Taking our barge to St Jean de Losne.

The Alp Horn concert in St Jean de Losne

Fabulous sunset on the Saone River.

The Painter! No not Picaso but close. He is standing next to the working barge from hell.

Oldtimer in all her glory on the skids in the slipway.

We had only one "deadline to meet" this year and it was for June 1st on the slipway at Atelier Fluvial. When you own a barge it is necessary, approximately every 5 years, to take the ship out of the water to have the bottom cleaned, checked for thickness of the plating on the bottom and then have the bottom repainted with antifouling paint. Now if you talk to any one who has done this you will hear so many many stories both good and bad about this experience. In fact we were feeling a little left out as we did not have any boatyard stories to tell. The boat had been taken out and surveyed when we bought her but to be honest we did not have a clue as to what we were looking at - really not a clue. So we made our way to St Jean de Losne after we left Seurre on May 25th this year.

We arrived early - 5 days early - so we parked on the "steps" in the town of St Jean de Losne. The weather was good and we waited till we could go into the yard. We arrived at the yard at the designated time and day and were immediately put onto the "skids" that are on a cog rail and hauled out of the water. Such a strange sensation and the barge felt very strange being out of water. Tulah was totally dumbfounded by the whole thing. As is normal with the French there was no declaration of the pending schedule so after several requests for information we were told they would clean the bottom the next morning, then measure the thickness the next day, then paint the first coat the next day and the final and 2nd coat Friday morning - then we were to "rest" in the yard till Monday when they would put us back in the water. What we had failed to remember was that the French are done with work at noon on Friday so there was no question we were to stay in the yard till Monday, suprise suprise. As it was this worked well for us - painting of the remainder of the bottom up to the "rub rail" with our great Dutch Blue color - courtesy of Eric happened over the weekend. So you want to know- what did we do about brushing our teeth and other personal hygiene issues - for us the answer was a local Auberge. Some people stay on their barge and use the bathrooms in the ship yard. My "princess" attitude dictated a bed and shower in the Auberge after spending each day getting filthy in the yard doing chores on Oldtimer. Dining out was a must for dinner and our favorite place was at the campground. Les Harlequins which is run by Claire and Jean-Michele was a delight and delicious. We have also decided that the Boulangerie Bazzali has the best croissant in France.

We only came away with one shipyard story - but now we have our very own story. The first day we were there we were brought out of the water and placed next to a 70 meter working barge. This barge is the work of a demented handy man - we think. The wheelhouse is an old truck cab. At any rate they decided after taking us out of the water to pressure wash this old barge. Yes you got it - we ended up covered in slime and muck and anything else that came off the bottom of this other barge. It was pretty disgusting. We then spent from 5:30pm, when they finally finished spraying, until 8:00pm washing and scrubbing Oldtimer. A huge mess.

We left the yard on time the following Monday, very pleased with Atelier Fluvial and moved Oldtimer back onto the "steps" in town. At lunch time that day a rental boat moored onto us and out came an Alp Horn which was such a treat. A lovely Swiss concert.

After a few days we left and went to the Bourgogne Canal through only 2 locks to a very quiet mooring . After about 2 days (without services at this particular mooring) we discovered that we really are in need of new batteries - so back to St Jean de Losne we went. We arrived to find a carnival on the Quai and everyone gearing up for a big weekend of partying. So we moored up the Saone under the trees while we decided what to do about our batteries.

A few days later we decided to move on to Seurre again. We left the morning of the blessing of the ships. It was to be a busy day in St Jean and we were ready for some peace and quiet. The wind was blowing a lot - perhaps 25-30k. We were excited to be on the Saone going with the current and with the wind at our rear. This would be a fast trip. In fact too fast. We arrived at the first and only lock that we needed to do that day and the green light was on for us to enter. What a treat. We moved up just as the eclusier changed the light and began shutting the doors. There was plenty of room in the ecluse for us - we have heard from others this is an elusier who often does this-shuts the doors in your face. All that was fine and doable except that we had anticipated getting into the lock, when we saw the green light, so we were quite close. The ecluses on the Saone and other rivers are quite large and as they fill or empty they create a great current/draw on the uphill side which we were on. So after a frantic few minutes that felt like a lifetime as we moved closer and closer to the ecluse with not enough power to back up and away because of the pull of the water we finally were able to get onto what is called a dolphin. A dolphin is just a large post in the water with some tie off points. We were only able to get one rope on and hang there to wait out the emptying and filling of the ecluse. Not an easy task and stressful to say the least. Finally the ecluse stopped draining and filling and we were able to enter. I think we were so done in by the stress that we did not have the energy , after mooring, to walk back to the ecluse and give our two cents worth to the eclusier. Probably better anyway.

Seurre was again a treat so we decided to stay for another week with the swans. Okay, I do have fun pictures of the swans - for another blog at another time.

