Taking a break

Montbard is the largest town we have been in since leaving Dijon. It still is small but is a nice mixture of old buildings, winding alleys and nice little shops as well as its more modern side. It has a good feel and is alive. Some of the towns we have stopped at are virtually empty, being just groups of houses where people come home in the evening and go to bed. All the little shops are closed as the supermarkets in the larger towns attract all the business.– Same the world over.

We arrived on the 9^th of June and decided to take a break and spend some time here taking in some local history and sights. We also needed to do some shopping and even though we have not been terribly rushed about anything, we decided we could sit still for a week or so. Besides friends were coming to visit and as Montbard was a stop on the Paris to Dijon rail line it was the ideal spot to meet them. Unfortunately their trip developed a few logistic problems and they were not able to join us.

The Abbey of Fontenay is a well known local historic site. Started up by the Cistercian monks in 1118 on swampy ground about 4 km south of  Montbard, and developed through the 12^th to 14^th centuries. The church, started in 1139 was typical of the architecture of the Cistercians, simple, massive and very functional. We spent a number of hours admiring the site which has been beautifully restored by the family who have owned the grounds for over 100 years. The abbey lost its religious standing in 1790, was taken over by the government and sold. The buildings were used as a paper mill for nearly 100 years. This saved them from the fate of a lot of the old French castles and abbeys – becoming stone supply quarries for local buildings.

One interesting activity of the monks was to set up an iron foundry. With a local supply of iron ore they produced a spongy lump iron which they forged into usable iron using water wheel powered hammers and other machines. They used this iron for their spades, forks, ploughs and other farm implements. They also sold iron products as a source of income.

The original of this hammer mill, driven by a water wheel in a stream running outside the building was leading technology for its day and the abbey was well known at the time for its high degree of technical achievement. They even pioneered fish farming, breeding and selling trout.

Enough for one day, Marg and I made our way back to Matilda for a late lunch and a relaxing afternoon. Tomorrow there will be more to explore.

So keep in touch.

Going Down

We left the Pouilly pound on at 0900 on Friday 3^rd June and commenced our decent to the Yonne River. You will all remember from a previous lesson, that we have to descend 298 meters through 112 ecluses.

It is now Wednesday 8^th June and we are moored at Venarey les Laumes. We arrived yesterday forlunch and since starting our decent we have passed through 55 ecluses, descended 136 meters over a distance of 40 kilometres.

At times on this trip, the ecluses are no more than 200 meters apart and are one after the other as we rapidly descend down into the valley. Look closely at the above photo, click on it to enlarge it. You will see another boat in the second ecluse down. The stretch of the canal from Marigny-le-Cahouet to Pouillenay was the hardest we would want to travel. The ecluses are very close together and our eclusier had to travel ahead and fill and open the gates for us. The canal twists and turns as it winds around the side of the hills. It was extremely hard work. We went through 19 ecluses in about 6 kilometres. If you have Google Earth, check out this reference then travel north on the canal and you will see how much it turns and twists.

Marigny-le-Cahouet - 050611.kmz

We met an Australian couple in Pouilly, vets from South Australia (retired) who plan to spend summers on the canals here and we have found them good company. Their recognition of the qualities of Foxhounds as pets of course was a major factor. We will cross paths again further down the canal.

We leave Venarey tomorrow morning and head for Montbard where we will spend a week or so. We are expecting visitors. Penny and Craig, friends from Perth will be joining us for a few days. They are coming from Paris by train and we will walk the short distance to the station to meet them. We are looking forward to the arrival of our first guests since the Captain (guinea pig) left us at the end of March.

Montbard is also quite a large centre and we will be able to restock on things essential to modern life. We will report again soon.

So, keep in touch.

A boat should have Whiskers.

The Pouilly tunnel was dug in Napoleon's time. He insisted that after the revolution the construction of the Bourgogne Canal had top priority. The dimensions of the tunnel are well known and we knew that if Matilda was going to fit we would have to set up a system for mechanically holding her close to the centreline. The common method is to attach "whiskers", timber beams tied to the boat, usually through mooring bollards that can hold it in a stable position.

We arrived at the top pound at Escommes Basin about midday 30th May and found a timber mill in the local area that produced packing timber and pallets. Familiar territory for Peter with experiences of IPE Packaging.We bought four pieces of green oak measuring 120 x 80 x 1500mm, fairly tough pieces of wood. These were delivered to the boat and Peter made the "whiskers"

We departed after lunch today and entered the tunnel at 1335hrs (12.35pm). The first thing that happened was that the rear right hand whisker snapped - like a carrot. Peter entered the tunnel at the wrong angle and put too much strain on the timber. So he had to nurse Matilda for 3.333 kilometres at a slow walking pace and not let her drift off line more than an few inches.

One hour later we exited at the northern end of the tunnel into the Pouilly harbour. Both Marg and I are now relaxing and unwinding after perhaps our most challenging achievement on our trip. We have put the boat back togeather as we had to remove our back verandah to fit the tunnel. We have done a bit of shopping and will head on toward Paris tomorrow.

It is all downhill from here.

Keep in touch.

The High Ground

Things you need to know.

