Thursday 3rd May 2018 Chazelle to Fragnes 42.1kms 2 locks.

Empty 900 tonner Barres eading upriver at Chazelle

10.2ºC Overcast with a cold north wind. A cruiser went past heading downstream and a 900 tonner called Barres went past heading upriver. Undid all the knitting, fetched the quant pole in and untied, reversed out into the middle and set off downriver again at 9.15am. A troupe of Charolais cows were watching every move. A 4kms river reach then into the lock cut leading to lock 22 Ecuelles. A Le Boat had just come up so we went into the big lock chamber and dropped down 3.20m – 56kms to the next lock (not going that far, only

Both old lock chambers at Verdun-sur-Doubs

about 31kms). Winding gently, river still wider and then past the old locks at Verdun-sur-Doubs, a péniche sized lock and a bigger one, both now disused. We turned into the river Doubs at Verdun and went upriver to see if they’d improved the moorings, nope, a bunch of cruisers were moored at the pontoons and nothing on the quays below the houses further upriver. We went through the road bridge and turned before the silos and went back through Verdun on to the Saône. The Swedish cruiser we’d locked

Old lock at Verdun

with the day before was fast catching us up and a péniche sized hotel boat went past heading upriver, the steerer we noted had no wheelhouse, strange for a boat that size. A small Danish speedboat cruiser went past heading uphill at Chauvort bridge, making a fair bit of wash, our boat bounced about for ten minutes in its waves. VNF tug Neptune went past, also uphill, pushing a pan with a crane, they had a good collection of tree branches. Busy all of a sudden. A little egret sat in a tree, ignoring the passing boats. The moorings

Riverside houses in Verdun

at Gergy were empty. A Le Boat overtook us and was soon out of sight. I made a cuppa to warm us up. Took up the rubber-backed mat on the front deck to dry it out, it was wet underneath from water sloshing in through the scuppers. On a big area of water lily pads a heron and a little egret were hunting for frogs. At 2.30pm in Chalon-sur-Saone we turned right off the river into the canal du Centre. A fast speedboat with two fishermen aboard went past – we wondered where they were going - they tied to a

Closed down boatyard and rusting boat

mooring dolphin and started fishing. The first lock on the canal is a deep one, lock 34bis was emptying and then the guilllotine gate went up. We attached our centre rope to a floating bollard inset into the wall and the lock filled gently lifting the boat 10.76m. The keeper came out of his portacabin to ask where we’d come from and where we were going. Pleasant chap, he even tried some English phrases. On up the canal, under the restaurant belonging to the Leclerc supermarket alongside the canal, noted

Silos at Chalon on canal du Centre

they’d added new mooring posts for floating shoppers to tie their boats to and had banned mooring under the restaurant (for safety – don’t want boats setting on fire under the building!) We pushed on, Fragnes is a popular mooring and had been extended since we were last here. Boats come up off the river to moor overnight as it’s an alternative to the large pricey marina on the river in Chalon-sur- Saône. We didn’t need water or electric so we continued beyond the moorings (and the kindergarten) to moor next to the busy towpath below lock 34. A

Old boats by the silos in Chalon

hireboat came down the lock and went past fast – Mike waved him to slow down, which he did. The lock stayed empty with a green light on. We hadn’t been as far as the sensors so maybe VNF were doing remote control. Once tied up I helped Mike get the moped off the front deck and he went to get the car from St Jean-de-Losnes so we could do some shopping next day. 

Below lock 34bis

Lock chamber 34bis

Bottom end guillotine gate. Lock 34bis

Wednesday 2nd May 2018 St-Jean-de-Losne to Chazelles 22.8kms 1 lock

Mooring pontoon for passing boats (plus a resident boat)

3.1ºC Grey overcast and cold 7.4ºC when we set off just after 9am to get to the fuel pontoon for when they opened at 9.15am. Topped up our red diesel tank for the central heating. 161 litres at 85c/litre. A queue was forming – a Le Boat and an ex-Connoiseur hireboat had just come out of the old gare d’eau (H2O and Blanquarts plus the Le Boat hirebase) and were hovering mid-river waiting to fill up. Carried on downriver at 9.35am passing a large (100m x 9.55m 1,825

Boatyard at St Jean-de-Losne

tonnes) boat called Hercule loading grain at the silos. 7kms of fairly straight river, then the river went off to our right and over a weir as we went into the 10kms long canal section. Fishermen with a large well-equipped van were fishing in the very wide deep canal, and one lone cyclist went past (so there must be a cycle path again). More fishermen were either side of Pagny bridge. Nothing loading in the big offline basin. A cruiser was fast catching us up, one went past heading uphill as the canal started a long bend to the

