- 17 June 2007
Sunday
In Moret-sur-Loin
- Stayed in Moret. Got
comfortable uncrowded mooring now, at reduced price - paid €30
for 4 nights with water, electricity, etc.
-
- Charged out of bed, planning furiously as morning was bright and sunny,
got bedding into washing machine, set for "lavage main 30
degrees" with intention of trying if a hot water wash would blow
mooring electrics (only done cold, so far). Over breakfast
boiled egg it came to me that I had actually set the machine to gentlest
possible warm water hand wash. Too late to change.
Hung
purple sheets out to dry on gipsy type washing line - boat hooks and
mooring cord.
Fortunately, the sun stayed out and warm till mid-day, and by the time the
good citizens of Moret came for their Sunday promenade, it was dry, and I
had taken it all down, just in time to avoid rain.
- After washing intended to do batteries, but since yesterday gas hot
water heater has been burning with long bright yellow flame, and smoking,
and as in yesterday's log, I was defeated as to a cure - terrified of the
thing, anyway. Read directions, but singularly
unhelpful. "Take burner off, blow and suck out dirt, and
replace". No suggestion as to method of taking off
burner, and nothing obviously visible, and the whole thing is built like a piece knitting of little copper
pipes, wires and too tight self tapping screws.
- Took it down yet again, brushed and blew around, but to no
avail. Took it down even more, rigged up a masterly
contraption of shaped plastic pipe stuck in vacuum cleaner nozzle with tic
tac, and blew and sucked at offending burner close up, put it back to-gether - was getting soaked
now each time turned gas bottle on and off - turned on gas - and it was
working beautifully!
- Trouble now-a-days is I don't really trust my "repairs" to
work for very long - we'll see.
- And I still haven't done the batteries! Rain - heavy and
continuous all afternoon. But am still much further ahead than I was
when we arrived on Friday - or was it Thursday?
-
- 18 June 2007
Monday Moret-sur-Loin (Canal du Loing) to lock
Labrosse 10, River Yonne
- Day of reckoning -
we're off again! For some reason felt slightly twitchy
"adventuring" out on the River Seine (shades of youthful stories
of the Great Grey Green Greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever
trees, my dear??).
- No reason for
twitchiness, really, been on the Yonne - up and down - several
times. Perhaps the feeling that Albert was going so well that
something was bound to break soon had something to do with it.
-
- Fuelled up at bunker station opposite St
Mammes - 100 litres @ €129.00.
Supermarket fuel price currently €1.07, so probably spent
too much, in that the hire pumps sell - I think - at about €1.24.
The point, of course, is that one can get supermarket diesel, where the
S.M. is close enough to the boat to make lugging cans back and forward
very much cheaper, but now-a-days prefer to spend the €15 to €20 more
on a fill to have someone put it straight in from a pump, without any can
lugging hassle. Took boat round behind the peniches blocking
the frontage to the little dock behind, and backed her past the big
mooring pylon, like last year, so no waiting in main river - not that it
is that strong - current, for the hours it takes to fill the peniches.
- Off up Seine in fine weather, but in strong
wind.
- Met Zizz, Bruce, for
brief chat, but not very clever to hang around out on the river gossiping,
so carried on.
-
- Had the whole of the big river lock at
Varennes sur Seine all to myself - felt very small.
-
- Turned off into the Yonne about mid-day, and
moored up on Montereau Public Moorings for lunch. Perfectly
adequate moorings, but right at tee junction of 2 rivers, and whenever I
have been passed, full. All facilities, however.
-
- Lit off up river - hot and sticky, although
still windy, through first 2 locks - the famous unbelievably awkward Yonne
Locks with the sloping sides, where tieing up is obligatoire, but unless
help is received from on shore, it is impossible so to do - and pulled in
behind the big mooring pylons - ducs d'Albe - against the bank steel
pilings. Plenty of commercials up and down here - there are a
lot of busy gravel pits in the River Yonne - so strong mooring
vital. Good mooring, but right opposite main railway (4
tracks) line. Trains very noisy, but no disturbance felt, and
if the ran during the night - as I am sure they do - heard nothing.
- 19 June 2007
Tuesday Labrosse
10, to just below Champleury 12, River Yonne.
- Still very windy and
squally.
-
- River busy with
commercials. Luck would have it that had a long wait at each
lock - maddening habit of never turning a lock round for a waiting boat,
however long it takes for a boat to come down.
-
- Countryside is river
valley, gravel pits, forest, large fields of grain well on to-wards
harvest colour - first combining started, but much troubled by squally
showers.
-
- Bird life in forest
plentiful, judging by sound, saw grebes, cormorants, gulls, and plenty
more not recognized, and cuckoo heard frequently. Bird chorus
very strong.
-
- Long day, by reason
of the waits, mooring was in the forest edge very close to last year's
spot - but couldn't recognise it. In fact had very good
mooring, bows on a large tree, and boat lying against fallen tree at the
right angle out into the stream, out of the current.
-
-
- 20
June 2007
Wednesday
just below
Champleury 12 to Etigny 7, River Yonne.
- Through
Pont-sur-Yonne, first thing.
- About moorings at
Pont-sur-Yonne. never considered moorings available at
Pont-sur-Yonne, but it looks as though the floppy floating mooring below
the town and the silos has been strengthened and straightened.
