Kerr Barging Blogs

We are now enjoying sunny, warm weather with temperatures up to 30degC. The flooding has subsided on the Armancon though on the Nivernais the water levels are still too high for the entire canal to be open. It has now been unavailable for 11 days, so people may be getting a bit desperate, especially those who manage the two hotel barges. How to entertain passengers who can't travel anywhere by water when they have chosen a Canal Barge holiday? Also, the Burgundy Canal, in the lower reaches, has been busy with rental boats. Rental companies which cannot operate because of the flooded rivers and canals have sent the renters to the Burgundy Canal which remained open throughout.

Farm building still inundated
Humans might be suffering, but the frogs are having the time of their lives in the wet conditions. We heard what we took to be a large flock of geese making a great din in a pool below the bridge near us at the little town of Cry, but on investigation found that is was frogs, probably in their thousands to be making so much noise. The birds too are in full song. They don't look as spectacular as those at Avalon, but they certainly sound beautiful.

The river breaking into the canal
We have enjoyed visiting several towns along the Burgundy Canal which we missed before, and especially the 16th Century Chateau of Ancy le Franc. The frescoes are remarkable and we particularly enjoyed seeing some in the process of restoration. They had been covered with wallpaper later ripped off removing much of the plaster on the wall below. Fortunately the old wallpaper was retained so could be studied to see what had been underneath. There are also un- disturbed wall paintings, ceilings and floors, all very elaborate and intricately decorated. One area had been done up because it was expected that Henry III would stay at the Chateau on his way from Lyon to Reims to be crowned. The Duke of the time went into debt to make the rooms spectacular- then Henry didn't stay after all. Great disappointment, so those involved pretended that it had happened as hoped and even had a painting done to show the King visiting!

Ceiling of Diane's bedroom, unrestored and hundreds of years oldChateau at Ancy le franc

The Burgundy Canal lock- keepers, like those on the Nivernais, are very helpful and informative. We need to tell them what time we would like to set off next day and where we expect to stop for the night. They can warn us if the spot we hope for is already occupied or otherwise unsuitable, like one where the quay had collapsed with the flooding. Usually one lock- keeper accompanies us for several locks, then hands us on to his or her colleague. Many of them, on both this canal and the Nivernais, live in lock cottages, for a reduced rent which is varied according to how many locks they look after. The longest- serving lock- keeper we have met has clocked up 40 years of service, but many have been doing this job for over 20 years, living in their cottages all that time, and restoring and beautifying them. One lady keeper was selling her own home- made jam which we were pleased to buy. Another cottage was operating as a Cave with Burgundy wines at excellent prices. The storage area had been flooded and the stock disarranged, which was perhaps how, attracted by the offer of Petit Chablis wine for A$11 a bottle, we ended up with the 2006 vintage. We have already sampled and approved.

The most locks a lock keeper has been with us is 30, of which 19 were accomplished in just one morning. These were all manual locks requiring the pushing/pulling of lock gates and the winding of handles. Very energetic, particularly on a hot day.

We have also been appreciating some very well- priced meals. We aim to have a restaurant meal about once a week, to give the cook a break and also to sample the food of the region. In each of the last three weeks we have had a 3 course menu of the day and of the region for $A28. In fact, these dinners also include bread and a pre- dinner nibble; one was a four course meal with a cheese plate included. All were of excellent quality. Remarkably, there is no mark- up on the wine. Last week a 500ml carafe of very acceptable rose was $A7.
Bon Appetit!

Penny and Dave

Unusual original frescoes- two tonedFloor

Many thanks Christian and Herman for your comments. Herman, not sure we can do much about the Captcha but perhaps click the refresh symbol if it is unclear. Slowness of map appearing could relate to slow internet.

We were quite glad that the public holiday on May Day closed all the locks. It was a very very wet day and cruising would have been quite unpleasant. Of course we could have made our own choice to stay put, but so far have not changed our plans for the weather. Instead we spent the day cleaning, washing (the clothes dried inside quite well) and catching up on other tasks and correspondence. We were sorry for those who had looked forward to May Day events but some people carried on regardless. A little boy in red gumboots out for a walk with his parents, was enjoying stamping in every puddle along the quay. The fishermen seemed undaunted and a huge fish was caught just behind our boat.