A little bit of technical detail is needed here so please pay attention! Visitors to Matilda will be examined on their knowledge of this.

The Romans, Egyptians and Greeks all realised that there must be a better and faster way of moving goods on land than by horse and cart. They all used boats at sea and in rivers and the idea of canals was born then. The French canals started to come into being some 600 years ago. The concept is very simple and for the time the design and build was absolutely state of the art. The hydraulic engineering involved is brilliant.

There are broadly two types of canal.

1.      Canals that follow rivers. They are designed so boats can get around rapids and shallow bits. They level out the flow so that the water is a series of level pounds between ecluses (locks) that make up for the continuing run of the river down to the sea. These often use the original watercourse holding the river level with dams and weirs where an ecluse is installed to take boats down to the next level (or pound).

2.      Canals that join river to river. These follow a man-made course climbing up often over quite high hills to get down to the next valley and river. The idea was to make a short cut to bring, for example - coal from that mine to the furnaces of this town to make iron with the ore from another town - as directly as possible.

The Canal de Bourgogne is amongst the second group. It joins the Saone River to the Yonne River giving a route for freight from Marseille on the Mediterrean Sea to Paris. It crosses the hills between the rivers at a town called Pouilly-en-Auxois. The canal was completed about 1830.

Technical details:

From the Saone to the Pouilly watershed pound:

The Saone – 181 meters ASL

Rise of 197m in 81km

76 ecluses (about 2.6m rise per ecluse)

The Pouilly pound, 6km long with a  3.333 km tunnel in the middle. 378m ASL

To the Yonne river:

The Yonne – 80 meters

Fall of 298m in 155km

112 ecluses

The ecluses: On some canals they are remotely controlled with an electronic zapper, some by eclusiers working at each lock. Some are manual that you have to work yourselves. On the Bourgogne we are accompanied by an eclusier that follows us on a motor scooter setting the ecluses for us. Unfortunately the canal sees little use and this is the cheapest option. We have been stationary for the past 24 hours and only one boat has passed us. It is a shame because it passes some beautiful countryside and there is plenty to see.  

Today we visited Chateauneuf, a medieval village and chateau at one time a residence of Louis IV. Built on a ridge above the valley it commands magnificent views of the surrounding countryside, a strategic vantage point. It can be seen from huge distances and looks most impressive from where we are moored.  We cycled the two kilometres there but had to give up and push our bikes the last km to the village. The return was quite quick.

Tomorrow we move again and in two days we will be in the Pouilly pound. Only then will we know if we fit in the tunnel.

We keep our fingers crossed.

Keep in touch.

Away at last.

Canal de Bourgogne

We departed St Symphorien sur Saone on Friday 20^th May 2011. We managed with quite a degree of trepidation to extract Matilda from her shore side mooring into the canal through boats rafted up to five deep, turn her around, into Ecluse 75 (that is French for lock) and then out onto the Saone River. I was a sweating mess and Marg was a bundle of nerves but we did it well and were proud of our effort. We were complimented later by seasoned bargees on our boat handling on getting out of the tight mooring.

Downstream on the Saone for four kilometres and into Ecluse 76-S the southern entry to the  Canal de Bourgogne. Our adventures had really started. We stopped at the port of St Jean-de-Losne to pick up a new battery for our VHF radio and then off. It was all up-hill from here (montant).

Our first night was spent at Longecourt-en-Plaine, a little village around a beautiful old chateau. A grand house for its day, built in brick then rendered with all the beautiful detail in the render. Over the years the render has deteriorated but still the beauty of the building is there. It is privately owned and the family still farm a large area of the local countryside. Some of the farm buildings have been converted to B & B accommodation that must be pleasant for a short stay.

Next day we made Dijon and our plan was to stay here for a few days, stock up with food and purchase a few things needed for the boat. We have fitted a new alternator to the main engine and needed the correct vee belts to drive it. Our batteries weren’t charging correctly so we spent an extra day having that seen to. We cycled to Chenove (a commercial suburb) for the belts, Marg taking the opportunity to visit some fabric shops there.

Wednesday morning  we departed Dijon and found we had to share our first ecluse with a 12 metre fibreglass cruiser. We came in behind it and I could see 75 tonne of Matilda crushing 5 tonne of plastic if anything went wrong. We all survived but we went into the next lock first, at the Eclusier’s request making things easier. And so we travelled till lunch time.

After lunch the Swiss group in the accompanying vessel decided to stay behind and we travelled on alone. More comfortable for everyone.  We made Velars-sur-Ouche early in the afternoon and stopped for the night. Some shopping in the local supermarket and we relaxed on the rear deck watching trains on the way to and from Dijon as they passed over a 100 year old viaduct.

A relaxing end to an exiting day.

We look forward to Tomorrow.

Keep in touch

Out of the Wilderness

It has been four months since I have added anything to this site. Marg and I are still here and I will apologise if anyone has thought that I had abandoned them.

