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

Friday, May 30, 2008

Up the Canal du 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.
So far (Clamecy), 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). The locks are very small (much less than the Fresinet guage) which makes it advisable to enter and exit slowly - but that has the huge advantage that they fill and empty very quickly. They are all manually operated and (so far) have all had ladders that are easy to get up.

to be continued....

Lindsay's take 2

Sun 25ht May
Arrived in Auxerre around midday and glory be facilities and best of all Internet !
As the weather was still inclement, I spent the afternoon catching up on my emails and drying the boat out.
Auxerre looks a very interesting place, very old with three magnificent churches - one of which was in fact a cathedral.
Both of us were knackered so decided to do sightseeing tomorrow. We met a lovely couple Charles and Joyce both in their 70 + who lived in Paris on their barge for the past 10 years and ventured out to the canals during the summer months. They kindly invited us for evening drinks on their boat so a pleasant evening was spent.

Mon 26th May
Discovered it was a GB bank holiday when Dave was puzzled that nobody was in at work, It doesn’t take long to forget such things!
As the rain had let up mid - morning we risked it and walked into Auxerre town visited the three churches, lots of towering ceilings and beautiful stain glass windows in that wonderful blue that one doesn’t seem to see in English churches. Auxerre is a town within a town with the old part full of original 16 C buildings still used and winding cobbled streets absolutely wonderful, gave one very much a sense of history.
As I had discovered a hypermarket on my travels to find bread we wanted to stock up as we had heard that on the Nivernais canal there weren’t a lot of shops catering for the boat traffic and having been caught out previously we wanted to make sure. Dave was still looking for a child's fishing rod to place at the bow as an early warning for low bridges and had been informed of a fishing shop the other side of town. We went back to the boat so he could dig out his bike only to come across a hired pleasure motor boat trying to maneuver into the place next to us. It was rather obvious that they had little experience of handling such a craft and backed into poor old Rosa leaving a rather nasty scrape across her prow. The boaters were some Aussie old age pensioners on a 2 month trip incorporating France, England and Ireland, damage was looked at and the insurance forms produced, not a good start to our venture! Dave was remarkably calm about the whole thing but I was cross that no one had given these poor souls any instruction on how to operate their craft, They plan to head in the same direction as us tomorrow but I think we will give them a wide berth!
After all that excitement we finally went off shopping a low and behold, the hypermarket had a fishing rod and more importantly cheap, Dave was a happy man!!
Back to the boat loaded up and quick clear up as Charles and Joyce were joining us on a return visit. Nice evening

Tues 27th May
Still raining !!! we had planned to visit open market early then stiff upper lip wrap up in waterproofs, brave the weather and make our way up river, after looking at the rain still throwing down our stiff upper lip disappeared and having reviewed the situation make the decision to wait until after lunch, Used the capetainaire’s facilities and caught up with the washing at vast expense, waited until 14.00 to collect my stuff from the dryer only to discover that the power had been switched off while the staff had gone to lunch- washing still wet, temper aroused! They at least gave me my money back but even now we have various items of clothing draped over most of the boat.
Braved the weather at last and moved off down the canal. The locks here are manual and it is expected that one helps. My nightmare comes true but actually it isn’t too bad, the lockeeper winds with a handle one side of the lock and one of us does the other. We went through several locks with a pleasure boat full of Swiss and after several episodes of us jumping out and helping and they just stood and watched we explained the error of their ways. They were under the impression it was the lockeepers job to do it “oh no we said, it is yours to help” we also noticed that not once did they say thank you to the lockeeper !
After a while the rain went and the sun came out and we could appreciate the canal itself quite narrow in places, very low bridges and no room for error in the locks.
We looked around for a mooring spot and came across Bailley, they produce some form of local champagne here part of the process is to keep them in caves so as it is very close to the river we plan to visit the site tomorrow

Auxerre & start of Nivernais

We stopped at the quay managed by Paul of Aquarelle - A very efficient operation with good moorings, water, electricity, rubbish, showers, toilets & washing machine. Mooring is pretty reasonable at €11 for a 10-12Mboat. Other charges though are not cheap –electricity is €5 per night and the (small) washing machine and dryer are €6 each! Almost next to the quay is a huge Leclerc Hypermarket.
Be careful if you go there, the electricity is configured so that live and neutral are reversed. This mostly presents no problem but if you had a fault on your boat, it could make things much worse by keeping circuits live even when switched off or with a fuse/breaker blown. It could also cause a neutral-earth short on your boat to turn from a benign and probably unrecognised problem into a potential fire.
We used a crossover cable to correct the fault. Most people won’t even know it was there. I told Paul – who seems like a nice chap - about this and was surprised that his attitude was “It’s not my problem. It’s been like this for 30 years and I’m not going to fix it now”.
All that said, it is still an excellent place. Paul even has a selection of chandlery and was able to provide me with a spare impeller for my engine to replace the one we used in Paris.


