Kerr Barging Blogs

Hi everyone,

We left Montereau a little nervous.

We were tackling the Petite Seine and did not have charts as they are being reprinted. We also saw this "expedition" as a test for whether or not we would be fine for the following six months without our bow thruster.

Things went well on the first day. The locks were large and easy. The lock keepers were friendly. We reached Bray sur Seine which was about 25km upstream from Montereau. It was a very enjoyable small town with many very old and beautiful houses, some of them in a Normandy style. Some of the houses leaned so far over small lanes that they were leaning on the houses from the opposite side.

We were moored alongside a beautiful park with excellent gardens, shaped hedges and about 60 very old and very large Plane trees. The facility provided to boats by the town was excellent and free.

The rain and very strong winds continued. Several canals had been closed due to lack of water from the drought. However, the waters became muddier and the levels continued to rise in the Seine. The current also became stronger and we noticed that the barrages had been lowered to allow the water to escape.

After Bray, we headed further upriver to the industrial town of Nogent sur Seine, which is the third largest cerealeal port in France. There was quite a lot of commercial traffic, with some barges up to 2,500 tonnes carrying capacity. These are really ships and were up to 110metres in length.

It was along this next section that did struggle without the bow thruster. We had been following a large ship and sharing locks with him (boats are masculine here). The lockeeper ever got him to overtake us in a lock. This was a little nerve racking but the Captain was very skilful.

We were in a very narrow section of canal and approaching a narrow bridge when a large barge appeared from the other direction. "Our" ship ("Hebe") decided to pass through the bridge first, so we dutifully followed. There is only room for one boat at a time under the bridges. Well, Hebe then stopped after the bridge as there was not much room. The other barge slowly approached. We had to try and sit behind Hebe, keeping right over to the side despite the strong wind and the current. Well, it was very challenging, particularly as we needed some movement to keep station. Then Hebe needed to reverse and we were being sucked towards the other barge by his propellors. Well, it was all very "tight" with us only centimetres from Hebe's stern and centimetres from the other barge. We ended up being bumped by the other barge but avoided Hebe. Next time, we will stay further back.

Nogent was a very pretty town with lots to see and do. Here is our spot with a view of the old Mill.

Again, the town provided an excellent stopping point and we will go there again one day. It was necessary to book the locks for the weekend as travel by "Plaisanciers"= Dave and Penny is only by arrangement on weekends. This was a bit of a problem as the lockeeper also needed to woman the barrages. However, all was fine and in a couple of days, we were 70km back down the Seine at St Mammes on the way to Paris.

The rain continued to fall and then we heard that the upper Yonne (from which we had come) was closed due to flooding as were several other canals and rivers. Large barges and ships were also precluded from navigating in Paris. From drought to flood in a few weeks. We certainly noticed the extra current in the Seine which added at least 50% to our speed.

We timed the stay in St Mammes to do some more work on the boat which had been delayed due to the poor weather. We also needed fuel and obtained it there (the cost was about $1,000 to half fill the tank with diesel!)

On May Day, nearly everything was closed, including the locks. We experienced the best weather of the trip so far and enjoyed the annual vintage car rally wich came to St Mammes and displayed some 70 beautiful old cars. The oldest was 99 years- not as old as Anja- but still elderly. As is the custom, we bought sprigs of snow drops from some children.

While in St Mammes, we took time off to go and really explore the Chateau at Fontainbleau. Wow! It was wonderful. We thoroughly enjoyed the splendour and the history of the place where many kings and queens spent time.

Some rooms at Fontainbleau	Nice baby bed!

 

 

We headed off on May 2nd for the comfortable two day trip to Paris. There are not many stopping places along the way and we had planned on staying at a disused quai about halfway along the Seine. We reached there in good time only to find it underwater. It would have been too dangerous to moor there and so we continued another 10km downstream and tied up below one of the large Seine locks.

Tomorrow, it is on to Paris.

Best Regards,

n

Dave and Penny

 

Other photos: Seine at Nogent, A friendly bird, large barges (linked together. 7 together is the most we have seen- about 6,000tonnes)..

