2007

BACK TO CALENDAR 2007

1.9 1 July to 7 July 2007     

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1 July 2007          Sunday       Tonnerre to Tanlay    Canal de Bourgogne

 

Weather dull, intermittent rain, and cool.

Interesting beginning to the week, - it was a practice only - Sundays sees the part time sapeurs and pompiers do their thing.

 

Canal very shallow - little sloping beeches of gravel and mud visible at edges.   Asked a foreman lock keeper sort of fellow about it - but he was rather on the defensive, and replied - very firmly - "2 metres".   Maybe I put the question badly

Presumably, that is the "official" depth - imagine it is measured in a bridge hole, which has been dug out first..

In actual fact, does not really matter so much, the canal being very wide, except for bush and lunch time lock moorings.   Both are quite impossible .   For a busy lock one just has to wander, but for lunch time the only possibility is to judge the wind and water flow, sit in the middle, and drift.  Bush moorings are few and far between, this year.    Tried a couple that I used last year at same time of year, but level away down.

Noticed that run through is measured and controlled at the lock gates by leaving one paddle a bit open all the time, opening measured with a little stick on the lifting gear.   This doesn't seem to work very well - it appears that there is such a fear on the part of the L.K. of letting too much water down that they are usually keep them too closed - if not shut off completely.

 

In spite of water shortage and generally unkempt canal banks falling in (even one of the P.K. stones had fallen in), run good and enjoyable, and Burgundy countryside great.

 

Expected to find mooring space in Tanlay - normally half is preserved for hotel boats, and remainder public, and there is plenty of space.   However, this time completely full of little damp huddle of off white plastic boats, all shut down against weather, and only space available across bank at one end.   English guy promised me plenty of water - but what his small wide wooden boat and my square sided 12 tonne steel regarded as "plenty of water" weren't quite the same.

Pulled Albert in hard onto the mud, but took up a dreadful angle.  Then rain began again, and not appropriate to try and find somewhere better!   So lived with it - but very uncomfortable night.

 

2 July 2007          Monday       Tanlay to Ancy-le-France    Canal de Bourgogne

 

Again rained all day, to-gether with strong and gusty wind. 

 

There was no way could stay at Tanlay - as it was had to pick the potatoes up off the floor where they had fallen last night from their cupboard before starting anything.

 

Canal water level much higher in the pounds over most of day's run,  probably due to fact that there are several automatic locks in this section, where L.K.s cannot fiddle with through flow.

 

Aiming at mooring at Ancy-le-Franc, but as the formal moorings there are even smaller than Tanlay, looked for alternative before arrival, and found a long stretch of clean neat piles, without capping, and with - surprise, surprise - enough water to float Albert level,  just short of Ancy, stopped quickly, and achieved comfortable safe tie-up.   Bit cold and bleak with the wind - but splendidly private and comfortable with good view across the fields.   Have to start taking back ruderies from earlier this week about lack of maintenance on this canal.   As it is neither our country, nor do we pay full costs, have no right to criticize, anyway.

 

Am getting worried about clean clothes - have got used to "luxury" of having fresh clothes, towels, dish cloths, etc, available at all times.   Problem is not washing them - no chance whatever of drying them.   Have got to have - at same time - mooring with water and electricity, and fine weather!

 

3 July 2007          Tuesday        Ancy-le-Franc to Ravières   Canal de Bourgogne    

 

Still raining and blowing, but had only just enough bread for breakfast only, so unmoored and set off for Ancy.

 

10 minutes, 1 corner, 1 bridge, and there it was - identical huddle of miserable off-white boats all round an equally miserable, and very empty, hotel boat.   Not a chance of mooring Albert.   Quickly found that the bank opposite - which last night's L.K. - before spraying Albert with mud with her horrid little white van - had promised me was plenty deep enough, was quite impossible.

Did a very angry U turn and went back to the piles.  

 

Maddening thing - if I had known how close we were to Ancy would have just gone up to the village on bike without unmooring.  It was pouring with rain, anyway, so no difference between biking and boating in rain, comfortwise, except extra effort of mooring, unmooring, and generally fiddling with boat.   The ultra fast spin U turn was fun, though.

 

Re-started, having sorted out bread, wet clothes, etc.   Now wearing full winter outfit - long trousers, Guernsey, the lot.