Auxerre is an absolute gem. It’s a medieval walled city on a hill. Much of the part within the walls is unspoilt with medieval timbered buildings mixed beautifully with 18th century and modern buildings.
It has excellent shopping, fascinating squares and cafes, a superb cathedral


with a fantastic fully 3D sculptured doorway to take your breath away. Inside is very impressive – although it is still beaten in my view by the amazing Cathedral at Sens.

The church of St Eusébe is also well worth a visit. It is pure-white, with sparse but tasteful decoration absolutely beautiful! The stained glass windows in the Lady Chapel are very strange – I suspect it’s something Knights Templar /Corelyngian ish. Whatever it is L & I couldn’t figure most of it out. We didn’t go into the third great church – but others told me it is well worth a visit too.
We got back and were talking to Paul’s wife when I suddenly saw a large motor cruiser backing into Rosa. I rushed over and jumped aboard but they seem to have sorted it out without damage. They went round for a second try and this time screwed it up completely, ending up sideways to the river with their stern pinned against my bow by the current and a crew member clinging like grim death onto his stern line. I yelled at him to go forward which he did at full throttle and full wheel which hugely increased the pressure on poor Rosa. She ended up with several scrapes on the bow. The Aussies on board were apologetic but the poor guys had never been on a boat before and they were cast adrift on this huge machine by the hire company with essentially no training! I’ve put in an insurance claim. Unfortunately, Paul has prevented his wife as being a witness for me (even though she saw everything) as he doesn’t want to get involved.
You can understand that he probably gets a lot of business from these hire companies so he doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of them. Nevertheless it confirms again that while his services are excellent and his reputation for doing what he says is well deserved, if any dispute or issue might impinge on his interests he will have no hesitation, or compunction about putting his own interests before yours.


A short trip to the Hypermarket found us a cheap fishing rod to mount on the bow to act as a tell-tale with low bridges – an idea I got from Mike at Moret. Works beautifully and hugely reduces the stress of low bridges!
We had planned to go to the market in Auxerre on Tuesday morning early and then set off up the Nivernais. When the day came, it was pouring with rain and hammered solidly until 12.00. It was then very wet in bursts until 1600. Rather than getting soaked, I sat and worked and L went to the Hypermarket and also did the washing.
We finally got away at 1550 and went with some trepidation into the first lock on the Canal du Nivernais which is not only tiny but also completely manual. In the event it was surprisingly easy. It took us four locks get our technique down pat but it now feels like a smooth operation with little stress.
Rom, if you are reading this, you were dead right. It’s essential to snub the bitter end of the mooring lines on a cleat or winch. Otherwise you end up hanging on for grim death and risking the rope being dragged bodily out of your hands (or following it, still attached, into the water).
We’ve moored up underneath the caves at Bailly and are looking forward to seeing the caves and buying some bottles of the local sparkling wine that is made and stored in them.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Lindsay's take on journey so far

WED 30th April
Rom and L went into Le Hevre to suss out the passage from where we moored the boat and where the mast is to be taken off. Walked miles! It is a complete maze with many canals with dead ends After what seemed to be hours of walking we finally found it. The weather was very windy (force 6 blowing 7) with rain storms to match. Managed to find a few watering holes to dry out in . at least we have now a good knowledge of the layout of Le Havre. Not particularly impressive. The city is one of the biggest ports in France and has little to recommend it architecturally, just acres of concrete
Found the market (mainly fruit, meat and fish - good) and local "Marche' ( OK) . Went back to the boat and dinner

