Hot and sticky overnight. Grey clouds threatened thunderstorms, big gaps in clouds hot and sunny. We were away for nine after Mike had collected a loaf. Three tugs had gone uphill before eight and the five Belgian fast cruisers that had arrived the day before were still attached to the pontoon when we left. One cruiser passed heading downriver as we set off. At KP42, in Beauregarde’s port-de-plaisance there were three small cruisers moored and next door at Nautic 1. there were two dozen small speed boats. A sand pit at KP44 was occupied by a pan and tug of Ganulates Rhone-Alpes. An uphill tug called Paon pushing an empty pan went into the arm to the sand pit. A French cruiser went downhill at KP47. At Montmerle a sign on the wall said 10€ for boats over ten metres in length, 8€ for those under 10m. One Dutch boat was moored at the upstream end. Another boat had set off from the pontoon heading uphill a few minutes earlier. Paused at a new pontoon at Belleville and refilled our water tank. Set off again at 11.30 a.m. The skies went really black and a few drops of rain fell as we set off then the sun came out again. Two cruisers and two British yachts went past heading downriver at KP 57 above the islands Genouilleux and Tapanas. Dracé lock, N° 23, was empty with a green light (he must have a camera somewhere as the lock was round a blind bend) so we went in and up 2.9m. Although the large Saône locks fill from the front the yo-yo effect in this one was negligible. The keeper leaned out of the window of his cabin way up above us to say hello - and au’voir when we left. Graciosa, an empty commercial (108m long x 9.5m), was moored above the lock on the left. Couldn’t help smiling at the home port on the stern of Longeuil-Annel, that boat had never been there, it was far too big! Maybe he used to have a péniche registered there. The mooring at Thoissey seemed to be completely taken over by speed boats with a diving platform next to a campsite, but there was a section was marked as being a port-de-plaisance with a board saying the depth was 2.5m. Above the bridge there were two old short stone quays with steps and rings. A fast cruiser overtook us just after St Romain-les-Iles. Lunch. A downhill French cruiser wished us bonne appetit as we were eating lunch on the move.
Tourville, a 60m barge loaded with sand overtook us around KP68. We intended to stop at Port Arciat, where we’d previously marked on the map a new quay with bins and water. Two boats (a large British cruiser and the first hire boat we'd seen since leaving the Midi - a Locaboat) were already moored there, but there was enough room for us at the upstream end. We tied up then read the notice which said “Port de Crêche-sur-Saône” and listed the price as 7.60€ per night plus 6,10€ for water and electricity. No way we were paying 7,60€ just to moor at a little campsite. We left. A sand barge went past heading downhill. Nipped across the river, through the navigation arch and a new bridge under construction just upstream of the old girder bridge as empty commercial Apopis (63.5m x 8.16m, 911 tonnes) was catching us up. It overtook us just after the bridges. A second Loca went past heading downriver by the TGV bridge at 2.55 p.m. A new road bridge was under construction just a short way upstream of the TGV bridge. Tourville (who had overtaken us earlier) was in the Nouveau Port de Mâcon, unloading his cargo of sand. Rocambole (73.5 x 8.16m, 914 tonnes) was loading sand from a conveyor at the dolphins on the opposite bank to the sand quay, below the old viaduc de Mâcon.
A very smart new road bridge spanned the river below Mâcon just above the derivation. Hotel ship Provence was moored at the downstream end of the quai Lamartine (our home for the month of October in the floods of 1993). A new pontoon had been installed, for private boats it said, just upstream of where the toilets used to be. We tied to the downhill end by the passerelle when we heard jazz music coming from a newly built projection overhanging the river upstream of the pontoon. We don’t like jazz at the best of times, but this sounded like a band tuning up! A large cruiser moored in front of us just after we’d finished tying up at 3.50 p.m. Mike went up on to the road to have a look around.
The hotel boat Rembrandt arrived, winded and moored alongside the quay behind us. Later Mike went to have a look at the musicians playing at the “bandstand”; he said there were twenty of them. On the pontoon there was a group of youths drinking. We expected trouble but, luckily, had none. The tripper from St Laurent (on the opposite bank) went past fast making a big splosh around midnight.
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