2009: through the channels of France, day: 26..30
The morning was sunny and joyful. We got up early, but left only at 11 o'clock, because I had to change the oil in the engine.
All day we walked briskly down the Sonya, passing 4 locks. The book said that the locks have a lunch break, from 12 to 13-30, but it seems that this is not so - we passed the first lock when the clock was 12-15. And indeed - what is the lunch break for automatic locks?
Sona turned into a real river - wide and full-flowing. There are few ships sailing here, most of them are charter boats. We now meet many parking lots where such boats are.
In the middle of the day we passed by the Canal de la Marne a la Saone - the same one that was going to go south, but which was closed and as a result we had to go around, along the Canal de la Marne au Rhin. This workaround took us 13 days. If the Marne-Saone canal had not been closed, then we would have passed it in about 7 days. Thus, we lost 5 days on this detour.
Then we passed 2 more channels: the Canal du Rhone au Rhin (from the Rhone to the Rhine) left to the left, and the Canal de Bourgogne (Burgundy Canal) to the right, through which you can reach Paris.
We passed the city of Auxonne (Ooon), which is famous for the fact that Napoleon Bonaparte served here (apparently, when he was not yet emperor). But we did not stop here, because it was still early for an overnight stay. The day was sunny and warm. Sail was easy. I said to my Mila: “Remember, a year ago I promised you comfortable sailboating? Here, I still fulfilled my promise!” In fact, during all the time of our sailings in the north of Europe, good sunny weather was a rarity.
But towards the end of the day, the clouds began to thicken. At five o'clock it began to drizzle. Bearing in mind that it often rains heavily at the end of the day, we put on raincoats - and on time. After about 20 minutes, lightning began to sparkle in the distance, and after another 20 minutes it began to rain heavily. We turned on the side lights. Visibility dropped dramatically, through the wall of rain I could hardly distinguish the spans of the bridge to which we were going. I even wanted to stop at the pier, which turned out to be nearby, and wait out the rain, but then the wall of rain began to thin.
We entered the city of St-Jean-de-Losne (Saint-Jean-de-Lon) and began to look for a place where to settle down for the night. The book promised that there would be as many as 3 well-maintained marinas, but for some reason we could not find a single one. There were boats and barges along the embankments, but, firstly, neither water nor electricity was visible on the banks (and we had to draw water, because our supplies were running out), and secondly, there was simply no place where we could get stuck. Yes, the farther south, the more boats, and the less free space. We slowly walked under the bridge, passed the gas station,wife on a barge, and then my Darling noticed a gap in the wall of the embankment, in which some boats could be seen. It was near the entrance to the Canal de Bourgogne. We went there and indeed found a parking lot full of boats. It even seemed to me that we would not be able to find a place where to stumble, but this was an erroneous impression - there were places, and quite a lot.
When we were mooring, we were suddenly shouted from a neighboring boat: “Attasion!” (Carefully!). At first I thought that they were warning us that it was shallow here, but it turned out that they were worried about their fishing rods hanging from the stern of the boat. The French seem to be a nation of amateur anglers. Nowhere have I seen such a huge number of people sitting off the coast with fishing rods. These anglers are equipped to the very ears. I think their equipment costs more than one thousand euros. Today, on the way to one lock, we met several dozen fishermen sitting along the shore on the riverdistance of 10 meters from each other. And in the sluice itself, some boys were also catching fish on a spinning rod. I was afraid that their fishing line would inadvertently wrap around the screw for us, but nothing happened.
We moored, connected to the electricity, put up an awning to protect from the rain, which continued to pour, and then I went to the captainry to pay for the night. As I expected, no one was already there (after all, it was already 6 pm).
There is a real sailboat shop here. The last time I saw such a store was in Calais. We will have to go there tomorrow, buy a water adapter, otherwise we could not get water at the last parking lot due to the fact that there were some strange taps.
