huge monuments to worldly wealth and power. Very well worth a visit though – truly impressive and fascinating.


Our last stop was at Arles. We didn’t know much about this until we got there but again it is well worth a visit. If Vienne was an impressive Roman town, this was a true city. It had all teh mod cons you would expect in a major roman city – huge public baths, theatre, coliseum-style amphitheatre, Chariot racing track, etc. All these are on show – not just a s ruins but still in excellent preservation. The amphitheatre is used for bull fighting and productions are regularly staged at the theatre.
And so down the last 40K of featureless river – bordered by the marshes of the Camargue – but these are invisible because they lie low behind the raised banks of the river. At times down here we were doing 19Km per hour over the ground. We arrived at the lock into Port St Louis at 11.00 and waited for a commercial barge. Once in we waited for the down but nothing happened. Next thing we know, the keeper is asking us to go ahead through the open gates ‘vite vite’. The fall of the lock was less than 6 inches – so small we didn’t even notice it!
The journey down the canal to the gulf du Fos was interesting. The ship we went through with made a slow start as he had to get out of the lock and then make a right angle turn but he soon started to gain on us. Meanwhile we were approaching a small German cruiser that was sailing down the centre of the channel. Having gained considerable admiration for the captains of these large vessels in tiny canals, we pulled over to the side, slowed down and let him pass – and got a large cheery wave in thanks. But the german pressed on regardless, eventually forcing the ship to do an emergency slow down and to swerve sideways into shallower water to miss him and get past! (If you’re wondering – sail does noty have right of way over power in these circumstances).

He got his just deserts though. The ship (Gasamange) waited until the channel widened out as we reached the sea and first of all settled down to track him but up wind so he was forced to turn his motor on. It then pulled past him and deliberately stopped at right angles in front of him forcing hime to make a huge detour to get round. A nice piece of direct action!
After a very short spell in the Gulf du Fos, we turned up another channel to Port Napoleon. We’ve spent a week there so having the bottom scrubbed and checking all the underwater gear, re-configuring our possessions from canal mode to seagoing mode, having the mast put back, re-installing the sails and waiting for a part I dropped overboard and for a Mistral to pass. With luck we set off for Marseilles tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Saone to Lyons

We only spent a few days on the lower Saone but what we saw was lovely. AT least the part we went on is a big slow friendly river with only three locks and all of those were a doddle as they are big ship locks automatic and with their own lock keeper – very similar to those on the seine – but these were going down for us which is so much easier!

We spent a short time going from the end of the Canal du Centre down to Challon-sur-Saone where we moored in the excellent Marina. For a very reasonable price, we had all services except Internet. That was available at (my mouth is puckering at the thought) at MacDonalds 3 minutes walk away. I even ate a big mac for the first time in many years and hope the last in many years too. There is even a chandler a stone’s throw from the port – useful although mostly power boat stuff.
We had an excellent meal out to celebrate the end of the canals and really struck it lucky on our second night which was Music Night when the whole of France erupts in street music late into the night. We drank beer and listened well into the small hours. Some really good acts were playing at various places in the town. We went into the cathedral and sat listening to some baroque choral music – until a nice lady sat next to us and tried to convert me to Catholicism in French. Bit of a lost cause!
Challon itself is lovely. Winding mediaeval streets interspersed with shady squares.



Next day we stopped for a sight seeing trip at Tournus. This has a really beautiful abbey – very old and essentially unspoilt. But it was hot and it was Monday (everything shut in France) so we went on in the afternoon down to Villefranche.

The Navicarte claims that moorings here are only for Campers at the site but this is well out of date. There is a very nice free town pontoon. The town (with pone of the best Boulangeries we have come across – Croissants to die for) is a short walk up to the bridge.


