POOH BEAR REPORT - December 2000 The French Canals - Part 2 Starting: Montceau-les-Mines, France, 7 August 2000 Ending: Paris, France. 27 August 2000 ========================================================================= At the end of Part 1 we had completed our first two days and climbed through 30 locks in the French Canals. We were moving right along. On the third morning, during the engine check, I found diesel fuel on the side of the engine and traced it to an injector feed line fitting. I tightened it and we got underway. We rose through 6 more locks and by midmorning were 438 feet higher than when we entered the canals; and now we were starting down. After our lunch stop I checked the engine again and found even more diesel. Not looking good. Montceau-les-Mines By midafternoon we had descended through 9 more locks and were entering the town of Montceau-les-Mines with no intention of stopping. But when we found a much larger than expected "port de plaisance" (pleasure boat marina), we ignored the 1.5 meter depth signs and gingerly eased onto the end of a vacant T-head. I checked the engine once again. Now diesel fuel was really everywhere. Only two days into the canals and already a problem. I was feeling mighty low. But, we knew we could not continue far without fixing the problem and we reasoned that a medium size city would be better than a village to have spares shipped in, if required. So, to the Capitainerie. The Port Capitan was a girl, a college student, who spoke rather good English. The cost per night for the slip was $2.00 and $2.25 more if we wanted electricity. And we could stay right where we were.. Pretty hard to beat. I telephoned Kevin Alley in Maine and he told me where to look for the crack in the line. I checked the spares, and sure enough I had a spare of the suspect high-pressure line aboard. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. Undo the cracked line at both ends, remove it and install the replacement. Wrong. The old line could not be snaked out. I drained the coolant, removed the heat exchanger end caps, removed two brackets, removed four almost impossible to reach nuts, pulled the heat exchanger/exhaust manifold, got the old pipe out. I then snaked the new pipe in, reinstalled the heat exchanger/exhaust manifold, tightened those four impossible to reach nuts and poured the coolant back in. Our fifteen-minute job was done in only six hours. But Montceau turned out to be such a delightful place we stayed two more full days. We walked all over town. We even found a DIY laundry and Judy did three loads of clothes for about $10. We found a wonderful restaurant with a waiter that spoke English. He had spent two years in California in the restaurant business. We had not checked e-mail in quite a long time so inquired about an internet shop. Told of one some distance away I went looking. I didn't find it (it apparently had closed), but I did find the only Frenchman that was truly unpleasant when asked if she spoke English. A curt NO and she turned away from me to signify total disdain. We had been told the French did not like Americans. We found that untrue, although it was true they did not want to speak English even if they could. We, on multiple occasions, have been motoring up a canal and passed Frenchman along the bank. We would wave and they would wave back. Then when we moved on to where they could see the US flag on the stern, they would give a bigger wave or, more usually, a big thumbs up and a shout of "America". Many times we had a Frenchman really warm up to us upon finding we were Americans. Judy often broke the ice with, "Parlez vous American" (instead of English). The woman in Montceau was the exception that proved the rule. We still had found no place to do e-mail when the Port Capitain brought her computer from home and insisted we dial AOL at her expense to get our e-mail. 'Nuff said! Cash No many years ago, obtaining cash in a foreign country was a problem not to be taken casually. If you had bought plenty of travelers checks before leaving home it was not too difficult to find some merchant to take them as payment for merchandise. Of course, the bank would cash them, for a percentage fee, but they are not much help at night or on a bank holiday. Now it has all changed. ATMs, known over here as a "Cash Points" or "Holes in the Wall", are everywhere. We have never had any problem, day or night, getting cash with our Cirrus or Plus cards. Actually we did one time back in Spain. That was when our bank changed hands and they cancelled our ATM card without warning! Almost every village has at least one ATM. In towns such as Chalon-sur-Saone, with maybe twenty thousand people, we found over half a dozen ATMs on the main street alone. If the ATM's bank charges a percentage, it is so small that we cannot detect it. In fact, the rate is usually slightly better than credit card purchases. And not one has ever charged us a "transaction fee", but US banks sure do. Doing the Plowing We were truly sorry to leave Montceau-les-Mines on the 10th of August. Only a few kilometers north, as we were locking, the lockmaster, speaking French, with lots of hand waving, told us that the water level in the next section was low. Indeed it was low; 15" to 18" low. We ploughed for 3 km (a little less than 2 miles) to the next lock. With the throttle advanced as much as I could without overheating we ploughed along at 2 to 3 knots. Evidently Pooh's keel was more than a foot into the soft bottom muck. We never came to a stop (if we had, I doubt if we could have started moving again) and steering was very sluggish. It was with great relief that we entered the next lock. We have no