Nivernais - Decize to Clamecy

Left Decize on 30 Mar but managed to ground three times getting out of the Vieille Loire - no buoyed channel this early in the season and lots of sandbanks - the final time we had to pump tanks to get off (the next step was to throw Angie and Kes overboard)!  Then into our first Canal du Nivernais lock which was guarded by the land Navy.

Entrance to Nivernais

It was all very quiet and the Eclusiers fairly friendly. At Cercy la Tour we found an interesting 'project' cottage within a few minutes walk of a long stretch of free quayside moorings - but we gritted our teeth and moved on as both children are getting married this year and finances will be dodgy.

Cercy La Tour

Not sure going onto Summer Time was a good idea as we seem to be waking much too early!

Anizey Ecluse at daybreak

This early in the season it is very quiet - a boat every few days with the disadvantage that some of the biefs (pounds) are very shallow/weedy with no channel carved from heavy use.  Also a lot of the village shops haven't opened for the 'season'.  So back to home made bread (delegated to Peter as usual) and curries when the vegetables run out.

Chatillon en Bazois

Chatillon came just in time for Peter's 65th birthday (and Mother's Day) so Angela found the most expensive restaurant in town (must be a female talent) and we broke our all time record for the size of the bill - it was the two bottles of Bougogne that did the damage.  The cake had to wait till Sunday.

Then it was on towards Baye and the top of the canal and our first exposure to 'how to fill three ecluses at once'.

After Baye it was through the three tunnels - where it got a bit 'African Queen-ish' in places. Peter lost some face when he (accidentally) tried to shift some displaced masonry with the barge

Fetch a chainsaw

After a hard day doing the Sardy flight (following another boat with an eclusier working at snail pace) life settled back to a more relaxed routine - we also encountered our first lift bridges with Peter working hard (supervised by Kes).

The weather was glorious so we took a weekend off at Villiers sur Yonne - and cleaned inside and out.  Peter planted up the vegetable garden using seedlings he had sown in March and Angie managed to deepen the tan.
Kes has taken to rolling in muck so he gets thrown into the canal each time - in this weather he might consider it a pleasure rather than a punishment!

Now in Clamecy a nice little town - still no mooring charges after three weeks on the move - excellent!  Met up with Pauline and Ian (an Australian couple with a local holiday cottage) whom we had met in Chatillon en Bazois.

Clamecy

Off At Last

30 Mar 11

Yippee - after saying farewell to our fellow 'winterers' (Paul, Terry and Teresa) and  topping up with diesel and other essentials (vin rouge) we cast off on Sat 19 Mar heading west on the Canal du Centre - a bit damp and overcast but free at last.

Montceau Bridges

We were rapidly back into our cruising routine with alternative early rising for Kes the Collie. Our first overnight was Genelard and the Centre for the La Ligne de Demarcation.

Then Paray de Monial, an attractive (and expensive town) marred by a side excursion into a dress boutique - much poorer we moved onwards to Digoin where we crossed the Loire.

Paray Le Monial

Canal Aqueduct over the River Loire at Digoin

The weather was absolutely beautiful all week.  At this point we became the Canal Lateral du Loire - definitely an improvement as the moorings all had free water and electricity - long may it last. Beaulon had a nice little Chateau and this old restaurant.

The weather deteriorated at Gannay sur Loire so we pushed on, turned onto the Loire at Decize and moored on the Vieille Loire after pushing over a sandbank at the entrance.

Loire to Lateral

Decize

Next the Canal du Nivernais and a lot of ecluses.

Winter 2010

Oct 10 -  18 Mar 11

The first month in Montceau passed quite quickly - there was still some traffic on the Canal, both commercial and plaisanciers hurrying for their winter moorings. It was great getting a good flow of mail, Angela found a good hairdresser (Peter offered to cut her hair for half the savings) and Kes (and Peter) started to put on weight as it got colder. Peter serviced the diesels - Perkins and Betamarine (generator) - degunged the Kabola central heating and generally looked busy.

We also saw our first fresh water jellyfish.

Fresh water jellyfish.

In November, Angela went off by rail to Siegeburg near Bonn to spend a week with her sister - some advantage in ageing as the rail clerk readily gave her a 50% 'senior' discount.  All trains go via Paris though, so despite it being on TGV/ICE trains it still took 7 hours door to door.  She returned with loads of marzipan and other strange German delicacies and Kes pretended he hadn't been properly cared for by Peter in her absence.

Late November and first the snow.

Montceau

Kes waiting for Terry to catch up

and in December the ice. The lowest temp to date  -12 degC but it seems the UK is worse.

