July 16-18 Baye to Penneçot

 July 16, 2023 – Sunday – Baye to Châtillon-en-Bazois 

Left Baye this morning and had a great run to Châtillon-en-Bazois. Still buddy boating with Ali & Charl on Old Harry. Once in port we had happy hour on Old Harry and Michael & June on Contessa, also from New Zealand, joined us. We’ve seen them occasionally but this is the first time we met them. 

A triple chamber écluse. Juniper and Old Harry still in tight quarters.
Joan handling lines for both boats on the wall
as well as helping the lock keepers open and close gates

 

The weather was a wonderful temperature today, chilly in the AM then comfortable the remainder of the day. So lucky not to have the heat! We did 14 locks and almost 14 kilometers. There were some doubles and a triple lock so had a couple nice stretches of running without a lock. Going down now! While it is easier, the bollards are not set well for our two boats so it takes some juggling to keep the boats apart.

Passing through acres of sun flowers

Châtillon-en-Bazois has a chateau just above the harbor. And a grocery store about 1 kilometer away. We are in need of groceries so will make the walk tomorrow morning. May not see the chateau as we need to keep moving towards the Saône River for handing the boat off to Tom & Mary. 

  

 

July 17, 2023 – Monday - Châtillon-en-Bazois to Panneçot 

Alarm went off at 6:45am so Michael could go to the boulangerie here in Châtillon-en-Bazois, he returned with croissants and a baguette cereal (seeds, etc included). We all walked to the grocery store and departed with Old Harry 10:30am. Warm day! Reaching 80. 

 

The main route to the store was along a busy road.
Fortunately we were able to locate a trail and farm road
that got us to the same place.

We did 22 km and 9 locks and many bridges. The bridges were very low and caused challenges for Old Harry, which draws more water and is much higher than Juniper. They managed to get under the bridge (Pont) that is the lowest on the Nivernais because the lock keeper lowered the water. This is a known challenge and the common way to solve it. I had gotten off Juniper under the bridge and helped push/pull them to keep them in the center and inch their way through. They killed the engine, put the throttle knobs down and still scraped one – it was the highest point on the boat at that time. Now they know they can make it all the way up and around and back to Auxerre. 

Bicycle camp, just across the path from our moorage.
Campers were 6 - 11 doing a 100km bike ride over
4 days. A van carried their camping gear.

 

Arrived in Panneçot at a municipal camp ground. A group of youngsters, looks like a summer camp, are camping right next to us. They are so good! Quiet too!! Both boys and girls and only heard one screech when a ball was heading for the water. There are bikes and they’re tent camping. Wish we could chat better with the staff and learn more about them. The leaders found their camp stove and canister didn’t work together. Ali and Michael worked with them to see what either of us had that would work for them. Luckily one of the Juniper tanks connected. Not sure how long it’ll last for them as we found it was basically empty when Michael pulled it out. Luckily our other feels pretty full! We’ll get a full one in Decize in a couple of days. Doing very little cooking since it’s so warm. Salads and BBQ meat are the name of the game. 

 

Happy hour on Old Harry again this evening. Charl likes it on their boat so he can smoke his cigars J. We each bring our own beverage and take turns bringing a simple snack. 

 

"Juniper" and "Old Harry" - Campers are directly behind us.

Surprised there was no other boats in the camp ground, but there are camper vans. Only 12 Euros including power and water (if you need it). A Le Boat came in and Michael, being his usual self, helped by grabbing their lines. They were in great control. They only stayed a short bit, then took off, so just us two boats for the night. 

 

Watching the kids camp was taking Michael and I down memory lane – me working camps, Post 954, and taking our own kids on adventures kayaking, biking and camping when they were young. Hope to do some of that with Emma…