Return to Base

Many great expeditions have had to turn back before reaching their stated goal because of lack of water.  For Malua’s 2011 trip up the French canals to Paris that decision was made when the water ran out at Langres in the middle of the French country side.  We had reached the Champagne district, the locks where all “avalant” or downhill and we could almost taste the salt of the sea but the water under the keel was just not enough.

We left the mooring at Langres soon after the sun came up and headed down river for the first time.  We had not gone more than 50 meters when Malua came to a sudden and abrupt halt.  No amount of power would move the vessel, not ahead or astern.  We were hard aground.  Luckily we were still in reach of the mooring quay and I was able to throw a line to our departing guests to secure it to a large boulder.  With the help of the Anderson electric winch and the grunt from the 50 hp Yanmar engine Malua slowly came off the sandbank in the middle of the canal.

Two further attempts close to the left and then the right bank gave the same result – 2.0 m draft will not go over a sandbank estimated to be 1.8 below the surface.  There was no immediate alternative, the result of removing weight from the boat has little effect on her draft and the thud when we went aground clearly indicated that the bottom was hard and not about to give. The water level in the canals was almost full so the dry summer that stymied Sundancer II passage to Paris was not the immediate cause.  The extra weight of the wine, cheese and champagne acquired on route could have played a part but the fact that the canal is rated by the VNF as 2.2 deep doesn’t mean that it is always that depth. Some guide books rate it at 1.8m!
We have travelled many kilometres in the “ Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne” with only 100mm under the keel and in places the depth sounder indicating 0.0 as we steamed along at 7 km/h parting the mud knowing that if you stop you may not restart and if the mud turns to sandbank your expedition is over.  It takes nerves of steel to keep that up day after day.
When the thud finally came we realized that we were not going to reach Paris in Malua this year.  We set our compass for the Mediterranean appreciating that a boat built for the Southern Oceans is not meant to travel through rural France – c’est la vie.

“Vive le 14 Juillet” – Bastille Day

While we did not break open the Bastille and set the prisoners free we did crack open a few bottles of Burgundy wines because we had been released from the Cote du Rhone wine area and moved into Burgundy.  We just happened to be in Macon on the Saone when the day arrived and Malua was on a mooring overlooking the fireworks area for the celebrations of Bastille day.  Unfortunately it rained all day but cleared at sunset so the crowds could gather round and see the marching, military vehicles, speeches and of course the fireworks.  The local louts had been practicing all day with crackers and rockets right along the quay so we were immune to the bang bang of a few loose crackers.
The real show was great taking place right in front of our bow.  I like the smell of cordite in the air and we sure had that.  Fortunately none unexploded items fell on the canvas work of Malua although I had a bucket of water ready.

The move from the Rhone to the Saone is different, the flow less and the banks are more wooded but the main difference is the depth.  We now only have 1 to 2 meters below the keel and the banks are much shallower.  We pulled alongside a mooring and ran aground 3 meters from the pontoon.

The wine has also changed from Rhone to Burgundy.  We have in fact been drinking Beaujolais wine since Lyon but rode through the change to Bourgogne however when we reached Macon it was on to the local Macon and its 42 named villages.  The major wine is white with as they say rather unmemorable reds.  We purchased a couple of bottles of white Chardonnay from the Chardonnay village.  A great drop, quite unlike the bland wines of that name in Australia.

One of the most memorable rides was through the vineyards in the hills adjoining the river and to pickup a few bottle along the way.  However the French don’t seem to want to sell their produce from the cellar door.  It is more like a side door of a rather ordinary farm house.  Being about lunch time every door was closed.  Try as we may to find an inviting place to purchase the local; drop they were all closed.  At one vineyard we saw the fellow standing in front of a door having a smoke but by the time I locked the bikes to a pole and turned to enter the shop, the door was closed only to reopen at 3:00 that afternoon.  No wine for us that afternoon but back at Macon where on a side street was a great wine shop with a proprietor who has a brother in Melbourne so we were able to discuss the nuances of the Chardonnay grape in Oz and locally.  We purchased a fair quantity of the local drop and was able to walk to Malua’s cellar.  Thankfully it has rained the last few days so the river will have some extra depth to accommodate the weight.