The toilet and shower are located on the boat, standing at the beginning of the pier. I don't know if the water flows directly into the river or into a cistern. Internet is available here, but a password is needed, which I hope to get from the hub master tomorrow when I pay for the overnight stay.
Coordinates: N 48-06.324' E 005-15.643' Traveled: 33.8 miles, 4 locks.
18 МАЯ 2009, ПОНЕДЕЛЬНИКFinally hot! Temperature - +24 degrees.
In the morning we went to the store, bought groceries (for 120 euros). They looked for a laundry, but they didn’t find it nearby and gave up on it. I bought transmission oil from a sailboat shop. They didn't have water taps. We got some water and left at 12:25.
At the exit from the marina there was a barge on which a gas station was equipped. We moored there, but there was no one on the barge, and there was an announcement that they had lunch from 12 to 14. So we moved on.
For a long time we walked serenely along the wide full-flowing Sonya, until we came to the gateway, which for some reason did not open at our approach. In front of him, there was no hose familiar to us, because he was controlled by a man. This man clearly saw us (after all, I saw his silhouette in the window of the airlock tower), but for some reason he was in no hurry to let us in. After waiting 10 minutes, I moored the boat in front of the lock and waited. After about 10 minutes, the gates of the airlock began to open. Apparently, this happened due to the fact that a second boat approached. Guess the lockers don't lock the little onesone by one - in order to reduce water consumption. This hypothesis was confirmed on the second gateway. Approaching the lock, we saw a boat there, standing alone in the lock. The sluice gates were open, and he greeted us with a green light. We went out into the gateway, and after us another, third, boat entered. And then we were all sent away together. I want to note that later, when we entered the Rhone, they began to let us into the lock and alone - apparently, there is more water in the Rhone than in Sona and saving water is no longer relevant.
At half past five in the evening we passed the confluence of the river Duobs (Dub) and Saone. After that, the Sona became even fuller. Buoys appeared on it: on the right - red, on the left - green.
There were no more locks that day. We calmly walked along the river, under the hot sun and enjoyed a pleasant swim. At 7 pm we arrived in the city of Chalon-sur-Saone (Chalon-sur-Saone). Here the Central Canal joined the river.
After entering the city, we began to look for a place to spend the night. The embankments of the city were either too high to moor, or there were signs on them that it was impossible to stand here. In one place we tried to approach the shore, but the depth began to decrease so quickly that I did not take risks and turned back. The book said that there was a marina, but it was hidden behind the island and we saw it only when we went downstream. We went to the marina, but the first time we didn’t find a place where to stand and, having passed through the marina, we went out on the other side of the island.ditch. We made a circle around the island and again entered the marina. This time the place was found and we finally got up for the night.
There was, of course, no one in the captain's quarters. The toilets were also locked. We did not find the Internet. Connected to electricity, had dinner and went to bed.
Coordinates: N 46-46,636' E 004-51,609' Passed 33.6 miles and 2 locks.
19 МАЯ 2009, ВТОРНИКIn the marina where we spent the night, there was a gas station. In the morning I went to see if fuel could be bought there. The Frenchman who serviced the gas station, hearing my question, shook his head and said that the fuel here is very expensive: 1.6 € per liter. Really expensive (regular price: 1.04€). To my question, where then to buy fuel, he waved his hand to the side and I went in the direction indicated by him. I found there, very close to the marina, a huge mega-mall, with a variety of shops. There was also a gas station. I went to the gas station twice, with canisters, and brought 40 liters. floodedfull tank and filled all the canisters. I finally bought transmission oil - as much as 6 liters. I use this oil (SAE 80W-90) to fill the propeller shaft oil seal. When the shaft rotates, the oil slowly flows out, so every day I add 50 milliliters there. The amount of oil that I bought will last me all the way to Turkey (I hope).
We started at 13:10. The day was very hot and sunny. My hands were burned, I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt.