Floods on the Armancon
Having just escaped the flooding of the Nivernais and Yonne, relieved by a couple of fine days, we were concerned that this rain would again affect water levels. David has an application which allows him  to track river heights, and during this day of constant rain, water heights along the Yonne and the Nivernais rose inexorably. By the next morning the Yonne was closed to navigation in its higher reaches, then within two days for its entire length. Various other canals in the region including the Nivernais are also closed.

We are lucky to be on the Burgundy Canal which does not have a river directly leading into it. The Armancon River, which flows into the Yonne, runs for many kilometres next to the Burgundy Canal. There are a couple of places where it goes under the Canal but it does not feed into it, making the Burgundy much less prone to flood influences.
With May Day over, we set off confidently on the Canal on which we cut our teeth after buying Anja in 2010. Then we travelled its length from St John de Losne in the South to Migennes in the North. This time we will be doing it in the opposite direction and aiming to visit towns which we missed last time,

In some places, the river has overflowed across the towpath
The first section of the canal was built in 1606. In the 18th century plans were drawn up to complete the route to join the Atlantic and Mediterranean through Burgundy. It was finished in 1832 and was a very important route during the 19th century. The introduction of railways and improvement in road transport took away much of the freight that used it. Now it is mainly a tourist canal with Freycinet sized locks which are fine for us and for the old- fashioned peniches, but which cannot accommodate the more modern commercial barges. We have still seen barges carrying grain and soil on the Burgundy, but this happens mainly during the grain harvest and when the Canal is being dredged. We know we will have the company of many hire boats, and in fact have recommended this route to friends in the past, as it is beautiful and comfortable to manage.

Our first destination was St Florentin, a town we have always enjoyed visiting. With the rain still falling, river heights continued to rise so it was ironic that we woke the next morning to find ourselves stuck on the bottom because the water level had dropped over 30 cms overnight. Fortunately the rudder was free and with some engine work and pushing with poles, we were free in good time to get to the next lock on time. The same 30cm drop  happened the next night but as we were in deeper water, we were still afloat. For the next two days we noticed low water levels in the canal contrasting with the surrounding countryside where the Armancon was running very fast and had broken its banks, spreading over the low- lying areas, forming huge lakes. We saw one car almost completely submerged. The windows were open so presumably the occupants had escaped to safely. Then in the next pound the answer to the mystery of reduced canal water level: the river had broken into the canal and was pouring into it in a great torrent. Because the water level had been dropped the canal was able to handle the extra water without flooding. In May 2013 when we were experiencing similar flooding which kept us in the yard at the boatyard, the Burgundy was closed briefly when the river flowed over into the canal, so no doubt the aim was to avoid a similar closure a second time.

Water, water everywhere
The rain has now stopped and we have been told that the water level has peaked in the higher reaches of the Armancon so as long as it does not rain in the next few days, the floodwater can make its way to the Yonne and then into the Seine and to Paris.

Meanwhile we are enjoying beautiful- and very lush- countryside and small, old, interesting towns. We have been off on our bikes to cover more ground and certainly enjoy the excellent bike paths which have been created from the old tow paths dating from the time when barges were pulled along by people or horses.

 The picturesque town of Tanlay

We are currently about 20% of the way along the Burgundy Canal at a pleasant town called Ancy le Franc. We have just come back from the good market which has been held here on the same morning for well over 100 years.

Best Regards,

Penny and David

In WW2, the Germans made aircraft engines in this tunnel at Reveilles on the Nivernais

Well, we have again had a "flood experience".

The Nivernais is a canal in the upper reaches but lower down, it is part canal and part river with locks set in short canal sections and barrages across the river. France experienced a very dry winter and we have had a dry (and very pleasant) start to the barging season. Due to lack of snow melt, some have been describing it as drought conditions.

We had a pleasant stay at Chitry les Mines and met Ted Johnson who is based there and has been supplying our engine needs plus other bits and pieces over the past six years. Ted (with a French partner) was the first person to introduce hire boats to France in 1959. This was in the Marne region. Later, he introduced them to the Nivernais Canal. So, he is quite a celebrity in the boating world. He was also the agent for the engines such as used in Anja and has encyclopaedic knowledge as well as a building full of spare parts plus contacts all over the world. So, it was good to put a face to the person on the other end of emails and telephone calls over the years.