Moored boats in St Jean-de-Losne

left to the lock. The cruiser (Swedish) went past and the ex-hireboat followed it – we increased speed to try to keep up, otherwise we’d have been shut out of the next lock until it had emptied and refilled again. Lock 21 Seurre was the first of the very big locks (185m long x 12m wide) and the keepers from now on insist boaters wear their lifejackets (we did). Centre rope down the bollards in the wall as we went down 4.3m. 30kms to the next lock (but not all that today). The old Connoiseur was

Fuel quay in St Jean-de-Losne

soon out of sight but the Swedish boat stopped to moor on the pontoons in Seurre. The big basin in Seurre (owned by H2O) looked pretty packed out with DBs. A narrowboat called Leander was on the bank in a shed in Seurre along with several DBs. Downriver passing the old lock and weir, the old lock house still lived in with VNF van parked outside. The river was starting to get much wider and deeper. Weather improving too, warmer, although the hazy

Hercule loading grain

clouds didn’t let much sunshine through. A large cargo coaster called Frelon from Valletta (with a very smoky forward engine – generator or bow thruster? went past heading upriver while we were looking for our wild mooring spot at Chazelle that we’d used several times before. 12.45pm. The wind picked up conveniently and blew the boat sideways into the bank and Mike applied forward and reverse to get the boat in exactly the right spot, stern under the overhanging tree. A VNF tug

Smoky coaster Frelon near Chazelle

pushing a crane boat went past heading downriver as a hotel boat went past heading upriver, wash not too bad as the river is wide here. Fishermen had made crude steps down to the water, useful to get up to the top of the bank for us. Fore end line round some exposed tree roots, centre rope temporarily round the KP181 sign while Mike put a quant pole out from the bows to keep the boat off the sandy bottom, tree stumps at the stern made ideal bollards and a long line out to a mooring pin forwards. Settled. TV sorted and after over half an hour’s tying up

Wild mooring near Chazelle

we had a late lunch. Hercule went past, going who knows where to unload his cargo of grain. 

Hercule loaded and heading south

Monday 30th April 2018 Lamarche-sur-Saône to St Jean-de-Losne 27.8kms 2 locks

The old sand quay at Lamarche

8.8ºC Damp after heavy rain in the night. Later we had nasty squalls with gale force winds preceding and accompanying torrential rain. Cold. Set off at 9.55am leaving a large French cruiser moored on the end of the sand quay. A Le Boat hireboat had already gone past heading downhill and we passed an uphill one just before the first canal section. Brolly up as the first squall hit and the wind whipped up white topped waves on the 4kms river reach. Through floodgates into the lock cut leading to lock 19 Poncey-les-Athée and dropped down 1.5m

Pontoon moorings in Auxonne

. The cold wind in our faces made me search out winter gear, warm gloves and my furry lumberjack hat and Mike’s ex-army peaked hat with ear-flaps. There were fishermen with tents set up on the riverbank just before the TGV railway bridge. No time to get a photo as a TGV train crossed the bridge at high speed. Another Le Boat was sheltering from the bad weather attached to the bank under trees. 7kms of winding river took us through Auxonne, past H2O’s offline mooring basin that was packed with DBs and big cruisers

Part of fortifications in Auxonne

– we saw the bows of another narrowboat but didn’t see a name. More heavy rain – the wind tried to rip the brolly apart. Another Le Boat uphill. The floating pontoon was empty save for two Le Boats and a large cruiser. Passing Auxonne’s ancient fortifications we went into the next lock cut leading to lock 20 Auxonne. We sat waiting for the lock to fill then three boats came up behind us. The first, a yacht with stepped mast,

Sharing Auxonne lock with a yacht

flying what looked like a Brittany flag – black and white stripes, came in after us and went right to the end of the chamber. We did likewise to get to the rod. The other two boats looked as if they were hanging back and, while I was wondering why they weren’t following us into the large chamber, the yacht skipper was over the lock gates and lifted the blue rod! He went back to shifting his ropes about which caused his boat to twist round – Mike backed off to the other end of the chamber to give him plenty of room. Lock

Oh-ho - bad weather coming our way wind's picking up

empty, the yacht was away first and slowly disappeared into the distance on the start of the 30kms reach. At last a commercial on the move! OFNI, empty, heading uphill, crew waving. Another cruiser heading uphill was not far behind the péniche. The next squall was a bad one, it started with full gale force wind then torrential rain was added to the mix, Mike held on to the brolly, which kept collapsing as the ribs slid sideways under the force of the wind. I steered, heaving against the tiller to keep the boat roughly