After 2 hours we came to the first lock. Here we were overtaken by a large steamer. I was sure that this huge steamer would take up the entire lock. Naturally, we let him go ahead and moored in front of the lock, intending to wait until he was sent off. But at the traffic light at the lock, the green light continued to burn, and we were surprised to see how some boat cheerfully splashed right into the lock, following the steamer. We also entered the lock, and saw that the width of the steamer really occupied the lock entirely (the distance from its sides to the walls of the lock did not exceed half a meter), but the length of the lock was still quite enough for 4 sailboats to be found behind the stern of this ship.
Leaving the lock, we found ourselves in the company of charter boats that were going in the same direction as us. I was not going to compete with them in speed, but soon I was surprised to see that we were overtaking them. Apparently, there are some speed limiters on these boats, since we managed to overtake them. Or we were just breaking the rules (we were going at a speed of 5.5 knots).
At half past four we passed the city of Tournus (Tournus), and at six in the evening clouds began to creep in from the west, as usual. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, it became cool. Fortunately, it did not come to rain, although we got ready - we put on waterproofs.
At seven o'clock in the evening we reached the outskirts of Makon (Macon). There should have been a large marina here, but the entrance to it is invisible and I would have skipped it if not for my Darling. She pointed out to me a channel leading from the right bank, and we went there. Indeed, there was a marina. Yachts were moored along the berths, moored with the stern to the "dead anchors", and the bow - to the pier.
When we approached the pier, a man from a neighboring sailboat began to help us. And then he asked us in English where we were from. We answered that we are Russians, from Russia. And then he suddenly said: "I also speak Russian." It turned out that he was the son of a Russian woman and a Frenchman. His mother left Russia in 1917. He speaks Russian well, only sometimes one feels that this language is not native to him. One of his daughters also speaks Russian, but the other did not want to learn this language. His name is Konstantin. His boat - a 12.5-meter ketch - was standing nearbywith our. He said that three years ago he came here to change the engine and in June he was going to leave here. He wants to go on a new world tour. First, it will go to the Caribbean, and from there, through the Panama Canal, to the Hawaiian Islands, and then to Alaska. I asked him if he would like to visit Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. He said no, he would rather go to Canada. He has been sailboating for 40 years and has traveled around the world: the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, then the east coast of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, the Atlantic, Brazil, the Caribbean, the Pacificth ocean... And so on. He didn't talk much about himself. In this he was very different from our sailboatsmen. In general, the more I communicate with Europeans, the more I feel the difference between them and us. We Russians are still quite a wild people, no matter how sad it is to admit it. We love show-offs and bragging, we love courage and other noisy manifestations of the national character. Europeans are more modest and more serious. They calmly do their job, do not give advice (unless asked), polite and always ready to help. We Russians need to learn from the Europeans, they will adoptthey have a culture of communication.
In the marina, we were charged 10 euros for parking. Gave a key to the toilet and shower (which we had to return the next morning). True, we were not connected to electricity (perhaps they forgot). The electrical boxes were locked.
Coordinates: N 46-19.373' E 004-50.799' Traveled 32.1 miles, 1 lock.
We hope to reach Lyon the next day.
20 МАЯ 2009, СРЕДАThe morning was wonderful. The bright sun shone from the blue sky. We had breakfast, took a shower, then I found the hub-master and gave him the key. At half past nine they started the engine, and went.
After 10 hours, at half past seven in the evening, we got up for the night in the city of Lyon. The path was easy and smooth, there is not even anything to talk about. It's amazing: when there are difficulties in life, something goes wrong, you can talk about it for a long time, picturesquely, and when everything is fine, there is even nothing to tell. Today was just such a day - when everything is fine. Only in the evening something happened ... but more on that later.
We walked all day, passed two locks. Both times we had to wait in front of the locks for some large steamer to come up and lock with it. We passed two cities: Trivoux and Neuville-sur-Saone. We liked both cities very much. There are beautiful old buildings, embankments and bridges. In general, the further south, the more beautiful France becomes. Fun fact: in the north of France, where we were recently, locksmiths walk around in uniform blue jackets and trousers. And here, in southern France, locksmiths walk around in blue uniforms and shorts.
