Wednesday 16th June 2010 Laroche to Joigny 7.4 kms 2 locks

Lovely sunny morning, blue skies, but with a cold blustery northeast wind. By lunchtime it had clouded over with thick grey stuff. Rain arrived later. Mike went for bread before we set off at 10.15 a.m. Fetched the quant pole in and followed Charley the short distance down to lock 1 Epineau (0.94m). We had a short wait while a Locaboat pénichette came up. As it left the lock it went to our right, passing us on the wrong side. Now this was probably an error or it may be that he was clued up on French river custom – when locking up river and the weir is to the left of the lock (as this one was) then uphill boats exit the lock and keep left on the side nearest the weir so that downhill boats are furthest from the pull of the weir. 

A middle aged man worked the lock which had press button operated gates but manual (up and over lever) paddles. He rode down to the control panel by the bottom end gates on a mountain bike. With just a centre rope to the roof the lock emptying made a yo-yo effect, first pulling hard towards the bottom end gates then reversing. We followed Charley 4 kms down to lock 2 Péchoir. Mike had heard someone call the lock on channel 8, the channel he was talking to Nick on – they should have been calling on channel 12. Couldn’t have been a commercial because the lock was ready for us. A young man worked the lock, which was all electric, push buttons and no yo-yo effect. He asked if we were stopping in Joigny. 

Below the lock a small smoky tjalk called Phaedra was waiting and a British cruiser called Tracker was catching up. The crew on the latter were smiling and waving, the crew on the former looked fixedly ahead as if we were invisible. 2kms to Joigny. A little pénichette came upriver, crew waving as we passed. They winded and went back to Joigny to the main Locaboat hire base. I took photos as we  went into the town. Nick moored at the upstream end of the quay by the Point P builder’s merchants. Trees at the downstream end had been cut down so there was room for us to moor end to end, stern to stern, but the remains of an old sloping stone quay prevented our bows from getting right into the quay. We put the quant pole out at the fore end this time to keep the boat off the bottom. Lunch. Nick and Diana went shopping by bike at Intermarché. Mike went by car to fetch diesel, petrol and ice cream (Magnums) but forgot to take the petrol containers and had to return! It’s his age! 

Tuesday 15th June 2010 Laroche-St-Cydroine Day off for bad weather

Sunny first thing clouding over by lunchtime. I got on with the chores and did some washing. Nick spotted a large fish swimming on the surface. I didn’t know what it was but by the way it was swimming it was sick or injured. It gradually went off down toward the lock with the current. One or two boats about, a few Locas and a couple of private boats. Gave Mike a hand to unload the bike off down a plank as the stern was well out from the bank because of the rocks. He went to move the car on to Joigny and come back on the moped. I finally got the blog up to date.

Monday 14th June 2010 Gurgy to Laroche-St-Cydroine 13.9 kms 4 locks

Light showers first thing, then just dull and muggy. Set off with light rain falling at 9.45 a.m. following Charley down the river and on to the canal, the 4.5 kms derivation de Gurgy, which bypassed a bendy shallow section of the Yonne. The rain had stopped by the time we reached the first lock, Néron 6 (2.20m), which was worked remotely by the keeper at lock 7. The house alongside the lock looked derelict. A very large moth on the lock wall was quite well camouflaged. Anther kilmoeter of canal took us to lock 7 Raveuse, a deep one 2.79m. The keeper had a portacabin on the lockside not far from his lock house. He came out to chat with Nick while we dropped down in the chamber. On downriver round a couple of bends and we were at lock 8 Bassou (2.23m) where there was a sloping wall with three pontoons on rails on the right side and a vertical wall for us on the left. 

The keeper came on to the pontoon opposite Charley to chat with Nick and told him the Yonne now closes to navigation in winter, has no commercial traffic except a couple of gravel barges and no hotel boats – and just two remain working on the Bourgogne. On to a 4 kms river section. At Bonnard there was a campsite with a pontoon. We’d written previously on our cart that the water and electricity were no longer available but now a notice said that due to misuse the services had been withdrawn. The sun came out for a few minutes just before La Graviére lock 9 (1.56m) on the left hand side of the river. As we were ploughing around a right hand bend on the wrong side of the river Nick came on VHF to say there’s a péniche coming and two hireboats! 

Quick shift back to the right side of the river as the empty, called Olympe from Béthune, came upriver running hard. We’d just been debating where we would see the first commercial! A ginger haired young man pressed the buttons at lock 9. He asked where our registration number was and I pointed it out – on the pigeon box. Picked up a hatching dragonfly on the edge of the lock to watch it change from a tiny dull almost transparent thing to a hefty yellow and black striped buzzer. Took photos of the boats stacked out at Joe Parfitt’s, among them were two narrowboats, Muddy Waters and Oxford Blue. Another empty! Pushing uphill through the navigation arch of the bridge came Saturne pushing a pan with a digger (complete with driver in the cab!!). At 12.45 p.m. we arrived at the halte nautique of Laroche. Half of it was occupied by an ex-hireboat which looked resident with scooter and BBQ alongside it. A large Frenchman came out, followed by two small dogs, to lend a hand with the ropes. I said we were OK thanks, as I watched a pair of fan-tailed doves try to land on the boat and then went to land on Charley before heading slowly back to the relative safety of a house roof. Stupid birds. We overlapped the end of the quay where there were underwater rocks so Mike heaved a quant pole out to keep the stern off them, then Charley came alongside

Sunday 13th June 2010 Gurgy weekend off.