On to the Saone River, St. Jean de Losne and the Bourgogne Canal

The Saone River

Our trip from Verdun sur Doubs was unremarkable. The biggest change being that on the River there is the wide open vista that you do not have on the canals. In addition we were going upstream so the current has an effect - slow. Barges are very slow as is but going against the current , with our boat anyway, is really similar to being an "escargot".

We made it in good time , though, to St. Jean de Losne. We arrived right in the middle of a Dragon Boat Race. We carefully picked our way through the boats and moored as a double with a wonderfully generous and welcoming English couple. It is always amusing when you need to moor onto someone else's boat because the Port is full - the occupants are often missing or suddenly find they need to do something down below in their boat. So it is with great relief and gratitude when someone makes the effort to welcome you to tie up to their boat. This is a rare moment in time on the Saone in St Jean de Losne.We were actually, for a few hours ,alone on the Port steps.

Our time in St Jean de Losne was spent fetching parts and pieces for the boat. St Jean is the nautical center for the inland waterways of France and one of the few places you can find all those bits and pieces. We also arranged to have our boat hauled out next summer, on June 1st, so that the bottom can be checked. It is a normally scheduled event with barges every 5 years or so. While the boat is out of the water they pressure wash the bottom, check the thickness of the bottom, if all is well they recoat the bottom with anti-fouling paint and replace the annodes. St. Jean de Losne is also known for its great butcher so we had a chance to visit him.

Five days later, with a quick stop at the bunker boat for fuel, we moved onto the Bourgogne Canal. The distance to Dijon requires an overnight stop and just as well as the weeds and algae in this canal are monumental. The Eclusier stated it was a "catastrophe." After each ecluse we had to put the boat in reverse in order to clear the propeller of all the stuff wrapped around it. Then on to Dijon where we waited for my brother Peter and his wife Michele to arrive from California by way of Switzerland. Dijon is a small big city. Lots of old and beautiful buildings, squares with cafes and lots of tourists just like us. The Port in Dijon is mostly reserved for hotel boats but there is a lot of mooring for others. We enjoyed our stay and stocked up the boat with provisions as we have been told there is little available on the Bourggne.
















The top picture is a Chapel on the inside of the Tourism Office Building in Dijon and the bottom picture is of the facade of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Dijon.


As we left Dijon we had one of those days on the canal. Another experience which is funnier now than then. Thank goodness Michele and Pete were with us to help see the humor in what was happening. The Eclusier , who was not very friendly to start with, decided after about 3 ecluses that a 20 meter boat needed to join us in the ecluses. The Eclusier was in a hurry to leave so as the 2 boats, which when stern to bow filled the entire Ecluse with no room to spare ,entered the ecluse he opened the sluices/paddles and the water was rushing into the ecluse, the back doors were not yet even closed and the 20 meter boat only had one line on a bollard and our lines were not yet in the proper place to handle this ecluse with this other boat. So the result was total chaos, the 20 meter boat hit us(our stern) at least 2 times. As we later discovered the owner of the 20 meter boat did not know how to handle the boat's ropes in an ecluse. The Eclusier who was equally the problem told us if we didn't like having our boat rammed we could "continue tomorrow". So after a very long discussion with Eclusier, calling on all our skills at speaking French, we put the other boat in front for the next several ecluses (12 to be exact). That was not to be the end of a strange day. As we rounded a corner after another few ecluses there on the left side was parked a large hotel boat ( they cannot moor directly on the bank because the canal is too shallow so they are out about 3 feet ) and directly across from him on the other side is another large peniche known as the Opera Peniche ( they go around giving comedic opera performances in the canal ports). We are about 4 meters wide and I can promise you there was not more than 6 inches between us and these two large barges. To add to the drama of this event they informed us that they hoped we were not too deep as they had strung an electric cable between the boats in the water. What were they thinking???? They suggested that we stop our engine as we passed them - now how do you pass without an engine providing forward momentum. So any way we passed safely thanks to Eric's fabulous captaining. At the end of these 12 ecluses with the 20 meter boat - the owner gave us a beautiful bottle of Mersault. Amazing how easy we are to please. As a caveat to all this ranting about the Ecluses and Eclusiers we have to say that with very few exceptions the Eclusiers are charming, helpful, polite and people we look forward to meeting during the summer.

We had a great three more days with Michele and Peter. Bike rides, vide greniers, castles, chateaux , good dinners and were able to keep up with The Tour de France on TV. Michele and Peter left us in Pont sur Ouche where we stayed for a few more days.

Pete and Michele taking shelter from the rain (bottom). Eric and Michel deciding which way to go ?(top) And then there is Tulah and her cart.

Chateau de Malain - near Pont de Pany

on the Bourgogne Canal .

This ancient chateau is being restored by

volunteers and archeologists.