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28 August The time has come. Set off for Les Roches de Condrieu arriving about lunch time after intending to stop for lunch at the Halte Nautique at Chavanay and finding no facilities there and the gate on the end of the pontoon locked.
29 August I set off after lunch - a mistake as the current limited me to 5 km/hr. Eventually I arrived at Ecluse Pierre Benite and asked the lock keeper if I could stay on the pontoon for the night.
30 August 0730 through the last lock on the Rhone and past Lyon which was a bit dismal. I carried on till Villefranche and moored at the pontoon at Jassans Riottier on the other side of the river Saone.
31 August arriving near Macon I took the bypass - a new canal East of Macon which brings you close to the marina. I spent the night here.
1 September (White hares for the first of the month - In France as well as in Scotland it is unlucky to mention rabbits [and salmon] on a boat) I went on up to Tournus and stayed two nights. During this time the level of the river dropped by 1m and the current got less.
3 September With less current I was able to bypass Chalon sur Saone and enter the Canal du Centre which has confusing names along its length. I tried to stop near Leclerc but the banks were too overgrown to get ashore so I carried on to Fragnes where there was a new halte and the start of a cycle track along the canal.
4 September A short trip following a Swiss penichette Chataigne to Chagny - almost a canton of Switzerland. I chatted with Pamela from Glasgow and partner who has moored up behind. I followed them through the locks the next morning to Saint Leger sur Dheune where we spent the next night.
6 September 19 locks on my own did not bother me much then I arrived at Montchanin to a real English welcome at the boat yard - so I turned back and moored on the other side of the canal by the VNF site.
7 September Stopped for lunch at Leclerc just at the start of Montceau les Mines. Never saw such a selection of single malts in a supermarket. I bought Laphroig, Glenfiddich, Glendeveron and Glen Grant. In the evening Ciry le Noble was the stopping place.
8 September Stopped at Palinges for the night the water was a bit shallow and I ran aground in the morning as I tried to leave. I jumped ashore and pushed Sufiana off stern first and all was well,
9 September Paray le Monial was a fine moor by a narrow boat where I partook of light refreshment.
10 September I arrived at Digoin at mid-day and decided to stay the night. This was one of those places that charge a tax de sejour with the mooring fee.
11 September I decided to visit Dompierre (for the last time) and paid the standard 8€ for the privilege.
12 September Gannay was the same price. Here I ate in a restaurant for the first time since Avignon. Met two English couples in a penichette.
13 September It is not easy to turn into the basin at Decize as the actuator for the lock is at the far side of the river for boats coming the other way. A notice to this effect would have been helpful. I entered the Nivernais canal and stopped for 3 nights at Saint Leger des Vignes. Fuel and supermarkets were nearby - even a mooring by the Champion supermarket.
16 September Cercy la Tour was the next stop and very fine it was too with a baker nearby. As I was moored there an English couple arrived on a penichette and I helped them to moor.
17 September I followed the penichette through the locks - with two boats locking up was much easier. We stopped the night at Panneçot where we should have been charged 8€ but a small notice indicated that the site was closed.
18 September we carried on to a stop just called Pont here I decided to turn back so in the morning I returned to Panneçot. After I had moored a blue penichette Biggles appeared. It turned out to be John Best who I knew at Royal Findhorn Yacht Club in the late 70s. We tasted some single malts together.
20 September I followed Biggles into the first lock but did not go far enough ahead. When the lock emptied I found that the rudder skegs were grounded on the sill. We had to close the lock and run in some water till Sufiana was afloat. After that there were no problems till the lock at Cercy la Tour when a boat with a Polish crew pulled out in front of me and went into the lock with Biggles. I passed through the lock got pissed off with two British flagged boats each moored in the middle of the space available to them. Do they ever think of others? I took off the red ensign and replaced it with the saltire. Then I went ashore and complained to a gang of pensioners sitting on a bench. I gave each one a can of beer. They were delighted. Vive l’entente cordiale.
21 September Back to Decize - or near it - I found under shelf baskets in LIDL. I fixed three below the drawers in the galley in waste space there. Now storage is much better - though you have to pull out a drawer to reach the stuff in the basket.
Now started a gentle roll back down the canal to Fragnes where the welcome was fine.
29 September I left in the mist with 300m visibility and eventually reached Tournus where I stopped for the night.
30 September I went to Macon again and had lunch with Pamela and co.
1 October. The longest day. I did not want to stop in Lyon - the smaller the town you stop in the easier it is to find what you want. Eventually after 100 km in 11 hr 25 min I stopped at Givors after Ecluse Pierre Benite. Here the electricity was paid by tokens - which in your case you have not got. So I slipped off early in the morning for Les Roches de Condrieu 24 km away. 15€ and I stayed 28 hr. While there Michel phoned and said he would come and crew for the last day. Also that the Riviere d’Ay was encumbered with a dredger and I could not get in there. Gilbert also called with the same news.
3 October The return - almost . It took 30 min to get tied up at the Duc d’Albe at Saint Vallier and the crocodiles kept bashing the hull during the night. The next day we went 2 km downstream and moored on a barge ramp which has seldom been used by barges.
I went into Saint Vallier to an internet point and booked my flights home. Easyjet were not flying from Grenoble till 16 Dec so I booked Ryanair to Stansted and Prestwick.
8 October Bebert, Michel, Coryne and Henriette were crew to go South to Valence. We stopped at Tournon for lunch and had a fine day.
9 October I moved Sufiana to her winter berth and started a clean up. Now she is moored stern to the pontoon and a chain from the bows to the shore with empty water tanks and anti-freeze in the cooling system. All looks good
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