Next day we really flew and really didn’t do justice to the towns and scenery around us. We had intended to stop in Lyon but in the event there wasn’t anywhere sensible to stop and neither of us felt up to the big city. We just passed on down onto the Rhone and kept going until we had had enough and found a place to stop at Givors.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Canal du centre

The canal du Centre runs straight into the Lateral without even a board marking the spot. Even the PK0 milestone is missing. Despite this it is significantly different.
The locks are a different pattern again. The early ones are all automatic. They magically show you a green light when the doors are open and in you go. Then the fun starts!
To operate the lock, you have to pull a blue rope attached to a pole mounted on the side. Unfortunately for us, there appears to be no consistency about how close to the gates this pole is sited. On many of them, we found it to be much to close to the gate for our encumbered and rounded stern. We tried to pull the cord from the boat but it involved so much toing and froing that we gave up and now I always drop L at the ladder (usually but not always beside the pole). She climbs up, puts the ropes on
the bollards taking care to ignore any that are too close to the gate) and then pulls the cord for a few seconds (until the little orange lamp on the hut starts flashing)
From then on it is all very smooth. The gate behind shuts and then the paddles open. The flow is powerful but surprisingly free of turbulence. It pulls you hard backwards and then hard forwards. Finally the upstream gates open and you’re off.
The mystery is how the gates know you have arrived. There are no sensors. Talking to a keeper, it appears that the ‘center’ knows where you are on a big board – based just on reports of lock keeper. Then there is a keeper checking for trouble (and presumably for surprise travellers who have been moored) who drives between several locks.
The next surprise was when we rolled up at a lock at 6.30 expecting to have another ½ hour to find it shut and dead with nobody anywhere to be seen. We did a wild mooring with our trusty Ronde anchors and asked in the morning what had happened. Oh says the keeper – you’re on a new canal now. The hours are 8.30 to 6.30 with no hour for lunch. Nice of them to let us know!

The third difference we noted is the towpath. On the Nivernais and Lateral, this is reserved for users, the VNF service and bikes. On the central, it is a road. This means that you lose the feeling of rural isolation. It does have the advantage however that services, such as small shops, restaurants and fuel stations are all frequent as they pick up custom from both the canal and the road. That said, the canal edges are distinctly challenging for a fragile boat like Rosa. They are mostly made of corrugated steel plates or sloping concrete. Elsewhere they are very shallow and often have underwater chunks of concrete or stakes.


We went on to Montceau les Mines – which is a real surprise. It’s a pretty heavy industrial city complete with a huge factory and cooling tower as you approach. But they’ve made a huge effort to make it attractive. The bridges are all brightly painted and the Port au Plaisance is superb with large high-quality pontoons and VERY modes fees. The town has everything you could want except a chandlery including a launderette. I have to say it is a thoroughly recommended stop. We missed it, but were told that it has a really excellent market on Tuesdays and Saturdays right by the quay side.
We hit the first lock at 8.30 as we had told the lock keeper. We had a green light so we went in moored up and pulled the blue cord – and nothing happened. We tried again but still nothing. We hung around not knowing what to do and in a few minutes the lock keeper appeared and pulled the blue cord for us with an air of “I’ll show these English amateurs how to do it”. Nothing happened. Slightly sheepish he realised he hadn’t turned the lock on yet!
At the next lock, the gates were open but no lights at all. We cautiously went in, pulled the blue chord and, yet again, nothing happened. We sat for 10 minutes but there was no sign of anyone. Eventually we spotted a small plack on the lock-keepers hut giving the number of ‘central control’. I called it, and sure enough a woman drove up in the obligatory white van and confessed that she had forgotten to switch it on this morning (she has 6 locks to manage).
It all illustrates the weakness of the automatic systems. When they work, they are very efficient but there is no way for boats to signal that they are there and nobody at the lock to notice a problem and correct it. If you are stuck outside it can be very difficult as there is nowhere to land and no way to get help. Writing down that number for central control is a very good idea – but sadly one I didn’t think of till now.

We had an uneventful journey up to the summit. The scenery is pretty, the villages have shops and there was little or no other traffic. The summit itself lacks the drama of the Nivernais with its tunnels although it does boast a longish cut. And then it’s down the staircase. Very impressive and all the deep locks (5 Meters or so have floating bollards which makes it much easier. Now we knew this from reading the book but, depite that, we both missed what those large lumps of metal were in the first one and had an uncomfortable passage with ropes attached to bollards on top and getting very close to their ends. Just shows, you don’t see things if they are unfamiliar and unexpected – like the Gorilla on the football pitch.
We soon got behind a hire boat who were less that expert. Their technique was to drive like a car but have a bloke with a boat-hook scurrying around at the back fending off the sides of the lock. Very amusing but a little slow.

