CRUISING
to historic Tournon and tied up alongside
the free town pontoon. We enjoyed a
pleasant dinner at one of several
restaurants, and topped up our water at a
communal focette.
Time was of the essence, and with the
winter lay-up now drawing close, it was
frustrating to have to wait well over an
hour at each of the next two locks. Finally
we made it to Le Pouzin. There were no
moorings for small boats but we found
just enough water on a quay inside a
tributary, the river Ouvese. It was a little
run-down (reminding me of the film
Deliverance!) but a short walk took us to
the town rowing club, and five minutes
further to the town itself. All very
respectable. Phew.
We had a quiet night here but whenever
a boat passed by, the water level dropped
sufficient for Keppel’s keels to bump on
the bottom. This may have been due to
the increasing hydro-energy output duringthe evenings when demand is high. We
dealt with this by making a fenderboard/
ladder ‘sandwich’ (with two rows of
fenders) which held us off the quay
sufficiently to keep us afloat
Two more locks the following day
brought us Viviers. Not to be missed, it did
cost r19 all in, but was well worth it for a
deep-water pontoon with water and
electricity. Viviers is an extremely attractive
town with a medieval abbey. Inevitably, it
attracts cruise ships that glide in silently
both day and night. There’s a butcher,
baker and several bars and cafes, but
best of all was an open-air restaurant right
beside the marina. As well as there being
a great ambiance, there was a chap doing
professional karaoke. He did loads of 50sNOTES ON LOCKS
The Saône leg involved seven locks,
ranging in depth from 1.8m to 4m.
They’re large enough to accommodate
huge cruise ships but if you value your
cleats, you don’t want to be behind
one when they power out of the locks.
Commercial péniche skippers are
much more considerate, though we
usually had locks to ourselves.
Locks are controlled by a lock-keeper
in a tower who we communicated with
on VHF. As with almost all locks there
is a traffic light system that provides
all the information you need. With few
locks to contend with and not much
waiting around, this stretch of the
Saône could easily be done in a week.
We took 16 days from Pontallier to Lyon
at a leisurely pace – about four hoursmotoring a day and six days static.
Unlike the Saône, the 12 Rhône
locks are very deep, raging from just
over 6m to 23m. The average depth is
around 12m. It sounds daunting but in
fact they’re easy. Small boats link onto
bollards that float up and down with
the water level. We found it best to use
a midship cleat and a stern warp for
stability, although boats without long
keels would probably be fine with just
midship attachment.
With quite a lot of waiting time to
factor in we still might have done the
Rhône in as few as five days, so long
as there are no Mistral complications.
We did it comfortably in nine days,
Mistral included, but it would have
been nice to have taken longer.LEFT Energetic
Verdun-sur-Doubs
was the antidote to
lethargic Seurre
RIGHT St Etienne-le-
Sorts, an ideal
eating-out stop with
a free pontoon
BELOW The Rhône
between Les
Roches-sur-Condieu
and TournonAwaiting instruction- when the visor gate
lifts, and doors open,
a green light signals
time to go
Approaching the city of Lyon