Still couldn't see any bollards or cleats, but there were 2 quite big
private boasts moored to it, and a third making for it. Still
looked as though it had horrid sharp projections.
- Also there are ducs
d'Albe above the lock marked as "5 pieux, stacks" which seem to
be the right height and distance apart for us. Cannot remember
for sure, but think there was a walkway to the towing path.
-
- The day developed
into a bit of a marathon, with very changeable weather - showers and hot
stuffy overcast, but always a strong wind. Not really very
pleasant.
-
- Stopped of in Sens to buy lunch, and get a
hair cut - would have stayed longer, but water end of moorings occupied,
and bollards much too far apart for me to manage a moor up.
Went up to end under bridge, and had to use very long ropes.
Interesting in Sens - every from the moorings points into and encourages
one to go into "centre ville" to the east of the
river. It is all very impressive with large shops, nice parks,
and everything, but is spread out.
- In fact, if one crosses the bridge above the
moorings, goes to the west, and crosses the other river arm, everything is
available within 150 metres or so of the boat.
-
- Warning - I did not see it myself, but was
told the water hose at Sens has been vandalised so no water, except from
hydrants up on the road, but electricity still fine.
-
- Set off after lunch, intending to get to
Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, where I could couple electricity, fill water, and
wash clothes - muggy weather very heavy on shirts and pants!
- However, Etigny 7 had a young highly thrilled
overexcited L.K. who told me I only had to wait 10 minutes for an utterly
enormous ship to come through his lock, which was set and awaiting it from
upstream.
- 30 minutes later and down came the rain, no
ship, so tried out the aluminium mooring jetties based on ducs d'Albe
being built near locks. In strong currant, so had to be very
careful not to lose boat. Managed creditable and safe tie up, and
eventually the utterly enormous boat came through. All 39
metres of standard Freycinet peniche. Was he being stupid, or
obstructive, or just showing off?
- Had not realised that banks at lock entrance
and exits are good promenade and fishing spots, so got little privacy,
once the rain eased off. However, the jetties are good safe
mooring when needed, and give safe walk ashore facilities.
-
-
- 21
June 2007
Thursday Etigny
7 to Joigny, River Yonne
- Still raining, on
awakening, so no move before 10.00. Then had to go - watching
rain through boat windows similar to watching paint dry and grass grow.
-
- Into - first stop -
Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, intending to stay - nice historic town, always liked
it - to couple electricity and fill water, and wash clothes.
Met Fusilier II, steel wide boat met last year.
- However, water point
mashed, shut off and removed.
- No point in staying,
so decided on 4th marathon day in row, and get to Joigny.
- Eventually made Joigny about 1800, to find,
joyfully, long mooring on end of jetty vacant. Helped to moor
up by Australians (Perth) in an ex hire boat, and a Scotsman (Stirling) in
a small Locaboat. Australians - "come and have a drink,
we have already started", went, got to bed at
midnight after supper with Scots.
-
- A long 4 days on the river, but good fun,
none-the-less!
-
- Thoughts on River Yonne.
- Not very photogenic, and I found little time
even to think of taking photos, so am afraid there aren't any.
- Not startlingly beautiful countryside - a bit
flat, naturally, being a river valley, mixture of gravel pits, marsh,
forest, and some arable in the upper reaches.
- Formal moorings with all facilities are not
plentiful. There are plenty of informal spots, however, for
the like of us. The lower reaches are not tourist areas, but once
Pont-sur-Yonne is reached there is plenty of interest.
- There is a lot of commercial traffic, more so
on the bottom end - gravel barges, including the enormous square ones with
a pusher tug, and the 80 metre peniches, and depending on the season,
grain barges. On the upper part there are onlythe tandem peniches -
78 metres of 2 boats lashed bow to stern, and singles.
- One must keep looking over one's shoulder -
especially when a green light is showing at a lock.
- When sharing with a commercial, if there is a
pontoon inside the lock, I find it best to go in first, tie up, and
arrange to leave first. Otherwise let him in first and tie up
to him - having asked(!) - but again leave first.
- The Yonne L.K.s have a name for being surly,
unhelpful and obstructive. I have never found any of that
true. Sure they have the same proportion as any group of
people of those who are bored with, tired of, or overly excited with,
their job.
- The sloping lock sides are not easy for boats
going uphill, but most of them have pontoons that rise up the sloping
sides with the water level, that make life very easy. The only
problem with them is the passion the shortest boats have of hustling in
first and occupying the pontoon (they - the pontoons - are very short), to
the discomfort of longer boats who must breast up to them (the shorter
boats), and are inclined to swivel about them. The L.K.s
do not direct or control boats in the lock, but the rule - there are signs
outside - is that boats must tie up.
- The L.K. usually stands at the entrance,
looking down on boats coming in. If there is no pontoon and
one is on one's own, he may take a rope when one is passing, walk up with
it, put it over an appropriate bollard and return the end.
-
- There is no getting away from it - the Yonne
locks are difficult in a wind!
-
Fortunately, the sun stayed out and warm till mid-day, and by the time the
good citizens of Moret came for their Sunday promenade, it was dry, and I
had taken it all down, just in time to avoid rain.