We got up fairly late, had breakfast, and cranked up the engine around noon. We left our mooring place, went to the nearby lock écluse n° 16 de Gray, and continued north. We passed the place of our demise, where 4 years earlier the engine had failed on us and we were left floating in the middle of the river.
The lock écluse n° 15 de Rigny initially refused to work and to become ready to receive us. I moored and I went up by foot to the lock. Not much I could do there. Lifting the lever to initiate the locking procedure was met by no reaction. I looked around and wondered what could prevent the lock from starting. In the process, I found 2 radar proximity sensors at either side of the lock. These are probably for safety and prevent the gates from closing if there is a boat in between. Soon a technician, who had been dispatched by the control center, arrived and reset the lock.
Écluse n° 13 de Savoyeux also represented a challenge for us as we were in the front of the lock and attached the mooring lines at the middle of the boat. The boat rocked violently in the water rushing into the chamber and we had to pull really hard on the ropes to keep it steady. Felix scraped his palms by the rope gliding through his hands.
The next lock to give us some headache was the lock écluse de guarde n° 12 in Ferrières-lès-Ray. Guard locks are normally open and used to regulate the water level. They will be closed for instance, if there is too much water and flooding is immanent. In summer however, there tends to be to little water and consequently, on the way down we had found all gates open. We were a little bit surprised to find the gates closed, but anyhow…
First the lock would not open, apparently resetting thereby “forgetting” our request to lock. Once we were finally in the lock, the process stopped with the doors only half shut. I called the control center via the intercom, and the guy on the other hand seemed not to be too sure how to proceed. After a while the doors intermittently started to move again until they were fully closed. From there on, everything worked normally.
Shortly after 7 PM, we arrived in Ray-sur-Saône, a little village dominated by a castle and with the usual church in the center. The bell tower is roofed with colored glazed tiles (des tuiles vernissées colorées) typical for the region. Setting my foot ashore and exploring the village, I quickly found the lavoir (wash house) – a feature that most village in France seem to share. This particular one had an oval basin and was exceptionally beautiful.
