Wednesday 22 June 2011

Glun to Roches-de-Condrieu

Another Mixed Bag

Sunday 19 June was a good sunny day and we left at the same time as Carolin, both of us headed for St Vallier on the recommendation of no less than three local sailors in Glun.  They insisted that St Vallier was much better for us than our original choice of Andancette and we were both pleased to get helpful input.  It was a short peaceful trip of only 20 kilometres, passing through the town of Tournon and one lock – Gervans (11.8 metres) a breeze.  The hills on either side of the river are planted with what must be millions of hectares of vines – the famous Cotes du Rhône.

But once there we couldn’t find the new pontoon that had been spoken of and finally decided we would have to tie up at the pontoon marked on our charts as being for commercial craft.  The pontoon looked good with enough space for two boats and there was a green marker buoy to show the channel.  Carolin went in first and tied up with no trouble.  The thought that we had managed to pass a day on the river without mishap hovered in my mind but I refused to let it form fully for fear of invoking a jinx. But the fact that it had hovered was obviously enough.  We followed the German boat in and drifting up with a depth of 5 metres we suddenly hit something very hard and metallic-sounding, Forever stopped dead in the water and tipped over slightly before righting herself again.  Horrified, Mike backed off a bit and then eased outwards and forward again, going into the pontoon almost at right angles.  The promised depth of 11 metres was in fact 2 metres!  With help from Bruno and Heidi we tied up our poor beleaguered boat and I had trouble holding off tears.  We did a full check of the inside of the boat for any cracks but everything seems fine.  The water is so murky there is no point in Mike trying to dive to have a look at the hull.  Anyway, I don’t think we hit nearly hard enough to do any real damage – but the antifouling will be well scraped. 

Our neighbours were very kind to us and invited us over for drinks that afternoon.  We had a very jolly time with them over a bottle of Pastis, Heidi and I sharing our thorough dislike for this part of the trip.  They are continuing up the Saône after Lyon, like us, but whereas we will turn west at the Canal du Centre they will continue until they meet the canal du Bourgogne and then they will turn east and head back to Hamburg.

The afternoon and night passed peacefully enough, but we remained on constant alert for another eejit in a fast motor boat.  All of us were fed up now and agreed that we would just make straight for the marina at Roches-de-Condrieu – and bugger the expense.

And so we did.  Monday 20 June was an excellent day for us and totally without mishap.  We left at 9 am and arrived in Condrieu at 1 pm after travelling 34 kilometres through lovely countryside carved up with vinyards and beautiful villages like Andance and St Pierre de Boeuf.

There was only one lock – Sablons (15.3 metres) - and no problem.  Arriving in the sacrosanct lunch hour meant there was no one about and no one answered the telephone or radio.  So we tied ourselves up wherever we wanted and had a relaxed lunch, after which we checked in with the friendly and obliging Capitain.  The cost for our boat was €16 per night and if you take two nights you get one free.  So it is €32 for three nights, including electricity, water, showers and wifi.  We are very pleased.  We have filled our water tanks and though there is a fuel station here we still seem to have plenty of fuel.  There’s also a washing machine at €3 a load and a good supermarket a bike ride away.  The village is very nice and quaint though we haven’t done much exploring yet.

Our old buddy Harry is here with his boat Malua and we went and had a chat with him and his wife Denny.  Harry had sent us an email which of course I’ve had no opportunity to open, and it transpired he’d hit the exact same rock/wreck/wall (whatever it was) at St Vallier and he’d written warning us off the place.  Pity.  He had also come across the fast motor boat.  It apparently left a marina leaving a huge wake, so the manager phoned the lock and the lockkeeper refused to let him through.  He had to wait a whole day!  Ha, we had a good laugh at that.  Regrettably, we think it was that following morning that he came angrily speeding through Valence and we paid the price.

Bruno and Heidi came for a few beers with us last night and this morning they left for Lyon.  They have been good friends and we hope to meet up with them later on in the trip.  We telephoned Jean Pierre and Jacqueline who will be driving up from Montpelier tomorrow and are going to detour this way to visit us.  We are looking forward to seeing them again. 

I put off congratulating myself on a day without mishap until this morning – just in case!  My washing is all dry, but it is raining again this evening with lots of lightning and thunder.  No worries, we are safe and snug in our little berth, far from speed boats.

It is just 41 kilometres and two locks between here and Lyon, the end of the Rhône and the beginning of the Saône..

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