Friday 12th May 2017 St Jean-de-Losne to Dole 24kms 9 locks

Nichols hire base at Dole

11.8°C Grey skies, heavy showers and brief sunny spells. Set off at 9.40am winded and went downriver to the fuel pontoon and topped up our central heating tank with 200 litres of red diesel at 0.737€. Young Chinese guy surprised we were English, chatty in French. A cruiser was hovering (our boat filled the pontoon) while Mike went up to the cabin to pay. As we left another cruiser and a yacht, plus the hoverer, went on to the pontoon. Set off back upriver

The old stepped quay at St Jean-de-Losne

heading north again at 10.05am. Rain started pouring down as a large DB came out of lock 75 Sâone, first lock on the Doubs (Rhone-au-Rhin canal) and the keeper gave us a green light. He took a rope for us and we rose 3m. He wanted to see our vignette (licence) so Mike took it to his very modernistic concrete lock cabin and had instructions on how to use the very large lock activation device which came in a large plastic box – the sort that

The fuel pontoon at St Jean-de-Losne  at junc with c du Bourgoynes.

sanders and drills come in! There were upwards of fifteen DBs moored in the 400m long pound leading to lock 74 La Perrière. Up another 2.7m. 600m to the next passing Bourgogne Marine. There were only a half dozen DBs moored in the layby which used to be full of boats side-by-side, moored bows or sterns to the bank. Up lock 73 Tuilerie another 2.6m. The mooring marked in our old Vagnon guide didn’t exist so we plodded on in the rain. The canal bank edges were shallow and edged with underwater rocks. We

Schematic diagram of the Rhone au  Rhin canal

passed several soggy cyclists pedalling the tarmac towpath on the 5.8km pound. The department changed from Côte d’Or (Burgundy) to Jura (Franche-Comté region) but the rain kept pouring down. No signs of anywhere to stop. There was one concrete quay below the lock – occupied by a cruiser. Up another 2.8m in lock 72 Abergement. The lockhouses (this one was inhabited) are built almost right on the edge of the lock wall with handrails all along the house wall. A notice at the tail end bridge said no mooring in the

Lock 72 Abregement  - note how close the lock house (L) is to
the edge of the lock wall

zone (in other words throughout the length of the extensive Solvay chemical works).  The sun came out very briefly as we went along the 1.5kms pound. At lock 71 La Ronce, Mike decided to climb the lock ladder with the centre rope as these locks fill fast and the incoming water tries to swirl the boat from one side to the other as it rises. Up another 2.8m. A large sloping bank to the left of the lock was the base of one of four big settling basins for the chemical works. No mooring anywhere and

You have been warned - in three languages

the lock house was empty and shuttered. Two cruisers were waiting above, one private one (French flagged) and a Le Boat hireboat. The private boat went into the lock before the lights changed from red/green to green. The hireboat waited for the green, hope the lock didn’t go “en panne”for them. Made some sandwiches for lunch on the 2kms pound to 70 Belvoye, house lived in, although it was still surrounded by the Solvay works. Up 2.5m and on to 2.4kms pound. Rain

The forbidden zone - NO mooring near the chemical works

hammering down again. A long factory quay above the lock was marked with No Mooring signs – there were several ancient boats moored there, including an old trip boat, looked like they’d been there since long before the No Mooring signs. Another Le Boat went past heading downhill. Strangely lock 69 Bon Repos was full and we had to wait while it emptied (hireboat had come down it so it must have refilled). Up another 2.8m. The lock house was lived in although the very busy

Lock operating device

N37 went across the tail end of the lock, very close to the house. There was a pontoon above the lock but a notice said it was only for waiting for the lock. A longer pound 4.3kms took us to lock 68 Prise d’Eau, which was worked by a resident keeper. Briefly on the river Doubs for 1.3kms. Lock 67 Jardin Philippe had no tops to the gates which prevented the wandering public from crossing the gates. Gongoozlers galore as we trundled through the fortifications of Dole and moored next to the sloping quay wall right opposite the Collegiate church.

Lock 67 Jardin Philippe in Dole - note no walkways over gates

Gangplank out to a set of steps and Mike threaded ropes through rings on the bank. Photographers everywhere! 

Moored next to a sloping quay in Dole - plank walking required!