22 МАЯ 2009, ПЯТНИЦА

We woke up at 6 in the morning, because we wanted to walk as much as possible during the day. The Australians told us yesterday that they would sleep until 8 o'clock. But they did not succeed. Last night, one barge, having passed the lock, stopped for the night next to us. In the morning, she began to warm up her engines and clouds of smelly smoke from the exhaust pipe threw the Australians right into the cockpit. Not surprisingly, they woke up and jumped onto the deck to escape this gas attack.

Finally, the barge left, and we began to wait for the lock to be opened for us. But the steamboats went only up the river, and there was no one in the direction we needed. I called the gateway on the radio, on channel 22. They answered me something in French, I realized that, like, in 5 minutes the gateway would be opened. But 15 minutes passed - no movement. Then the Australian also spoke to the lock on the radio and told me that a steamer would be coming soon, and we would go in with it. Indeed, soon a steamer appeared, going down the river. We rejoiced and started the engines. The steamer entered the lock, and we happily movedafter him. But suddenly two red lights came on at the traffic light. This meant that we were strictly forbidden to enter. The airlock gate began to close, and we returned to the parking lot. Fake start. We began to wait again.

The sky in the morning promised good weather. There were almost no clouds, the wind was weak and blew in the same direction. Navtex received a bunch of messages overnight from Algeria, Croatia, the Netherlands and even from Norway. I have reprogrammed the Navtex to not receive messages from distant stations. Actually, I needed only the station in Toulon (under the index W). There were several messages from her, including a meteorological forecast for the day. The forecast promised tailwinds, from 2 to 4 points on the Beaufort scale. The forecast came true - the day was hot and windless.oh navtex receives messages, in general, well. Only messages from distant stations are full of asterisks, indicating errors that occurred during transmission. Nearby stations are received almost without errors. So the fact that my Navtex caught badly in Dover, apparently, is explained simply by the peculiarities of the local topography. Now everything is fine.

Only after 3 hours of waiting, at 9 o'clock, we were sent off. Moreover, they launched only one into the gateway, without a large steamer. The lock was called Sablons, its height is 14 meters.

Leaving the lock, we soon passed the village of Andante. Yesterday I wanted to walk to it in order to park, but changed my mind, because, having examined the map, I decided that parking there would be uncomfortable. Now, having seen this parking lot, I am convinced that I was right. There was just a pontoon on the left bank of the river, not protected by anything. The waves that were on the river yesterday would have battered our boat all night. We did the right thing by stopping in front of the airlock, in a shelter.

The Australians went ahead after the lock. But we caught up with them at the second lock, which was 20 kilometers away. They stood there, moored to the pontoon, waiting for the lock to open. Half an hour later we were let into the airlock. The gateway was called Gervans, height - 11 meters.

The sun was getting hotter and hotter. We dressed in bathing suits for the first time this summer. I drove in the same swimming trunks. It was really hot. The teak planks of the deck burned my feet. At lunchtime, our Australians, who were ahead of us, decided to stop. They turned right and stood in the parking lot, waving to us with a pen. We envied them: they do not need to hurry, they can travel slowly. And we went further.

By 2 o'clock in the afternoon they passed the third lock, Bourg-les-Valence, 11 meters. When we approached the airlock, we saw that red and green lights were lit on it. But we decided that this was not for us, and habitually moored to the pontoon, in the mood for a long wait. To stretch our legs, we went for a walk on the shore, and saw in the water, near the shore, three giant fish - half a meter long, fat. We stared at these fish and did not notice that a green signal was lit on the gateway. And then from the speaker, standing on a pontoon, next to our sailboat, a voice said something to us in French. We realized that weare invited to enter the gateway. The gateway was opened specially for us and we were sent out alone.

After the gateway passed the city of Valence. This city did not impress us. Other cities that we met on the Rhone delighted with their color, but this one was somehow faceless, monotonous.

Then we passed 2 more locks - Beauchastel and Logis-Neuf. An incident happened in the last lock: we were already sent off, the gates had been opened for a long time, but for some reason a red light was burning at the traffic light. We waited five minutes for the green light to be lit, but we never did. They decided that something must have broken there, and cautiously went forward. The locksmith saw us, but made no signs to us. So we went out under the red light of the traffic light. And when they left the lock, they saw a barge, which also went into the lock, without waiting for the green signal - red and green lights were on at the traffic light. We see, something is really wrong with the lights on this gateway.

