June 6
We tried to get an early start from Mailly-la-Ville, but two large boats managed to get to the écluse early, plus one was a hotel barge which is a priority vessel that goes to the head of the lineup. After going through the first couple of écluse by ourselves, we were asked to wait for a boat that was behind us to reduce the number of écluse cycles with the water shortage.
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| Joan opening an écluse gate for us to continue on our way |
The canal closure for lunch found us at Merry-sur-Yonne and the beautiful backdrop of Saussol Rocks, a climbers paradise. No climbers today, but very pretty. Will try to bike back down to hike to the top.
We arrived in Chåtel-Censoir, a nice marina with electricity, water and plenty of friendly boaters to share information with. A nice walk into town to check out the Proxi-Marché to supplement our stores, then back to Juniper for a nice cold dinner on a hot night.
June 7
Bicycled back down to Merry-sur-Yonne and hiked (scrambled) to the top of Saussol Rocks. The way up was steep enough that we were not looking forward to attempting the down climb. Fortunately there was a road we were able to use for the return to our bikes. While on top we noticed a group of four young adult climbers setting up their gear. By the time we got back to our bikes they had a rope connecting two of the rocks, curiosity got the best of us, we had to wait to see what they were up up to. Turns out they were going to walk a slack line across the abyss (well harnessed in case of a fall). We watched a great show for quite a while, before taking back roads back to Juniper.
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| Looking down off of Saussols Rocks at the Yonne River |
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| Michael at the top of the rocks |
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| Slackline performer |
June 8
An early start, to make sure we were ahead of the big boats for today's écluse. Had the canal to ourselves with the exception of passing a few boats going the opposite direction. We arrived in Clamecy mid-afternoon to a nearly full harbor. As we began our approach into a tight spot we had several boaters offer to give us a hand, making a difficult docking very easy. It must have been our karma for all the boats we help each year. We now know how much it must be appreciated.
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| Sausagefest in Clamecy. Music, food, beer and new friends |
Turns out that tonight is a sausage and beer festival in town. The streets are closed. Bands are playing, tables are set up to eat and socialize and plenty of beer and sausage. A miniature Octoberfest. The people that had helped us dock invited us to join them for a pre-function aboard their boat Sadie 2 with Kimberly and John-Michael from Ziggy B. Alex and Deb are from Annapolis and have connections with Seattle. Turns out we knew their boat quite well, it had been owned by a New Zealand couple we had cruised with many years ago. It was well after midnight by the time we were back aboard Juniper.
June 9
A day in Clamecy to restock our food supplies before heading into the next section of canal. Turns out the big store is closed today, so it will be an early morning shopping trip before departing tomorrow.
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| Alex and Deb leaving Clamecy, this afternoon, to continue their journey downstream. Hope we see them again, next year. Big thank you to both of them for a wonderful night in Clamecy |
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