Saturday 3rd July 2010 Nogent Weekend off – thunderstorms forecast.

19.7°C minimum overnight - very hot and sticky. Overcast morning with light showers so it was cooler, but back to sunny and hot after lunch. We moved the boat over to the far side of the weir stream among the weed to get the satellite and watch the Corrie omnibus. The neighbours lent a hand to untie and let us out. There were only two episodes that we’d missed! Back to moor on the outside of Charley before lunch.

Friday 2nd July 2010 Bray-sur-Seine to Nogent-sur-Seine. 25.3 kms 4 locks

Very hot and sunny. Mike went for bread first thing. An empty 80m tanker called Elton went upstream as we were getting ready to set off at 9.40 a.m. Untied, winded and followed Charley upriver at five to ten. We had a short wait while the keeper emptied Jaulnes lock 9 (1.27m) as the commercial was steaming off into the distance round the first bend above the lock. The lock cabin and walkways had been trimmed with horizontal slats of wood. 6 kms of meandering river to the next lock. We kept drinking lots of water as we were very hot even with a light breeze and the canopy up. Both banks of the river were lined with wooden chalets, some small - others palatial, as we went past the hidden village of Neuvry, as far as the big left bend where a conveyor bridge took aggregates from a depot on the right bank creating lots of dust. Among the chalets one had a medium sized cruiser moored (which was for sale) named Foreign Affair from Falmouth. 

The cars parked by the wooden house were all Paris registered. A lady who had forgotten to put on the top of her bright red bikini came out of the house and went into the underground garage. First topless female of the year. Upstream of the conveyor bridge we met a tug and pan coming downriver. Little 15m tug Pacifique was pushing a big square pan (named Esturgeon) loaded with gravel. Around a dozen ten year olds were splashing in the river edge and screeching as they kicked water at one another at  the little beach in front of a playground at Gisly-sur-Seine. A lone male adult kept watch. The next lock, Vezoult 8 (1.16m) was another new one and ready for us with gates open so we sailed in. 

Below the lock on the lock waiting area a loaded péniche pusher pair were moored, Stewen and Syldo, ready to set off downriver but no one on board. One sloping wall of the old lock remained on the left with its lock house. We moored either side of the lock at the back. The young man who pressed the buttons leaned out of his window to bid us au ‘voir as we left. A couple of gently winding bends took us to lock 7 Villiers-sur-Seine. It was 12.35 p.m. so we assumed they were having lunch and moored to the shady side in front of Charley. We’d just started eating when the keeper appeared. It was 12.50 p.m. We yo-yo’d back and forth on our single rope as we rose 2.53m. The lock lead on to a new canal section which bypassed the tortuous bands of the river. 

I was getting too much sun sitting on the stern (Mike had the shady side) so I retreated into the cabin and put a 12v fan on. Lock 6 Melz (1.37m) was ready for us (same keeper from 7, drove up in his van). We went either side at the rear end of the chamber. The keeper came to chat and give us a tourist leaflet for Nogent, advertising the new mooring and its facilities. He asked if we had Internet as he had a blog – www.lockkipper.skyrock.com/blog - so I gave him my card and wrote our blog address on it. He asked if we minded if he put pictures of our boat on his blog, which was all about his bit of the river. Through the open flood lock at the end of the canal section and back on to the river which had been straightened. On our left a tankership, 65m Bilitis, was loading at a new fuel depot. On into Nogent past Deo-Date loading grain and Arsene waiting. Two large container-moving  forklift trucks were moving Chinese containers on the quay. A pair of 45m pushers, Lamisere and My Boat were loaded and ready to leave. The quay upstream said it was “submersible” and keep 1.5m away from it – it was empty although it had the regulation blue P for parking signs, as was the original old stone quay by the car park downstream of the mill and weir. We followed Charley into the left hand branch of the river around Ile Olive and into our last lock, 4 Nogent. As no commercials come this far upriver it hadn’t been modernised although it had vertical walls. Two young men worked the manual lock, taking our ropes in the deep chamber (2.92m), winding capstans to close the gates then opening the paddles using railway signal box type levers. The lock was wider than standard Freycinet (which are 38m long x 5,20m wide) as we had plenty of room to stay side by side at the rear end of the chamber. One of the lads gave us the ‘phone number to ring to go back down. Moored in the weir stream behind La Chouette (a little tjalk was moored upstream of the quay under the trees, kids swimming in the river) and Bob came out to take a rope. Charley moored alongside and Mike connected up to the electricity box after Bob opened it for them with his key. Keys were available from the campsite upriver for a returnable deposit. Very hot. Much too hot to cook so I made a salad for dinner with some wild Alaskan salmon (out of a tin). No TV, either satellite or terrestrial French TV. 

