Sloping Along the Yonne

Now September and so we're into our final month afloat. We've come a long way and every day there's something new to surprise us or snap us out of complacency. After leaving Moret-sur-Loing, ten days ago we were quickly reminded that we're not as expert as we might have imagined we were - note to self, beware smugness. Pride comes before a fall etc etc. We had been forewarned about the locks on the River Yonne but forewarned is not really fore-armed. Having passed through them I still don't know what the best way to go about it is. They are big and have sloping sides - I haven't researched why as yet.

We were locking up so I jumped off before the first one and went to check things out and talk to the keeper. He told me that I should catch a stern rope as Rob drove into the lock, loop it round a bollard  in the back half of the lock and pass it back. Then Rob was to throw a bow rope and repeat. He should then attempt to stay in the middle of the lock by using the engine and fending off with a boat hook so the boat wouldn't drag up the sloping lockside whilst I looked on uselessly from the sidelines. The most important part of this information is the bit about staying in the back half of the lock. As the keeper said, 'It's very violent at the front.' Hmmm... So, we had just got ourselves organised - sort of - when the keeper got a call and told us we'd have to move to the other side and up to the front of the lock. 'Look,' he said, pointing back down the canal. A large commercial barge was approaching and would be joining us in the lock. Thereafter it was all a bit fraught. I did the useless bystander bit perfectly though. Rob struggled manfully with ropes, engine and boathook and gave up the latter as a bad job pretty quickly but came through with only damage to his nerves.
Next lock, the commercial barge went in first and we tied up to him and it was a breeze. Further up the river you get into hire boat country and the locks have been modified so that there are floating pontoons to tie up to. The pontoons rise or fall with the level of the water which makes life much easier- quite relaxing in fact.

The Yonne is a lovely river - if they could just fit those pontoons into all the locks.

 A dapper lock keeper. Bowler hat (which he raised as we arrived and left) and safety vest. Can't beat it.