 

This is the part of the run that passes the old quarries, stone workings, and smart but rather weird walls that never seemed to have enclosed anything.   Presumably there used to be rear and side walls enclosing workshops or store rooms, but now all that's left are well built front walls, with smart window embrasures, going nowhere and doing nothing.   It is sad at the quarry to see the great blocks of cut stone lying along the canal and by the little dock, all ready for loading on peniches exactly as they were left all those years ago.    There is a faint air of hope, in that there is an occupied cottage on the site overlooking the harbour - but seem to remember it is all exactly as we saw it in 2001 - including the cottage.

 

Had very ling wait in several locks - 1 L.K. on a scooter per 2 locks, with sods law ensuring that he or she is at the other one - especially in the hour before the lunch break.

 

Made Ravières by tea time, and joys - only one other boat there!   Curiously, the books do not mention the availability of electricity at these moorings.   There is also a sign on the quay wall that says only 80 cms of water available, when there is at least 1 metre close in.

              

 

4 July 2007          Wednesday      In Ravières   Canal de Bourgogne

 

Nothing to be said about the next 2 days - it just rained and/or blew.   Didn't even let up sufficiently to allow contact with the next door, and only other, boat - also British.

 

5 July 2007          Thursday         In Ravières     Canal de Bourgogne

See above.

 

6 July 2007          Friday             In Ravières   Canal de Bourgogne

Some improvement in the weather after normal early morning storm, so took a wild gamble and put a big wash on.

 

Dead lucky, weather got much better, with weak sun appearing at mid-day, but strong wind still with us.   

All washing dried, but had assembled it in such a hurry had forgotten things like chair arm covers and my hat.

 

Took Brompton after lunch and wandered about Ravières to see what was what, and see if lack of signal on mobile is universal here, or just on the canal.   Got a sort of signal by the cemetery above the town, but pretty poor.

Nice town - like others on this canal in the valley of the Armançon,  half the town is on the other side of the wide river valley, and is called Nuits-sur-Armançon.

There is still one stone working enterprise here - on the canal in the town boundaries, producing - judging by the stock stacked up  dressed stone for all purposes.   Looks as though it backs onto a hill-side quarry, but didn't get up there.   Nice - but obviously unused - peniche dock in factory, on canalside.

 

7 July 2007          Saturday         Ravières to Buffon     Canal de Bourgogne

Got up to a sparkling morning - sunny, but clouds in blue sky.   BUT the swallows are dive bombing and feeding from the surface of the water, and I have always reckoned - usually correctly - that this is a pretty infallible sign of rain to come.

Decided on a quick nip up town to get fresh bread and found Ravières' best kept secret.   A good S.M. with no sign outside of any sort indicating it's existence - not even trolleys.   I had already found, and bought at,  the charcuterie - nice bacon and good chops.   Finished up doing full S.M. shop, but without list.   Some anomalies - I have 4 packs of butter in fridge, about a cwt of potatoes, and greatest disaster of all - no lemons.

 

Got away about 0930, and first L.K. agreed with me about swallows!   Aren't we all miserable - lovely sunny morning after weeks of vile weather, and all we can do is look for signs of further rain.    Unfortunately - we were right.

 

My remarks about the Bourgogne being a bit unkempt - see earlier on this week - were again shown to be wrong on this stretch.   A long and major task of piling has been carried out - and obviously they haven't finished yet.   However - 2 sadnesses - they are capping the piles so my mooring brackets cannot be used, and setting the piles well back into the bank, so water is only about 6" deep along the front of them.    Even so, am busy inventing a Mark II mooring bracket for these occasions.   Then I must to invent a simple tunnel type of boat bottom that will enable the propeller to dredge out a mooring.

 

They are making a very good and professional job of the revetting, and, judging by the stacks of piles, are intending to do a lot more.

 

To-day was as nice a run as any since Migennes - this is really a superb canal scenery-wise.   It was, of course, vastly improved by minimum of rainfall.

 

Hoped to see old gentleman and wife L.K. team at Buffon Lock who we got very friendly with - Christmas Cards and all - in the past,   but all locks manned by kids - it is, of course, Saturday - and got a bit muddled over which lock was his, as although he belonged in Buffon lock cottage, he was often to be found on other locks.   They had a really beautiful garden, and Herself used to spend hours discussing gardening with them whilst the whole system came to a halt and waited.   The conversation, in France, is of course sacred, and cannot be interrupted.

Moored up for the night at the quay at the Forge, assuming no one else would stop there as it's not a really very jolly mooring - stones and gravel on a corner, although the water is good and deep.  Took both rings.   Subsequently some 5 boats arrived, 4 of which stayed the night.   Think they must have come out with the sun.

 

Nice quiet evening and night - regretting not visiting forge, especially after the time we both went up some years ago and received royal treatment, but gathered owners are away, anyway.