The story so far:

Yes, our goods arrived and apart from a few minor matters everything was OK. Peter (Marg's brother) arrived Jan 13 and spent three months with us. We did lots together including quite a few excursions by car to various places. We went as far afield as Nancy with the intention of finding a place for our next winter stop. We also looked at Auxerre and took advice on a number of other possibles. We have decided on Nancy as it has a good port on a good canal, nice hotels around the port, (quite inexpensive for their standard) plenty of history and it didnt seem to shut down in winter. So the Miller Family Christmas 2011 will be there.

We have done some alterations to Matilda to suit our needs, added furniture, changed a kitchen bench, new fridge and the like. Nothing major but things that were needed to suit our lifestyle. There are more things we will do as time goes on but at present we are keen to cruise. We had a party for our formal naming of Matilda with over 30 guests. Most we knew and the others seemed eager to meet us.

We have been for our first outing with Matilda. We had a three day trip up the canal we are harboured on - the canal du Rhone-au-Rhin. We travelled to a small town called Rochford sur Nenon - not the one of cheese fame, this one is a short distance past Dole. Dole is noted as the birthplace of Louis Pasteur.



A friend, Alan (met here in France) who has a lot of barging experience and his partner Ann, came with us. Alan is a retired school teacher and was able to instruct Marg and me very well in the finer points of making Matilda do what we wanted. One thing was made clear and that is Barging is a Contact Sport. Matilda has a few small scratches in her paint to prove it.

On this occasion with  Peter at the helm there were no scratches, a perfect passing. This is a freighter loaded with grain and is a regular worker on this canal. 

From the perspective of distance travelled, Rochford sur Nenon would be a 40 minute drive away.

This was a great introduction to our visit on Easter weekend to Cambrai where we did our Barge Handling course. After 2 days of intensive instruction, we were relieved to find we had passed. We now have our ICCs,  licences to drive a vessel of Matilda's size on the european inland waterways.

Cambrai is a town just north of the Somme in Northern France. We decided to stay in the area for the Anzac Day commemorations. We visited Viller-Bretonneux and stayed for the Anzac dawn service at the Australian Memorial there. A very moving experience.

Back to Matilda and we needed to right a few problems we found on our shakedown cruise. We found that although the engine ( a 200hp 6 cylinder Henschel diesel) ran well, it ran too cold and as we went everywhere at idle speed, the generator (yes generator) could not work. Subsequently we are fitting a 100 amp alternator. I am also desperately trying to find a thermostat that will fit. If anyone out there can help I will greatly appreciate it.

Once the alternator is in we will be right to cruise. We will be making generally toward Paris, the route is not yet certain. We would like to take the Bourgogne Canal to the Yonne River and on to Paris that way but there is a tunnel on this canal which we have to be sure that we can fit through. It is a beautiful route, possibly the most scenic in France and it seems a shame if we dont try.

More planning is needed.

So, keep in touch.

Forward to 2011

FRIDAY 7^TH JANUARY 2011

Today our box arrives. Our “box” is basically all our personal things that we had to bring with us – things we felt we couldn’t live without such as some of my mechanical tools, Marg’s overlocker and kitchen knives, a French cookbook (in English) and of course our clothes. We have been living to date with little more than the 20kgs allowed by the airlines.

The box is a machinery container from P & M which originally contained a tyre change machine from Italy. It is about .8 of a cubic metre and mounted on a pallet. We had space to put in some additional things including our ski gear, some additional bedding supplies and a supply of summer and winter clothes.  The exercise has not been cheap but the cost is far less than replacement with new over here – not to mention the inconvenience of having to find items we had bought over a long period.

The shipping agent assures us it will be here between 10 and 11am. Lets see!

Yesterday we went to Dijon for our medical interviews with the French Immigration office – the OFII. We had a general health check, the normal things heart, breathing, questions on previous medical issues and a chest xray. We both passed and now only need to see the authorities annually while we are here. So many stamps and bits of paper.

Christmas and New Year were very quiet times for us this year. Christmas day we touched base with most of the family while New Year was very quiet. We were in bed by 10pm, an ordinary evening. There are only three other vessels occupied in the port, one a Frenchman, one an Italian family and the third an American couple who like us have just purchased their barge, unlike us they are very experienced and were busy preparing to move their barge to another port.

Last Wednesday they departed for Roanne which is south-west of here. They left early afternoon and we watched as they left. There was at least 15mm of ice on the water in our part of the canal and Doug had trouble driving his barge, Carpe Diem through it. He had to reverse up at one point, to take a run at it to break it up. Fascinating to watch and listen to as the ice was so noisy against the hull. Once in the river Saone he was away quickly. Pictures don’t do the ice or the noise justice.

11.05 am – small sedan / hatch arrives alongside Matilda, Ivo, the Bulgarian introduces himself and said he has goods for us. He opens the rear and out comes 4 large, 1 medium and I small carton, about 6 loose items and two umbrellas.  Our “box” has arrived.

The removalist company decided to re-pack it to be more easily handled by one person. We were quite surprised but Ivo assured us that everything was in order. It took us a few minutes to accept that all was OK and soon we were busy sorting out some winter clothes, bedding and towels and all those things that we take for granted in an established life.

It is a great relief to be able to complete setting up our barge with familiar items and we are now looking forward to welcoming our first visitor next week.

So, keep in touch.