Next installment - From Valence on the southern Rhone to the Seine & Paris In February Lynn & I made a quick trip home to see her parents, annual doctors' visits and general stuff, then back to Valence to wait for spring to arrive. The other boaters who wintered with us were all making their cruising plans too; several like us were heading north, others looking south to the Canal du Midi or further south on the Spanish coast and a few were planning to head east along the French coast to Italy and beyond. This was also a time for everyone to catch-up on last minute maintenance or finish major tasks they were working on over the winter. In March the signs of spring began to appear but it was too early to leave because the VNF (the French organization responsible for the waterways www.vnf.fr ) closed the Rhone to navigation for lock maintenance. Our travel plans north had to accommodate multiple factors: the VNF's maintenance schedules for the rivers & canals we were planning to travel on, river water levels (wanting to avoid spring floods) and the weather. The Rhone River has multiple large dams used to control water levels and for hydroelectric power. At Valence the water level only varied by 1 or 2 ft the six months we were there but the flow rate of the river varied a lot and at high flow rates the river is closed to navigation. This typically occurs in late spring from snow melting in the Alps just to the east. So our departure window would be after spring arrived with warmer weather but before late spring when snow melts closed the river to navigation. Two other boats were also going north so we agreed that Monday, 28 March was our target departure. "Blue Nose" with a German/Australian couple & their 10 year old daughter, were heading back to Germany to sell the boat after taking a 1+ off to sail in the Med. And "La Boheme" with a Norwegian couple, was heading back to Norway to see grandchildren & family - they have been cruising 11 years and have crossed the Atlantic 4 times in their sail boat. Being the first group to leave was cause for a big send-off by our fellow boaters/winterees. It was difficult saying goodbye to all the friends we had made over the winter. Heading north the Rhone was running 1 to 2 knots against us but in a few sections it was 3 to 4 knots and made tough going for the sail boats. We made it to Lyon Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning purchased our new vignette (cruising licenses) at the VNF office next to the quay. >From Lyon we took the Saone River north toward St Jean de Losne with the plan of spending a couple of days doing boat maintenance. As a side comment, it has been impossible to find high spec motor oil - like API CH-4 or CI-4 or ACEA E4 or E5 specs. I once saw Shell Rotella at a bunker ship and have kicked myself for not buying it. Also motor oil is very expensive compared to the US, 4 to 6 Euros per liter ($18 to $27 a gal) and I have done a lot of shopping in auto parts stores and discount stores. Consequently I have been using Volvo Penta 15w-40 motor oil (API CF-4 / ACEA E3 spec) in the John Deere since it is the highest spec oil I can find consistently. At St Jean de Losne we parted company with our friends, they were heading off northeast on the Canal du Rhone au Rhine toward Strasbourg and Germany while we had to back track down the Saone to pick up the Canal du Centre to head west toward the Seine and Paris. Over the weekend before our Monday morning departure, the Saone came up about a foot or so. It was running faster than when we arrived the week before but it didn't look too bad. Lynn and I planned to stop for the night before entering the canal so we could take down & store the upper helm canvas & bimini (to get our air draft under 3.5 meters) and have a leisurely afternoon. The previous summer it had taken a little over 5 hrs to go from St Jean to Chalon-sur-Saone. Starting out from St Jean the river was up about 0.3 meter (a foot or so) and moving nicely. The GPS was showing 7 to 8 knots so the current was between 1 to 2 knots - not bad. Then we got to the first lock, a 3+ meter down lock. Everything is fine, got the green light to enter with no waiting, tied up, the gate shuts behind us and down we go. Only we don't go down 3 meters instead we drop a little over a meter and the down stream gate starts opening. Lynn looks at me and says "I thought this was a deeper lock?" - so did I and I double check the chart, yep, suppose to be 3+ meters. Oh my, as the gate opens we can see that below the lock & dam the river is up 2+ meters and moving much faster. Now we are doing 9 to 10+ knots so the current is running 3 to 4. We get through the next lock without difficulties but the same 1+ meter drop instead of the expected 3+ meters. Now we are discussing our options, no we don't want to spend the night on the Saone with it running this fast besides what if it rises more and they close it to navigation? At this speed we make it to the canal entrance in a little over 3 hours - go down stream to turn around and approach the canal cut facing upstream, ferry-gliding across the current then gunning it & making a quick turn into the canal. Big relief!! Next set of problems, we are now at the first lock with our canvas still up and there is a stair case of 12 up locks before we can get to a place to stop for the night. We tie up just below the lock gates and begin a mad dash to take down all the canvas & bimini - we set a new personal best record of 15 minutes and put on quite a show for the lock keeper! (We probably looked more like the Keystone Cops instead of an Indy Pit Crew). We make it through the 12 up locks but it was a difficult afternoon with the wind kicking up make it hard entering the narrow 5.2 meter wide locks. Plus many of the "blue cords" that you pull to activate the automated locks, were difficult to operate. Finally sometime after 6 PM, we cleared the last lock and tied up at the first spot we come to. But we were both happy to be off the river. Enough for now, I'll continue this later. Bob & Lynn Williamson MV Legrace Aquanaut Drifter 1250 AK Sneek, NL