15.3°C overnight - cooler at last! Grey clouds with small holes to let the odd ray of sunshine through. Set off at nine through the old multi-arched stone bridge of St Laurent. There was only one medium sized Dutch cruiser on the pontoon on the St Laurent side, plus the tripper. (It would have been much quieter overnight on that side.) First boat past was an ex-Connoisseur hireboat with a Belgian flag which passed us at KP91. A British cruiser overtook us at the start of the passage around the Ile de Brouard KP95; he was moored at Crêche the day before. A downhill LeBoat hireboat with a Swiss flag went past before we left the island behind. Three lads in a punt were extracting weed from the stretch of river in front of the campsite at Fleurville KP97. It was midday as we went under the Pont de Feurville, passing loaded boat Koumac from St Jean-de-Losne (101m x 11m, 2,288 tonnes). The wind was getting chilly so I made us a cuppa soup and put my fleece on.
A string of four empty péniches overtook us around KP100, by the former café Jean-de-Saône; Saint Laurent from Conflans-Ste-Honorine, next a very smart Belgian boat called Helene from Gent flying a defaced Belgian flag, then Doma from Abbécourt, and finally RO-GI, another from Conflans-Ste-Honorine, an old boat with a very yappy Doberman in the wheelhouse. Lunch. Overtaken by another Dutch cruiser, then a French cruiser went downhill at the Pont d’Uchizy. I took a photo of one of the many former ports that are named in our guide which no longer have usable quays due to the changes in water levels when they altered the number of locks.
The Port de Farges still showed signs of the old quay but a 10m wide field now had built up in front of it. We passed the junction with the little river Seille at 1.30 p.m. Another LeBoat went past heading downhill at KP110. Into Tournus. The pontoon was full with several Dutch boats moored side by side, the upstream half of the pontoon was reserved for Pavillon de Saône hireboats. The stone quay was full, but with odd short gaps. There was a gap several feet too short for us at the upstream end. Mike poked our bows next to the quay behind a little yacht and he asked the crews of a British replica Dutch Barge and a small French cruiser if they’d mind moving down a bit. There were no bollards or rings so we had to knock pins into gaps in the concrete, just as Graciosa went past heading uphill empty. Mike moved the small yacht in front of us up a couple of feet too, which made life easier. It was 2.55 p.m. by the time we’d tied up. He went to say thanks to the Brits. Got the moped off the roof easily as the top of the quay was halfway up the cabin. New electricity sockets had been installed up by the road at the top of the big flight of wooden steps, so Mike rewired our 3-phase red plug and added it to our longest extension lead. I took it up top to try it (both the blue sockets - there were only two - were in use, but not the two red ones) but our plug wouldn’t fit. Its diameter was, strangely, slightly too large . Mike went off to retrieve the car from Jassans at 3.45 p.m. I put all the cables, sockets and plugs away.
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