We reached the Seine River today, Wednesday. Things had gone well, but when we used the bow thruster, it failed. The bow thruster is used to move the bow from side to side. It is mainly used to maneuver in difficult situations.It sounded as if the propeller had fallen off, but we were able to check that was not the case. This was a little hard to do without swimming (the water is WAY too cold for that.We moved to a pontoon in the town of Montereau. I then spent 6 hours crammed into a tiny space in the bow, removing the motor from the thruster. The motor is huge, hard to reach and weighs 60kg. I had to bolt some garden stakes together and make a block and tackle from the rigging on the boom. Once the motor was off, the problem was found to be in the gearbox which is underwater. So, the boat has to be lifted out.We have decided to do without the bow thruster and see how we manage. It would have been tough today in sloping sided locks with a very strong cross wind. We found that we are just not strong enough to push 36 tonnes of boat with poles, against the wind.The other challenge will be getting into the packed arsenal Marina in Paris, particularly if there is a strong wind. We go up the Petite Seine tomorrow. This is the head water of the Seine.More later. Regards,Dave (and Penny)

We have begun our 2012 voyaqe! We have progressed 8Km up the river Yonne from Migennes to Joigny. Finally, today, we managed to get the last coat of paint on the main deck. It has rained every other day but not at Joigny today. The rain radar on the internet has shown we were in a clear patch all day and this was perfect for finishing off the painting of the large deck which is about 20 square metres.

Today is also voting day as the French vote for two of ten presidential candidates. There will be a further round of voting in two weeks to see if Sarkozy will be re-elected or whether there will be a change to Hollande. Hollande has a slightly higher vote than Sarkozy at the moment, but what will count most is the vote in a fortnight.

Christian, our chambre d'hote host kindly explained the whole system to us and even gave us the dossiers for each of the 10 candidates.

We will miss Chantal and Christian. We have learned so much about French culture and the way of life, plus interesting information about Bourgogne (Burgundy). Our four meals were excellent and for one of them, we had a new taste thrill- "Raclettes" which originated in the mountainous regions. Today, we finished the last biscuits and cake from the packages that Chantal has given us every morning of our 8 day stay with them. They also kindly lent us a stroller for the visit of our grand-daughter and picked up a couple of items we had left in a shopping trolley at a large garden store. THANK YOU Chantal et Christian!

 

The boat was lifted back into the water without drama. It is near the weight limit for the crane but was placed into the river so gently that champagne glasses would not have moved. We had some worries when we found water leaking from a valve in the hot water and central heating system. However, removing it, cleaning and re-installing solved the problem. So, the cold spell of -15degC in winter must have affected the valve, but not badly.

A big "Thank You" to our friend Mike deBurca who was with us last year. He made us a beautiful brass folding "spinner" which enables quick turning of the wheel (which has almost 13 turns lock to lock) and then folds out of the way when not in use.

 

We will not be posting pictures of this beautiful section of river as we have been up or down it five or six times before. However, it is always very enjoyable and we know our way around many of the towns. Our next "new" place will be the Petite Seine which we will reach in a few more days.

 

Best Regards,

Dave and Penny

We had a very slow start, mainly due to bad weather. There have been
frequent showers of rain and strong winds. Not ideal for painting.

Saturday last week looked to be the perfect day for painting. Warm,
sunny and not much wind. We set out from Les Chouettes quite early.
However, a few Kms down the road, the car stopped. There was a warning
light showing a man with a spanner in hand and the car manual said to
take it to a dealer.

So, now we had a chance to see if Europcar (our normal choice in
France) could get us going quickly. Penny went for a walk to discover
where we were. David looked for obvious problems in the engine but
found nothing. So, we rang the National Assistance number. They said
that a mechanic would be with us in less than an hour. This happened.
r However the mechanic was unable to make the car run; fortunately, he
had brought a tow truck! So, he winched the car onto the truck and we
climbed in with him. The first confusion occurred because Europcar had
not told him it was a rental car. It was a bit of a worry for other
motorists as he sped down the narrow country roads while talking on
his mobile phone and also looking at our rental contract. Naturally,
being French, he was also waving his hands around while talking! At
one stage, he stopped across an entering street to get the odometer
reading from our car.

We reached an Opel dealership, well outside the large town of Auxerre.
The helpful mechanic told us that a taxi would pick us up and take us
to a replacement car. It had taken 2 hours by this time and we were
hopeful of being at the boat by noon. Such was not to be. After 45mins
there was no taxi. So, we again rang the assistance line and they gave
us the number of the Auxerre Europcar office. The guy there was not
helpful. "We have no cars and cannot get one" "Sorry"! He was
unwilling to do anything to help. It seems that this is why there was
no taxi. No point if no car, but no-one told us.