The last gateway on our today's journey was called Chateaneuf. After him was the city of Viviers, where we were going to spend the night. The locks are open until 9 pm, and we did not know if we would have time to pass this lock, but we were not worried. If we do not have time, we will spend the night in front of the lock, at the pontoon for sailboats. To us, in general, this option even seemed preferable. For some reason cities stopped attracting us, especially after Lyon. Cities are people, and people are vanity and unnecessary trouble.

We reached the last lock at 20-15. And immediately, red and green lights were lit on it for us at a traffic light. This meant that the lock began to fill with water and soon the gates would open. We moved slowly towards the lock, mostly using the current, sometimes turning on the engine to keep control. After about 15 minutes, the gates of the airlock opened, and we went into the airlock. The locking went fine, as usual. The gateway was huge. Its height was 18 meters. It's funny that its walls at the top were painted with pink paint. We called this gateway "glamorous". Gatewayed us aboutthem, there was no one else. Such a huge colossus was set in motion only for our sake - it was impressive.

By the time we left the airlock, the sun had already set. The city of Viviers was 2 kilometers away. We quickly came to a fork where the canal, which had a lock, entered the mainstream of the river, and there we turned right to climb a little upstream. There was the city of Viviers. We saw the piers, near which there were several boats. The book said that this harbor is prone to silting, so the depths can be small. Therefore, we carefully approached the berths, fearing to run aground, but the fears were in vain - the depth was 2.5 meters.

The moorings turned out to be uncomfortable, high. Their upper edge was at the level of our handrails. The fenders had nothing to lean on, so we stretched the boat on the ropes, running four ropes in different directions so that the boat hung in them, like in a web. There was electricity and garbage cans. In general, a fairly civilized parking lot. But there is no toilet or water.

Coordinates: N 44-29.128' E 004-41.647' Traveled: 57.1 miles (our absolute record! we never did more in a day), and 6 locks.

23 МАЯ 2009, СУББОТА

Since we got up early yesterday and made a big transition, we wanted to sleep off. But at fifteen minutes to nine there was a knock on the side of the boat. The hub master came and charged us 13€ for our stay. We then read his work schedule on the doors of the captainry: from 8-30 to 10 and from 17-30 to 20-30. That is, a person comes twice a day to collect money. For the same parking lot in the north of France (electricity, water, trash can, toilet and shower - no) we were charged 3 €. And here - 13€. Yes, the farther south, the more expensive. The prospect is bleak.

After breakfast, we got down to business. I needed to withdraw money from the card and buy fuel. The first problem was solved with the help of a friendly Frenchman who, having learned that we were Russians, took me by car to the ATM and brought me back. At the same time, he chatted about something with me in French all the way, not embarrassed by the fact that I did not understand a word. The southern French are different from the northern ones. Here they are much more temperamental and resemble Italians. I didn't manage to buy fuel. I packed my bike and rode into the city. I drove for half an hour, on the hills, but refueling, designationI did not find the city, which was on the plan, hanging in the harbor. Tired, sweaty and decided that God was with her, with dressing. I still have fuel, I will buy it elsewhere.

While I was driving, my Sweetheart filled the tank with water. There are some strange taps in this marina, you need a special key to turn them off. We did not have such a key, and the captainry, where one could take it, was closed. We were rescued by the same friendly Frenchman from a nearby boat. And another Frenchman, having learned that we were Russians, turned to us with a greeting: “Comrade!” and was very happy when we understood him.

At 11 o'clock we finally started. We hoped to walk 100 kilometers in a day and reach the city of Arles, but we walked much less - due to the fact that we had to stand at the locks for a long time. The weather was good. The sky was covered with a thin layer of clouds, and the sun shone through them - strongly, but not hot. At first, a headwind was blowing, and we feared that it would again disperse an unpleasant wave, but nothing happened.

At 2 pm we passed the first lock - Bollene. This is the highest lock on the Rhone River - 22 meters. We were locked in it alone. Every time I look at these huge doors and high walls, I am amazed at the power of man. What amazing things he can do! For example, such huge locks and tunnels in the mountains through which the river flows.

At the second lock - Caderousse - we lost an hour. I called the gateway on the radio, on channel 20 (the gateways call on channel 20 or 22), and asked how long we should wait. We were told: 20 minutes, but in reality we had to wait longer.

By 7 pm we reached the third lock - Avignon. When approaching, a red light was on at the traffic light. We circled in front of the lock, but the fire continued to burn red and we moored to the marina. They began to wait. During this time, my Sweetheart fried potatoes, and we had dinner. A large steamer came out of the lock and left, and the red and green lights on the lock lit up, and the gate remained wide open. We waited for 15 minutes, but the green light did not light up.