Rain pelting down, wind blowing a hooley
trying to shred our brolly

in mid-river channel. That was the worst twenty minutes boating ever… It ended and the sun came out, rapidly drying the roof. My plants in large heavy plastic window boxes had been blown over – wouldn’t have thought that possible with the weight in them. Fortunately nothing was damaged. I made cups of instant soup to warm us up. Wish I’d have got a new waterproof last week but just couldn’t find any wet weather gear. The two cruisers that were behind us at lock 20 came past. We followed a large Swiss

Looking back upriver at the storm cloud that drenched us

cruiser on to the pontoon mooring about 2kms from the town. Hurried to get tied up and the TV set up before the next deluge. It was 2.45pm. Had a very late lunch then Mike walked into town to retrieve the car and park it by the boat. 

This one missed us

Saturday 28th April 2018 Gray to Lamarche-sur- Saône 34.2kms 2 locks

Lock 18 Heuilley

8.1ºC Grey overcast skies, showers (some heavy) and brief glimpses of sun. Set off at 9.30am leaving one DB on the quay, the two cruisers had gone upriver. Mike said the smart houses on the outskirts of Gray facing the river all had elegant outdoor covered swimming pools in their gardens, except one which had a very dilapidated large green wooden shed. A DB went past heading upstream, taking photos of us! Shortly afterwards a Swiss yacht followed him. 8kms of gently winding river bordered with trees, beyond which were empty meadows. Past the riverside

Looking upriver at KP262. Navigation channel is to the left,

village of Mantoche then turned right into the lock cut through flood gates then about a kilometre to lock 17 Apremont, the first of the subsequent locks widened from 5.20m to 8m. Rain started to pour down as we dropped down 2.2m. A cruiser was pirouetting in the weir stream below, looking not best pleased, no idea why.  Brolly up and on downriver on a 15km reach. A pénichette called Flo went past heading uphill at KP268. Shortly after a very large black-hulled cruiser went past. Changed departments from

Old barge abandoned in gare d'eau Heuilley

Haute Saône to Côte d’Or near Cecy as we headed into the forest and a very remote area of the river with no villages or houses for the next 10kms. The river went over two open weirs on our left and we turned right into the canal section leading to Heuilley. Two male swans were intent on a face-off, feathers fluffed up and necks back directly in our path for the bridge over the canal, just swerving out of our way at the last second. The old abandoned barge was still in the gare d’eau (canal layby) so we took more

Junction with the Marne a la Saone canal

photos. Our brolly was up and down as the showers poured then stopped. The last few kilometres of the canal leading to the lock were dead straight. Passed the start of the Marne à le Saône canal (the d’Heuilley canal, now renamed the canal entre Vosges et Bourgogne!) which is closed until the beginning of May – péniches were queuing side by side blocking the canal below the first lock. Into lock 18 Heuilley (the lock was once widened to 8m but had been narrowed again for some reason) and, after a large

Peniches, side by side, waiting for the canal to re-open in May

bumble bee stopped trying to get under the peak of my wet weather cap and I managed to lift the blue rod we dropped down a further 2m. A cyclist stopped on the lockside to watch but didn’t speak. Back on the river. Another 8kms of winding through the forest, past the little town of Pontailler-sur- Saône (nice offline marina and free moorings on a stepped quay) a large cruiser with an even larger French flag flying from its stern went past heading upriver. On past the Poudrerie Nationale, deep in the forest, where they

Quay(no longer used) for the gunpowder factory

still manufacture gunpowder. We moored at the old sand quay in Lamarche-sur-Saône at 3.15pm, still raining and cold, with fishermen at either end of the quay and more than a dozen campervans behind the wharf. Had some late lunch and left setting the satellite dish up until there was a pause in the rain.

Friday 27th April 2018 Soing to Gray 40.8kms 5 locks

Early morning mist at Soing

4.2ºC After a chilly night (glad Mike lit the coal fire) a warm sunny day but with a cold north wind in our faces most of the time. Mike was up very early and we set off at 7.45am to make sure we get through the next tunnel before the keeper goes off for his lunch. Mist on the river, Mike took photos. 8ºC made us start off with fleeces on and they stayed on due to the cold wind. Back down the weirstream and rejoined the main river. After a short distance we turned left on to a lock cut leading to

Wooden landing stage at Soing

lock 11 Charentenay. Empty Dutch péniche Sperwer from Rhoon was moored on the dolphin above the lock, no one about. Down 3.3m. Below the lock they had strengthened the banks with piling and rocks which were only just above normal water level so they had put red and green posts to mark where the pilings were when the river level was up higher than normal. A short river reach then back on the canal with a floodlock open at both ends (they had renumbered the following