Thursday 1st July 2010 Bray-sur-Seine. Day off

Very hot and sunny, clouding over by late evening. Untied to move off at nine. Nick and Diana weren’t moving. They said their weather station said today was going to be the hottest and they would stay put with their air conditioning on. We moved alongside Charley and had a chat. Decided to stay too and moved on to the pontoon. Very hot so we had our ventilator fans running all day. Lunch. Mike went for a nap and I checked emails and did some blogging – amazed that the Internet on EDGE uploaded pictures on to the blog at a reasonable speed. We went out in the car to have a look at the situation in Nogent. We went via the fast route, D411, and found our way through the one way streets to the river. La Chouette was moored on the new quay in the weir stream. No road, just a footpath so we parked and Mike took a walk while I stayed in the car with all the doors and windows open. There were two cruisers moored further towards the mill on the sloping stone banks but they looked permanent. Bob gave Mike some VNF phone numbers. He said they’d been weed cutting on the canal up to Marcilly and that had just finished but the repairs to the lift bridge at Pont-sur-Seine were ongoing. Back via the scenic route to the north of the river through Hermé, Le Port Montain and Gisly back to Bray. Too hot to move!

Yr. 18 Day 45 Wednesday 30th June 2010 Bray-sur-Seine Day off

A bit cooler overnight, but back to really hot and sunny all day. La Chouette left around ten. A large Winnebago had parked at the top of the bank by our car. Mike went a walk to get a loaf and passed two boulangeries that looked permanently closed before he found one that was open. I gave Mike a hand while he trimmed the bottom edge of the front seat’s front panel, then he put some paint on the cut edge and the primered section he had removed the rust from under the front edge of the seat. After lunch we went out in the car. First to have a look to see if we could find a mooring on the river at La Port Montain where we stopped last time (1994) on the way upriver. They had altered the course of the river to straighten it and now the little quay was behind a row of red channel markers and it looked shallow. Also it was next to the ski nautique’s slip, so they must use it. No boats were there, just a notice and a ski zone board. Had a quick look around Villiers-sur-Seine to see if there was a quay by the bridge on the section of river now bypassed by a large canal. Nothing, nor anything by the next bend where the road is alongside the river. Gave up and went back into Bray. The neighbours decided to move upon to the pontoon as they had done some washing and needed water.

Tuesday 29th June 2010 Marolles to Bray-sur-Seine. 16.8 kms 1 lock

18.0°C outside overnight minimum. Really hot and sticky overnight. Grey overcast all morning so it was a bit cooler until lunchtime when the sun came out to scorch us again. Nick and Diana went shopping in Marolles and brought Mike a loaf back. We set off at 10.15 a.m. after Mike had a struggle to get a mooring pin out of a rotten tree stump, it gave up in the end and we got our stake back. Utopia-XL (45m boat, possibly) came slowly downriver, which made a nice change as most seem to be going as fast as they dare. N.D.L.II (péniche) was being unloaded by JCB and they were tipping dredgings on to the bank. The crew waved. Mike said we’d seen them pass on the Yonne. Olse, a loaded péniche went past heading downriver. At KP59 we passed a gravel loading site where a 700 tonner called Viator was being loaded and a 958 tonne pan called Blageon was also being loaded while its partner Apron was moored on the opposite bank waiting to be loaded. 

As we wondered where the tug was a chopped big barge (just the stern end and wheelhouse) called Megeve came downriver. I went in to vacuum the carpet while it was still cool (still sweated buckets doing it!) and Suzy (47.5m x 5.3m, 445 tonnes), an empty barge with a lady steerer overtook us. Mike called me to take photos of the derelict end of the old canal section. At the pont de Roselle, Emile V from Cercy-la-Tour (we think not!! Max size on the Nivernais at that point is 38m) a 1,000 tonne+ empty tanker barge went past heading downriver. Noted the gravel pits which were still in use and marked off the ones which were now closed down. Loaded péniche Serna came downriver having just left the lock, La Grand Bosse (2.78m), we hung back and waited for an 80m empty tanker called Irina (also from Cercy, but had never been there) to pass us and go into the lock, its skipper calling us to follow him into the chamber. Must be a sister boat to Emile V, Irina’s dimensions were 80m long by 9.5m wide 1,475 tonnes. Charley took the right side and we went left, plenty of room in the chamber, which was 180m long, but we stayed on the first bollards after the gates. We were right below the keeper’s cabin and his window was open so he probably heard me going yuk when I put my rope on his disgustingly muddy bollards. Noticed the tanker didn’t put a rope off and went right up the top end. 