So, we again rang Assistance. They organised a car but it was 50Km
away- in Avallon- déjà vu because we live in Avalon (Sydney).
Unfortunately, lunchtime is 1200 to 1400 and it was 1145. We had been
standing with no-where to sit outside the Opel garage in the deserted
industrial area. The Assistance people said a taxi would be there
soon. 25 minutes later and no taxi; so again we rang Assistance. "5
more minutes"- and it was. A friendly taxi driver took us to Avallon
for about A$130 (on Europocar's account) and we had another 90 minute
wait in another deserted industrial area. Fortunately, we had a
package of beautiful biscuits from Chantal, so we ate them for lunch.
Also, it did not rain.

The Europcar lady appeared and gave us a replacement car. Quite a few
damage marks and no radio aerial, but she assured us the damage was on
the computer despite it not being on the replacement contract. Anyway,
we now had "wheels" again and finally arrived at the boat around six
hours later than planned and certainly too late to get any painting
done.

Best Regards,

Dave and Penny

We have arrived safely and have got down to work.

The trip was uneventful, though very rough and so we had very little
sleep on the 'plane.

Arrived early and the first hurdle of immigration was better than
expected. We had thought we might have to explain that our "Titres de
Sejour" (long term visas or residency permits) were in the small town
of Charbuy awaiting payment of the tax and then to be picked up. There
were no questions, so perhaps all the French computer systems were
linked together and working well.

We tried a different arrangement of trains this time- skipping the
Paris Metro and using the RER-A and RER-D to get us to a small town on
the Seine called Melun. We went through Melun last year and saw it
from the water. It is an attractive town. We picked up our rental car
there. This different arrangement saved us a couple of hours and much
walking- particularly with the heavy bags. We have a starter motor,
welding helmet, cables, electronics, material and many other
barge-related items. Of the 52Kg of baggage, much less than half is
clothing.

From Melun, we went to Fontainbleu. We have not been there before and
the chateau and grounds were far bigger than we expected. Two hours
was only enough for us to know that we need a day or two and will
return another time. All the kings of France spent time there. Some of
the earlier construction began in the year 1160. As usual with many of
the spectacular buildings here, it is rather difficult to photograph
them, even with a wide angle lens.

The grounds will be even more magnificent in about a month. They plant
45,000 new plants in the grounds every year.

In Fontainbleu, we found a family-run Tabac and the lady assisted us
in buying the tax stamps to pay for our Titres de Sejour. After lunch,
we headed to the Charbuy Mairie (equivalent to Council Offices in
Australia but with a much wider scope of activities). There we picked
up the Titres. All the staff came out to say hello to us. We think
that an Australian couple in the small town of Charbuy is an uncommon
occurrence. It is thanks to Corinne from the Mairie and Christian that
we have these Titres.

Then we went to Les Chouettes and were very warmly welcomed by our
delightful hosts, Chantal and Christian and the notable Vauban (the
friendly dog, named after France's great
designer/engineer/strategist). We were becoming very "droopy" but
managed to keep awake and enjoy the delightful dinner and
companionship. We have been curious about the upcoming Presidential
Elections and have now learned all about it. They start in just over a
week. It will be interesting to watch.

We spent today working on the barge. There was bad news in that our
new and very expensive batteries were flat. We still do not know why
as they were supposed to be charged every month. We are recharging
them at the moment but this is very, very unfortunate.

Everything else is good and we spent the day unpacking and also
sanding the main deck prior to painting. The list of things to do
continues to grow and we are wondering if we can get it all done in
time. Perhaps we will do the items that require us to be in the
boatyard and then do the others as we move along. We will know more
tomorrow after another day's work.

On Sunday we will be visiting another Vide Grenier (large market and
second hand sale) at a nearby village. We hope to pick up some items
for the visit of our granddaughter, Mary plus (maybe!) a high pressure
water washer which would make it easier to clean our decks which we
painted white last year. The white is great for the heat but harder to
keep clean than the original dark grey.

That's it for now. Included are some photos of Fontainbleu.

Best Regards,

Penny and David