Empty peniche Sperwer moored above lk 11 Charentenay

locks by adding this one in as a numbered lock 12). Back on the river again at Recologne. A lady jogger kept pace with us until the first road bridge, then she left the river path. The sky was full of con trails, air craft leaving what looked like long white scratches in the blue sky. Big flocks of sheep were grazing on our left. The river continued to our left as we went into a canal section with flood gates that were wound by capstans under a road bridge. The port de Plaisance de Savoyeux looked pretty full, mostly cruisers, but we spotted a lonely narrowboat called

Chateau du Gray-sur-Saône

Woodpecker tied next to a péniche. There was a red light at Savoyeux tunnel but an electronic sign board said the tunnel was prepared and access was authorised. The lights changed to green, noted there was a new camera and waiting pontoons. The tunnel, which has no towpath, is lined with stone blocks, has rope or chains hanging in loops along the right hand wall and emergency intercoms set in the wall. 643m long and quite dry not many drips – we were soon back into the sunshine and wind. Along

Savoyeux tunnel

the narrow, high-walled tunnel exit channel VNF were cutting grass. A fisherman was set up with two rods at the very end of the high walls. More new pontoons and a VNF tug called Le Saône plus several pans were moored before lock 13 Savoyuex which had a resident keeper. Two large VNF vans were on the lockside. The keeper asked for our registration number (SSR = Small Ships Register) – first time in years anyone has asked for that – the SSR plates are on either side of our pigeon box. I was holding the centre rope which was looped around a new and very substantial vertical pole

Leaky lock walls Savoyeux

inset into the wall. As the lock emptied the walls leaked, pouring water down the sides of the boat and mostly missing me. Mike pushed the boat out into the middle and I reeled the rope back on board after we’d dropped down a further 3.6m. Back on the river, a 10.5kms reach before the next lock.  The last couple of kilometres bypassed the little town of Vereux and lead to lock 14 of the same name. Down another 1.7m. Had lunch on the 7kms reach. A French-flagged cruiser went past heading upriver, whoopee – life on Mars! Down another 1.9m at lock 15 Rigny then just 4.4kms to our

Tug and pans above Savoyeux.
New turn pole lock activators being installed.

last lock of the day. A Locaboat hireboat went past heading uphill – that’s two boats in one day! On into Gray. Strangely the big hirebase above lock 16 Gray appeared to be empty save for two cruisers. Down Gray lock, 1.7m and we moored on the wall beyond the DB and two cruisers that were moored there when Mike went past on the moped the day before.

Almost empty pontoon at hire base in Gray

Above lock 16 Gray

Wednesday 25th April 2018 Conflandey to Soing 32.9kms 7 locks

Below the lock and weir at Conflandey

9.4ºC Sunny with big clouds, sometimes black but no rain and a very cold wind. The DB we'd shared the mooring with overnight went past at 9.30am as we were untying – they turned the pole for us to activate lock 4 Conflandey. It was already full so the gates opened and we went down 2.1m. 8kms to the next lock. Beautiful countryside. Into Port-sur-Saône with a busy road running alongside the navigation on our left. Through a set of single flood gates into a canal section. A small DB painted black and

Port-sur-Saône

yellow, was moored on the town quay, they charge to moor there and also in the offline basin on the right called Franche-Comté Navigation, which was filled with cruisers and DBs. Opposite the basin is a VNF workshop. The wind was shredding the seeds off the plane trees and we were getting them right in our faces, glad when we’d passed the trees. A hireboat came up lock 5 Port-sur-Saône, VNF were cutting the grass by the lock. Down another 1.7m and back on to the river – 4kms to the next lock, passing

Waiting for a fish dinner

through forest and into lock 6 Chemilly. A group of people out walking paused by the lock to watch as we were leaving the chamber. Another 4kms reach. Turned left into another length of canal. We passed a Locaboat hireboat going uphill as we passed the working foundry near Scey. The Loca hirebase was in another offline basin. Down another 1.5m in lock 7 Scey. We had a red light for the St Albin tunnel – lock and tunnel keeper at lunch until 1.30pm. We tied to the dolphins below the lock and

Industry! and working too
Foundry at Scey-sur-Saône

had some lunch while we waited. The green light came on at 1.30pm and we untied and set off. A sharp right into the cutting leading to the tunnel. This one is 681m long, lit by sodium lights, has no towpath and has SOS emergency panic buttons set into the right hand wall every 50m. The walls were rough rock with parts built up with stone blocks. There was a long length of cutting the same width as the tunnel, 6.65m wide according to the map. The keeper had the lock ready No 8 Rupt and was very pleasant, chatting about the weather he assured us