Two huge hotel boats came up the other way(one with the captain dressed up like Crocodile Dundee) which gave us some sweaty moments.

And finally we reached the last lock. Completely different and very impressive with a huge 10Meter fall and its own lock keeper. It had floating bollards too so very easy. After another Killometer, we entered the river Saone – wide, free, and there was someone sailing!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Lindsay Diary 6-16 June

WED
Friday 6th June
Went through the lock into Cercy la Tour and moored up onto pontoon. Walked with Richard and Jan to the station 1/2 hour walk away. They have a change of trains and a bus ride to return to the van then will drive overnight to Le Hevre to catch their ferry
Started to rain again and we found out the Loire was closed due to the height and speed of the river to boats. Hopefully will re - open on Monday meanwhile we are stuck. Dave was still having trouble with an infection on his leg so a visit to the GP was required. Doctor very good but cross we didn't make an appointment ( how?) but saw us after a long wait. 250 euros later we returned to the boat!! Antibiotics for ten days and self administered jabs in case of thrombosis for 5 days. hope it works, means we are on field rations for a week as that was our weeks money used up.

Saturday 7th June
Still raining Loire opening now possibly Wednesday. Cercy is a nice town but very small and took a whole hour to see round it. Both Dave and I are getting stir crazy and are seriously thinking of moving onto Dicize tomorrow.

Sunday 8th June.
Stopped raining so a quick sort out and we got to Dicize by 11 am
It just goes to show what a bit of sun can do , it was a lovely journey down and we were shown a mooring rafted up to a unused barge. Dicize also has water and electricity with a donation suggested by the VNF water authority. It looks now as if we will be here until Friday but at least Dicize is a bigger town and what with the rail station almost on our doorstep we can go sightseeing if we want to.

Monday 9th June
Getting used to this stationary life, lots of housekeeping while Dave caught up on his work hours. Met several neighbours in the same boat ( excuse the pun!) Major disaster as I have lost the sapphire out of my engagement ring, very upset, must be on the boat somewhere I hope.
Tapas 10th June
Went into the town centre, thought we would take the bus, waited but no bus or buses anywhere so walked . Needed to reclaim our medical expenses at the local hospital administration office and find internet access. The hospital paperwork was done very efficiently in 10 minutes but we will have to wait for two months to see any of it as it takes that long to process it! Internet was done in two hours due to Dave's work cost 10 euros. When we went into the tourist office we then found out we could tap into their WiFi for free , Oh well. The laundrette is miles away so will have to hand wash tomorrow and save the sheets etc. until a closer laundrette becomes available

Wednesday 11th June
Washing day!! some very kind French neighbours who live next to the river came over and let me use their washing line which was kind of them. Still no rain so maybe Friday we can escape

Thursday - Friday 12th - 13th June
Still waiting, attempted to take the train to Never which is the capital of the region only to find they were on strike! Seems to be a national passtime in France, since we have arrived I think we have noticed or been affected by at least 4 of them so it was back to Rosa. We have been invited to have tea with the elderly french couple who lent me their washing line, very nice of them but I must admit I am dreading it. Will sit there like a spare part. We appear to have a water leak so have resorted to using water from our large water containers, not the best solution. Hopefully Dave will be able to figure out where the leak is at the weekend

Saturday 14th June
Decided to escape to Never today and THE TRAINS WERE RUNNING. Never is a large town with several churches and a cathedral. It also has the preserved remains of Saint Bernadette.
We treated ourselves and had a nice lunch in town saw a couple of churches including a rather run down but fascinating 16th Century Jesuit church with lots of wall frescoes. Found out the train back was a bus a good hours journey unstead of 35 mins stopping at all points on the way
Dave bless him was worried that we would be carried into Decize town centre and had arranged to be dropped off near the boats not realising we would be dropped at the station so ended up walking miles back to Rosa!