Then I called the gateway on the radio, on channel 22. The locksmith immediately announced to us that he did not speak English. Somehow we started talking, but there was no point - he did not understand what we wanted. I got angry and decided to take the boat out for him to see, because, apparently, our dock was not visible to the locksmith from his tower and he could not understand who he was talking to. As soon as we moved away from the pier, some kind of speech in French was heard from the lock's speaker. At first I thought that we were forbidden to leave the pier, but then the voice began to speak in English, and I realized thatthis is what the machine says. In several languages - French, English, German and Italian - he announced that we could enter the gateway. And the fire on the airlock lit up green.

Fine. We went to the gateway, and the voice in the speakers did not stop. Now he warned us that we must be careful, that we must check if there are any obstacles to the movement of floating eyes and the like. The first time we came across such a talkative gateway. And when the gateway ended, the gateway wished us a good journey in different languages. In addition to this, the locksmith, having collected the crumbs of knowledge in the field of English, shouted to us through a megaphone: “Bue-bye!”

We left the lock and decided not to go further, but to stop for the night at the lock, on the pier for sailboats. It was already half past nine, and the sun was setting at 21-08. So we didn’t have time to reach Avignon, which was another 10 km away, before dark. And we didn’t want to go to spend the night in the marina, because we had water, food, too, and electricity, due to the warm season, we, in general, no longer needed. So paying money for parking in the marina was pointless. True, it is forbidden to spend the night on these berths, at the locks, but it is also forbidden to walk along the river at night.forbidden. So we hoped that the locksmith would not tell us anything bad.

And so it happened. We moored to the pier, and after a while the locksmith shouted to us through a megaphone: “Good night!” and waved his hand.

Coordinates: N 43-58,539' E 004-48,940' Traveled 34.7 miles and 3 locks.

There are 88 kilometers left to the sea!

24 МАЯ 2009, ВОСКРЕСЕНЬЕ

Hurrah, comrades! Today we had a task to reach the sea - and we completed this task.

We woke up at 6 am, had breakfast, started the engine and went. The first watch was mine (we drive for 2 hours), so I stood at the helm, and Darling lay down to sleep. She gets very tired during the day, and if we get up early, she does not have time to rest. I have long been drawn into such a mode in which we are going, but it is more difficult for Mila. But after an hour, having slept, she woke up a different person. She replaced me at the wheel, and I went to the cabin to work out our further route, by sea. I plot it in C-Map Planner (bought honestly for £100) and swear all the time. UncomfortableI am the program! Last year I used the Garmin BlueChart program, so the interface is thought out much more humanly. But there is nothing to do, I have to work with St. Mar, because I have St. Mar's electronic cards. Imagine, on these maps, coastal land and deep sea are indicated by the same color - white! What idiot came up with this?! The islands are often just invisible, because their color merges with the color of the sea. You lay a route, then you start to look carefully, and you notice that you drove right along the island. Yes ... No, the worlde perfection. Garmin maps are bad because they are not detailed enough, and S-Mar is bad because of their idiotic coloring.

Passed by the city of Avignon. Actually, we did not see the city itself, it was in another branch of the river, behind the island. To reach it, one had to climb from the end of the island upstream for 2 km. If we had more time, we would definitely have turned there to see this famous city. But we must hurry. At 10 o'clock we passed the last lock on the Rhone River - Beaucaire.

Next was the city of Arles. A pretty town, like most towns here in the south of France. Here I had to make a decision: either stop for the night, or go to the end of the river, to the port of Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone (Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone). From Arles to Port-Saint-Louis - 50 kilometers, and on this stretch of the road there are no places where you can stop (the book claimed this, and we later convinced ourselves of this - indeed, nowhere). Port-Saint-Louis has a lock that connects the river Rhone and the Canal Saint-Louis, through which you can go to sea. Below Port-Saint-Louis, the river is not navigable, so exitat sea through the mouth of the Rhone - impossible. And this gateway works only on weekdays, according to the schedule. And today was Sunday, that is, it was impossible to pass the gateway. So, it was necessary to stand somewhere in front of him. But is there a place where you can get up for the night? A careful study of Rod Haykel's sailing gave information that, it seems, there are such places, as many as three: the fishing harbor of the city of Port-Saint-Louis (but it is small, even for us, so it was not known whether we could squeeze in there), the old sailboat shipyard (we never found it), and, finally, usually in front of the lock everythingYes, there is a place where you can stand, waiting for the airlock to open (there we got up, in the end). If the city of Arles were closer to the mouth of the Rhone, then we would stop there, but 50 kilometers is too much. We would have had to cover this distance the next day, and, in fact, the day would have been lost, since we would hardly have had time to do anything else that day. Therefore, after weighing everything, I decided to go to the end. As a last resort, I decided, let's anchor somewhere.