Sunshine in the morning with gathering clouds. The car boot sale was taking place from by Charley downstream and was doing a brisk trade. Mike missed a good photo opportunity when a woman who had bought a small exercise bike came walking past, stopped and tried it out when she was alongside the boat – it would have been captioned “you won’t get very far on that, luv!” 

Saturday 12th June 2010 Gurgy weekend off.

Wet, lots of showers with the odd sunny spell, more rain later. Mike chatted with the neighbours then went to the boulangerie for a loaf. On his return he had a chat with a guy on one of the boats we saw in Auxerre and couldn’t decide if they were charter boats – they were timeshares and he was out for his annual two weeks and off to the upper Seine like us, except their boat will be back in Auxerre and they’ll be back in the UK before we even get there. Lots of hire boats moored over lunchtime and most of the fifteen campervans that overnighted had gone. On with the chores. Mike started repairing another Handy Mains inverter, then watched the FI qualis from Canada, Lewis Hamilton got pole. Later Mike watched the England v USA match. I did more work on Ancestry as I hadn’t done much for ages

Friday 11th June 2010 Vaux to Gurgy R Yonne. 16.3 kms 9 locks.

Hot and sunny clouding over late afternoon, storms with torrential rain later. Off at 9.15 a.m. following Charley down to the first lock, 78 Vaux (0.98m). On to the ski zone, with the channel limited to the left side by a row of red cans. Today all the speedboats were tied up and we were having trouble keeping left. Mike moved inside the red cans and went down the middle of the river where the depth increased from one metre to over three! No wonder the boat wanted to go right! At lock 79 Augy (1.15m) a young lady worked the lock. The lock house was closed up and the keeper had an “office” in a small stone building opposite the lock house. I made a cuppa as we ran down a wide river section to lock 80 Prieuilly (0.82m). We hovered above the lock as there was a lone LeBoat coming up. Crowds of hikers were rambling up the towpath taking photos. A wiry young lad worked the shallow lock. A Hapimag hireboat from Vermenton was waiting below. Down the last of the Nivernais locks at 81 Batardeau (1.03m) with ancient wooden sheds on the side opposite the lock house and another youth was in charge. 

There was a canoe school in the wide stretch of river heading down in to the city of Auxerre but they all moved over as we passed. In the centre of town the port de plaisance (now run by a Dutchman) was packed with “dead” boats moored three abreast. At the downstream end there were three modern Dutch Barges all the same with the first one named Decize that we had seen earlier on the year (going towards Cercy at the end of April to be exact, now we wondered if they were charter boats). A LeBoat hireboat was in front as we went into the first of the big Yonne locks, 1 La Chainette. There was plenty of room and we tied on the left wall opposite Charley and chatted as the lock emptied. The keeper pressed buttons so no need for locking duties other than holding ropes. 

Two lock keepers houses stood alongside the lock dating from when the locks were manually operated and had two shifts of keepers working to keep the commercials running. Sadly there are no commercials only pleasure boats, at this end of the Yonne anyway. 1.5 kms to lock 2 L’Ile Brûlée (1.84m) One of the Americans off the hireboat in front came to ask Mike how far it was to Migennes and would they make it there by tonight? 20kms and 7 locks, they would be OK with the distance, about three hours travelling time, but the locks are slow they take about twenty minutes each if they’re ready, maybe an hour if there’s something coming up. 

That said they ought to get there before closing time. 1.77 kms to lock 3 Dumonts (1.85m). Mike asked the keeper what time they closed for lunch, 12.30 – 1.30 p.m. and I asked what time they closed for the night, 7.00 p.m. Mike told the Americans. We dropped down slowly as either the top end cill was leaky or the keeper had left a paddle up. 1.6 kms to lock 4 Boisseaux where a younger guy worked the lock. Mike asked if we could stop in the full chamber of the next lock for lunch and he immediately replied no, on n’a pas la droite – not allowed against the rules, etc. We tied up at the Halte Nautique at Monéteau where a sign said the depth was only 0.7m. It was OK for us (we’d stayed there overnight before and made note it was OK as long as the river level was normal) and Charley came alongside. All the picnic benches were occupied – we were the only boats there. Lunch. Moved on again at 1.15 p.m. and the hireboat (which had tied to the rocky bank further on in the village) untied and followed Charley into the lock, 5 Monéteau, which had a vertical wall and a sloping wall with pontoons on rails. 

They stayed on the vertical wall same as us. Mike told them we were staying at Gurgy for the weekend and we told the young keeper too. Two swans swam into the chamber as we left. The keeper closed the gates and headed for the top end – he’s never going to fill the lock to let the swans out on the upper level?? We didn’t stop to look. Round two sharp bends with trees on both banks and we saw the first grebe we’d seen this year. Nick had already tied up under the trees at Gurgy and was checking the depth with a boat pole to check it was OK for us. The bottom shoaled so he moved up until they were bows to bows with the only other boat moored there, a LeBoat. We got in but Mike wasn’t keen to be under the trees as we needed a space to get the satellite and sunshine for the solar system so we moved a bit further upriver. Diana and I spotted a traffic notice that banned parking on Sunday as there was to be a Vide Grenier – French car boot sale. Gave Mike a hand to unload the bike down a plank, to the amusement of the campervan fraternity lined up along the moorings who watched every move. Mike watched the start of the World Cup football match France v Uruguay They drew 0-0.    