Sunday 15th June
Had tea with Madame and Monsieur Clanard? Madame seemed to appreciate my offering of Little cakes acquired in Nevers yesterday so that was good. Had a good time even though my contribution to the conversation was minimal!

Monday 16th June
A knock on the side of the boat at 8.45, the Loire was open at long last. you should have seen two people move as Dave was terrified that they would close it again!
We were on the canal ready to go at 9 am. When we arrived at the lock leading onto the river the lockeeper denied any knowledge that the situation had changed so after a quick phone call to head office we were eventually let through We had quite a reception committee seeing us through the first lock. Dave had some difficulty manuvering into the lock leading from the Loire into the canal Lateral as there were some nasty currents round the lock gates but on his second approach managed to slide in. Yet another different way to operate the locks using rope to announce our arrival after which the lock was automatic.
We managed to cover some considerable ground as there are very few locks on this canal and did 41 Km upto Putney where we moored up for the night

Tuesday 17th June
Motored through the canal de Lateral and onto the canal Central in the early afternoon after a stop to restock provisions in Digoin
Although it was the secret hour of 12 - 1pm managed to obtain all my requirements including finding a butchers open!
We motored on hoping to reach Palinges for the night, had two more locks to go arriving at 6.30 with time to spare at the first one before lock down only to find the lock closed up with no one on site These locks are automatic and should be available until 7 pm Dave dropped me off to see what was what only to find the place deserted and big chains on the equipment. We weren't going, so was forced to moor up next to the lock. WORDS WILL BE SAID TOMORROW TO VNF

Up the Canal du Centre

The canal du Centre runs straight into the Lateral without even a board marking the spot. Even the PK0 milestone is missing. Despite this it is significantly different.
The locks are a different pattern again. The early ones are all automatic. They magically show you a green light when the doors are open and in you go. Then the fun starts!
To operate the lock, you have to pull a blue rope attached to a pole mounted on the side. Unfortunately for us, there appears to be no consistency about how close to the gates this pole is sited. On many of them, we found it to be much to close to the gate for our encumbered and rounded stern. We tried to pull the cord from the boat but it involved so much toing and froing that we gave up and now I always drop L at the ladder (usually but not always beside the pole). She climbs up, puts the ropes on the bollards taking care to ignore any that are too close to the gate) and then pulls the cord for a few seconds (until the little orange lamp on the hut starts flashing)
From then on it is all very smooth. The gate behind shuts and then the paddles open. The flow is powerful but surprisingly free of turbulence. It pulls you hard backwards and then hard forwards. Finally the upstream gates open and you’re off.
The mystery is how the gates no you have arrived. There are no sensors. Talking to a keeper, it appears that the ‘center’ knows where you are on a big board – based just on reports of lock keeper. Then there is a keeper checking for trouble (and presumably for surprise travellers who have been moored) who drives between several locks.
The next surprise was when we rolled up at a lock at 6.30 expecting to have another ½ hour to find it shut and dead with nobody anywhere to be seen. We did a wild mooring with our trusty Ronde anchors and asked in the morning what had happened. Oh says the keeper – you’re on a new canal now. The hours are 8.30 to 6.30 with no hour for lunch. Nice of them to let us know!
The third difference we noted is the towpath. On the Nivernais and Lateral, this is reserved for users, the VNF service and bikes. On the central, it is a road. This means that you lose the feeling of rural isolation. It does have the advantage however that services, such as small shops, restaurants and fuel stations are all frequent as they pick up custom from both the canal and the road. That said, the canal edges are distinctly challenging for a fragile boat like Rosa. They are mostly made of corrugated steel plates or sloping concrete. Elsewhere they are very shallow and often have underwater chunks of concrete or stakes.
We went on to Montceau les Mines – which is a real surprise. It’s a pretty heavy industrial city complete with a huge factory and cooling tower as you approach. But they’ve made a huge effort to make it attractive. The bridges are all brightly painted and the Port au Plaisance is superb with large high-quality pontoons and VERY modes fees. The town has everything you could want except a chandlery including a launderette. I have to say it is a thoroughly recommended stop. We missed it, but were told that it has a really excellent market on Tuesdays and Saturdays right by the quay side.