THURS 1st MAY
France is closed!!!! No buses, trains or shops open as we found out having walked 2 miles to the bus station to catch a bus to Honfleur. This was after being assured that a Sunday service was running by the tourist office the previous day!
Weather better so explored the beach end, pebbles with sand when the tide goes out. long promenade with the locals walking back and forth in their finery Found lots of little eateries- brilliant, stopped for coffee and usual beer for Rom

FRI 2nd MAY
We finally made it to Honfleur via Deauville by bus! I can highly recommend both places. Mainly 16th buildings with winding streets, quite touristy but with that distinct French touch. One can moor in the town basin, in both Honfleur and Deauville where there seemed a reasonable amount of visitor places available excellent food at reasonable prices.
The buses are interesting as there is no rhyme nor reason as one pays on the bus or at the ticket station. We got caught out by buying a return ticket then finding out it wasn't valid during the rush hour. Anyway for a 1 hour journey it only cost us 6 euro's so considerably cheaper than in GB.

SAT 4TH & 5TH MAY
D badly under-estimated how long it would take to get the boat ready for the canals as we are booked in for removing the mast on Monday. The worst bit was removing the wind generator as it was jammed into the gantry metalwork and took 4 hours to remove. Everything else just took longer to unscrew, take off or store. At 18.00 we had had enough and returned to our friendly restaurant for a huge helping of fruit de la mer.
The next day after anticipating motoring to the boatyard and having to go through the lock the lock keepers were on strike ( only in france !!) so it was another day in the marina and carrying on with removing the boom, ropes blowing up fenders etc.
After another call to the harbourmaster it appears we have a go at 9.30 tomorrow. I hope the canals are worth it, I can now understand why people go the Biscay route!

MON 6th May
After awaking at some un-godly hour as Dave was worried about the mast removal we were informed that it could not happen today at the hired crane, gearbox had burnt out! So yet another day kicking our heels. Rom disappeared for a couple of long walks and I caught up with my reading. My Mac has given up completely with mail, so have to relay messages through Dave's when he can get a connection. all very frustrating. We also have the problem of yet another Bank holiday on the 8th meaning all the locks and bridge opening grind to a halt. We had seen ourselves spending days stuck in Le Hevre. Dave is getting very frustrated with all the delays. this isn't what we planned at all!!!!!

TUES 7th MAY
Hurrah the mast is off and so are we - until we hit the first lock! The crane turned up on time, mast duly removed and we set off, spent the first hour trying to find our way out of the harbour - not easy, eventually after a few dead end we arrived at the first lock. The harbour master at Le Havre had informed the lock staff we were coming so we arrived, anticipating a quick lock through but as we were to learn this is not how it is done in France. After waiting for 1/2 hour the first gate opened we went through then I think they went off for lunch! after another 1/2 hour they closed the gate and the water level slowly went down, finally we were through - it took an hour and this was only the first one!
The next one, same story hung around and it was only when we tied up to a couple of bollards thinking "lunchtime" that a disembodied voice asked us if we wanted to lock through!!! Obviously the secret is pretend to tie up then the staff will come to life!
The original idea was to make a mad dash to Rouen over 12 hour journey taking advantage of the fast flowing river current but by the time we went through the locks at Le Havre the timing went out the window and we followed the canal to a tiny river on the Seine to anchor for the night. Very quiet, only us and swallows for company. Cracked a bottle of bubbly to celebrate. Plan to rise at 6 to catch the tide up

WED 7th MAY
Saw the sunrise on our way down the Seine absolutely fantastic, very peaceful with only us on the river, misty with birdsong. very cold, needed gloves at the helm. porridge for breakfast. After a few hours of seeing oil terminals, etc. on the riverbank the scenery became more rural with broadleaf trees and the occasional village. the tide had by then turned and we were doing 9 knots down river. At last we are getting there
Found a lovely marina near Albeut where we tied up for the night Very friendly patrons only charged us 10 euro's as there toilet block had had a fire and couldn't be used - didn't matter to us!

THURS 8th May
For once we were not up at the crack of dawn. Went through our first river lock bit of a disaster as Dave and Rom had different idea's and worked against each other - word were said! Moored up after passing through the lock in the hope of acquiring some bread as the bible mentioned a boulangie was close by - it lied and after waiting in vain for a beer at the local restaurant we passed on. Lovely backwater but had to be careful of tree roots.
Anchored in backwater near isle du Roule for the night

Fri 9th May
Up early as we were hoping to reach Paris for my short visit to Josh's birthday party. Went through the lock at Le Bas - de Posses, much better technique using the centre and stern cleat
On the way to Mevlan saw a small motor yacht in distress, it's cooling system had broken down and after waiting most of the day for help we were the only craft to pass by. Rafted alongside them motored her upstream to the grateful thanks of the crew of two. Gave Dave a cap to keep. Moored at a boat yard at Bassin, near Vernoullet.