Thursday 10th June 2010 Vincelles to Vaux. 7.4 kms 4 locks

Raining, but it stopped mid-morning. We went shopping in Auxerre, calling at Champs to post letters. No sign of a Carrefour Market in Auxerre so we went on to shop at Casino. On the way back we looked at the mooring at Bailly, there was just one LeBoat moored there with an Australian flag on the bow. Back at the boat the neighbours had done their shopping by bike at the Maxi Marché in the village so we agreed to move on downriver. Set off at 2.45 p.m. I’d almost finished packing the groceries away. Down to lock 74 Vincelles (1.57m). The house looked uninhabited and the forty something male keeper in shorts worked the lock for us. Diana closed the top end gate and wound the paddle down. Mike did the bottom end and got back on down the ladder which was too far back for Charley and I couldn’t get over to it until they started moving out of the lock. The keeper asked if we would like some Chablis from him at 6,95€ a bottle, nobody wanted any, sorry, not fans of Chablis. (We thought the VNF had stopped the keepers from selling stuff to the boaters?) Followed Charley downriver past the quay at Bailly. The Ozzie hireboat that had been on the quay went past heading uphill. Another hireboat was coming upriver and a white painted narrowboat called Hoddy-Dodd (Wixon Suffolk painted on the side) went past, crew waving, and they moored on the quay at Bailly. 

Mike reckoned there was a 2 kph flow on the river after all that rain. Into a short canal section to lock 75 Bailly (1.35m) Another 40ish man worked the lock and again the lock house was not VNF occupied. This time Charley had the ladder so Diana did the lock. A France Afloat hireboat was hovering below waiting to go up the lock as we left. Under a railway bridge and on to a wider river section. Past a white stone Château with a very elegant curved staircase on our way to lock 76 Belombre (0.78m). Two young girls worked the lock. Beyond the lock was a road bridge with a needle weir across the river abutting it. There was an unusual cranked arrangement of paddle gear on the bottom end gates which looked like a brace and bit. Below the lock we ran parallel to the river in a canal section separated from the river by a stone wall which ran all the way to the next lock, 77 Toussac (1.69m). In the garden of a large house there were two old gypsy caravans behind a high wall. A young lad worked the lock for us. There was no house at all by the lock and he had a wooden shed on the lockside (must be dismal on wet days). Noticed that the extra bollards on the lockside looked like they’d been recycled from a ship breakers yard and would have come from a péniche. We moored on a short pontoon in Vaux at 4.35 p.m. We tied to the pontoon and Charley moored alongside us. Mike put the Internet on which came on as 2G until he put the dongle out on the roof in a box and it turned blue for fast speed. 

Wednesday 9th June 2010 Vincelles, bad weather.

Pouring with rain most of the day. Mike made a start on changing the location of the coax for the echo sounder. He fetched it all down out of the roof trunking and I gave him a hand to pull it through the bulkhead into the engine room. Lunch. Back to the coax. Mike drilled a hole through the starboard side bulkhead to fit the coax under the starboard side gunwale. It took ages with a wire to pull a piece of string through attached to the end of the coax, wouldn’t fit. Drilled the hole a bit bigger and it worked OK. Only two more cupboards to get through. Mike did the holes through the kitchen cupboards and the bulkhead at the end of the kitchen units and I cleaned up and put stuff back that he’d moved. He put it through the wardrobe and across the base of the front door and into the cupboard where the echo sounder lives. Connected it up and went to try it. The mooring was too shallow so it came on with E on the screen. Have to wait until we are on the move to try it. 

Tuesday 8th June 2010 Cravant to Vincelles. 4.3kms 2 locks

Cooler, grey and wet. Mike went by car to Champs-sur-Yonne to collect the post. After lunch we set off as the mooring at Cravant wasn’t very good with fast hireboats loosening the mooring pins, noisy frogs and an even noisier road. As we left a man and two women paused to chat. Kiwis with the hireboat that had stopped overnight on the far bank. Mike had been chatting with some of the eight who had flown over from Auckland to hire the boat. The guy on the bike was originally British and had the hotel pair Mabel and Forget-me-Not in the seventies. We caught up with Charley, they’d had to wait while a hireboat went down and the keeper refilled lock 72, Rivottes (2.13m). Mike gave the shy young lady a hand and got back on board down the ladder as I steered the boat (sideways, wind effect) out of the lock. A short distance lead to lock 73, Vincelles (2.10m) and a young woman worked the lock. Not far below the lock was a long new quay at Vincelles where one LeBoat had moored by a large new Dutch Barge called Uit de Maelstrom. As Charley came alongside the quay the woman off the DB told her the moorings were free but charges were made if we wanted water or electricity (we didn’t). Tied up and packed up. The neighbours went to have a look at the village. There used to be a small supermarket but it had closed and there were two boulangeries and a computer shop that was also an Internet café. 

Mike thought about walking the 4.3 kms back to get the car then asked the neighbours if he could borrow a bike so Diana lent him hers. I took photos. Put the laptop on and put the Internet on. Blue!! 3.6 Mbs Whoopeee!! I checked emails then Facebook, etc. Mike was soon back without falling off Diana’s bike once. Mike fetched a loaf, first one that cost less than a Euro from a bakery in a long time, 97c and nice bread too. Later I set up a new blog for 2010 and didn’t like the template I’d used so I changed it and then changed all the colours and settings. I blogged the first month, four days in April, we moved the boat from Champvert to Chatillon. Having done that I did a bit more on Ancestry and found a career criminal who was sentenced in all to over thirteen years in jail by Stafford Court for theft. They sent him to Gillingham in Kent and then Portland in Dorset so I wouldn’t think he had many visitors! 