We turned around at Chitry les Mines and stopped the first night near Chevroches, a few kilometres from Clamecy. It started raining 10 minutes after we stopped and continued, sometimes heavily, for the following 36hrs.

The next morning we planned to stop in Clamecy and reprovision. We had organised this with the head lock-keeper the night before. However, when we met the lock-keeper the next morning, he told us that the canal was to be closed further down at midday and that we had no time to shop unless we wanted to stop earlier. The problem was a point further down where the Yonne River actually flows across the canal- just downstream of a lock. This is a so-called "Level Crossing"; these are very rare. Going upstream, in drier conditions, we had been influenced by the strong sideways current from the river as we crossed it to enter the lock. Now, the river level had risen and the cross current was becoming dangerous.

The lock-keepers worked well as a team to get us through the critical spot in time. When we arrived, there was a hotel-barge in front and it took it a long time to get through. The lock-keepers persevered into their lunch times to get us through. Firstly, they lowered the lock and opened the lock gates. Then, one of the other lock-keepers raised the barrage on the Yonne River to slow the river flow somewhat. When we were given the signal, we gave the boat a lot of throttle and roared across the cross current, keeping well to the right to prevent being swept down to the barrage. All went well and we were relieved to be the last boat through before the river and canal closed at that point.

We tied up for the night, some hours later and started to relax. However, relaxation was short lived. A lock-keeper arrived and said that the section of river where we were was expected to become dangerous and we must move. He took us downstream another 6km and several locks where we could finally be safe.

The next morning, we set off for the next lock as arranged. The first problem became evident on the way. Our flag pendant at the bow is a fixed height above the water and we use it to ensure we will fit under bridges. Unfortunately, it showed we would miss and tear several centimetres from the roof. Stopping was not an option so we simply "put the foot down". This had the effect of sucking lots of extra water from under the rear half of the boat, causing the aft end to sit lower in the water. Penny looked and we made it by 2 centimetres! This is what the professional captains sometimes do but we had never tried it ourselves. Wow!

The lock was ready and we arrived in it and a rental boat followed us. No lock-keepers. Three of them arrived about 45mins later and explained that they had been lowering the manual barrages and that the river below the lock was now closed as were several other ports upstream of us. We could not return as the water level had risen further under the bridge behind so we were stuck in the lock, which was really not too bad as it was full and we were quite comfortable.

Later, after lunch, they told us that we could go if we wanted but that rental boats could not. Fortunately, we had checked the downstream bridge heights and found that one further down was way too low for us at the river levels so we stayed where we were.

We were able to leave the following day and safely negotiate the final low bridge.

The flood caused problems for rental boaters with tight deadlines and also two 39metre hotel barges. One of these barges was very comfortable for the passengers but not the skipper. You can see him huddling under the umbrella (held in one hand) and steering the boat with the other hand!

Hard work for the Captain- in the rain with umbrellaOnly two people live in this huge Chateau

We have now returned to Migennes, at the start of the Burgundy Canal where we will buy some more provisions and also wait out May Day which is a major holiday with locks, rivers, canals and shops closed.

Regards,
Dave and Penny

Ancient wooden lift bridge on the NivernaisPush or pull- ancient lock gates on the Nivernais CanalNear the summit of the Nivernais CanalA very unusual cafe at one of the lock keeper's cottages

We forgot to mention that there is a re-enactment of the flottage in June/July this year. They are building a modern day raft of logs and will float it to Paris. We think they will be taking considerably longer than the original norm of 11 days and it might cause some small disruptions on the river and canal.

Us at Villiers sur Yonne

David rode from Clamecy further up the canal to measure the actual bridges in an attempt to see if we would fit. We found that we COULD fit, provided we went exactly through the centre of the bridges. In some cases, this was complicated because the towpath consumed some of the sideways space under the bridges. Anyway, the result was that even though the guaranteed height was only 2.95 metres to the summit level, we could fit our 3.22 metres if we were careful.

Needless to say, we were worried by the first bridge at the lower height, but all was well. We were able to travel considerably further than Clamecy, until the point where the bridges and tunnels further restricted height to a mere 2.70metres. We therefore stopped at Chitry les Mines and cycled the relatively short distance to the summit. We could easily have taken the boat but it was hardly worth it to then turn around and would have necessitated transitioning 50 locks. Instead, David cycled 33Km return and Penny 24Km return. Penny reached the summit and first tunnel and David cycled over the small mountain to the other side. It was possible to see the Seine Basin and then the Loire Valley.