Canal Lateral de Loire

I don’t have much to say about the Canal Lateral de Loire – for a variety of reasons – none of which are anything to do with the canal itself:
• The weather was grey and miserable or raining.
• We were stir crazy after our enforced spell at Decize and so were itching to put some distance behind us. We took only a day and a half to reach Digoin which is pushing it some.
• We only saw the small section between Decize and Digoin.

The locks are very similar manual ones to the Nivernais although they are a bit bigger. The lock keepers still like a hand with the gates although, unlike the Nivernais, they don’t like you touching the paddles. They keep the same hours too of 9.00 to 7.00 with an hour for lunch from 12.00. The mechanism is intersting too and decidedly complex.
This part of the canal winds gently with widely spaced locks through very gently rolling green fields dotted with small villages. Many of the villages take considerable pains to provide facilities for boaters – moorings often with water and essential shops such as Boulangeries close by and well sign posted.

It all ends up at Digoin where you cross an impressive auqueduct over the Loire as you finally say good bye (or good riddance).

Free at last

We’re free at last!

The word came around at 8.45 that the lock was going to open at 9.00. At 9.00, I phoned VNF and they confirmed that the Loire was open for navigation. So 10 days after we had intended to we cast off and did the 500 yards down to the lock following some Austrians on a hire boat. The lock keeper was busy doing his garden and said it was closed but we got him to go into his house and phone VNF and sure enough, 5 minutes later and the lock was open.

The Loire had dropped about 2 feet from flood level but was still running at 3 knots against us. Right by the lock there is a nasty eddy which pushed our bow around. I over compensated and ended up in a position where I couldn’t line up properly and decided to abort and go around again. This time I went in closer to the bank and we got in fine.
Frank and John who we have shared a jar and a yarn or two with over the preceding days had kindly come over and took our ropes in both the Loir lock and the one onto the Canal Lateral du Loire (PK68). Both locks are automatic and very gentle – apparently so the hire-boat novices get a gentle introduction.
By 10.30 we were out of the second lock and on our way. We decided to put on as many miles as possible and batted on through Motte (PK61) and had lunch waiting for l’Huilerie. At 1.00 we were off again sailing in bright overcast. The canal (at least this part) is wider and much more uniform than the Nivernais. Attractive enough in a gentle rural sort of way but it certainly does lack the beauty and interest of the smaller canal. The locks are manual and very similar to the Nivernais although I think they are a bit bigger. They have a different system of Paddles than the Nivernais and the lock keepers don’t like you touching them. They have a system of ratchets that look very easy to trap a finger in.
We met few boats and just one commercial: The Liberty

By 4.00 it was raining and it kept it up on and off until we moored before lock Thiel (PK21) at 7.10. There are no facilities so we moored using our trusty Ronde Anchors. These are wonderful devices that are used extensively in the Norfolk Broads. If you are following in our footsteps, you could do a lot worse than ordering a pair from Norfolk Marine in Wroxham.

On the way up we kept our spirits up by watching lots of Black Kites and an even larger number of Herons.


Each Heron seems to have its own strip of canal that it's careful not to go outside. It also has an absolutely fixed 'danger distance'. They completely ignore the boat until its an exact distance away (about 30 Meters). It then looks up in horror at this hugething that is passing it and takes of in a hurry. More often than not, it flys 100 Meters down ints territory, lands, stalks up to the bank and resumes fishing - only to repeat the whole process when we catch it up within the critical distance. This can go on 3 or 4 times till it reaches the end of its strip and doubles back. Talk about bird-brained!


Altogether we covered 51Km today which is a record for us. And we've finally left Bourgoyne ant entered Auvergne! Altogether a red letter day which we celebrated in traditional style with two large steaks and a bottle of Chamagne (we Bailly which really is just as good).