The incoming water made fountains in front of his bows. The keeper wished us bon appetit as we left, but wouldn’t answer Nick when he called him on VHF. Strange. Followed Irina round the first of the big bends and then saw no more of him. No more straightening of the river channel had taken place although our guide showed a proposed route when the guide was published in 1990. Passed some lovely wooden chalets on the right before Vieux Mouy, then a big bank of water lilies on the apex of the bend and several startled moorhens racing across them at top speed. At Vieux Mouy there was an old silo quay then a new silo with mooring steigers for big boats where they were already unloading grain from lorries – the first of this year’s harvest. 

As we went into Bray a loaded pusher pair of péniches, Verijp and Lypver came downstream and Irina was just setting off from the car park quay. Nick went to have a look at the pontoon. It was still full of boats. We winded and moored next to another old silo quay by a factory making breeze blocks which had a most unusual spiral loader. The quay had some nasty dents where big chunks of concrete were missing – looked like the big boats had been winding by resting their bows on the low quay, obviously sometimes not too gently! Nick went to the downstream end of the quay as he was worried in case anyone could get at his solar panels from off the silo loading gantry area. Mike took photos so I packed all the gear away and made lunch. He came back after having had a look inside the old silo which was full of pigeons. I told him to have a good wash, pigeons are rats with wings! After lunch I gave Mike a hand to unload the bike off the roof and he went to collect the car from Cannes-Ecluses. 

Monday 28th June 2010 Cannes-Ecluses to Marolles-sur-Seine. 12 kms 2 locks

A hot sticky night. Hot and sunny, clear skies until late evening when the clouds built up. Set off 9.45 a.m. Mike undid all the ropes and started the engine – I thought we were going at ten. Followed Charley down to the last lock on the Yonne, 17 Cannes-Ecluses (2.32m) which was full with gates open. Both sides were sloping and there was no pontoon, so we put a rope on a bollard and fended off the slope with boat shafts. Ten minutes later we were on our way downriver following Charley. Just below the lock a fisherman using a spinner was fishing right by the Pêche Interdite - No Fishing - sign. Bayard (85m x 9.5m 1705 tonnes) was loading at the grain silo. Just beyond that was a slipway and a small scrapyard where they were breaking up old boats. Nick decided to have a look in the old gravel pit on the right hand bank as he’d seen the anchored yachts and said he hadn’t seen them last time he was there. We’d got it noted in our book from ’94 as being a small yacht club. 

The water was deep, 5m, with some very long weeds reaching to the surface. In the corner were a couple of small Dutch Barges moored at anchor and a man was working on a small Dutch tug, then a row of anchored yachts and a small pontoon with moored yachts and dinghies. We exited and carried on down to Montereau. Tied next to Charley on the long pontoon between a wrecked yacht (see photo, local kids were playing on it) and two permanent moored boats. Filled our water tanks and Diana did some washing. I did ironing and then made lunch. Nick had been exploring and spotted a fancy new Capitanerie, a notice on the door said they were closed Mondays and gave an address to go to to pay mooring fees of 16€ per night for boats over 12m! So it’s not a free Port Autonome de Paris mooring now. After lunch at 1.30 p.m. we wandered on our way (we weren’t stopping anyway, but certainly not at that price - and with a load of small lads playing on the wrecked yacht) We carried on downriver a bit on the Seine to check what other moorings there were available. Lots of moored boats, houseboats and péniches plus a few plaisance. Not much room but a space on the end next to a vertical wall might be OK when we come back. Winded to go upriver as Loyau, a loaded péniche came down the Seine. Ten minutes later a group of three went past, all loaded and the big boats were sweeping down the gunnels as if they’d only just loaded. Péniche Ariane, followed by 60m boats Vrizy and Beluga. A little further on Mackenzie from Poses (last lock on the Seine) was being unloaded with a JCB and just upstream of that pusher Vitava and Praha were being loaded with gravel from a conveyor. Next boat down was a loaded péniche called Pen-Duic from St Mammés. We had a short wait (nowhere to tie up, so we hovered mid river) below lock 13 Marolles (2.78m) while 60m loaded barge Sitalise 