Monday 7th June 2010 Mailly-la-Ville to Cravant. 9.9 kms 6 locks

Grey clouds, humid, sunny later. Mike went for bread from the van outside the boulangerie which was closed for holidays. I did the last of the ironing. Set off around ten to ten, us in the lead. Mike laid out coax cables to see if the echo sounder would work properly if he changed location of the coax (which is in the roof and being affected by the solar panels) It worked OK. Another job, shift the coax and run it along the wall back of all the furniture!  Out of the seven hireboats and one private boat that stayed in Mailly overnight (besides us) all but two hireboats and the private cruiser called Lara (French) had gone. It was 2 kms to the first lock, 65 Sery (1.45m) which was empty with both bottom end gates open. Diana hopped off to find the keeper. A young man with a little black dog worked the lock for us, with a little help. A short pound, 1 km, to lock 66, St Maur (1.82m) and a very shy young lady worked the lock, again we assisted. A short river section with a long unguarded weir 1.4 kms to 67, Dames (1.85m) where two hire boats had just come up the lock and were coming through the bridge. We went slowly through the low bridge and spotted we’d caught up with a hire boat also going downhill. A young lad was working the lock with no assistance from the hireboat crew. I got off to give a hand. I got there as he was closing the bottom end gates so I lifted a paddle at the top end, he lifted the other one then went in the old house (unoccupied) to radio the next lock that it had traffic coming down. The ladder was at the back end of the lock so Mike wound a paddle and got back on and Diana opened the bottom end gate when the lock was empty. The liftbridge below was one that used to tilt to allow access for tow ropes. 2.3 kms to the next via a river setion, through a flood lock, no 68, at Prégilbert then back on to the canal to lock 69 Ste Pallaye (1.58m). The hire boat in front was waiting above the lock as Patricia, a small Luxe hotel boat was coming up in the lock. I went to give the young lad a hand with the lock. Another hire boat came up, crewed by elderly German men from Munich. I helped work the lock and advised the guys on the hireboat that if they were on their own in a lock they needn’t go up to the top end gates, they could stay at the back where it’s calmer. As they left they gave me 40c tip for working the lock! I’m not the keeper – the lad is and I handed him the tip! Chatted with the lad about British canals as he’d heard me tell the Germans that there were no lock keepers in the UK. It was just midday as we left the lock. The layby below the lock looked weedy so we passed on that and went to moor above the next, lock 70 St Aignan (1.71m). A small hireboat was attached to the only bollard so we moored behind him tied to a mooring pin with our centre rope and Charley came alongside. Lunch. I got off and went to help the keeper refill the lock. Charley went in first, Mike shut the top end gate and Diana did the honours with the bottom end as they had the ladder. Past the canal d’Accolay which leads to Vermenton and after a very short river section with a weir to the right of the lock we were at lock 71 Maunoir (1.34m). The keeper, a man in his thirties, had kept the hire boat waiting and insisted that Charley went down with it. 

Mike had heard the previous keeper was on VHF and found him on channel 10 so he told him we were travelling together but he still insisted. We waited above while he refilled the lock. Sat at the bottom end and while we waited for the hireboat I made a cuppa. The hireboat crew tied both ropes to the bollards wrapping the rope round and round. Fortunately they saw that wasn’t a very good thing to do and unwrapped them before the lock emptied. Mike said he wouldn’t help the keeper but he relented and did. I shoved over to the left hand wall where the ladder was to pick him up. Charley had carried on down to the basin at Cravant where we planned to stay for the next two wet days (according to the Météo and Nick’s weather station). The mooring was not very good. A hireboat was tied next to rocks, three old pontoon hireboats full of kids were tied in the corner (they left shortly afterwards) and Charley had a very short bit of high wall. We sat alongside while we pondered what to do. The hireboat we’d locked with tried mooring at the bottom end of the basin and we could hear it clobbering the rocks. We decided to moor by the towpath opposite the basin and wriggled in between rocks on the bottom along the edge. It was hot as we knocked pins in along the piling. Gave Mike a hand to unload the bike. He went to get the car and run back to Coulanges to get some capacitors from Delta Ohm – they didn’t sell components! I set the TV up. Charley came over to moor behind us, stern to stern again. Put the laptop on and tried the Internet. To my great surprise it was blue! 3.6Mbps! Wow! The phone was back on too! Hello, we must be back in civilisation!! I even had an hour on Ancestry – the first since 15^th May. 

Sunday 6th June 2010 Mailly-la-Ville.

Sunny morning after rain in the night, cloudy afternoon with showers. More chores. Stored stuff under the bed - our winter boots and a radio transceiver that needs repairing. Mike had a look down the hole in the floorboards to check for bilge water, no water but there was a load of flaky rust! Sounds like we need to do a major job getting floorboards up and repainting the bottom plates. A big job. Decided the whole bedroom needed doing. A very big job. Mike refilled the water tank and investigated what needed doing to repair another Handy Mains inverter which had failed. Two capacitors had exploded (one had just the empty casing left) when a diode failed. Shopping list for Delta Ohm back at Coulanges when he next moves the car.

Saturday 5th June 2010 Mailly-la-Ville.