idea why the water was so low and never encountered the situation again. The Great Green Bean Buy One might think it would get kind of boring; off at 0900, go through 10 ro 12 locks, stop at 1730, go to bed. Aside from the beauty and peacefulness of the waterway, there were always little things that happened unexpectedly. For example, the 12th was the day of the Great Green Bean Buy. While locking through, a young boy came up obviously offering fresh green beans for sale. With the language barrier, bargaining was difficult, but Judy understood the price to be 20 Francs (about $3.00) for some undetermined amount. She gave him 20 FF. The kid lit up like a 500 watt bulb and handed her his entire stock. It was a quantity that completely filled the sink. We had green beans for days. SeaBride Surprise Later the same day we decided quit about 1730 and pulled into the bank. It was a particularly shallow bank and we barely got the bow over land before stopping. No amount of pulling would move Pooh's stern in so we drove stakes and tied off at a 45 degree angle. During the first gin and tonic, I heard a shout and looked out to see a southbound Tayana 37 (a big 1.8 on its bow) alongside. How deep was the query in English. We are aground was my reply. They nosed in at 45 degrees close astern, put out their lines on stakes and joined us for drinks. They were Bill and Ruth, a New Zealand couple, sailing west about the world on SeaBride. They had come from the Med to Paris three weeks earlier and were heading back for the Med. We had a wonderful time visiting in Pooh's cockpit until almost 2200. The next morning we went our separate ways, an integral part of cruising is parting. Guetin & the Aqueduct Just south of the village of Guetin two items on the map caught our attention. The first, a long fourteen arch stone aqueduct that would carry us 50' above the River l'Allier. I can't find my records, but I think it was built in the 1700s. It was an eerie feeling floating along high above the river bed with only a foot high wall keeping all the water from running out. At the far end was the second item; a tandem lock. This means two locks where the exit gates of the first chamber are the entrance gates of the second chamber. The first lock was no problem, but the second was a major problem. The water was then 20 feet lower, but the lock walls were not lower. There was no was to get lines to bollards on top, nor were there any bollards in the walls. Our only choice was to grab hold of a rung on the one ladder, placed way too far aft, and hang on. Turned out we did OK as going down there is little turbulence. What did cause terrible problems was that we shared the lock with a sightseeing barge boat ahead who kept his prop turning over throughout the descent. His prop wash almost drove us back into the lock sill (very close astern). We later found that if asked, the lockmaster would have dropped a line from above. It had been a hot day and we ended it by walking back down to the river, looking up at the aqueduct we had just floated across and taking a cooling swim in the swift flowing River l'Allier. The Pierhead Jump As I have mentioned, frequently the canal bank is just too shallow for us lay alongside, but instead we put the bow in about 45 degrees, then pull Pooh as close to parallel as we can. One evening we followed that procedure, but instead of waiting while I drove Pooh through the mud, Judy made a long leap for shore. The ground was rough, she hit wrong and went out full length. I could just see a broken ankle, but fortunately it was only a painful sprain. Lots of immediate ice kept on her ankle for several hours plus two gin and tonics was the key. Judy was walking the next morning, albeit with a limp that lasted for several weeks. Watson's Place Cruising guides are a necessity, but don't tell the whole story. The cruiser grapevine is the best source of information. This was the case with Watson's. Only mentioned in one guide, it was given as a "must stop" by other boats we met. So, although only 1000 one hot day, when we arrived at the spot, we stopped. It was good that we had been forewarned, as there were only about half a dozen boats tied off to a shady, cleared section of canal bank. There was barely room for us to squeeze in, but with shore assistance, we were welcomed.. It was such a fun place, we stayed three days. We justified one of the days as it was a national holiday and the locks would be closed (based on the amount of traffic in the canal, the locks probably were operating, but....). Richard and Anita Watson were Brits who, while cruising the canals, had stopped on the bank ten years earlier and ended up buying the adjacent house and property. They decided it would be nice to have fellow cruisers stop, so cleared the bank of brush, ran water and electricity lines down from the house and put out an invitational sign. The shower in their house was available for the cruisers, as was their phone line for e-mail. They had a large organic garden and Anita made jellies. And they charged nothing except for those who used water and electricity (and, of course, any vegetables and jellies purchased). Anita did a load of laundry for us ($4.50) including soap, folding and bringing down to the boat. They started a free exchange library that had become quite complete; leave one, take one. As you can imagine, in an atmosphere such as this, it was like one big family. George and Kathy, Americans who have owned and cruised the canals for four years aboard Bay Leaf, a former hire boat, also had their car. On Saturday morning they invited us to ride with them to a local "wine fair". It was a enjoyable 15 mile drive to a taste