Light cloud, followed by lots of black rain clouds, although we only had a light sprinkling of drops once; big sunny spells, light wind. Mike went a walk into town to get a loaf before we set off. We left at 9.20 a.m. A LeBoat hireboat which had moored in front of us overnight overtook us 2kms before Ormes lock N° 22. We increased speed to stop the distance between us and the hireboat getting too great. 1km from the lock we could see a British Dutch Barge was catching up, he was about 2 kms behind and a cruiser was behind him. The keeper at Ormes waited until all four boats were in the chamber before he closed the gates and filled it, which gave the LeBoat time to do half a pirouette and get back on the wall. There was another boat coming uphill, but he was just too far away and there was one small Rive de France hireboat waiting above to go down. As we left the lock we could see the Rive de France doing the same thing as the LeBoat - he was broadside in the chamber. The LeBoat we’d come up with winded and tied on the pontoon above the lock. A German yacht went past heading downstream followed by a French cruiser. The LeBoat overtook us, then moored in the old lock at Gigny. The four empty péniches (St Laurent, Helene, Doma and RO-GI) we’d seen on Friday were moored four abreast above the old disused lock.
On the opposite side by some fishermen was an elaborate duck shooting hide. A small French cruiser went past, it looked too small to be steered from the top deck. The LeBoat overtook us yet again (third time) just before Pont D’Ouroux. Another French cruiser went past at KP131. A hireboat from Tournus overtook us at KP132. Lunch. An English voice announced on Marine VHF in pretty bad French that he was leaving Chalon Sud (the commercial port) to go uphill when we were 2 kms downstream. When we got there, there was just a small tug and an empty pan on the quay. A German cruiser went past at KP136. An Australian cruiser from Queensland went past at KP140.5 by the viaduct in Chalon. Two hotel ships were moored downstream of the steps, Mistral of Tain L’Hermitage was on the inside and Viking Burgundgy of Oberwesel (German flag) was on the outside with his engine running.
After we cleared he backed into the entrance to the port de plaisance to wind and head off back down river. A péniche sized hotel boat, called Napoleon, had winded to point back upriver and tied on the steps. An old péniche called Isonzo was moored on the left hand side opposite the upstream end of the Ile St Laurent. An ex Locaboat was moored on the left hand side on the low quay with rings. The British Dutch Barge that we locked with had moored at the old sailing club moorings on the right hand side above the island. Next to him were a Danish tjalk, a hireboat called Maeva and a fat narrowboat. A péniche tripper was also moored there and a circus was setting up too. We hooted and waved and Mike indicated we were going up the lock. A péniche houseboat with a hull painted bright yellow and cabin done in green was moored next to the old docks on a 4m high quay wall. The hireboat cruiser Maeva overtook us (slowly) as we approached the junction with the Canal du Centre, so Mike slowed down to let it pass and then we turned left across its wake. Two red lights on the lock. Mike couldn’t find a VHF channel number so he called lock 34 (bis) on channel 10. No reply. We hooted then moored below the lock.
It was 2.45 p.m. The keeper, a pleasant chatty young man, came down the steps to talk to us. He said there was a boat waiting above but we’d have to wait for another boat before he could lock us through, maximum of an hour. He told us that the canal feeder reservoirs have to have a thorough check every ten years and the biggest had been emptied earlier this year but there had been no rain to refill it so boats had to wait for others where possible as they were conserving water. He told us he had two big pumps to back pump river water into the pound above and there used to be a pipeline all the way to Chagny to feed the flight, but it hadn’t been used in donkeys years and now they hadn’t the cash to repair it. He said when the canal was built the main cargo had been coal to the aluminium works in winter time, so there was plenty of water available. Their quietest time then was in summer. Now that’s reversed with most traffic in summer so now they run out of water! Less than an hour later another LeBoat arrived, we waved him into the lock first and we untied and went in behind. Our book had a note which said use the right hand side floaters, we did and the water blew us off the wall so we drifted gently over to the left and I changed the rope on to the left hand floater. No problem. Above there were two boats waiting, a small French cruiser, called St Christophe, 1 with two huge flags, and a Loca. We left the top at 3.50 p.m. We’d got a mass of weed on the prop - there had been loads of clumps of the stuff going down the river and the canal had lots of it too. A building was under construction over the canal by the Leclerc hypermarket, what it was or why it was being built over the canal heaven knows.
Might ask the keeper on the way back down. (It was a new resto for Leclerc!) The wind picked up so Mike took our sun canopy down. The towpath on the left was now a busy metalled cycle path and very shortly there was a chalk covered path on the right bank too. Three little ex-Rive de France hireboats were moored before the official moorings in Fragne. There were around half a dozen cruisers and a yacht on the halte nautique moorings, plenty of space, but we had no need of their electricity for 6€ a night, so we tied to the pilings about 100m before lock 34. Surprisingly there was a depth of 1.3m below the boat, it was very deep for a canal bank. Gave Mike a hand to unload the moped and he went off at 5.15 p.m. to retrieve the car from Tournus.
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