Hotter and sunny, clouds appearing mid afternoon. Had the day off doing chores and catching up on jobs. Started painting the new covers for the solar system (in case there is a chance the panels could get damaged, i.e. big hail stones)

Friday 4th June 2010 Mailly-le-Château to Mailly-la-Ville. 3.5 kms 2 locks

Cool start, hot and sunny all day. Poles in and planks, ropes and pins. Set off, first for a change, at ten a.m. Charley following us. We were the last two boats to leave the basin, the two before us also went in the same direction, a British cruiser and a Locaboat with British crew set off fifteen minutes before us and were just leaving lock 62 Parc (2.13m) as we arrived. Mike backed to the bank, sloping rocks and sloping grass, and said jump off to give the keeper a hand. No way was I doing that again, my leg still hurts from the pulled tendon last time, so he fetched the short light plank and I walked the plank.

 The keeper was a large man n his sixties, puffing and huffing a bit as he wound the gate shut after the downhill boats had left. I closed the other gate, he indicated the paddle was already closed (ie he hadn’t opened it) and he opened the top end two paddles then went in the office on the end of an empty lock house to tell the next keeper we were coming down. I said it was warm again and he said yes, getting a lot hotter later. Busy? Yes, twenty seven boats through yesterday, ten lockfuls before lunch. He didn’t seem too happy about that. Mike brought the boat in and I put the rope on the nearest bollard which was in the wrong place and wouldn’t stop the boat from hitting the gates. I did a quick reverse to stop it and Mike chucked the rope back on the roof. He wound a paddle (it was a bit wonky and the keeper said put the ratchet on it – he said the same when I wound the top end one down and it also had a broken tooth on the cog) and opened the gate when the lock was empty. He couldn’t get the keeper to say much. Mike got back on down the ladder and we set off on a short river section keeping to the towpath side as indicated on the charts. We passed a lone fisherman, just missing the end of his rod. Back on to the canal again, 2.6 kms altogether to lock 63, Mailly-la-Ville (1.45m). An uphill private pénichette called Daeae Icunae (French flagged but probably Britsh crewed with a name like that) went past leaving the lock ready for us. The keeper was a young man and much more cheerful than the previous one. Mike did the paddles/gates and got back on down the ladder. We had our choice of places on the pontoons, one hireboat moored at the lower end of the downstream pontoon left as we tied up. A council workman was repairing the decking on the pontoon and indicated to us to go and moor on the other pontoon. I asked how long he would be, an hour and a half, that’s OK we’ll moor here – he was only adding new screws to keep the old wooden sheets in place. Mike spotted that the fasteners he was using in a powered tool had a short section of drill so there was no need to pre-drill a hole just bang ‘em straight in. Charley turned round so we were stern to stern and his stern was protected from landing bumper boats. It was 11.00 a.m. When the guy packed up work and went off to his lunch we ran the electric cables out, flinging them over the shrubs to keep them from trailing in the water as the box was up on the bank not on the pontoon. 10 Amps. I put some washing on and got on with the chores. We’d only come 3.5 kms so Mike walked back to get the car. He was back just after one p.m. as a Loca and a LeBoat came down the lock. The Loca had tied up in the lock for lunch. He said he’d gone up the towpath then scaled the railway bridge (a train had just gone past) expecting there to be a path that joined with the wide farm track we drove down to get to the basin, but there was no path! Not so many hireboats about today, the old guy at Parc lock must have just had a bad day the day before. 

Thursday 3rd June 2010 Mailly-le-Château

Sunny and getting warmer, breeze still chilly. Got up late feeling extremely fed up. Did a few chores then after lunch then we went out in the car to test the new Internet dongle. We tried several places, up in the village of Mailly-le-Château and then Mailly-la-Ville, it wouldn’t work in either. Tried again in Lucy-sur-Yonne,  just out of the village (put the chip in the phone and there were two bars on Bouygues) and it started up but wouldn’t open any pages on the net. Drove to Coulanges and Mike went in the Post Office and sent the old one back in a prepaid envelope (do it within 15 days they said or pay 45€!) then drove into Clamecy where we knew we could get 3G+. Parked by Aldi in the shade and checked banks and emails. Back home via the scenic route, quiet except for following the school bus slowly through two or three villages. Mike went to ask if the neighbours fancied a BBQ. Nope, too much fluff off the trees and lots of insects – as an iridescent ground beetle crawled over my feet. Mike spotted a very unusual looking fish basking in the shallow corner by the back ends of the boats. He took some photos and we were convinced it was not a native species. Pity we have no Internet to try to identify it. ANY IDEAS????

Wednesday 2nd June 2010 Chatel-Censoir to Mailly-le-Château 9kms 4 locks

Damp after overnight rain. The parking along the basin was full so Mike couldn’t move the car from by the LeBoat workshops. Set off at 9.30 a.m. following Charley into lock 57 Chatel-Censoir (1.58m). The resident keeper, a man in his thirties, had a helper so no extra lock workers were needed. We took a photo of the little fibreglass topped narrowboat called Otter, moored in the corner of the hireboat basin, to compare later with old photos of Bob and Jean’s boat Fleur de Sègre as it looked very much like it. 

Down the shallow lock and on to a 2kms canal pound to lock 58 Magny (0.94m). An old wooden cruiser called Miss Lilly registered in Nice was moored before the first bridge in Chatel. The next lock was ready for us, a lady keeper (in her sixties) whose husband was cutting up bits of steel with a grinder in his garage, worked the lock for us. I made a cuppa on the next pound, another 2 kms to lock 59 Rèchimet (2.50m). Another resident keeper, a man in his thirties, worked the lock. The first river section lead past the Rochers de Saussois, vertical chalky cliffs. 

