Jean Pierre and Jacqueline drove all the way from south of Montpelier to Les Roches de Condrieu to visit us. They arrived in driving rain, and JP was not feeling well, so they did not stay long. However, we had a good chat and it was really good to see them again. We have promised (threatened) to take them up on their offer to visit them at their farm sometime in the future. They were shocked to hear our tales of woe and JP who is a lawyer will write to the CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhône) to complain about the speed boat that caused our damage, and the underwater wall that we and Malua hit in St Vallier.
The fact is that Forever is too delicate a boat for this type of trip. She is perfect out at sea, but not designed for these inland waters. Most of the boats in the canals are squared off motor boats, flat bottomed (it’s our keel that causes us to swing about so much in the turbulence) and with very low draught. And many of the other sailing boats we have encountered, have no mast to contend with, no solar arch and a strong steel toe rail. Even if they had been banged on the quay wall they would not have suffered as much damage as poor old Forever has. Some boats we’ve seen have really scruffy steel or concrete hulls which are absolutely perfect. I deeply regret all the work we put into Forever’s hull, topsides and toe rail – what a waste of time!
Today, Thursday 23 June we had a very good day – no problems with the locks. The first , Vaugris (only 6.7 metres) was beautiful and no problem at all, the Second Pierre-Bénite ( 11.8 metres) was ok and the normal turbulence, but we managed fine. Our timing at both locks was perfect and we never had to wait at all. Unplanned, we made the whole journey in company with a Swedish yacht and a French yacht. The French one (Gazouille) was manned by a single hander with whom we became quite friendly and chatted along the way – he made all the contacts with the ecluse and kept us informed. He was very casual in the locks – having tied himself off (not without difficulty) he would disappear below for the entire filling time, presumably to make himself a drink or something to eat. Being alone, this was the only time he could leave the cockpit and he took advantage. The rest of us stood on our decks, worrying about swinging.
We are delighted to get to Lyon and so very pleased to leave the Rhône. Here we come to the Confluence of the two rivers – the Rhône to the right and the Saône to the left.
We’d been told about the new marina in Lyon and went straight there. Brand new, the marina is built into a dug out canal off the river and there’s a low bridge at the entrance which the Capitain will come and lift if you call him on VHF18. The man in charge on that day was a charming and helpful young man, with the unlikely name of Cyril, who speaks perfect English. He spent many years in the UK (mostly it seems in Bucks) running restaurants. It’s an oddly designed marina with the smallest pontoons you’ve ever seen – even Forever, which is smaller than many of the boats in here, is twice as long as the pontoons. However, it is quite reasonable at €12 per night, including water and electricity and showers, but no washing machines or wifi (boo hoo). We have booked four nights.
Friday 24 June
Though our trip to Lyon was pleasant and uneventful we’d noticed a leak of water in the salt water pump which worried us. On Friday Mike had a look and decided he needed some Volvo spare parts. Unable to find a Volvo dealer, we called a mechanic – a young chap called Karl who turned out to be originally English. He came by, helped take the pump apart, ordered the parts and returned the next day with them. He helped Mike put the whole thing together again – perfect. It was an unhappily expensive little operation (as these things always are), but Karl was helpful and his side of the bill was very acceptable. Later, we walked into the town of Lyon (the marina is well placed to the centre of town and various shops, including Lidl and a good bakery) and did some shopping, bought ourselves some new sunglasses and checked out the MacDonalds which has free wifi.
The other yachts in the marina are mostly very friendly and we have passed three merry evenings over numerous glasses of wine with two Dutch motor boats, one Swedish yacht and one English barge discussing where next to go, travelling the canals (everyone agrees the Rhône is the worst), life in France, and our trip around the world. We may have one of the smaller and definitely the scruffiest looking boat but we are everyone’s heroes, having sailed around the world.
Our Dutch neighbours (Valerie and Marcel), on a palatial motor boat, very kindly took our bed linen and washed it in their washing machine and then dried it on their enormous deck.
Saturday was very festive in the marina with lots of market stalls selling ice cream, farm produce, wine tastings, barbequed sausage and chips, etc. There were children’s playgrounds, kids kayaking and learning to ski in the canal beyond the marina and a lot of live music. That night there was a big party on the quay and we went along after dinner joining Lindsay and Mike from the English barge. At about midnight there was a bonfire when an effigy of St Jean was burned (we presume Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake). It was a wonderful evening, till 3 am next morning, and we met loads of French people, including a gorgeous bunch of youngsters.
Sunday we have hangovers, but worth it for such a good evening. Valerie and Marcel, who don’t drink, are very smug. We will leave tomorrow and hope to keep meeting these same people along the way, as we are all travelling up.
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