Wednesday, May 5

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We left our make-shift mooring near St. Seine/Vingeanne, thankful that the stakes and “gang-plank” worked so well, and motored just around the next bend to the lock. Since we were in-between two locks with no official mooring we had to contact VNF to let them know we were waiting to go through. Our Lock-keeper arrived in his little white truck and activated the lock for us and off we went. Weather was cold and light rain.

Arrived in Pontailler-sur-Saone after leaving the Canal de Marne el la Soane. The quay-side city mooring was nice and close to the town, however as we found in most of our stops not much is happening. We found the Tourism office and got a small map, points of interest, shopping (food) locations and restaurant suggestions. Never found the grocery store, just a bakery and the restaurant suggestion seemed to be the only restaurant option in the town. We had a great meal at Hostellerie des Marronnires, at a table right next to a roaring fire. Finally, we were warm!

May 3rd & 4th, Shelly & Wendells Canal Adventures

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The Great Lock-keepers!

Monday, May 3rd



We left around 9am, heading into a day with 7 locks ascending to the Balesme Tunnel. This would be Wendell and Shelly’s first experience with a tunnel. Before we reached the Tunnel, we had a lock keeper that was assisting us with several locks and in-between two of the locks there was a swing bridge. As we waited in the canal for the lock keeper to open the swing bridge, we noticed that he was doing it manually with a heavy rope. Not much was happening and he seemed to be straining. We decided that the “men” could help and so I motored to the edge where Wendell and Ken got off the boat and ran to the aid of the lock keeper. He was very appreciatative and together the three managed to get the bridge open. I motored through with Shelly and we picked up the boys at the next lock. ( the lock keeper gave them a ride. Note Wendell waving in the truck!).



Approaching the tunnel we discussed with Wendell and Shelly how “easy” the tunnels had proven to be and how well lit they were, etc. The Tunnel Balesmes is 4820 meters ( 5 kms) with “traffic” lights to let us know it is ok to go. We discovered that the “automatic” motion censored lights inside the tunnel were not activated and consequently we were forced to have our spot-lights on and focused on the walls to make our way. The books will tell you to watch for debris in the tunnel, but we (Shelly) only observed dead animals that drowned in the tunnels. We finished the tunnel and at the summit then face 5 fast locks descending back down. We were kept busy and could not let our guard down for a minute.






After the Tunnel, we reached Piepape around 4:30 at a simple Halt Nautique with no “extras”. We walked to the town to discover that everything was closed. We had an early dinner and checked our plan for Tuesday’s route.


Fishing seems to be a way of life on the Canals!

Tuesday, May 4th


Woke up to cooler temps and light rain. Ken and Wendell walked for bakery and I boiled eggs for egg salad sandwiches we had planned for lunch. Today’s drama was the engine overheating and our having to “tie-up” with our stakes due to no mooring in the small canal. We missed the last lock we had planned to go through so we stayed for the night between the two locks. No official docking or mooring there but the stakes and our “gang-plank” worked well and we knew there would not be any boat traffic. We used the bike foot pump to clear the water intake valve of the clog. I had purchase a simple plastic foot pump for bikes and beach toys and it proved to be handy in this case. Pasta, wine and bakery bread for dinner. Boat was cold and the hot meal helped!

To Rolampont

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I had previously contacted the VNF to let them know that we would resume our journey Sunday, and be at the first lock of the day by 9am. This is necessary as most of the locks in this canal are manually activated or hand-cranked. There is no place to tie-up if you have to wait for a lock keeper to arrive so it is best to schedule in advance. Once you are in the first lock of the day, they will ask you where your final stop for the night will be and with that information, they schedule lockkeepers to be available throughout your day. It was fun to watch Wendell and Shelly learn the maneuvering of the locks and canals.

Rolampont was our destination for Sunday night. That would be approximately 15 locks and 30 kms. We have a great “stopping” guide that was given to us when we entered The Canal endre Champagne & Bourgogne. It details the Stops, nature of the stop (picnic or overnight), how many locks, facilities at the stop or nearby and the distance. This made is easier for us to plan our days. Rolampont was listed as a nautical stopping point with water, electric and bathrooms. Of course, due to our early season arrival, electric wasn’t turned on, and the bathrooms, were, well….less than desirable. Still it was a easy dockage for the night.