of local France. I believe we were the only tourist. Every local vineyard had a booth and offered samples, some free, some not. But, as one does not even consider wine in paper or plastic, all had "glass" glasses. And as always at a fair, there were food, cheese and snack booths of all kinds. We bought some bottles of wine and ate lunch. Another of the enjoyable surprises. Watson's was to have a big change in the September after we passed through. A few months earlier, Nigel and Mary had stopped to exchange some books, liked the place, struck a deal with the Watson's and bought it. Even though the owner's name might change, I suspect it will continue to be known as Watson's. ??? km to Sancerre Our progress through France was slow. There simply were too many neat places to see. And it was so easy to stop for several days. Menetreol is a good example. Only a short days run from Watson's, the free town quay had several canal cruisers tied up when we arrived, but we nosed in close enough, and with the assistance of Stu Miller, were ashore. Stu and his wife Judy were Americans who lived on a barge boat six months out of the year. The other six months they live on their Hans Christian 33 in Ft. Lauderdale and work at West Marine. Unlike Spain where we found Internet cafes everywhere, they were terribly scarce in France. E-mail was limited to borrowed phone lines, usually at marinas.. But Stu change all of that when he showed me that an acoustic coupler works great on French pay phones. From this point on, we sent and received e-mail almost daily. Sancerre, a village located on a hill northwest of Menetreol, is noted for its fine wines. We were assured it was only 3 km to Sancerre, no problem with the bikes. What they really meant it was 3 km horizontal and 3 km vertically. Judy and I pushed the bikes all the way up. We were rewarded with beautiful views over the countryside and a wonderful old town on top. We ate lunch with Stu and Judy who rode their mopeds up, toured the town and tasted wines. On the way down, we stopped at a winery, tasted some more wine, bought a case, strapped it on the back of Judy's bike and then bicycled down. Well, not exactly. Judy's brakes were not enough to stop her going down hill, so she walked her bike down. But I did my part by riding behind and watching that the case of wine didn't shift. It took us three days to untie the dock lines, wave goodbye and leave Menetreol. An Alarming Event Our stop at Chattilon-sur-Loire was memorable. I had to dive to remove fishing line from the prop. And we awoke to the only dense fog of the trip. But the event we really remember was awakening at 0300 with a loud alarm sounding. It took only a few seconds to find it was due to runaway temperature on one of the house batteries. Apparently it developed an internal short and as the temperature rose it called for more current from the charger, which caused the temperature to rise even more, etc. Left unchecked, the battery could explode. I removed it from the circuit, watched it for a time, then tried to go back to sleep. The Big Aqueduct A short distance north of Chattilon is a marvel of engineering designed by Mr. Eiffel of Eiffel tower fame. It is the 700 meter long aqueduct high over the Loire river. As Judy steered, I even stepped off Pooh to the bordering walkway for a photo session. Quite a sensation to float along and look down to the river below. Upon clearing the aqueduct we were in the Briare section of the canals, probably the prettiest. And shortly after, we planned a lunch stop, but we were delayed by a converted peniche coming to the same stop. And the peniche was flying an American flag. And not just from the US, but from SE Texas. So we gathered at a picnic table and shared lunch with Fran & Bill of Freeport, Texas. Another one of those pleasant surprises. The Seven Ecluses of Rogny All through the canals we had seen references to the Seven Ecluses (Locks) of Rogny. As we were locking through at Rogny, there directly astern were the seven stairstep locks. I find it hard to imagine how 400 years ago King Henry III had the vision to see the need for such a canal and that someone had the ingenuity to build such a structure. Started in 1605, it was finished before the middle of the century in spite of the death of the King in 1628. The exit gate of each lock is the entrance gate to the next for a total drop about 100'. And everything was done by hand. The hinges of the gates are massive iron pieces still solidly fitted into the rock of the lock walls. These locks remained in use for over 200 years. They were replaced in the 1800s by the locks we traversed. Even aside from the Seven Ecluses, Rogny was such a nice stop we stayed an extra day. And Judy and I will both remember it as the place we had a wonderful meal and a beautiful tree line bank stop. It was also the place where the man in the Information Office spent a half an hour telling us all the things wrong with the United States. And that was before the presidential election! Colorful French Flowers Flowers seem to be a matter of national pride in France. Flowers are absolutely everywhere. Locks, even those no longer having a resident lock keep, usually have a profusion of flowers all around the lock grounds. Bridge rails in every village are covered in flowers. Flower boxes adorn at least the ground floor window of most older homes. Towns, villages and cities have traffic circles and town squares filled with flowers or flowering shrubs manicured and shaped to perfection. At no time did we look at a display and say, "Those are about past their prime and need replacing" A popular theme we saw in several towns was the "Millennium 2000". Only