Three old hire boats, big square pontoons, full of kids were moored against the rocky bank. The kids (ten to each boat according to Diana) came riding back up the cycle path on their bikes, waving and shouting hello in English. Took photos of climbers on the rocks. Back on to the canal via a stone lined narrow channel. A short distance to lock 60, Ravéreau (2.12m) The lock wasn’t ready so Diana jumped ship to open a gate. An older large bloke, followed closely by a Bernese dog, worked the lock. The old lock house was derelict so he had a nice cabin on the lockside. Back on to a river section. Beyond the road there were more rocks and climbers. Through flood gates and we were back on the canal again. 

The bridge by the flood gates had a “W” in the middle of it and we remembered hotel boats which used to come here in summer had to take their steering wheels off to get under it. On the other side it was marked as being 3.45m, but it’s river level so that can vary! Round the bend, with lovely views of Mailly on its cliffs, and into the basin. A France Afloat was moored in the middle parallel to the canal so Nick moored at the downstream end and we tried mooring along the bank – it was too shallow the edge was full of rocks, as were the edges all around the basin. Charley moved round, we took the end and they went along the edge by the Burgundy cruisers’ boat. Sank tyres and pulled in on to them then put a plank out. Had some lunch. Gave Mike a hand to get the fizzer down the plank then we put the quant poles out as passing hireboats (more and more of them) were rocking the boat on to the stones. Mike fetched the car. He was soon back. No phone signal (except FRA 02) and no Internet either. What a place! Bike back on the roof and we went by car to Auxerre to collect the new dongle from Bouygues. Then we went to Cora in Montereau to the north of Auxerre via the N6 for some shopping. Piled it  in the motor and went home. We had been joined by several hireboats in the basin, another was just landing, a couple were moored on the main canal and not long after we’d hauled the shopping up the plank John Lilley’s hotel boat Luciole went past very slowly heading up the canal (the one that takes its steering wheel off!). The first hotel boat of the season. 

Tuesday 1st June 2010 Chatel-Censoir Day off

Grey, cool start getting warmer but no sunshine. Mike went into town for a loaf (they only had baguettes at tourist prices 90c each) and to the post office, which was an agency in the Mairie and they hadn’t the facilities to do the required tasks. While I was making a sandwich for lunch he did the monthly checks on our new batteries for the first time. After lunch we went out in the car to Clamecy, sat on Leclerc’s car park to use the Internet (on blue for fast speed 3.6Mb/sec) to check emails and various odds and ends. We had a drive along the canal to look at moorings at Rochers de Saussois (a short pontoon 20m) near Merry-sur-Yonne, a basin with grassy banks at Mailly-le-Château and two pontoons with water and electricity at Mailly-La-Ville. Back home, noting that there had been a sudden explosion of hire boats and they were everywhere, at least one in each lock and several en route between them! When we got back Mike found Nick had a new job – translating for the guy at the hirebase when non-French speaking English clients rang up. One was complaining of not having any electricity at Tannay. Not surprising as it’s all disconnected when there are no staff there - they are only there for boat turn round times. Mike and Nick had a look at one of their hireboats, it had a 90 bhp 5 cylinder Nanni diesel with British modifications – twice the power of our boat engine – and they charge 5,000€ a week for the hire of a 6 berth! Ouch! 

Sunday 23rd May 2010 Marigny to Monceau-le-Comte. 5.6kms 3 locks 2 liftbrs

Moving for 9.15 a.m. following Charlie. Diana wound the first liftbridge and we arrived at the lock smack on 9.30 a.m. as our young man from the day before arrived in his VNF van (a new one this morning not the one with a taped up broken side window) and he refilled lock 32, Mortes, (2.58m). Diana got off and opened a top end gate for him. Mike closed the gate behind us and Diana opened a bottom end gate once the lock was empty as they had the ladder next to Charlie. Followed through the railway bridge and Diana got off to wind the next liftbridge, another Llangollen styled structure but metal with a wooden deck, and we went through to be in front so we could work the next bridge. It was a long pound 2.5 kms so I made a cuppa. Lock 33, Mont, (2.62m) was ready for us as there were two keepers there, ours and one that was with two LeBoat hireboats who were waiting below. Our services as lock keepers were not needed so we all stayed on board. One group of hirers was American the others foreign. A short pound lead to lock 34, Dirol, (2.60m) which was ready as the two hireboats had just come uphill. Nick closed the gate behind Charlie and Mike stayed off to wind a paddle, open and close a gate and chat with the keeper, who today was much more affable and seemed really interested in UK canals! Booked to do another short hop the next day starting at ten and he said it wouldn’t be him. Two more liftbridges to do according to our map and notes we did last time. We were in front ready for me to get off and wind. The first one, a wooden one, we had noted as being so well counter-balanced that it lifted itself when the catch was taken off. It had been dismantled and had no deck or beams, just the uprights were left. The next one was a metal one, my turn to wind. There was a very small, very new pontoon to get off on (but perversely nothing on the other side of the bridge) so I got off and wound the bridge up. 