Yonne at Monceaux le Compte with Lavoir and millstream left

We visited many small towns on the route and had a truly excellent dinner at the "Auberge du Centre" in Monceaux le Compte. The scenery between Clamecy and the summit was excellent. Very rural with sweeping views, meadows, forests, pleasant villages and of course, the Yonne River. We have now travelled the full length of the Yonne- another to add to the list of rivers traversed for the full navigable length.

Towns on rivers are called "xxxx sur yyyy" where xxxx is the name of the town and yyyy is the name of the river and "sur" means "on". One remarkable small town has no name! It is simply called "sur Yonne"!

When we were in Belgium and more particularly the Netherlands, there were many lifting bridges and we found a number of those in the Netherlands somewhat frustrating. Previously on the Nivernais, we had experienced only one such bridge and we had to operate it manually last time. Now it has been automated and was operated for us. However, we found about a dozen more lifting bridges further up the canal. We operated them ourselves or sometimes a lock-keeper did so. On one occasion, a gentleman walking his dog did it for us. When Penny thanked him, he said "It's nothing, you are in France!" Typical of the generous attitude we experience. One bridge was very old, made of wood and did not raise completely so we had to be very careful not to scrape the roof on it. Another had to be operated manually- a task which we shared. David up and Penny down.

There were not many boats and almost 100% of those we saw were rental boats. Maybe there will be more private boats later in the season?

Best Regards,
Dave and Penny

Mailly la Ville

Spring flowers

The old Guard Post at sur Yonne

We have been experiencing wonderful weather. Warm days up to 29deg with clear skies, lots of sun and cool nights.

View from Mailly le Chateau

After Mailly le Chateau, we proceeded via the quaint town of Lucy sur Yonne to a somewhat larger town called Clamecy. This was our furthest port before turning around in 2010.

Mailly le Chateau at the top of the cliff

The Yonne at Mailly le Chateau
Lucy was very quiet and had no shops. Just a lot of old and unusual water pumps used in the wells of 200 years ago. We stopped on a dike separating the canal from the River Yonne. Horses came down to drink here and there was also a very well preserved Lavoir (wash house used for clothes washing in the 18th and 19th centuries).Old well-water pump

A thirsty horse at Lucy

At Clamecy we took walking trips around areas of the town we had not seen last time. We also visited the museum which we missed last time. At a cost of three euros including audio guides, the museum was a bargain and far better than we expected. It contained a lot of the gifts made to President Mitterand, an excellent pre-history section with excellent finds from archeological excavations, some fine arts and a good museum concerning the flottage (floating of wood).

For hundreds of years, this region (which includes the famous Morvan Forest) supplied wood for Paris. The wood was the sole source of fuel for heating, cooking and industry. The wood was cut into fixed lengths, marked with the wood cutter's mark and then thrown into local streams and rivers which led to and included the Yonne River. The wood floated to the town of Clamecy. At that point, it was pulled from the river and piled up into piles according to the woodcutter mark. When you see the photo here (from around 1900) you realise what a huge and daunting enterprise it must have been.

So much wood at Clamecy

The wood was then made into rafts about 78metres x 1.4metres. These rafts were floated down the Yonne, usually steered by children of 10 years. When they reached Joigny (around 75kms away) the adults took over and then navigated a further 100km to the Seine and onwards about 70km to Paris. The children walked back to Clamecy and the adults from Paris to Clamecy. Wow! One million logs were floated to Paris each year and the industry finally stopped in 1923 when Northern canals opened, bringing coal by barge from Belgium. Also, boats continued to bring timber from this region via the Nivernais canal (which was built beginning 1783). Increasingly, that timber was used for construction.

So, there is a fascinating history of the timber "flottage" in this region. The flotteurs were very poor, worked very hard but were essential to the survival of Paris. They are perhaps honoured more today than they were over 100 years ago.

Flotteur memorial on Clamecy bridge

We stocked up our food supplies in Clamecy. We had thought that we would have to turn around at that spot but....perhaps not. The official bridge height is 2.95metres and we are 3.22metres in the centre of our roof and 3.16metres at the edges. Many of the bridges are arched. That is why we turned around there in 2010. Read what happened in the next blog!

Dave and Penny

Fine Clamecy porcelain