Canal du Centre

The Barretts had kindly offered to dogsit Kes for Xmas so, after a Solstice drinks party with Les Girls from the Capitainerie, off we went to Bristol through the snow for a Xmas with daughter and son.  Too much food and shopping and a week later we drove back with the hirecar sagging under the weight of us, solar panels, additional batteries for the domestic bank, a dehumidifier and wodges of presents and shopping from M and S, Sainsburys etc.  Kes had been spoilt rotten in our absence!

More Xmas pud please

A pleasant surprise, our son and fiancee called in on the way to Chamonix - sorted out the wedding arrangements for next July. New Year was a totally damp squib - a few token fireworks and Jools Holland on the TV - which had better not be a portent for 2011 - Anyway Welcome 2011!

Mid Jan and 'Mantra' (Paul and Kathy) - refugees from Digoin crept in to the mooring - with much hauling as the Canal level was low - not sure how they will cope with Peter and Terry's winter pastime of disagreeing on everything from the colour of the sky to wine tasting!

A day trip to St John de Losne in mid Jan included a wander through the barges for sale at Bourgogne Marine/H20/Blanquarts (looking for a barge for someone else) - a bit staggered at the poor presentation/maintenance of the barges and the high prices (given the recession).

The girls from the Capitainerie showed us how a 'proper' soiree should be held - a good band and fun all round.

la soirée du 27 janvier

Not that funny!

then Angie joined in  mais bien sûr

At the end of Jan the first commercials for a few months went through - serious noise levels and turmoil as they smashed up the ice (which is thicker than we realised) - roll on the cruising season. A few fine days later it was like rush hour.

In February, Angie went to the Kiev Ballet doing 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' aka Sleeping Beauty. The French tutor also took the group to the Barge Museum at Ecuisses which is spread between the old eclusier's cottage and a 350 tonne peniche (on dry land since 1991) - the box beds and living area on the peniche were very 'narrowboat-ish'.

Trois Anglais et trois Francais - guess which

To counter the cultural activities, February was also up-scaling the domestic battery bank and fitting a solar panel installation - where did Angie put the multimeter?

Our final trip ashore for the Winter was to Roanne a popular and cheap overwintering stop.  It seemed a bit bleak and dead and may be more so if the rumours about an imminent doubling of mooring fees is correct!

Roanne Bassin

Well almost the last trip - our neighbours the Barrett's initiated a trip afloat for the Marina staff culminating in lunch at Blanzy.

Followed by the LAST trip to Chateau Verrerie at La Cruseot - originally built as a crystal glass works then purchased by the Schneider 'Iron Masters' as a residence and a site for new iron forging plants.

A lovely little theatre built inside one of the original glass kilns

Off tomorrow down the Canal du Centre towards Decize - hooray!

Montbeliard to Montceau

Sep 10

It was all a bit uphill from Montbeliard as we were backtracking, which we hate, to Montceau .  Angela was a bit nervous ref river levels but the Doubs had turned into a pussycat - well almost.

There is an ecluse there somewhere

We took a photo of the 'bent' ecluse we had passed through going upstream

Ecluse with a curve

We had to overnight at most of the moorings we had used on the outward journey, but we skipped Besancon as there were no moorings available at Port Tarragnoz and we motored on to our greenfield site at  Routelle.

Entrance to Citadel tunnel - Besancon

This time through we managed to get a mooring at Dole near 'Avontuur' and 'Hendrika' - very windy so a bit of 'to and fro' through the crew's gritted teeth when mooring (if only females were as 'even tempered' as men :).

Dole

Heading south on the Saone early one morning - the mist thickened to a real pea souper - we tried for a mooring at  Gergy but overshot it so had to carry on.  We crept on with Peter in the bows looking for channel buoys, oncoming traffic and bridges - in a clear spot we found we were leading a convoy of 4 or 5 smaller boats!  Eventually the mist cleared enough to spot the entrance to the Canal du Centre and we pushed on to Fragnes.

 Chapel (partial) - Fragnes

This time through we stopped at Santenay, a small mooring with a track to the village which has about 15 wine caves. However, after seeing the prices of good Burgundy we decided a bulk buy was not a good idea - onwards to our farm shop in Blanzy where we could at least get some Merlot.  A lot of the time we were following a commercial that was having problems with water depth and therefore managing the bends so it was painfully slow progress.

Daughter (Nikki) sent us a photo of her practising her 'rescue the parents' skills.

Need a tow?

By this time we were ready for a long halt, so it was pleasant to get back to our winter mooring at Montceau on 1 Oct 10.  We were the first in, just as well as there were three potential contenders for two T berth slots.  Terry and Teresa Barrett on 'Renaissance' arrived a few days later and Sue on 'Kellis' (a narrowboat) some time after that.  By that time we had found all the supermarkets and boulangeries, a source of the Sunday Times and a Bar to drink in when the sun was shining.  It took Angela a few weeks to explore all the dog walks as Montceau has two large parks (dotted with lakes) which have been developed on the site of the old mine workings.