Mike tried putting the new bow fender against the wall and leaning on it with the boat to try and shape it round the stem post. It didn’t succeed; as we guessed the centre of the fender was a rubber tyre which wouldn’t be shaped. Both boats through, I wound the thing down again – a long wind. Charlie had gone to the Dirol village side of the pound to investigate two bollards and a grey box, maybe electricity. I walked round, the box was locked and padlocked. Decided to move on to the mooring around the corner. I walked back over the bridge and found the path was a farm track but looked OK. It was very rough and went through a double avenue of trees which housed a rookery. There was bird lime and feathers everywhere and lots of dead birds, mainly just their wings. The boats were in the layby and Mike was tying up behind Charlie when I got there. At the side of the mooring was a wood yard with stored tree trunks being watered by lots of ticking sprays. The cooling mist of water blew our way and was quite refreshing. Moved in front of Charlie as our boat was on the bottom. It was just after eleven a.m. Rolled the blinds down on the sunny side and made some lunch. Hireboats moored in front and behind us over lunchtime. Mike lifted the solar panels to get the most of the sunshine, it lifted the charge from 8.2A to over 9A. Mike couldn’t get the Internet to work again, I said I didn’t hold much hope as we were in hillbilly country again and miles from a main road until we get to Clamecy. 

Saturday 22nd May 2010 Chitry-les-Mines to Marigny 2.66kms 3 locks 1 liftbr

Up at eight and moving for 9.30 a.m. as we’d booked the next lock for ten. Past a campsite on the left bank, full of Dutch cars with tents and campervans. We followed Charlie as they’d set off while we were untying, Diana had opened the Llangollen style liftbridge so we went through. A small new replica Dutch Barge had gone past around 8.30 a.m. and the skipper was chatting with Nick and Diana as he’d come up on his bike to find a keeper as was still waiting above the lock, 29 Chitry (2.61m) which he’d booked for 9.00 a.m. We moored behind Delisa, a modern tjalk, and waited until the skipper returned on his bike. He hadn’t seen anyone. A few minutes later a youngish bloke in VNF van arrived and started to work the lock, he let the French DB through and I walked down to give him a hand. He said he was all alone and that I’d have to give him a hand, no problem – that’s why I’d walked down! The little tjalk dropped down ropeless. I opened the bottom end gate and dropped the paddle, closed it again and went up to the top and opened a top end gate, towpath side, as he had pointed out the bollards were on that side. Boats in and Mike closed the gate as I was sorting the rope round a bollard, which was a bit too far back even for the centre roof rope. Another man in a van came past and went on to work the French replica tjalk through lock lock 30, Marigny (2.67m). 

Our young man had another helper, so Diana got back on board and we motored down to lock 30. After a short wait while two keepers refilled it we ran into the chamber (Diana opened the towpath side gate and Mike closed it) and dropped down lock 30. We could see a larger DB coming into lock 29 as we went down into 30 and Mike thought he could see another behind it. Down to lock 31 Gravier (2.63m) and our keeper had another helper so we were all superfluous. Booked the next lock for 9.30 a.m. on Sunday as we told him we were staying at Marigny. We moored on the towpath side opposite two Moissac blue monsters (big heavy steel hire boats built by Burgundy Cruisers) as this was their turn round base. It was 11.10 a.m.  A Dutch couple on bikes stopped to chat and asked the usual questions as were tying up. Shortly after the boats that were following us, a private Dutch Barge (a new tjalk) and a small Locaboat, came past. A LeBoat arrived, heading uphill, and moored behind us over lunchtime. Got organised and had some lunch. After lunch Mike tried the Internet, it wouldn’t work on his PC but it did on my laptop! (Later it crashed and completely refused to restart) Just after two o’clock another LeBoat came past heading downhill.

Friday 21st May 2010 Chitry-les-Mines. Day off.

3.0°C overnight. Warm and sunny, still a chilly breeze. After lunch we went shopping in Corbigny at Atac (Auchan’s smaller version). Bought our groceries and then tried the Internet on the laptop while we were on the supermarket car park It worked OK and we answered a few emails before heading back to the boat to unload the groceries. Mike went back up the hill to put the Internet on again. When he came back he made a superb corned beef hash for dinner. 

Thursday 20th May 2010 Sardy to Chitry-les-Mines. 7.54 kms 12 locks

The hireboat moored behind us made a lot of noise for the three quarters of an hour before he moved off downhill. The two up by the lock did semi pirouettes before they actually got in the chamber, lock 17 Champ du Chêne (2.59m), well after nine. The keepers managed to get it refilled ready for us smack on 9.30 a.m. We went in first and Charlie behind us. The guy we’d seen the day before who collected fossils and lived at lock 6, Planche du Belin, had come down on his bike to work the locks for us. He was silent as he worked the lock. Diana stayed on the lockside to open the right hand side gate as there was a ladder by Charlie for her to get back on board. A short pound took us to lock 18 Creuzet (2.56m). The same keeper came down to work the locks (in fact he did all the locks for us) on his yellow bike. Diana did the honours again with the gate. A slightly longer pound to lock 19 Petit Corvée (2.59m). The previous keeper was refilling locks for ours. Mike’s turn to stay off and open a gate as the ladder was our side. It took ages to empty as we had lots of water coming in over the top end gates. The old guy pushed the mitres apart from the middle of the gates while Mike leaned hard on the winding handle on his side to get the gates to part and start opening. Mike came down the stone steps below the lock and got tangled in brambles. Another longish pound to lock 20, Bois des Taureaux (2.49m), where there was a new extension to the quarry and another noisy, dusty stone crushing plant. Mike stepped off to close the top end gate, wound a bottom end paddle too, when the lock was empty he opened the bottom end gate and got back on board down the ladder. Another shorter pound to 21, Picampoix (2,50m), where there were some interesting lever paddles like Salter Hebble in the UK north. 