(painted an eye-wateringly bright orange, yellow and green) came down the lock. A sign on the end of the lock said pleasure boats must not go forward of the halfway point of the lock. The lock cabin, atop a flight of steps, was halfway down the lock. We took the second set of bollards recessed into the wall and Charley came in behind us. Used both ends of the rope to go up the wall, looping the end on to the higher bollard before the lower one was level with the roof. A keeper came down to take SSR numbers and asked where we were going – just above the lock. Empty Dutch boat Unicum, 50m x 5.07m 450 tonnes, was waiting on the wall above to come down, he went in as we left. There was a long, long line of houseboats and péniches moored above the lock on the right. We carried on beyond the last couple of old cruisers and tied to some piled bank at 3.15 p.m. as several loaded boats went past heading for the lock. We bounced about a while from the wash of one that didn’t slow off. Tied to stumps of old trees. Couldn’t get the satellite to work – too many trees - no Corrie!! Hot and very sticky. Loads of commercial traffic passing until beyond closing time. Four arrived and moored on the opposite bank on the lock approach. 

Sunday 27th June 2010 Cannes-Ecluses. Day off

Hot and very sticky. Sunny. Mike went a walk into Cannes for bread then made a start on the front deck. I got on with chores while it was cooler. Ran the Markon to do some washing while Mike used power tools to remove the rust under the front edge of the front bench seat, then filled and sanded the treated bits. Lunch. F1 from Valencia, Spain (Sebastien Vettel won. Webber flew before crashing) and then the England v Germany World Cup match (England lost spectacularly 4-1). Did a second load of washing and Mike finished sanding the filler before turning the Markon off. 

Saturday 26th June 2010 Cannes-Ecluses. Day off

Hot and sunny. Had a lazy morning. Passing commercial traffic was sporadic. Lunch. Mike watched the F1 qualis and I did the log and the photos and some more blogging, up to date now. Went out in the car. Found bins to dump rubbish and had a look at moorings. Water was available (and electric now) on new pontoons at Montereau but not many spaces. Wouldn’t want to moor there at a weekend as there were speedboats and jet skis blasting up and down (some of them off the commercials – noted that they carry them on their boats now along with a car - or two, on the bigger boats). Went on up the Seine to check the moorings at Marolles (full of commercials) La Tombe (an old silo quay, empty but a bit too high for us) Bray (loads of commercials again and the Port Autonome de Paris (PAP) mooring was full as it now had water and electric) then we called in the Carrefour Market for bread and some milk for the neighbours. Went on a scenic tour to have a look at a menhir (a tall stone erected in stone age times) located just south of Nogent-sur-Seine. Lucy (GPS) took us right there but there was no sign of a tall stone in the fields of wheat and hemp, maybe they shifted it but not the signpost! Back across country to Bray then back to the boat via the D411. Lots of Sunday teatime traffic on the roads including 4x4s towing large speedboats. There are loads of former gravel pits along the lower Yonne and upper Seine now open for water-skiing, etc. A Nicholls hire boat had planted itself behind Charley and a late middle aged couple in shorts (must be Americans) were just getting off to walk towards the bridge into the town.

Friday 25th June 2010 Pont-sur-Yonne to Cannes-Ecluses. 25 kms and 5 locks

Hot and sunny. Set off at 9.15 a.m. just after the yacht Smithereen had left. When we got to the first lock, Champfleury 12 (2.03m), it was empty as a commercial had just gone down. Mike called the keeper but he didn’t answer (he answered the commercials though, and PDQ!) We hovered above with the yacht while the large, very rotund, lock keeper pressed buttons to refill the lock. Both lock walls were vertical, the yacht went left and we stayed on the right behind Charley. Still on the river for 7 kms of lovely winding bends, then into the canal section, the derivation de Courlon, with Charley behind and the yacht in front. We were catching up with a loaded commercial and another was coming up in the lock, Vinneuf lk 13, a deep one at 3.38m. 

Nick hung back between the bridges on the narrow canal section to let empty barge Looping (whoever thought of the name for that one?) 62m long 710 tonnes, come past, which delayed him enough to miss the next lock. The yacht was on the little pontoon and loaded péniche, Va-Yo-Yo-Mi, was sitting in the middle of the chamber, so we slid in on his left behind the pontoon, slung a rope around a bollard then fended off the sloping walls with boat shafts. The keeper shut the gates and dropped the lock. The péniche sat ropeless, engine switched off, in the middle of the chamber, skewing slightly as the lock emptied. We shoved off and went out first to leave the commercial plenty of room and the yacht followed on behind us. Just 1.6 kms of canal lead to lock 14 Port-Renard (1.30m), which had been shortened since we were last there (1996) and had new gates fitted. 

