Use of the wind to put us almost gently onto a vacant hammerhead made it all look calculated ! There followed a brisk walk into town and then it rained and rained ; we didn ’ t even make it to the restaurant so good use was made of the on-board supplies .
Next day saw a morning weather window so after a rapid engine check and clean-out of the cooling filter ( a daily and sometimes twice daily ritual ) and a quick breakfast we set off on what turned out to be the shortest daily run of the whole trip - 10km !
Two locks only , rain in the air so skipper ’ s decision to stop at Port-sur-Saone ( not a difficult one when the crew back you up knowing how unpleasant locking can be in a monsoon ) was a good one .
Also , it was a longish run to the next recognisable marina and bank mooring on a rising and accelerating stream did not appeal ; visions of a sleepless night .
We had a wet walk around the town which is one of those small French towns which , in its day , was sleepy and attractive , and now has a very busy main road running right through the middle .
We were aware that a new restaurant had opened by the marina so we aimed to cheer ourselves trying it out , but it was Monday so , surprise , surprise , it was closed .
hour I was keen to get into the canal system where of course higher levels are welcome as long as they are reasonable and can be controlled .
The canals are under the care of the VNF ( Voies Navigables de France ) who by and large run a good organisation and patrols are readily on hand in case of need which is usually when the automatic locks malfunction .
They have control points for designated sections linked by intercom from each lock so you are not as cut off as it sometimes seems .
Four locks and some five hours saw us at our destination and a relatively new marina . However , the moorings are stern to which doesn ’ t suit us with davits and a tender between poles .
Guess what , the on-board provisions were hammered again ! Good thing THT has a wine cellar in the bilge storage under the galley .
Gloomy morning greeted us on day 7 but the forecast was reasonable so we set off to reach Corre ( 40 km ) which is the head of navigation on the river . With the current increasing by the
We were directed to a berth which turned out to be too narrow with zero depth for turning so an alternative was suggested where the barges moor .
This was plenty wide enough but a bit fed up by now so I took the easy option and went in bow to and fixed our trusty ladder to the rail .
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