At six o'clock in the evening we reached Lyon. Lyon is a big city (the third largest city in France) and we walked along it for a long time, more than an hour, until we reached the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone. We did not go to the Rhone, we stopped at the pier where large ships were moored. There was a free place between two barges, where we squeezed. We moored, turned off the engine, and sat down to dinner. And then THIS happened, what I promised to talk about above.
There was a knock on the side of the boat, and a voice in Russian with a southern accent said: "Come out, let's get acquainted." I went out into the cockpit and saw two guys, with a clear Caucasian appearance. "Who it? Where are you going from? they started asking questions. “And who are you? What are you doing here? I asked. “We are from the Caucasus,” they answered importantly. “He does business here. We are asking you. Come on answer." This is how our conversation went. They started running into me, threatening that I might lose my boat. I answered their questions sparingly, deciding to myself that if only theygoing to the boat, I'll tell Mila to call the police. There were many French people around who were walking and playing bowls, I did not think that these comrades would dare to make a scandal. And so it turned out. After showing off, they decided to leave, saying in the end with a threat: "We'll be back." It was clear that they would not return, because it was just a game for them: go and scare your neighbor. But we decided to play it safe, and left this place. We moored nearby to two barges, which stood at a lag, behind which we could not be seen from the shore. We asked the Frenchthe bonds on the barge were allowed to stay next to them overnight, and they allowed without any problems, informing only that they were leaving at 6 in the morning. But still surprising: even in France, we managed to stumble upon our punks! What a small world, though. And they found us, by the way, by the Russian flag hanging on the stern. After such cases, you begin to think: do you really need it - to wear the Russian flag?
Coordinates: N 45-44,621' E 004-48,858' Traveled: 45 miles.
21 МАЯ 2009, ЧЕТВЕРГSince the Frenchman, to whose barge we moored for the night, told us that he was leaving at 6 in the morning, we woke up at half past six, washed, I checked the engine oil level (I had to add 600 ml - something a little too much, somewhere the last time the oil began to disappear) and went. By the way, no movement was visible on the Frenchman's barge - he must be asleep without hind legs.
The sky was all in clouds, before dawn a fine rain was drizzling. But it wasn't cold. My Darling gave out an aphorism: “When it is warm, it is much easier to endure the joys of sailboating.”
From afar came some melodious melodic sounds. I could not understand what it was, but then, passing under the bridge, I saw some blue tubes suspended from below. And I remembered Pyatigorsk, the Aeolian harp. Apparently, it is the wind playing beautiful melodies on these blue tubes. After the bridge, we saw the Lyon Aquarium on the right bank of the Saone. It is a pity that I did not know that there is an aquarium here, otherwise it would be worthwhile to linger, go there. I love going to aquariums.
A couple of kilometers from the place where we spent the night, the Sona flowed into the Rhone. The width of the river immediately doubled, and the depth - up to 12 meters. The current in the Rhone is strong, our speed (relative to the ground) immediately increased to 14-15 km / h. This means that the speed of the current is 2-3 knots, approximately.
The sun rose from behind the clouds, painting the shores in delicate colors. My Darling took up the preparation of breakfast, and I stood at the helm. Half an hour later, the first lock appeared on the Rhone River. Its name is Pierre-Benite. Here, gateways do not have numbers, but personal names. The height of the water in the lock is 10 m. We went downhill, so the lock went smoothly and without problems. There are floating eyes in the lock, so it was convenient to lock. We were locking together with a large barge. I had to wait a long time in front of the lock until she came up. During this time I managed to have breakfast, while myDarling stood on the steering wheel and described slow circles in front of the airlock.