A quick check on Navigo and we found we had done circa 2,300 kms since 1 Apr - if we get bored during the Winter we must add up the locks!

Montceau to Belfort Junction

Sep 10

Our son suggested a meeting on the Rhein (he is based in North Germany) so we looked at the Edition du Breil and decided the Canal Rhone au Rhin (aka River Doubs) was achievable, it had also been recommended by friends as a good scenic route.  However, it did involve retracing our course up the Canal du Centre to the Saone and St Jean de Losne - off we set anyway.

This time through we stopped at St Leger sur Dheune which is mostly taken up by a hire base - once again we shrank to 15m - must retitle Angie as a 'Procurer of Discounts' - perhaps it is her improving French rather than the eyelashes.  Into Fragnes again where Kes likes the canalside walks.

Kes - Fragnes

Then the River Saone,  the weather was beautiful so the Helmswoman went on strike and once again it was a man and a dog doing all the work.

River Saone

 Verdun sur Doubs - we were stung with Peniche rates (female Capitaine) but not a lot of alternatives.  No moorings again at St Jean de Losne - so we fuelled up (another 'ouch') and into the Canal Rhone au Rhin where we met our first grumpy eclusier.  It took 30 mins to have the lock zapper explained (must admit it is a more complicated type) then we moored up at Abergement La Ronce (having been cut up by an English barge at one of the locks).  Not a wonderful day.

Next a short run to Choisey where we spent a few days (supermarket 2km up a hill but not much else) - met a very smart Sagar 'Alicia' (crewed by Steven Sagar who built Kotare). Steven kindly donated a couple of surplus fenders designed for sloping walls - perhaps it was the scratch on the bow. Then off through Dole which was wall to wall boats, so we moored at Ranchot where we got a greenfield mooring with electricity.

Ecluse - Dole

We found a cute little greenfield mooring at Routelle in a triangular shaped basin - Kes loved the area - then off to Besancon.  We were now experiencing the full joys of the River Doubs weirs where the weir and ecluse are often collocated - a whole new experience motoring along the face of the weirs after leaving the ecluse - the Helmswoman was not impressed as water levels were high.

a Doubs weir

In Besancon we had to go through two tight ecluses and the Citadel tunnel to get a mooring at the new Porte Bregille - very smart.

Besancon Citadel

It was very windy and this combined with a strong current made turning and mooring difficult (another bowthruster fuse has to be charged to the Helmswoman too).  We had a good time exploring the City and the impressive Citadel.

River Doubs from Citadel

We then did a short run to Deluz, the new marina is useless as a barge mooring but we used the electricity and water to pressure wash Kotare and then used the free nearby mooring.  We had decided to paint the cabin and wheelhouse tops which were looking a bit tatty (Steven Sagar had looked a bit disapproving too). Two days later - voila - though mixing paint by eye meant it was a tadge too yellow.

Deluz - Kotare newly painted

At Baume les Dames, the next stop, we had to raft up to a fellow English barge, Bob and Jenny on Hendrika who also had a border collie - Kes in love again. The heavy rain didn't interfere with the social life though.

Canal Rhone au Rhin

At this belated point we checked Navigo and found that the eastern third of the Canal was closing for a month (at the end of the month) so a hasty revision and we agreed to stop at the Belfort Junction.  With time in hand we meandered on to Isle sur la Doubs (where we met Ian Lones on Avontuur - our DBA Winter mooring guide). We then spent a few nights at Columbier Chatelet on a deserted pontoon by an attractive little village and ecluse. We dismantled and varnished the hatches, route marched to the Bar in the next village on the grounds it was exercise for Kes and Angie also squeezed in some sun bathing. Dampierre was mainly a Catholic shrine on the waterfront and a boulangerie so we only stayed one night.  The River was quite high so we were being fairly cautious.

Starboard a bit please

En route to Montbeliard the Canal crosses the River without benefit of an aqueduct, so if the River is high VNF close traffic due to the strong currents - Ian had been held up for a few days but we were OK.

Ian Lones had directed us to the free mooring at Montbeliard (outside the VNF office) which pained Bob on Hendrika who was paying the full rate.  Lots of shopping and sightseeing and Chris (son) arrived late with a another car load of NAAFI stores - after an 8 hour drive down the length of Germany so was knackered.

Montbeliard - Chateau

Delegating the heavy lifting to Chris, we went off to Belfort Junction and stayed the night on a good pontoon in the midst of a lot of greenery, then back to Montbeliard to wave farewell to Chris (now retitled Chief Logistician).

Belfort Junction

Son posing as an idle layabout