Mon 12th May
Another bank holiday so no boulangerie, open so walked miles but eventually found some baguettes but no croissants!
We decided to aquire a two day boat pass a bit like the boat taxi's in Venice a get on get off system and went to the Louvre with the intention of returning tomorrow. Breathtaking architecture , the garden had beautiful statues, lots of fountains, absolutely stunning! the French do these thing so well. The bridges along the river with wonderful statues and stone carvings some with gold leaf shining in the sunlight, you just have to see to appreciate. We also saw the Eifel tower, ( fill in later with map)
Stopped off for a couple of beers and tapas midday on the Champs Elysais.
Kept awake most of the night by a rowdy party of youngsters on the barge opersite but Lawrence ( an Aussie) told them where to get off in true Aussie style at 2 am and they quietened down

Tues. 12th May
Dave worked part of the morning then we set out sightseeing around 11 ish. Boat taxi to the Louvre only to find it shut today! decided to visit Notre Dame. Very impressive, huge with marvellous realiefs & statues centuries old and beautiful coloured glass windows including a circular one.
Back to the boat as Dave had a work meeting at 16.00
We invited Lawrence and Sonny from next door and Don and Diane some Americans further upstream over for drinks in the evening

Wed 13th May
Dave worked until 10 ish then I discovered we actually had an Internet connection Whoopee!! so made the most of it by catching up with some of my messages
Around midday locked the boat and set out for Versailles via the local train system Their trains aren't the most comfortable but OK for a short while.
Versailles is huge so booked up for the guided tour as well as one of those talking tours. Very interesting finding out how rigid the court protocol was even for royalty I didn't realise that the French royal family wasn't wiped out during the revolution and there are still plenty of them left. The gardens are magnificent we walked our feet off I think we are now cultured out and are thinking of having a quiet day in tomorrow. Heavy rain this afternoon in Paris itself with the odd threatened thunderstorm to come I suspect

Thurs 14th May
Decided to have a day in and catch up on a few jobs
Dave had to strip the cooling system to check all was OK while I cleaned and teak oiled the cockpit table something I had marked down to do for some time Looks good but needs a second coat when we next stop over for a few days. Decided that we needed to re-provision the galley, walked for miles with a full shopping trolly having got myself lost as usual
Tried to send Rob an e-card but couldn't get an Internet connection. Fortunately a very nice chap called Chris who is a permanent live-aboard at the Arsenal and has a phone connection let me use his connection so hopefully it will reach Rob. This chap lives on a barge beautifully done up complete with full size kitchen, lounge two bedrooms and showers, maybe something to think about when we become landlubbers again

Fri 15th May
Time to move on so departed Paris to well wishes from our new friends and motored off. Weather has changed somewhat and the sky is full of black clouds and a distinct temp drop. Tried to find diesel as we are only 1/3 full, the stuff cannot be found for love or money we have enough for the next day or two but it isn't good to run so low maybe we will be luckier tomorrow
Had lots of lock practice with just the two of us We came across one lockeeper who clearly did not approve of pleasure craft ( or the british) and refused to acknowledge our VHF and gave us a very bumpy ride in the lock!
We are now moored up on the outskirts of Melun after yet another fruitless hunt for a petrol station. Its pouring with rain together with the odd bout of thunder and lightning so we have called it a day

Sat 17th May
Both Dave & I had a lie in so didn't get going until 9 ish ( late for us!) weather still omnibus and the hunt for diesel went on Went by several rather nice villages but didn't dare stop until the fuel situation was resolved we had been told of a fuel barge in St Mammes but after so many disappointments we weren't holding our breath. Mid morning the heavens opened and the rain was torrential lasted for 1/4 hour during we passed several skiff rowers looking rather wet, one has to admire them for their athuseum !
At last reached St Mammes and what do you know a diesel barge which sold camping gas as well. Our cup runneth over
After filling up every container we had we moved on and found a delightful medieval town at Moret - sur - Loing on the Canal du Loing, very peaceful spot good place to stay and explore on Sun ( the locks are closed then)
Had a quick walk into town where there appeared to be a local festival going on with lots of stalls and a fantastic church gargoyles all over the place, will go back to have a proper look tomorrow. Even the weather has bucked up !