In 1994 we spent a weekend moored on the river side of the lock chamber wall while VNF were on strike and péniche traffic piled up. Chatted with the lady off the yacht while we waited for the péniche. They had SSR 00018 – the earliest we’d ever seen. They’d had it (and the yacht) since the scheme started in 1974. We asked the keeper if we could stay and have lunch while we waited for our friends to catch up. He said there was a new mooring below -  it was for the big boats – we went on the wall – it had a “No Mooring” sign now. Lunch. At 1.00 p.m. the keeper came over to tell us Charley had just left his lock. We set off downriver, 4.3 kms to the next lock. Passed a large private marina in an old sand pit which had been renamed AssisBeach leisure centre and access was prohibited into the lake via a moveable footbridge. On a very tight bend before the bridge at Misy-sur-Yonne we passed a very large empty pan called Labrosse being pushed upriver by tug Alsace. 

Lock 15, Barbey (1.64m) was full and ready with top end gates open. The lock lights were green and red, so Mike called on VHF to ask permission to enter the lock. OK. We got an answer and a green light! Sloping sided and no pontoon. The keeper came out of his air-conditioned lock cabin to take a rope for Diana. I threw mine before he got there and flicked it over the bollard and got a “Bravo” from the him. The sloping sides were old stones and very rough with lots of scrape marks as the water level dropped. We kept the boat away from the rocks with boat shafts. Followed Charley down the 4.5 kms winding river section to lock 16 Labrosse (1.71m). At KP97 we left the department of Yonne and entered Seine et Marne. At KP98 Mayflower (67m 896 tonnes) was loading gravel. 

Lock 16 was ready with gates open and a green light, we followed Charley in. Again no pontoon and both sides sloping –  at least the locksides were smooth concrete, still with lots of scrape marks. Saw no sign of the keeper. He had a very smart new two storey lock cabin with air-conditioning. Waved to the camera as we left then shouted “Au Voir” as we passed his open cabin door and got a wave back. One long bend between gravel pits on either bank and a long straight and we were at Cannes-Ecluses. Mike called the keeper to tell him we were staying above his lock for the weekend to watch the F1 from Spain. He wished us a bonne weekend. Winded to keep the side doors on the outside as we moored on the right hand bank opposite the village, in front of a row of houses. Charley went under the trees and we moved up so we were bows to bows. It was 3.45 p.m. Not long after we tied up Mayflower, now loaded, went past which checked our mooring ropes – all OK. Gave Mike a hand to run the moped off on a long plank to the top of the sloping grassy bank and the road. He went to collect the car from Pont-sur-Yonne and I put the laptop on to do the log. Back on 3G again! I just had time to check my emails and Mike was back with the car. Gave him a hand to get the moped back on the roof before cooking dinner.

Thursday 24th June 2010 Pont-sur-Yonne. Day off

Hot and sunny. Started on the jobs that needed sunny days. Mike painted the covers for the solar system with a first coat of white gloss and attempted to fix the stern riding light that refused to work when we had to move on from Sens in the dark. It worked but not to his satisfaction. A British yacht called Smithereen arrived, we’d been doing the same mooring hops down the river, Joigny, Sens then here. They had come over the Bourgogne and were off into Paris down the Seine and back to the UK. After lunch Mike did the other sides of the wooden covers. Amazingly, I found the Internet worked OK with the dongle in the USB socket on the laptop. Mike was miffed that the Internet worked on my laptop but wouldn’t work on his PC. Later he tried the Internet, it was too slow - only about 10 kb/sec. I tried it again and found the same. 

Wednesday 23rd June 2010 Pont-sur-Yonne. Day off

Sunny and getting warmer. Mike went to get the car after we unloaded the moped across Charley’s back deck. The hireboats hadn’t moved, which was unusual. The one moored stern on to the end of the wonky pontoon left around 10.30 a.m. the next left around eleven and the LeBoat that raced us down the river the day before stayed until lunchtime then went back upriver. It nearly had an accident when 750-tonner Maritime was coming back loaded downriver through the bridge – the hireboat did a circle right in front of its bows! Not just crossing once but twice! After an early lunch Mike and I went shopping by car to Carrefour in Sens. Bought a new wok for 4,50€ a new local map 5,90€ and Mike picked up three containers of oil. Called at Bricomarché and Mike got a 30A circuit breaker and some fuses for Nick. Back on the boat just after three. Nick had just sent a kid packing who’d been skateboarding on the wonky pontoon – stupid kid! Mike watched England beat Slovakia 1-0 to stay in the competition.