some of our photos can convey the beauty and variety of the displays. The Weighty Wine Box Moret-sur-Loing is a pretty, old town and one time home of the impressionist French artist, Alfred Sisley Our stop there was memorable for two reasons. Firstly, Pooh was leaving the wine country without much stock aboard, so Judy found a "cave" (pronounced Kaa-vey) or, wine shop, and bought a 10 liter box. Now that in itself is not memorable. What is memorable is that I had to carry that box, with no handles of any kind, a mile back to Pooh. Calculations tell me it weighted about 21 pounds, but defied physics by reaching 50 pounds before reaching the boat. Colorful French Diesel Moret also meant good news and bad. The bad news it was the end of the "French Canals" (at least for awhile). The good news was it meant we could refill Pooh's almost empty fuel tanks. Many of those reading this will remember the ridiculous red/clear fuel situation we had in the States a few years ago. Thankfully this has been corrected in the States, but not in France. Commercial boats may use red fuel. Pleasure boat must use only the highly taxed white fuel, costing double that of red. Stories abound of pleasure boats being boarded, their fuel sampled, found to be red, and fined several hundred dollars. With these stories fresh in our minds, we topped our tanks at nearly $4.00 a gallon whenever it was available. Strangely, diesel fuel was not plentiful along the canals. However, with Pooh's sixty gallon capacity (filled at Chalon-sur-Saone, and our fuel stretching moderate speed, we had no problems reaching Moret, but would not have been comfortable going further. But not a problem as the guide books assured us pleasure boat diesel fuel available. One morning we left Moret-sur-Loing, passed by hundreds of laid up peniches at St. Mammes and crossed the River Seine to the fueling station at Champagne-sur-Seine. There, a peniche was tanking up. The attendant told us they had no "gas-oil plaisance" (pleasure boat diesel). Aghast and dismayed, we asked why. It seems a strike by hauliers (truck drivers), and commercial fisherman protesting fuel taxes was underway. After a bit of pleading, he indicated we should move around to the commercial dock when the peniche moved out. We did. Without a word, he handed us the hose and we filled out tanks at less than $2.00 per gallon. I carefully did not examine the color of the fuel or ask any questions. We left the fuel dock with Pooh a bit down by the stern and continued north towards Paris. The river itself was much wider than we had grown accustomed to and finally we had the current helping us. We still had locks though. One gave us a real start. Instead of vertical walls, we found the walls, starting just beneath the water level, sloped at 45 degrees. Had we stayed hard against the wall as was normal, as the water level dropped the keel might have hung on the rough wall/side, then fallen over, one way or the other. Just in time we cast off all lines and I used the engine to hold Pooh in the center of the lock. The turbulence, when descending, is slight and we were alone in the large lock so we had no problem. The Plight of the Peniche Owners As we left Moret and motored past St. Mammes we could understand why we saw so little traffic on the canals. Peniches were stacked four deep on each bank, some with families still living aboard, some clearly abandoned. With France now covered by a fine intercity highway system , similar to our interstates, and a very fine electrified national rail system, more and more goods are hauled overland. A way of life on the French waterways is almost gone. Many boatmen have spent their entire lives on their peniches. They cannot sell their vessels, they can't even give them away. A very small percentage do sell their vessels for conversion to pleasure boat use. Those that can't find a buyer have no choice but to tie them up, which isn't for free, and try to find another means of livelihood. North Down the Seine Once more on autopilot, Pooh Bear zipped down the Seine toward Paris and we sat back and enjoyed the scenery. The structures along the banks changed markedly. They became far grander than anything we had seen so far. And the amount of river traffic increased markedly. Instead of the traditional peniche, we met many tandem or double wide peniches. We also began seeing pusher tugs that fit the bow into the notched stern of converted peniches. But with the river so wide, traffic was no problem. As we neared Paris, the famous bridges across the River Seine became more frequent. At one time we could see six bridges. And no two were alike. They ranged from old stone arched bridges to riveted iron bridges to modern suspension bridges painted in garish colors. And tour boats constantly rushed by with passengers paying to see what we were seeing for free (well almost free). The shore side structures changed from two or three story hotels to modern skyscrapers. And the unmistakable outline of Notre Dame de Paris had just hove in view as we realized we were in downtown Paris with the d'Arsenal Marina entrance abeam. We lay Pooh alongside a pontoon, after forcing the bum fishing there to move, and Judy walked to the marina office and made arrangements for us to lock through into the marina d'Arsenal. Sunday, the 27th of August, we were in downtown Paris, less than a block from the Bastille. On the 23nd day after entering the Canals, Pooh Bear had traveled 509 km (280 miles) and been lifted and lowered through 178 locks. It was time for a rest. To be Continued in Part 3 of The French Canals Bob & Judy (aboard s/v Pooh Bear in St. Katharine Haven, London, England) W5TFY@amsat.org