Sun 18th May
Spent the day at Moret -sur-Loing catching up with little boat jobs like finishing cockpit table and repairing the jellcoat that had flaked off. Met a group of French having a picnic close to Rosa they were here for the W/E up from Paris, several adults plus kids. They were interested in the boat so showed them around and they gave us some Normandy cider . We also met a couple of Irish live aboard who had been on their travels for several years with no end in sight. They live on a 53 foot motorboat nicely fitted out . I think if we want to make this travelling lark longer we will have to up size! We also went to a concert in the local church -very good, a singer and harper. As one gets to stay 3 days for the price of two we are planning to stay over Mon as well
Mon 19th May
Still feeling out of sorts, took it out on poor Dave, went off for a walk, felt better . Spent the day doing such mundane things as washing, cleaning and catching up on my e-mails. Mike and Roseanne came over for morning coffee, I shot into town for some cakes to find it closed! The boulangerie was open but not much of a choice, They had lovely decorated large cakes but at 17 - 21 euro's each a bit over our budget, one day though!
We went for an evening stroll to feed the ducks our leftover bread we had a really nice time walking along the river. I will miss this place it has been a superb visit

Tues. 20th May
Didn't really get going until late morning. went into town and treated Dave to a dozen oysters for dinner, said our good-byes to Mike and co who are also leaving and set off for a leisurely potter down river making for Noyne (PK 34) but were thorted at the lock before the village, loads of boats waiting to go through, must have arrived at barge rush hour time, as it looked as if we were going to be there for at least an hour if not longer we decided to abandoned and head back to Bray where there was a mooring pontoon for pleasure craft. Not exactly salubrious but OK for the night

Thurs 22nd May
After a restless night Dave seemed a little better, we are going to potter down to Sens a largest town only 25 km and more importantly 6 ecluses away! The lockeepers seemed to be particularly friendly except one who was barely civil but I guess one gets all sorts, maybe he had a row with his wife or something!! Arrived Sens and found a town mooring free!!!!. Electricity but only one station, as three other boats had already plugged in we are on boat battery yet again. Went into town mainly to try and track down a launderette no luck going with Dave but went off by myself and ASKED and lo and behold directions were given (what is it with men and asking directions)? Lugged all the washing over the bridge 1/2 km away and figured out the instructions, every time different, so now we have clean clothes again. Also visited Sens cathedral 11th century, absolutely awe-inspiring, huge towering ceilings with very elaborate stonework the sort of place one can only whisper in. Definitely worth the visit. Sens also has a market tomorrow so will stock up on veg etc. then move on

Fri 23rd May
The market at Sens is very impressive with a wide choice of goods ranging from clothes to meat, fish, veg and fruit, Its lovely to see foods we haven't seen before even if we haven't the money to buy them! Had a quick lunch then moved on upriver. Beginning to get the knack of sloping locks especially the ones with pontoons, make life so much easier and no climbing up slippery ladders. We ended up for the night at Villeneuve - sur - Yonne, found some public mooring but sans electricity, water and showers despite what the Navicarte describes. We have got to the stage of taking the information given with a large pinch of salt. Still OK for water and fuel but will need some in the next day or two. Villeneuve boasts a 11 century tower and old buildings interesting but no information about, the town had that slightly seedy look about it as if it had seen better days. As we couldn't carry on due to a lock further up being out of action ?? we only did 15 km today so will need to be up with the lark tomorrow.