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Down to Decize



The locks in the downhill (southward) direction are a little different from the uphill ones. They are not as long which keeps the hotel boats away and many of them have vicious sills near to the up-stream gates. They can’t be seen when you enter from upstream – so we have learned to make sure we moor well into the lock. Many of them are quite high – well over 3m – and have no ladders so getting onto the boat after helping the lock keeper open the gates is very difficult. Theoretically it is possible to get on from the stone platform just outside the gate but in reality it is difficult to manoeuvre the boat to pick up there and with our high topsides it is also difficult to get on. It is made even worse in the rain as the steps and platform become very slippery. The first time L tried this, I couldn’t get her back and she had to walk nearly 2Km downstream before I could find a suitable spot to come in to her bank! We’ve stopped doing that it of helping now unless there is a ladder in the lock or it is less than 2m high.

After the night at the summit, we wanted to try to get down the other side and find somewhere to go out for a meal. There are several locks in close succession, the most notable being a triple lock, basin and double lock sequence at Chavance. It was here that we met our second less-than-helpful lock keeper.


He seemed to go out of his way to operate his set of locks in the least efficient way possible. First he locked us down into the mid-way basin. Then he left us floating there while he reset all of the upper locks and let another boat down to join us in the basin. Then, despite the fact that the lower locks were already set for downward traffic, he left us both floating in the basin and emptied them. He then locked a boat that had been waiting down below for over an hour up into the basin. It was only then, just before he went off for lunch that he finally locked us down. Altogether it took us two and a half hours to get through. There was a small cafe beside the middle basin and we wondered if it was run by his brother so that he sees it as his task to make sure there as many boats as possible nearby for lunch!

We refused to play ball, went on down to Marré and had lunch while waiting for the lock to open. We noticed a couple having a picnic outside their car in the pouring rain. Later we realised that it was the lock keeper and her friend. It just goes to show the sheer dedication that the French have to their lunch!
The morning had been nice, but the weather was rapidly turning colder and looking like rain so we decided on a short hop down to Chatillon-en-Bazois. We went on without further incident but getting wetter at each lock.


Chatillon has a very impressive chateau, a few shops, a hotel and a pizzeria. It also has a hire-boat base run by a great chap called Chris. He welcomed us, gave us a pontoon and hooked us up to water and electricity. He let L use his own washing machine for a modest fee.
He recommended a restaurant run by his mate Réné who he could arrange to pick us up and return us. In the event, this sadly was not to be as the restaurant was closed in the evening until the holiday season. Not daunted he recommended the Pizzarea rather than teh hotel which he feels is a rip-off. We took his advice and were very glad we did. It is far more than a Pizza Joint. A huge space with lots of tables done out nicely and full of locals. The menu is reasonably extensive with French as well as Italian cuisine. The wine was good, the meal was excellent, the waitress was friendly and helpful and the bill was reasonable. What more can you ask?
Thursday was raining but we had to get to a train station by Friday Lunch for Richard and Janet to get away to catch their ferry. We discovered that there is no station at Paneçot so we had to go all the way to Cercy-la-Tour - a distance of 35Km and 15 locks. Quite a challenge particularly as we had hung around till 10.30 before deciding to brave the rain!
Realistically, we didn’t expect to make it and we didn’t quite. We ended up cold wet and miserable at Lock Chaumigny moored to the bank amid piles of dog shit. It rained all night and was still raining next morning. I cycled the 4Km into Cercy, found out the train and bus options and cycled back. If we cracked on, we had a good chance of making Decize by lunch time where train options were simpler but we could get to Cercy by 10.00 with little risk. As there are always risks of unexpected holdups on the canals so we went for the short option and sat around till we saw Richard and Janet of at 13.00. And it was still raining!
That’s when we heard that the Loire is too high to cross at Dicize so we are well and truly stuck in the Nivernais until it hopefully re-opens on Monday. Well it poured all Friday and all Saturday and now we hear that it will probably be another week before we can get across and it could be longer!

We waited at Cercy which is a nice little place with a bar, Boulangerie, General shop and pharmacy all by the excellent pontoon moorings – one which are free water and electricity. There are plenty of other shops further into town and some nice walks up to the castle and church and up the rivers. By Sunday (slightly better weather) though, we had exhausted its charms. Monday has dawned clear and bright so we are off to see if there is room and reasonable moorings down at Decize. We can always come back later if we don’t like it....
It was an uneventful trip down and only took 3 hours. There isn’t much room but we’ve moored up to a barge on the town quay where there’s water and electricity. It’s a pleasant place with a Lidle, a Hypermarche and the railway station all in very easy reach.


