Day 62: 13th August 2017 Traffic!!!!

Today saw us entering the River Saone and encountering a very different and varying breed of boats including the dreaded "charter boats". But first we had to exit the Champagne and Bourgogne canal and enter the Saone.

We passed under the last bridge marking our exit from the canal, turned right and then came up against these light signals at the lock.

A brief moment of hesitation (would I have to speak French to another VNF guy on the phone) before we remembered this meant that we could go, but another boat had priority, in other words there was a boat coming up the lock.

It was here that we encountered the first charter boat. I hate that we are so prejudice that we want to avoid charter boats in close quarters. Perhaps because Laurin is now both our home, our transport, and our ticket to our 2 year adventure we have so much more to lose if we get into a scrape with another boat. I know that many charterers are have careful skippers and crew but in this particular case perhaps we were right to be a little cautious; there were about 3 kids on the foredeck repeatedly casting fishing lines as the boat was motoring out of the lock. I held back until they were safely out of our way, there was no way I wanted anything wrapped round our prop, even knowing that our rope cutter is now in place.

Next we admired the different scenery, the lovely wide river, and the ability to travel at our normal cruising speed rather than a measly 4 knots.

There was much more traffic on this stretch, a combination of charter boats, private cruisers and barges, tiny rowing boats used as fishing platforms, and then the really obscure home made catamaran made from 4 surf boards, some pallets, car seats and an outboard motor!

We were making excellent time and looking forward to being in Auxonne for an early lunch when we got held up by a queue for the last lock. After waiting for 3/4 hour we finally locked in and were promptly rammed up the rear end by a rowing boat! This really wasn't a problem for Laurin and we enjoyed a bit of banter with the German rowing club who had brought the rowing boat down from Germany and chartered a motor cruiser as support vessel.

Finally we arrived at Auxonne to be greeted by an Aussi Captainaire taking our lines in our spot next to Polux. A lazy afternoon followed, then SUP and Canoe were pumped up for early evening fun.

We plan to stay here a couple of nights before moving on.