Sat 24th May
Up and out by 8 am and standing by the first lock at 9 am. Unfortunately the lockeeper had to follow a barge through 2 locks so as it had priority he disappeared for an hour before coming back to process us though. While we were in Villeneuve we met another British boat "karenza' owners Chris and Hillary, who with some friends were also making for the Med but in several stages. They followed us down through several locks until disappearing down the Canal de Bourgogne at Migennes. It was nice to have some company for a while. There seems to be more pleasure boats around now, maybe the season has hotted up! Chris and Hilary kindly asked us to share their lunch which was kind. They seem to have organised a system of friends to help them down the canal to Marseille, so we expect to meet up with them again. Anyway we exchanged details and are keeping a book of boaters we meet on our travels.
Dave has been letting me do the locks with advice sometimes with some terse comments(after all it is his baby) was managing fine and improving when we went into a lock started to manoeuvre into position then some 8 year old wanted us on the other side of the lock. Yours truly panicked and slammed into the lock side scraping the life raft! Dave said it hasn't done much damage but I haven't seen it myself. Didn't do much for the old confidence so got Dave to take over. Will try again tomorrow
After we said our goodbye's and were waiting in the first lock down a canalised part of the river between Bassou and Giurgy the heavens opened, thunder and lightening (the full works) lasted for a good half hour then continued to rain heavily for most of the evening. We were planning to reach Auxerre but the weather and number of locks defeated us and we ran out of lock time (7pm) feeling and looking like drowned rats we moored up at Moneteau on another public mooring. With only 6 km and three locks to go it will be an easy motor into Auxerre tomorrow. We thankfully retreated into the saloon, put the heating on and dried out!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Up the Yonne to Auxerre


We’ve taken 4 days to get up the River Yonne from Montereau to Auxerre. The river is one of the major tributaries of the Seine. Eventually its headwaters are taken over by the Canal du Nivernais – about which more next episode.
The river is generally wide and beautiful. It’s s similar in size to the Stour at Christchurch although it is deeper and hugely longer. Altogether we covered 187 Kilometers on it, passed up 28 locks and under innumerable bridges. All of the locks are to Frecinet guage which takes large barges but not the huge ones on the Sein. All of the bridges were over 4.8M above the water so we had no difficulty getting through.
The locks are all electrically opened and closed though on most of them the lock keeper has to stand by the appropriate gate to press the buttons. Most of them also had to manually operated paddles. The overwhelming difference from the locks on the Seine is that most of these have sloping sides. Doesn’t sound much of a problem does it? Well it certainly is for a boat like Rosa that has twin rudders that stick out sideways. Any attempt to get close to the edge in a sloping sided lock simply hits a delicate fibreglass rudder hard on the concrete – possibly damaging it. Going down would be even worse as the weight of an 8 ton boat could end up coming down on the rudder sideways if it were to catch in a crack or irregularity.
So what do you do?
Well the first answer is that most of them (all those above Champflurie) either have at-least one straight side or have pontoons attached to sliding contraptions. You just tie yourself onto the pontoon and it gently carries you up or drops you down. Ever so easy and absolutely stress free. Unfortunately, the first three locks (Cannes, Labrosse and Barbey) don’t have pontoons. The next one (Port-Renard) has straight sides. The next two (Vinneuf & Champfleury) should have pontoons but in the case of Champfleury it has been ripped off and carried away by a barge. This is obviously an ever-present danger as many of them show signs of significant collisions leaving them with sharp buckled aluminium corners rather than gently rounded wooded strakes. So if you follow in our footsteps – be prepared for nasty surprises.
So what do you do if sloping is all there is. Well in our case we have a bow thruster and that has allowed us to simply stay in the middle of the lock without mooring. Once we explain the problem (“Mes gouverneilles est monté incline” la (pointing wildly) seems to do the trick. They understood immediately and had no problem with us doing so. Most were kind enough to go gently with the sluices too so we had less buffeting to cope with. For us it worked very well.
Another possibility is to moor up alongside another boat (such as a steel barge) that has no problem with these horrible locks. There weren’t any when we went through though.
We met Chris on Karenza who had a long piece of timber which he uses to lever himself off. He feels that a punt pole would be a better option but unfortunately these are few and far between on the French canals.
Time through the locks was generally about 15 minutes. Pretty much all of the lock keepers were friendly and helpful. Some were exceptionally so. The locks work 7 days a week in high season. The lower ones seem to start at 0800 and go on to 1900 and somewhere about Villeneuf it changes to 0900 to 1900 with a sacrosanct hour for lunch between 1230 and 1330.
On the Wednesday we didn’t start till 1500 as we were waiting for Mike and Linda to determine if they could beat the French Fishermen’s strike. In the end they couldn’t and had to turn around at Dover and go home. I hope all those fishermen catch nice big juicy submarines in their nets.
Having only a short time, we only went a few locks. D started feeling very feverish at about 1700 (probably from eating too many Oysters the previous day) so we stopped at a convenient point on the bank at Misy-sur-yonne. It was probably a private mooring belonging to a nearby house but there were no nasty notices and nobody bothered us.