I cycled into Decize this morning. Most shops are shut because its Monday but it’s a pretty little town fairly similar in size and flavour to Clamecy. We’ll go and explore properly tomorrow. I went over to the Loire lock and the river really is impressively wild. It’s a huge brown torrent running at over 6 Knots and appears to be over 150cm higher than normal. L and I walked down to the barrage below the town this evening and it really is impressive. They lock keeper says that it should be clear on Wednesday but I have to say it looks very unlikely.

On top of the Nivernais


The high part of the Nivernais above Chitry les Mines is both beautiful and impressive. There is a staircase of 16 locks that is run very efficiently in sections of 3 or 4 locks. There are several places to stop between locks although stopping in general is prohibited. There are no real facilities at any of them though. We got through all 16 in one session from 9.00 and lunch with four people on board – one of which helped the lock keepers. It wasn’t even particularly hard work.
At the top lock, you ask the keeper for permission to enter the top section. This is alternate one-way so the keepers at each end coordinate to make sure that nobody meets in the middle. They operate a green/red light so you wait for the green. We didn’t have to wait at all.



Once on the top section you go around a couple of bends and then enter a narrow and increasingly deep cut. The banks are very close and very roughly cut out of the rock leaving a very dangerous looking shoreline. It is all very quiet and almost mysterious shrouded in trees with hanging vines. Then you come to the first (and shortest) tunnel. It is straight but completely un-lit so you can see the end all the time but are completely unable to see the sides next to you. Without torches continuously shone on the banks beside me, I would have been completely unable to steer a good course and would have hit the banks a great deal probably doing a lot of damage to the hull. As it was we negotiated the first one without incident. It was only 250m long but seemed much longer particularly as I felt the need to run at tick-over speed (about 4Kph). The second and slightly longer one was similar and also passed witout incident.
The longest tunnel is just short of a kilometre and fortunately is straight like the others. However the end is so far away that it provides no useful guidance for steering at all. I found it really difficult to keep a straight line and dropped the speed even further. We didn’t touch but got very close several times. Without the torches, we would have had to tow the boat on ropes from the towpath. That could itself have ended in disaster as the tunnel starts with tow paths on both sides but half way through, the right hand one just stops! As you get beyond the half-way mark, there are several vertical shafts. All of them were pouring water down so we would have got drenched if we hadn’t had our wet weather gear on as it had been raining earlier outside.

We finally emerged into the light to find huge lakes which feed the canal on the right. After the entrance to the lake, there is a long causeway separating the canal from the open water. This is an excellent mooring spot although there are no facilities at all. We read from the Navicarte that there are moorings and facilities below the first lock on the downward section so we went through. Big mistake! The banks are all sloping and mostly concrete with no bollards of any description. The only facility is a small cafe which only opens at lunch time! No water, no bread, no nothing.
We spent an uncomfortable night on mooring spikes with our stern propped out by a bit of wood which bumped and ground against the concrete all night.

Up The Nivernais




The Canal Du Nivernais is widely regarded as the most beautiful as well as most challenging of the routes from Paris to the Med. It starts from Auxerre which is the highest point on the ‘free’ river Yonne, crosses the watershed into the Loire Basin at Bray and eventually joins the Canal Lateral Du Loire at Decize.
I have to say that it is truly beautiful – rural, green and peaceful with no commercial traffic. At least so far, we have not seen a great deal to challenge us other than the shallow draft of 1.2M (which isn’t a problem for us at 0.72M) and the low bridges (lowest 2.71M) which would have been a problem if we hadn’t arranged for the Gantry to be hinged). We measured depth ofonly 1M in one section which looked as if it had leaked overnight but presumably the lock keepers filled it later on.


The locks are very small (much less than the Fresinet guage) which makes it advisable to enter and exit slowly - but the small size has the huge advantage that they fill and empty very quickly. They are almost all manually operated and mostly have had ladders that are easy to get up. You never know which side the ladder will be and a few have ladders right up by the up-stream gate so you have to go to the end, drop crew, then reverse back to the downstream end.
Virtually all of the lock keepers have been really nice and helpful. Just one ageing hippy seemed to think it was a great idea to open both paddles full on at the same time and throw us about a bit.
Occasionally we met large hotel barges. They have right of way because they are carrying passengers and also because they are huge and unwieldy. In the event they have been incredibly helpful.