We were halfway through the rest of the way when the weather began to deteriorate. It had been a hot, sunny day before, with a cloudless sky. Everything remained the same - a cloudless sky and a shining sun, but a headwind began to blow from the south, which grew stronger and stronger. Since the wind was blowing against the current, and the current in the Rhone is strong, waves soon began to appear. The entire surface of the river was covered with white lambs. The waves were not high, but steep and angry. The boat crashed into them, sending up a cloud of spray that doused the helmsman. It was my turn to keep watch, I ohcases of a waterproof coat on a naked body, and sat at the helm. Darling has gone downstairs to read a book and pretend that nothing is happening. And I was driving the boat and looking around intently, trying to find a place to return to if there was no place in front of the lock where I could stand.

After an hour of such a jump on the waves, we finally reached the city of Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone. Soon we saw the fishing harbor. The entrance to it is located on the left bank and is poorly visible. We decided we'd try to get in here if we couldn't find a place to stand in front of the airlock. Then we noticed more mooring walls, near which there were large ships. There was a place where we could have stood up, but it would have been bad to stand against this wall - we would have been pounded against it. Finally, we reached the lock and were relieved to see several sailboats standing against the wall next to it. I turned the boatand then I had to solve a difficult problem: there were two pillars driven into the river bottom, painted like this: the bottom is black, the top is yellow. If these are cardinal buoys, then you need to bypass them from the south. But what else is south if I'm going north??? I had to bypass them either from the east or the west. I decided to bypass from the east (that is, to the right of the buoys). But when approaching, the depth began to fall rapidly, and I realized that I was mistaken. I managed to turn left and passed to the left of the buoys. There the depth was normal. There was no information about these pillars either on the map or on the sailing directions.

Closer to the lock, the excitement became not so strong, but still the boat rocked decently. I aimed at an empty place near the wall, when suddenly an old man appeared and, waving his arms, began to show me to another place. Apparently, where I was going, it was too shallow for my boat. He was probably right, because there were only boats in that place. I obeyed the old man and turned around. Having made a circle, I went to the second call. This time, another young guy appeared next to the old man. I took the boat to another place, but they again began to wave their hands and point to another place.then. I again turned the boat and, turning around, went on the third run. This time no one waved their hands, they were ready to take the mooring lines from my Mila.

It was the most difficult mooring that I had to do. The wave, and the current, and the wind, and the distance between the two boats, where I had to stand, was not much more than the length of my boat. I brought the boat with its nose to the pier, but Darling did not have time to throw the end - he got confused. The boat began to drift, I turned the wheel and saw that we could moor to the boat in front. Which we did, and then dragged the boat under the wall. It was shallow there - the boat touched the ground with its keel when it fell through on the wave. But the pilot said that there was soft ground, silt,so it wasn't dangerous. It's good that I have a draft of only 1.3 meters. There would be more - I don't know if I could have stuck somewhere. They did it poorly here - there is no equipped pier in front of the lock, where one could wait for the lock to open, and the place is open, poorly protected from the waves. But, thank God, we still reached Port-Saint-Louis and stood in front of the gateway. Now we had to wait for the morning to go through the lock and go to the marina to set up the mast there.

It was only 3 pm when we moored in front of the lock. I must say that it is convenient: to get up early. You manage to do a lot in a day, and when you come, you still have a decent piece of daylight in stock. And you get tired, in general, less than when you wake up late.

We decided to go to the city. We needed to buy food and fuel, but today was Sunday, so we did not hope to find a working store. And so it happened. We found a gas station and a supermarket, but they were closed. Behind the lock is a large pool in which the marina is located. We went there to check prices. For our boat - 13€ per day. But they do not put up masts, so the next day we went not to this marina, but to the Navy Service, which is located further down the canal.

Back on the boat, we had dinner.

Then I got into engine maintenance. Changed the oil in the engine and gearbox. Nice diesel! He's done a good job this month. Total number of engine hours spent on the transition in France: 279.

So, we have reached the Mediterranean Sea.

We started moving through the canals on April 23, finished on May 24, that is, we were on the road for 34 days, and only 3 days stood still.

Traveled: 782 miles, 308 locks, 5 tunnels.

Costs: food - 430€, fuel (and other fuels and lubricants) - 270€, parking in marinas - 65€, permission to pass through the canals of France - 63€, unmast - 35€.

Now we have the sea part of our journey.