There are some lovely little towns on the Yonne. We stopped at Sens on the second night. The advertised port de plaisance is (in common with most of them) nothing of the sort. They are just bases for private bouts. None seem to have visitors pontoons and none seem to welcome visitors. The Town Quay (on the right bank just downstream of the second bridge) offers a safe haven with good straight concrete sides, decent depth and strong bollards. Unfortunately drinking water was nowhere to be seen. Electricity was availably but only at a single post so with 3 other boats already there, we couldn’t get close enough to run our wire. There was no way of getting an Internet connection. There is a BP garage just above the quay if you’re short of fuel.
The town is well worth a visit. It has lots of old buildings, loads of the usual shops and a really special Friday market. The cathedral is one of the most stunning buildings I have ever seen. It is impressive from the outside but when you go inside it takes your breath away. It’s not ornate but God (if he exists) knows I’m not religious, but even I could feel the spirituality of the place. It makes you talk in whispers. All the windows are in stained glass which is ancient but incredibly detailed showing scenes that even I can understand. See it!
Having shopped at the market, we didn’t get away till gone 10.00. The first lock took nearly an hour to get through because the keeper was lecturing to a party of school children about every detail of his pride and joy. We hoped to reach Joigny which is just past St Albin lock but a keeper tipped us off that it was broken and we couldn’t go through. So we changed plans and made a short passage to Villeneuf instead. The town quay is free but there was no water anywhere and the single electricity post didn’t work. Yet again, there was no way of connecting to the Internet. The town is interesting – it’s one of those slightly dilapidated places that has seen glorious times in the past but has fallen on harder times recently. It was the residence of the kings of France in mediaeval times and has huge gates, towers and ramparts defending it – much of which is still there – at least foundations and the three huge gatehouses. The shops are not very extensive and the cathedral although impressive, has not got the same spark as the one at Sens.
We set off early on the Saturday morning only to be greeted by a huge double barge coming out of the first lock. The keeper waited to greet us and allow us in but said that he had to go and help the barge through the next lock down-stream (commercial vessels have priority and he manages both locks). So off he went in his VNF white van – not to be seen again for an hour! You really can’t rely on being anywhere at a particular time on the canals!
We stopped at xxx for lunch with Karenza and Chris & Hilary gave us a great lunch. After lunch we did a few more locks up to Migennes where they went off down the canal de Bourgoyne and we carried on up the Yonne towards Auxerre and the Nivernais.
L had been driving into and out of the locks all day and was beginning to get good at it. Unfortunately, when we got into the next lock she was already into her (perfect) approach to the port side wall when we heard a shout. The lock keepers son was there waving us forcefully over to the other wall where he would take our ropes. Thinking he was acting with the authority of the lock keeper, Lindsay veered over to the other side and almost lost control of the boat scraping the life-raft cover on the wall. This knocked her always shaky confidence right back. As we were leaving, we saw the boy getting a good telling off so he had obviously been “playing at lock-keeper” without the knowledge of his father!
We carried on uneventfully to Moneteau where we stopped at another free – but water, electricity and Internet free mooring in a pouring thunder storm! A glass or two, the heater on, and a meal of squid stew has restored our spirits.
The journey to Auxerre should have taken a couple of hours – but it took closer to 4. The first lock was fine. But the next one was closed because the keeper was elsewhere. He rolled up nearly an hour after we arrived and ambled us through in 25 minutes. No explanation offered and we didn’t ask for one – just played it cool.
At the next lock we had to wait 20 mins while 5 private barges came out.
The other 2 locks passed uneventfully but stressfully as the cooling problem I had just below Paris came back. We limped into Auxerre. I tested it and once again it was nothing to do with the input side. The seacock and impeller were working fine. I backflushed back from the exhaust connection and everything now seems to work fine again. Nothing seemed to come out though so it’s probably waiting to bite me again in the future. If it does it will be serious engine strip-down time. My heart sinks!
We haven’t seen Auxerr yet. It’s raining so we will leave that till tomorrow. We’ll probably leave Tuesday morning after the market then go on to Clamecy to pick up Richard and Janet.