After the lock, Darling took over the watch, and I went downstairs to work on laying the route on my laptop. After some time, Darling called me to help her pass the oncoming steamer, which was going in a strange way - on our side of the fairway, right at us. I decided to get out of his way and took the boat to the shore. We moved beyond the line of red buoys marking the boundaries of the fairway (red on the right, green on the left if you go downstream). The depth was normal, 4 meters. And suddenly - bang! bam! bam! - the boat hit the keel several times on the stonethat bottom. A depth of 1.3 meters flashed on the echo sounder. The boat stopped and we, perhaps, would have been thoroughly stuck aground, but then a wave from a passing steamer lifted us up and pulled us off the surface. And then the depth again became normal - more than 3 meters. Conclusion: there is nothing to wander outside the fairway marked with buoys.
The blows were strong, and I went down inside to check if water was entering the boat. There was no leak. I was ready to kiss my little strong boat. This is what a good boat should be like: so that at full speed (we were going 5.5 knots) it could hit a stone - and nothing would fall off from it.
At 10 o'clock we passed the second lock, Vaugris, the height of the water there is 6 m. Also, there are no problems with locking. Floating eyelets are very convenient. You sit quietly, holding the end of the mooring line. No hassle. Then we went to the marina of the village of Les-Roches-de-Condrieu (N 45-27.326' E 004-46.429'). We went to the marina with one purpose: to buy fuel there. But the gas station to which we moored seemed abandoned: there was not a single living soul around, the columns were overgrown with cobwebs. I went to the captaincy to inquire about fuel. There was no one there either. Then we decided to at least dial ins and at the same time pour the fuel into the tank from the canister. While we were doing this, a man who turned out to be a gas station worker approached. So we still bought fuel there, filled up a full tank and all the free canisters. Fuel cost 1.08€ per litre. All this took us almost an hour. Then we moved on.
In the morning, when we started moving, there was almost no wind. But by noon the wind picked up. It was blowing from the south, exactly along the bed of the Rhone. Since he was blowing against the current, he dispersed an unpleasant wave. At first we walked without paying attention to it, but then the spray began to overwhelm the helmsman more and more often, and the speed of movement decreased. By that time we had already walked more than 40 miles, and I decided that was enough for today. We have just arrived at the Sablons lock (the third of the day), and there are berths near the locks, especially for sailboats. True, on these berths there is a strict inscription that the berthscan only be used to wait for gateway. But we decided to stay here for the night, having decided that the French are kind people and will not drive us out of the parking lot when such a strong wind blows.
And so it turned out. No one was interested in us, and no one began to drive us. And soon another sailboat approached, which moored next to us and also decided to stay for the night. There were two Australians on this sailboat - a young guy and a girl. The guy bought a boat in England and is going to go to the Caribbean on it. The girl, however, does not go with him, and soon returns to England. A guy is going to go across the ocean with his friend. Their boat is also Swedish-built, the older sister of Albin Vega, 10.4 meters long. Year built: 1972, new diesel engine installed.We went to their boat, and our first impression was: a palace, a real palace. So many places! Then we invited the Australians to our boat. The guy climbed into the cabin, stood for a moment, shook his head and climbed back out. "Yes," I told him. - "You're lucky! You have a big boat." We all laughed.
Good people, these Australians. We liked them. In general, Europeans are nice people. It is easy and pleasant to communicate with them.
By evening, the wind had calmed down a little, but closer to night the weather deteriorated even more: the whole sky was overlaid with heavy clouds, the air smelled of rain, and it became cool. We raised the canopy over the cockpit. I turned on Navtex. Before that, I had it turned off, because the weather forecast did not interest me - we went in any weather. And now the forecasts have become relevant again. We got to the parking lot early, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, so I had the opportunity to do some unfinished business on the boat. I installed another cigarette lighter socket and connected a tee-splitter to it, hBoth could charge laptops, mobile phones and power GPS on the go.
Coordinates: N 45-18.573' E 004-47.796' Traveled: 41.4 miles, two locks.
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