Lilou and I arrived in France safely, made the connection to the train from the Gare de Lyon to Dijon with no problem and arrived nicely rested, until I discovered the rental car office was closed. It was Sunday and I realized that in the to and fro booking the flight and trying to avoid the French train strikes I had neglected to rent a car online which would have reminded me that the rental car offices were closed on Sundays. No problem, I got a hotel and had a restful afternoon in Dijon, booked a car for Monday morning and arrived rested and fresh at the boatyard. A couple of days getting the covers off, the water on, some touch ups below and around the water line and we were in the water.
That is after they managed to extract Armida from her very tight berth. Guy, the expert crane operator and expert in general lifted in a boat before us and left the apprentice to maneuver the dolly under the boat. After about 40 minutes and a 50+ point turn Guy finally rescued the hapless operator, unhooked the dolly and lined it up manually. And then we were out – and in!
A day of getting the engine going (10 seconds, she started right up) the toilet tested and other systems organized and we motored down one lock and into the marina.
Which was full of weed and not the now legal (some places) kind. This year has been very bad and they have not figured out how to deal with it. Some people think it is an invasive species that came in a boat’s water filter, others think it is climate change, it may well be both. Apparently there is a herbicide that will kill it and is safe but is GMO so the French won’t use it. Dredging the port below 2m would eliminate it but because of the old industry here the bottom is contaminated so the dredgings need to be carted away. In the mean time we wait. At least it doesn’t smell like it did last year. But many people have problems with toilet inlets getting clogged, engines cooling and bow thrusters blocked and other issues. I snuck into a mooring where a boat just left, taking the weed with him. But soon I will have to leave too.
So far no surprises and I have been proceeding with the normal boat projects and catching up with the boating community. Lilou has been coping well without Rosie and getting her unfair share of attention. She had her photo taken three times in Dijon – me? 0! She is catching up on the French news by getting her aromatic messages left by he French dogs which makes walks very slow with all the stops. There are the usual rounds of drinks of the boats – “Will you bring the dog?” It’s a good thing she is here.
Sunday was the annual Pardon of the Mariners ceremony on the Quay at Saint Jean de Losne. It is the center of the French waterways so the ceremony was attended by mucky-mucks from the local government as well as a Senator and the Director of the VNF, the agency in charge of all the inland waterways. The “ceremony” was in fact a full Catholic Mass and as I didn’t understand it and all the Hymns were sung by a musical group in a French folksy style it was a little like attending a musical show in a foreign language – on the river. Overall quite entertaining. At the end the Bishop went up and down the river blessing the boats. So us mariners were both blessed and pardoned, not a bad deal. Afterward there were rowing races, a boat parade, music and beer. And, of course, fireworks.
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In order not to offend the canal gods I will obey the 2 week rule and aim to leave Tuesday or Wednesday heading up the Canal de Bourgogne to Dijon. I had originally thought to go up the Saone and into the Canal de Vosges but further investigation showed that access for my guests would be very hard. So I have decided to revisit the Burgundy Canal that we loved in 2011. There are 21 locks uphill to Dijon and this will tell me how well I can manage solo and help me plan where to meet my visitors/crew later in the trip. Wish me luck. What could go wrong?
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