We met Belle Epoque in a wild place by a lock in the middle of nowhere. With our twin sticky-out rudders, I am more than a little chary of mooring close to rock or sloping banks. They allowed us to tie our stern to them and put a line ashore from our bow so we had a safe and comfortable night.
We first saw Art Du Vivre as a huge pair of anchors over the top of a lock gate. We kept well back and well to the side under some trees. As she came through, the captain was concerned that as a sailing boat we were too far in and, giving us a wide berth, called to warn us. He didn’t know about our lifting keel though and we were fine.

There is a river crossing at Basseville. At this point, the canal and the River Yonne cross at the same level so if the River is in flood, you can’t get across. We heard that it had been closed for a couple of days as we approached it. In the event, it was open when we got there. It was very confusing indeed so I’m glad the river was calm. Going upstream, we came through an open ‘stop gate’ then entered a section of ‘left hand navigation’ then hit the crossing. A big weir was to our right, a channel entered from the left under a low bridge and a very decrepit lock was closed opposite. We hung around for a bit but no lock keeper appeared. Looking more closely at the bridge it had two spans – the right hand one had a no-entry sign on it but the left did not. The Navicarte said there was a longish channel up to the lock so I though that (since we were doing left side navigation) maybe we were supposed to go through the left span. I nosed up to it but it was too low. I was just going back to moor and think about lowering our superstructure some more when the lock keeper turned up. It WAS the lock! I had been about to go up the river which would probably have led to disaster as it is generally full of trees and rocks.

There are several manual lifting bridges on the Canal and the Navicarte typically makes no mention of how to deal with them! We came to our first one just below Clamecy. At first we floated around a bit and tooted our horn but nothing happened. There were no obvious notices or instructions. I was just about to try to put L off on the bank for a closer look when a kind passing cyclist went over, puzzled it out and then lifted and closed the bridge for us. At the next one, we did find a notice, visible only from the land, saying that the bridge was to be operated by VNF service personnel and users. We stopped and lifted the other ones we came to. It’s heavy work though and was a bit much for L so she had to drop me, take the boat through the narrow space on her own then pick me up again. All went well in the end but she was more than a little bit twitchy.



Clamecy is lovely. It is a very pretty and active town with loads of shops and facilities. It has an impressive church with a very strange little statue of a bloke showing off his wounded leg. It also has lots of mediaeval back streets and houses. Well worth a visit. It even has a Cafe with internet facilities called “Mon Oncle Benjamin” right in the middle of the town opposite the tourist office. They have a computer and also an excellent wifi connection and they don’t even charge!
We have been amazed by the almost complete lack of facilities. The Navicarte shows lots of places with water, showers, toilets, electricity, bread, produce, restaurants, fuel, etc. Almost all of it is a complete lie. It might reflect the situation 10 years ago – but it certainly doesn’t now. The only place on the upwards leg that was even close was Clamecy which has everything except fuel and all for €5.00. Water was available free at Cravant.
At Chitry Le Mines, there is a small but friendly frittery. They have toilets, showers, water and electricity although only when they are there which is fine in the evening but they don’t roll up till about 11.00 in the morning so crossing legs really isn’t an option. They are paranoid about people washing boats with their expensive metered water so it is also all locked up so fill up in the evening if you want an early start. There is no bread so a 2K uphill cycle ride to Corbigny is needed.
At Bréves, we came across an interesting problem in the locks for the first time. Near the downstream gate there is a large and apparently funcionless cutaway in the concrete sides – on both banks. It makes fendering difficult for a yacht-shaped hull although straight sided barges and canal boats have no real problem. We couldn’t figure out what they were for until Richard worked it out – the locks have been extended in the past and they are where the gates used to be.
We’re now sitting at the bottom of the staircase of 16 locks that leads to the tunnels at the summit. Looks like it could be a challenge.