St Albin tunnel

we wouldn’t have any showers today – and he was right. Down a further 2.9m with a dry-dock for sand barges alongside the lock. 3kms of river and a short length of canal took us past the scenic town of Rupt-sur-Saône with its medieval chateau tower, and into lock 9 Chantes. A large cruiser went past heading uphill – the fourth boat of the day, things are getting busy! Down another 1.9m and

Panic button in St Albin tunnel

back on to the river. 8.2kms to the next lock, mostly river except for one short canal section through a flood lock with a floating pontoon in it at Cubry-les-Soing, which cut off some loops of the river. Down lock 10 Soing and we turned left heading uphill on the weirstream with a steep sloping forested hill to our right, sheltered from the cold wind for a while. The wooden staging by the weir was empty – all ours. We moored at the upstream end at 4.50pm. A notice pinned to a tree stated that all boats should be moored end on to the staging. How this could be achieved satisfactorily and safely with an eighteen metre long narrowboat on a flowing river we didn't know. We tied up parallel to the staging. The large grassy area by the mooring was a big play

Chains along right hand wall in tunnel

area for kids and there were lots of them there with their parents enjoying the sunshine. 

Chateau at Rupt-sur-Saône

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Corre to Conflandey 30.5kms 4 locks

Below the lock at Corre on the River Saône

11.2ºC Grey overcast start, sunny and warmer later. No signs of life at the lock at 9.30am so Mike went for a walk down to see the keeper He was in the cabin with a lady VNF operative, but hadn’t put the lock lights on. Untied the boat and went down to lock (still no lights on) gave  the zapper to the keeper and noted that there was a slot cut in the refurbished lock wall with a sealed pipe above it ready for new automatics – so his job’s days as a lock keeper were numbered. Below the lock, upstream on the Saône, Fluvial Loisir had a base where boats

Boats moored at Corre on the Saône

were moored and a few campervans were parked next to water and electricity posts. Out on to the river Saône heading downstream, narrow with lots of bends in its upper reaches. Cattle or sheep grazing the riverside meadows. Mike reckoned the flow on the river was minimal – about 0.8kph. After 2.5kms of river we went into the first canal section at KP404 (distance to Lyon where the Saône joins the Rhône), noting there was no longer any sort of path along the bank. On through single flood gates past the village of Ormoy

Church at Ormoy

which sported two ancient lavoirs (places where women used to wash their laundry before piped water and washing machines were invented) and a church with beautiful Burgudy tiles. Hills in the distance! First river lock 1 Ormoy – twist the hanging pole to activate the automatics, then lift the blue rod as usual. The lock house was shuttered, not lived in. 3.3m lower we set off on the river again. 6.4kms of winding river down to lock 2 Cendrecourt. The sun came out, at last! A cruiser was moored at the landing stage in Cendrecourt. The lock house had been turned into a VNF workshop and there were several cars and VNF vans there. Down another 3.8m and continued downstream, passing the junction with the un-navigable tributary called the Amance. A German cruiser went past heading uphill without a smile or a wave – only the third boat to pass us heading in the opposite direction since we left Condé! Fields of bright yellow colza on both banks. We had lunch on the move. Two moored boats filled the 20m landing stage at Montureux. Into lock 3 Montureux-les-Baulay. House lived in, car parked outside. The lock had walls 2m higher than the water level in the lock – I had to climb the ladder to lift the

Lavoir at Ormoy

rod. Down another 2m and Mike had a little problem – the ball fender by the stern rolled up onto the gunwale and distracted him – then the rope twisted and jammed and in seconds the stern end was suspended, not by much beacause he quickly grabbed a sharp knife from the engine room and cut the rope. We haven’t done a daft thing like that since our first trip down Ronquieres! That time it was my fore end rope and I hadn’t realised that the water level in the tank would change when we

Crumbling house at Ormoy

reached the bottom. He trimmed the rope and re-spliced the loop. Slightly shorter but still serviceable. Made him a cup of tea to get over the shock and I made myself a café latte. Watched a coypu swimming along the river's edge under the overhanging trees keeping pace with us for several minutes before disappearing into a stream. Amazed there was someone else moored at Conflandey above the lock, a masted DB. Just enough of room for us on the end.

Mooring above lock 4 Conflandey

Lock 2 Cendrecourt

Lock 1 Ormoy