DATE: Friday 28 July, 1995
PLACE: Chagny to Montchanin
WEATHER: Hot
REMARKS: We will have gone through 33 locks and been lifted
1310 feet since entering the Canal du Centre by the time we
reach Montchanin. This Port du Plaisance is on the watershed
and is between Lock/Ecluse 1 Ocean (draining to the Atlantic
Ocean) and 1 Mediterranee (draining to the Mediterranean).
The number of locks means a lot of work, but with four pairs
of hands they are made light work of, and we make good time
- even with an hour for lunch on the side of the canal.
Although the locks are 'automatic', they still have a lock-keeper
who is responsible for a group of 4-6 locks and keeps pace
with us by road. Our passage has been planned by a co-ordinator,
so that the operating of the locks optimises efficiency and
avoids unnecessary filling and emptying. We have indeed sailed
straight into each lock, already open and awaiting our arrival.
Many of the locks are shallow, only 2.5m deep, but others
are over 5m. These latter take some organising, as the boat
needs to be tied to avoid excessive movement during filling;
however securing ropes is not easy when you're 15 feet below
the bollard! In a number of such cases the bollards are 'floating';
that is, they are at boat height as one enters, but rise with
it as the lock fills.
The countryside changes: from the intensive arable farming
and viticulture of Santenay, the landuse again becomes more
pastoral. The buildings also change, with many of them apparently
newer, but maintaining older traditions of decoration, even
of patterns of colours in their roof-tiles.
We moor at Montchanin, intending only to arrange means for
car collection on Saturday; this however takes longer than
anticipated, so we settle in for the evening -including a
visit to the base manager's boat to view 15-day old kittens.
Another lovely day capped by lovely food eaten on the roof
of the boat. We even see several TGV trains!
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