19
June to 24 June 2019. 30 kilometers, 22 locks.
Friday 21 June - Dijon to Epoisses. 10 kilometers,
10 locks. 4 hours, 45 minutes (including delays).
For such a short distance
it was a long, slow day.
Lock-through had
been organized for nine thirty so that the VNF staff, both permanent and
temporary, could rub the tiredness from their bodies and report for duty at the
appointed and regulated time of nine o’clock. At twenty-five past the hour a
figure appears at the lock doors so we quickly start engines, cast off and then
spend the next half hour trying to keep Elle from looking like a new-hirer
in the fresh cross-wind as they bring out the weed-gobbler and proceed to clear
the clogged area in front of the lock and even drive the thing into the lock
for weed collection, something for which we are very grateful but for which we
would have been more grateful had the young VNF lass heading upstream on her
scooter, who stopped for a word or to with Lynn, informed us prior to us casting
off.
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| More cooties. |
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| Good bye Dijon. |
The next young
trainee-student was so worried about the fact that two maximum canal-sized peniche
tourist boats (38m x 5m) were coming our way and we would have to ‘cross’ them,
that she dithered between speaking to her downstream colleague about the big
boats’ progress and opening the doors. She was very new at her summer job and
simply could not seem to grasp that a little ‘un like Elle was okay with
by-passing a thirty-eight meter ‘monster’ – not fun with the weed but without
incidence, just. We passed within thirty centimeters of the second peniche, a scruffy
bicycle-tour boat named Anna Maria, as they were exiting and we were
entering a lock.
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| Anna Maria |
Then it was lunch
time so seventy minutes in a cherry tree desert.
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| The paltry contents of two strainers after a mornings cruising. |
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| Cherry hunting. |
At lock 62 we
jumped off for a quick lock at the ex-lockkeepers ‘museum’ (man cave?) and left
a beaded South African flag keyring as a memento, almost lost amongst all the other
similar tokens.
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| Lock 61. |
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| The 'museum'. |
The weed situation
has steadily improved and, apart from having to clear props in the plentiful
‘clear space’ after each lock and during the two peniche crossings where we had
to hug the weed-forested bank, we had few issues.
Just after three
in the afternoon we tiredly tied up, Lynn presented a delicious, spicy-rice
late lunch
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| An old Terrot motorcycle. |
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| Looking forwards. |
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Familiar boat name. - I wonder if it was put into
the washing machine on a too hot wash? |
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| The view from the next lock back towards our mooring. |
and we R&R’d to the sound of rattling and rustling poplar leaves
in the stiff breeze, and a few raindrops.
A long, slow day…
Saturday 22 June – Epoisses to Longecourt-en-Plaine.
5.5 kilometers, 5 locks. 1 hour, 55 minutes.
Seeing the
lockkeeper scoot by at nine we made ready and then cast off from our leafy surrounds
and headed straight for the lock two hundred meters away.
He might have been
timeous but this lockie was tediously slow and one could almost nod off during
the emptying process – but then he left the one sluice partially open which
caused us to crab out of the lock. Not very comfortable.
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| Dodger and bimini down for two bridges. |
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| A storm brewing over Dijon? |
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| Not very inspiring. |
Eleven o’clock saw us exiting
our fifth and last lock for the day and tie up opposite the Dijon cereals mill;
not the prettiest of moorings but fine if you look the other way. And ahead of
us stretches kilometer after kilometer of arrow straight canal.
After lunch Lynn
took a walk into the village reporting back with a crop of cherries and the
news that there is not much to be seen – “Quite modern, but there is a castle
in the distance”. I continued with my book.
From a cruising
perspective, almost a mirror of the previous day but with longer gaps between
locks as we plateau out approaching the Saône River. Almost mesmerized by the
endless line of trees guiding the canal, reaching to the horizon and St
Jean-de-Losne, we eventually pop out at the town of Brazey-en-Plaine where, Lynn
had read, they were having a Vide Grenier, which indeed they were.
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| The last page of the cruising guide for the Burgundy Canal. |
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| A message waiting for Mr Pottage to cruise by. |
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The white horse did a prompt about turn as we approached
and wouldn't move until we had passed. |
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| Another boat! New Zealand flagged Temps Parisienne |
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| Brazey mooring. |
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| The attic sale. |
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| The only building of any stature we came across. |
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| The main road into town. |
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| Mesdames in a boulangerie. |
The very warm
afternoon was spent aboard, ensconced behind sun drapes while trying to listen/watch/stream
the cricket. Why bother - pathetic.
Monday 24 June. Brazey-en-Plaine to
St-Jean-de-Losne. 5.5 kilometers, 2 locks. 1 hour, 15 minutes.
Well, what can we
say?
Another superb
morning, one lock,
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| The final lockkeepers cottage. |
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| This bush was filled with butterflies and bees. |
a last bit of countryside, a couple of boats lining the
sides of the canal,
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| Iron Lady, last seen in Aire-sur-Lys but now with a new owner. |
and suddenly were are passing the Blanquarts boatyard
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| Blanquarts yard. |
and have
lock number one hundred and eighty nine, the last on the two hundred and forty
two kilometer long Canal de Bourgogne, in sight!
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| The final lock. |
At ten past ten we arrive at ‘The
Steps’ of St-Jean-de-Losne and there are two spaces open – made to order (half
an hour later there were four open spaces but by nightfall the place was
jammed). Lynn wanders over to the jeton machine which is out of order, follows
the instructions on the machine and walks to the service station which is
closed (Monday), then walks to the tourist office (closed – Monday) and then to
the museum where the lady told her to call the number displayed on the side of
the jeton dispenser which she did – no-reply-Monday.
But the water and electricity
bourne jeton emptier man was emptying the jeton holders, and on hearing Lynn’s tale of
woe, presented her with one for free which enabled us to put in four hundred
and eighty liters of water, the first refill we have done since leaving Pont d’Ouche
eleven days ago. It was gratifying to know that we still had one hundred and
seventy liters in reserve though – we have been pretty frugal with our water
use.
A visit by the
waterways police (his dad was an international rugby referee and he proudly
informed us that he owned a genuine Springbok rugby jersey so Lynn gave him a
SA bead-flag keyring to add to his memorabilia) to check boat papers, skippers
qualifications, fire-extinguishers and life-jackets, was followed by the
arrival of the lady from the bimini repair place to take our dodger away to
have the window zips replaced.
The inside
temperature gradually rose to 38C and our solar panels were just not capable of
delivering enough power to keep both fridges going and we eventually had to run
the engines for half an hour to top them up.
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| Our saloon view. |
And so ended our cruise along this fantastic waterway. A trifle boring on the dead straight
section fron Dijon to St-Jean-de-Losne but the dire warnings of no water were
unfounded – a little shallow toward the summit but not an issue – and the five
kiometers of bad weed and the another five kilometers of very bad weed (4% of
the entire waterway) are not an excuse not to experience the Canal de Bourgogne.
We have absolutely loved it!
