Sens to Montereau
We enjoyed Easter in Sens. The weather stayed beautiful and we were able to go to the historic Cathedral for the Easter celebrations. We were surprised to find that Good Friday was "business as usual" in town.
We really appreciated the convenient mooring on the town Quay and had a chance to get properly settled and organised on Anja and for David to start filling in the holes and replacing the tiles he had cut out in fixing the bathroom pipes. When he finishes, the panels will be screwed so that they can be removed again if necessary without hacking into the walls.
Easter Sunday was one of the few days of the year when most of the locks are closed. Easter Monday saw them open again so we set off early and reached Pont sur Yonne by lunchtime. tying up at a newly refurbished pontoon there to spend the night. The next day we came 29 kilometres (6 locks) to complete our journey down the Yonne River, joining the Seine River at Montereau where we tied up at the Quai d'Yonne, quite a difficult spot as there is a sill beneath water level and the frequant large and fast barges meant that we were moved around a lot. The speed limit here is 20 kph so these huge boats move a lot of water. we were being buffetted every time a barge went past. We didn't like the scraping noises from under the hull so soon moved back to the Yonne to find an alternative mooring along the river bank under some trees.
Most locks on the Yonne have at least one sloping side. Many have two and for some of these a pontoon is built on rails which follow the slope of the wall so that a barge can tie up to it and drop down the sloping side as the pontoon drops. Otherwise it is very difficult for the rope person (in this case Penny) to reach the bollards on the sloping side and tie up far enough out then fend off constantly, to allow the barge to keep clear of the side as the water level drops. The last few locks on the Yonne had two sloping sides and no pontoon, so David held the boat steady in the centre of the lock without tying up with Penny ready with a pole to fend off if we came too close to the side.
Another feature of the later locks on the Yonne was that they had red and green traffic lights to inform the barges when they could enter or leave the lock. This made it much easier as we approached- usually it is a matter of looking carefully through the binoculars to see if the lock gates are open or closed.
This year on the Yonne there are many commercial barges carrying grain, sand and unidentified containers. Here at Montereau at the junction of the Seine and the Yonne they are passing regularly about every 20 minutes. We have seen very few recreational craft yet.
All the best, Penny and Dave We enjoyed Easter in Sens. The weather stayed beautiful and we were able to go to the historic Cathedral for the Easter celebrations. We were surprised to find that Good Friday was "business as usual" in town.
We really appreciated the convenient mooring on the town Quay and had a chance to get properly settled and organised on Anja and for David to start filling in the holes and replacing the tiles he had cut out in fixing the bathroom pipes. When he finishes the panels will be screwed so that they can be removed again if necessary without hacking into the walls.
Easter Sunday was one of the few days of the year when most of the locks are closed. Easter Monday saw them open again so we set off early and reached Pont sur Yonne by lunchtime. tying up at a newly refurbished pontoon there to spend the night. The next day we came 29 kilometres (6 locks) to complete our journey down the Yonne River,joining the Seine River at Montereau where we tied up at the Quai d'Yonne, quite a difficult spot as there is a sill beneath water level and the frequant large and fast barges meant that we were moved around a lot. The speed limit here is 20 kph so these huge boats move a lot of water. we were being buffetted every time a barge went past. We didn't like the scraping noises from under the hull so soon moved back to the Yonne to find an alternative mooring along the river bank under some trees.
Most locks on the Yonne have at least one sloping side. Many have two and for some of these a pontoon is built on rails which follow the slope of the wall so that a barge can tie up to it and drop down the sloping side as the pontoon drops. Otherwise it is very difficult for the rope person (in this case Penny) to reach the bollards on the sloping side and tie up far enough out then fend off constantly, to allow the barge to keep clear of the side as the water level drops. The last few locks on the Yonne had two sloping sides and no pontoon, so David held the boat steady in the centre of the lock without tying up with Penny ready with a pole to fend off if we came too close to the side.
Another feature of the later locks on the Yonne was that they had red and green traffic lights to inform the barges when they could enter or leave the lock. This made it much easier as we approached- usually it is a matter of looking carefully through the binoculars to see if the lock gates are open or closed.
This year on the Yonne there are many commercial barges carrying grain, sand and unidentified containers. Here at Montereau at the junction of the Seine and the Yonne they are passing regularly about every 20 minutes. We have seen very few recreational craft yet.
All the best, Penny and Dave
Photos show Pont sur Yonne, the old bridge there and the view from our spot in the centre of Sens. Photos show