Mike took photos. The lock was right next to the quarry, which was very noisy and dusty. Mike did the honours again with gates and paddles and got back on down the ladder. I had to take the mast off for the arched road bridge below lock 21 as it was a low one. Short pound to 22, Surpaillis (2.53m), with rows of railway wagons filled with stone ballast alongside the canal. We were catching up with the hire boats in front. Had a short wait while the keepers refilled lock 22 for us. The ladder this time was at Charlie’s end of the lock so Mike wound a gate shut and opened a paddle then got back on board, Diana opened the gate – one with decorative wooden balance beams that opened using the usual rack and capstan with a winding handle. Half a kilometre to lock 23, Pré Colas (2.57m), and the hireboats were just leaving and one was about to come uphill. A small cruiser belonging to Aquafluvial. There were two scooters and a bike with three VNF keepers on the lockside. A VNF team of men with three vans was busily filling holes in the towpath/cycle piste. We had another short wait while lock 23 was refilled. One of the scooter guys wound the top end gate shut for our keeper so Mike wound a bottom end paddle up then got back on the boat, Diana had the ladder so she opened the bottom end gate. Another short pound to lock 24, Yonne (2.91m). As we dropped down the chamber, Mike arranged with our keeper to pause for lunch above lock 25 for lunch. The ladder was our end of the lock so Mike did the usual then climbed back aboard. The VNF workshop and office in the old lock house was busy as it was nearing lunchtime. It was 11.45 a.m. Locaboat’s hire base at La Grange had five boats sitting idle on their pontoons and a permanently moored (abandoned?) little Luxe style replica DB called Libertas slowly rusting (a licence with 88 on it was in the wheelhouse). The old unconverted péniche called General Leclerc was still moored by the old lock on to the Yonne, its wheelhouse curtains made it look still lived in. We could see the bows of an old Klipper coming through the bridge halfway down the narrow cutting leading to the next lock so we stopped until it cleared. The slowest Dutchman ever was a Dutch Barge (for sale) still with masts and rigging being steered by a pompous elderly Dutchman who wanted to be where Charlie was. He kept coming halfway along his gunnels to mime when he wanted to go and Diana also mimed it was shallow. Charlie reversed out of his way as he bulldozed his way to the bank. Two hire boats that had been following the Dutch Barge took the opportunity to nip past it as it faffed about in the shallow pound. It was just midday as we slid into the cutting and ran down to the lock with sandpipers flying in front of the boat. The two hireboats that we’d let go first that morning were moored on the stumps on the right bank by the lock, which was full with one gate open. As we prepared to moor on the left hand bank a chap in a gold car stopped alongside and told Mike to go into the lock for lunch. Mike said what about the hire boats – he said oh ignore them! As Mike went past the first hire boat the steerer of the one in front of it started screaming abuse, then started his engine up, untied and put the plastic cruiser diagonally across the lock mouth!! Me first, eh? Mike told him the lock keeper had told him to go into the lock and the steerer shouted back that he wasn’t the lock keeper! I was making lunch and didn’t take too much notice of all the shouting. Charlie had tied on the left bank so we reversed and Nick said come alongside, which we did. What a performance! At one o’clock the two French crewed hireboats went down the lock. Our fossil collector had come back on his motorcycle and he had reinforcements in the shape of another VNF man in a van. At 1.20 p.m. the lock was ready for us so we sailed in as usual. Locks 25/26 Eugny were a staircase two-rise with a drop of 4.30m. Mike gave a hand with the gates. A short pound to lock 27, Marcy (2.61m) and the two guys worked the lock for us. A longer pound of 1,070 km lead to lock 38, Chaumot (2.54m) our last for the day. Mike arranged for us to moor at Chitry until Saturday then we would move at ten. Said our au’voirs and mercis to the two old guys and we motored down the short distance to the basin at Chitry-les-Mines. 

Nick stayed on the quay before the basin but we didn’t need water or electric so we went to the top end of the basin (next to our car and two camper vans) and moored parallel to the canal. On the other wall with stumps and electric posts was a large replica Dutch Barge called Highersynth Bookay. The chap who runs the shop/moorings and lives on two narrowboats moored on the corner came over to ask if we were the same narrowboat Temujin that was boating with Bill and Rosy. T’other way round mate, he came boating with us! We had a short chat as we tied up. Mike wanted to find the VNF main offices in Corbigny so we went in the car to find it. We spotted one of our lock keepers filling his van with diesel. Went in the offices and a lady came out to speak to us. She didn’t know about flags and went into another office. Seconds later a smiling younger lady (Madame Goudron perhaps, who I ‘phoned last Autumn and she helped organise our winter moorings? Mike didn’t ask) came out with a new flag! Great, a sparkly new VNF flag! Showed her our old one that had been shredded by the Mistral wind in the south and said when we used the new online service to get our licence there was no way to get a new flag! She asked to see our licence which Mike had brought with us and she handed over our new drapeau. We thanked both ladies and set off back home. Mike immediately put the flag on the mast. He went to check with Nick when we were going to have a meal at the café as he had recommended it. 7.00 p.m. and we were having steak and chips. We set up the TV then I checked he Internet, nothing again. At seven we went to see Nick and Diana and we sat out under the tents to have our steak and chips. The guy off the Peter Nicholls’ barge, Highersynth Bookay, came over for a chat. He and his wife (from Chicago) were also dining al fresco. We had a couple of bottles of rosé and chatted until it turned cold as the sun dropped behind the trees. We went on Charlie for a natter and more pink wine.