Wednesday 31st May 2017 Boussières to Choisey 42kms 13 locks

15.6°C Cloudy with sunny spells, cooler until late af

Moored on a pontoon at Choisey at the end of the day

ternoon. Set off at 7am. Cool enough to need my fleece on, but not for long. Through the flood lock at Boussières  into the canal, 3kms to lk 57 Osselle, no signs of life at the lockhouse at 8am. Still more canal, 4.1kms to lock 58 Routelle, down 1.7m then 1.2kms to another lock 58 Rozet-Fuans and down further 3.2m. There were crowds of gongoozlers from nowhere taking photos as we dropped down in 58. The first VNF van of the day went past heading upriver at 9.05am as we left the lock, 3kms of river and clouds were starting to build up, grey cotton wool ones. Beds of long trailing water-crow

In an offline basin below Osselle.Was this staithe for loading peniches
by tipper lorry - wonder if it's ever been used?

foot were covered in white flowers. Passing the old mills now converted into housing and into lock 59 St Vit. Curtains twitched at the lockhouse but no one came out as we entered the lock – the lock walls were higher at the top end due to the height of the gates and lower at the bottom end. A large group of kids were launching kayaks from the sports centre into the water below the weir. 4.9kms to the next lock, the first 3kms were on the river with the channel close to the right hand bank all

Spot the error - clue Belfort is north of the navigation

the way to the canal section at Fraisans. A boat went past heading upriver, an ex-hireboat. Late cuckoos were calling in the forest as we turned into the canal. Took a photo to show the height of the banks before the flood gates. Mike spotted a bird of prey, it landed in a tree but not for long, photo a bit blurred, looked like a buzzard. Into lock 60 Dampierre. A nice lock house, which looked empty. Down 2.4m. A short river reach took us to Ranchot, through the floodgate and passed a German cruiser moored on the quay whose crew waved and said hello. The mooring for boats over

Hills and mills at St Vit

20m long was empty, not surprised as it was next to sloping rocks. Down 1.9m in lock 61 Ranchot onto to a short (1.1km) pound, passing the VNF depot – the drawbridge was up – noted they had a smart modern tug, called Nenni ma Foi – part of the motto of the Comtois (people of the Franche-Comté region), which goes in full “Comtois rends-toi, Nenni ma Foi!” Translated – “Comtois surrender! - Not on your life!” A police escort

High canal banks near Fraisans

was ushering a lorry with a large load into a layby next to a restaurant. The large load was a huge wooden box from Norway. Down lock 62 Moulin des Malades, 7.8kms to the next lock. First a short river reach then into the canal at Orchamps, through a narrow stone walled section and an open flood lock (which we worked through on the way upriver) at the start of a long canal section with yellow water lilies down each bank. There was a campsite with parked campervans but nowhere for boats to stop, the steep banks had rocks all along the base. On to lock 63 Moulin Rouge, waited while a three-decker cruiser

 Tug Nenni Ma Foi!

came up the lock, slowly, then we went down 2.7m. 1km of river, through a floodgate and a further 1km of canal to lock 64 Audelange. I made sandwiches for lunch. A hireboat with an Aussie flag was moored for lunch on the crew pontoon below the lock. We said hello in passing. 5.5kms to the next, through Rochefort-sur-Nenon, where we had tentatively thought of stopping – and there was no one on the pontoon – but we decided to push on downriver. Through the open flood lock on a blind left-hand bend. Down 1.5m in lock 65 Baverans. While going

This heron is not deformed - he has just swallowed an eel!

through the lock, I was deadheading my violas in the window boxes on the front of the boat, and I noticed several of the smallest bees (about 6mm) I have ever seen were seeking nectar in the flowers. A cycle team went past on the towpath as we were getting nearer to Dole, followed by ladies who walk – some looked in pain. At lock 66 Charles Quint, in the lock the VNF were unloading tree branches from a workboat pushed by a small plastic dinghy powered by an outboard motor into a VNF lorry using a grab. As they backed out of the chamber, the lock went en panne - two red lights. Three of them moved their flattie up to the crew pontoon above the lock and the fourth, who had just been in the cabin and reset the lock, shouted to them not to moor the flat on the pontoon. We don’t moor on the pontoons anyway, so we

A paddle for extracting irrigation water from the canal nr Baverans

backed off out of the way. We thought the guy would set the lock for us but he didn’t - then a hireboat activated it from below and came up. I said watch out the Chef is coming, as a woman pulled up in a VNF van and started remonstrating with the men in the boat about the lock having two red lights. Meanwhile the hireboat left the lock and the guys in the plastic boat told us to go into the lock which had gone en panne again, two red lights, so we did and they followed us into the chamber. Madame was annoyed and came out shouting at us for going into the lock passing a red light. I told her the VNF guys in the boat had told us to carry on into the chamber, then she started having a go at Mike, then the guys in the plastic boat. (Technically we should have stayed out of the lock until we

VNF team parking their flattie above Charles Quint lk in Dole 

had a green light, but we had been instructed by VNF to enter the lock) They got out of their boat and lifted the metal plate covering the hydraulics for the top end gates. (Must be a problem with the hydraulics). Madame grumpy-knickers went in the cabin and reset the lock. She was on her phone when we escaped, glad to be out of that lock, left her to her nagging of the rest of the VNF crew. On into Dole. The Nicholls base still looked full of hireboats, plus a few visiting cruisers. Mike counted four spaces – we’d seen three of their boats further back upriver, maybe the fourth

Hire boat coming up in the lock, Charles Quint in Dole

had gone downriver. Nothing was moored along the big quay by the car park. Then we saw why, a fairground beyond the trees in the car park. Fairgrounds are noisy, open until late and attract youth. Down lock 67 Jardin Philippe, top end paddles leaking a lot, and on to the last navigable reach of the Doubs. Kayaks were under instruction in the weirstream on our right, dodging the hanging poles. On our left more kayaks and rowing skiffs were going hell

In the lock with the VNF team, Madame giving them a telling off.

for leather up and down the river. There was a Swiss-flagged DB moored on the crew pontoon above lock 68 Prise d’Eau, its skipper was off up the ramp putting on his motorcycle helmet. The lights were flashing at the lock and a very large hireboat came out of the lock. It was festooned in fenders, big fat white ones, two hanging ball fenders by the sloping sides of its bows and a dozen hanging fat sausage fenders all the way down its sides. Never seen so many fenders on one boat! We got a green light and into the lock we went. There

Motorway over our last lock of the day Prise d'Eau
and last river reach of the Doubs

was a man in the tower cabin, but as the light was flashing, I lifted the rod and we descended 20cms. The guy in the cabin came to the window and waved as we left. There was a water feed from the river on our left as we left the lock and it was putting a lot of water into the canal and creating quite a flow. A couple of kilometres down the canal and we winded and stopped on the 40m long pontoon at Choisey. It was 4.10pm and still very hot. At last a bin to put our accumulated rubbish in. Nice spot. There were fishermen at the downhill end of the pontoon and a cruiser flying a New Zealand flag.