And We're Off!

It felt like a long time coming--and with a 21-month hiatus it was--but we finally got back into cruising mode yesterday (July 2). Shortly after 9 a.m. we pulled away from the dock and made a right turn up the Petite Saone river as we left the Port Royal Marina in Auxonne.

Thanks, Jonathan, for catching us "in action"
as we left Port Royal.

The weather has been rather unsettled lately, so we were thrilled to have a gorgeous, sunny day for this, our first cruise in many, many months.

The Captain is happy to be on the water again.

... and so is the First Mate

Our original float plan had us stopping in the town of Pontailler-sur-Saone, about 2.5 hours cruising from Auxonne, either for lunch or overnight. However, the day was so glorious, and it felt so good to be moving, that we turned into the nautical equivalent of the Eveready Bunny: we kept going, and going, and going. Our "no more than 4 hours cruising a day" turned into 7 hours, and we found ourselves in the town of Gray for the evening. Despite the length of the cruising day it was not stressful, because there were only 3 locks to contend with and not a lot of other boat traffic on the river.

In 2019 on the Rhone au Rhin canal we encountered automated locks that we operated remotely via a handheld device. The automated locks on the Petite Saone work differently. The lock sequence is  activated with a pole ("perche") that is suspended above the water on the approach to the canal. A crew member on a boat must grab the pole and give it a single turn to start the lock sequence.

 

  The "perche" that will start the lock 
preparation process

Pat giving the pole a twist--so we've been
referring to the poles as "twistees"

Gray is a town of about 5500 inhabitants. It began as an important river port in the 12th century, and its strategic location enabled its development as such for several centuries. It suffered through fires and plagues and experienced its "golden age" in the 16th century. But transportation methodology changed, and with the Petite Saone no longer being much used for the transport of goods, the riverside warehouses in Gray have disappeared and been replaced by housing. Like many other towns in France, the viability of Gray's small shops seems to have fallen victim to changing lifestyles, the rise of the large supermarkets and stores in commercial centers on the outskirts of the towns, and the internet. 

Gray has a number of its historic buildings, but the level of upkeep is inconsistent. Some parts of town seem well kept and have received improvements, but other areas are rather dismal and a bit depressing.

Mansion of the "old days"

The Gray town hall, constructed 1567-1572. The
roof tiles are typical of the Franche-Comte region.

The Notre Dame Basilica, constructed
between 1478 and 1559.

The Paravais Tower (currently under netting),
 dating from the 13th or 14th century,
 one of the last remaining structures
 from the fortress built during that period.

View of the Petite Saone and the Pont du Gray

C.A.R.I.B. III moored on the Quai Mavia

We are likely to have a rain delay on Sunday, July 4, but the weather forecasts here are every bit as unpredictable as they are back in the U.S., so we'll see what the day brings.

One final, more general note. We have an electronic chart plotting program that Lon used to generate the topographical profile of the route we're hoping to take over the next couple of months. Elevation is noted on the vertical axis, and route location on the horizontal axis. The crossed purple lines show our current location in Gray. As can be seen, we will be doing a fair amount of climbing and descending, i.e., lots and lots of locks. The very steep peak shows the elevation changes on the Vosges Canal, which we'll enter when we exit the Petite Saone at Corre.