As we hoped, Anja was craned back into the water only one week late, once we had worked our way through the Public Holidays. Penny's sister Annette arrived from her conference in Rome to a boat still on land but she is very adaptable and took that in her stride- from a private audience with the Pope one day to climbing a ladder to get on board our boat the next.
Once we were in the water we confidently set off down the Yonne to the first lock. Although the water level had dropped the current was very strong but the VNF site which showed lock closures did not show that this part of the Yonne was closed. We soon found out that the site was wrong- the lock, and this section of the River, were closed and the eclusier believed that it would be at least three days before it was opened.
In the event it was one more week before these locks opened, and in the meantime we discovered another VNF page, a daily update, which continued to show the locks as closed day after day. Fortunately the nearby Burgundy Canal was open so we spent some time popping along it to the delightful town of St Florentin. So another week passed and Annette returned home. Finally the word went round that the Yonne would be open tomorrow- but at this critical moment there was no daily update issued in the evening, as was usual! In the morning we woke to find that a separate "Advice" had been issued that the entire length of the Yonne was finally opened. We still have not found out why the river was closed for so long after the water seemed to have subsided.
The Jube (screen) at St Florentin
The enforced fortnight's delay had not bothered us at all. There are always plenty of tasks to be done and it was good to have relaxed time with our visitor. However, once the river was opened, we were the first boat through from the Burgundy Canal onto the Yonne River, and very happily entered the lock which we had found closed a week before. We had to skirt a large tree caught in the approach wall, and while we were in the lock a VNF (Waterways) barge came up behind us and lifted it with a crane, carrying it upright to the following lock where it deposited it on land, presumably to be collected later with the many other large bits of wood collected along the lock banks.
TWICE we have had to miss this tree, but now it is gone
The work barge travelled with us for the rest of the day and we were very grateful for its company when, in a narrow part of the river, a large submerged log became jammed in our propeller, bringing the engine to an abrupt halt. It would not restart easily and we were drifting into the bank (with Penny waving the red "danger" flag because three boats were close behind) when the barge driver, establishing that we had a problem, took us in tow alongside and transported us three kilometres to the next lock. At that point we tried the engine carefully in reverse and lo and behold, the log floated out. David checked the engine and gears, to find everything working normally. What a reprieve. Our day continued happily, dodging many more logs though the dangerous ones were those that were
submerged. It was good to reach Villeneuve and at last feel as if we had started our 2013
travels.
Best Regards,
Penny and David