Dry Dock Days

We spent 8 days in the dry dock at Atelier Fluvial.  Our survey was excellent – she still maintains her strong, thick 105 year old steel hull.  We had a new bow thruster installed, a new grease pump for the shaft, and two fresh coats of bottom paint, so she’s good to go for another 5 years.  Life in a shipyard up on blocks is interesting, to say the least.  

At 7 a.m. we were awakened to the dulsid tones of welding, sand blasting, and all sorts of shipyard sounds.  Over the weekend, we were able to get a third coat of blacking from the red down to over the waterline, so after all of the painting we did last fall, we are done – at least on the exterior.  We’ll spend some time this summer freshening up the interior paint, but that’s easy.

We were surprised while in the dry dock by friends Bob and Lynn on Tracker – we met them in 2010 when we were heading in to the same dry dock for the survey when we purchased the boat.  Déjà vu!  

Floating again, street being moved so we can back out

All 23 meters almost out

They were on hand to fend us off as we backed out of the dry dock, through the lock out onto the Saone River, and Lynn took some great pictures. 

We also got to spend some great time hanging around the shipyard with David and Evelyn on L’Escapade, which happens to be our sister ship – both of our ships were converted in the same shipyard in Holland, right next to each other.  L’Escapade entered the dry dock for her appointment a few days after we left.

I have to admit I had a teary-eyed moment as I looked up from the floor of the dry dock at Alouette’s “ample bottom.”  

I thanked her for keeping us safe all these years, and wondered if I will see her from the bottom up again.  Five years until the next haul out, who knows what life will bring.

Entering the Saone River

Roanne to Fragnes

We slipped our lines on a beautiful sunny April day this year, this time with crew on board, heading  for our 5 year dry dock haul out in St. Jean de Losne.  During our March trip to Budapest, I started to have a little pain in my left knee – perhaps it was walking 12 miles per day on cobblestones – and after seeing the doctor in Roanne, and being advised to stay off my feet for 2 weeks, we realized we needed some help moving the boat.  Good friends Simon and Mae of Joie de Vivre came to the rescue and offered to crew for us for as long as we needed to get the boat up the Canal Roanne a Digoin, across the Canal du Centre, and up the River Saone to the Atelier Fluvial dry dock.  So off we went. Driving the barge into the first lock is always a bit nerve-wracking for me, but Randy maneuvered the boat in perfectly, Simon and Mae handled the lines perfectly, and I was reminded for the first of many times to sit down and get off my knee.

This was the earliest we’ve left port, and we were rewarded by beautiful rural scenery – flowering trees and shrubs, wisteria, huge fields of yellow rapeseed (canola oil), newborn Charolaise calves and baby lambs.  

The days flew by, we were able to spend time in some of our favorite stops along the canals, and before we knew it, we were in Fragnes.  Along the way, Mae and I managed to get in a little therapeutic shoe shopping at my favorite store in Paray Le Monial – the window decorations at this store are always creative and a delight to see, not to mention the shoes!

Mae's, no heels for me right now!

We all cooked and enjoyed some great meals along the way. 

Cuisse de Canard with Lentils

Simon introduced us to the magic of Epoisses burgers.

When it was time for Simon and Mae to go home, we were  really sad to see them leave.  Actually, we delivered them to Scott and Katinka on Eendracht, who paid us a handsome ransom.  Seriously, come back soon Simon and Mae!!

So much for resolutions

Where do I start?  Just blurt it out; after 43 straight years of coming home to a sweet pet companion or companions, we came home to an empty boat on Friday, April 4, 2014.

What can I say about Dimitri and Anya - litter-mates born in Austin, Texas on October 31, 1996. Reunited April 4, 2014.  As 16 week old kittens, they flew with me from the home of their wonderful breeder, we called her Mama Geri, from Austin, to Houston, to Denver.  An hour's drive from the airport, up Mt. Vernon Canyon, to our home in Genessee.  They had many happy years as indoor cats up in the mountains, except for Dimitri's 9 day walk-about (we refused to give up hope that he would return even though we were surrounded by mountain lions, fox, eagles, hawks, all sorts of dangers). Memories of our trips to our adobe home in Santa Fe New Mexico, especially Christmas 2001 - my favorite picture taken from outside our casita with Dimitri sitting in front of the kiva fireplace, looking up at the Christmas Tree, Anya using her fleece saucer as a sled sliding along the heated brick floors.  From there, to the highrise in downtown Denver (where the cats watched the peregrine falcons from our 23rd floor windows), down to Tucson, where bobcats were frequent visitors to our back yard pool and fountain.  And then the first overseas flight to Geneva.  Both were little angels in their Sleepypod carriers, specially designed to fit under the seat so they could go with us in the cabin.  They were better than I was - I was a wreck worrying about them!  After our first cruising season on Alouette, we returned home to the states for the winter, mainly to get our long term visas.

We've had a lot of time to reflect on this wonderful lifestyle, we wouldn't have missed doing this for anything; but as we've told so many friends in the past few weeks, life doesn't change, we still have the responsibilities, the ups and downs, the frustrations, the many moments of great joy...its just we're over here in France on a boat.  And life goes on.  My sister passed away last year, and as we prepared for Christmas our favorite Aunt Lil passed away suddenly - she had knitted hats for her great grandkids, her Christmas shopping done. My sister-in-law, Julie, who has been a mother to me all of my life, is in the later stages of Alzheimers.  I could dwell on the downside, but choose to see the beauty in how this is playing out - my niece Kathy and I have become closer as we are in touch almost daily about Julie's condition and treatment, but more about how to support each other during this time.  She is the little sister I never had, and I am so grateful for her.

The past six months, we've been nursing our ailing companion, Dimitri.  Both cats were diagnosed with renal problems 2 years ago, not uncommon for older cats.  We nursed Anya along during our cruising season in 2012 - we sadly said goodby to her in August of 2012.  Dimitri, fortunately, was in fairly good health until this past fall (2013).  We struggled with whether or not we should travel with him, but he was in pretty good shape when we flew back to the US in November of 2013.  He was in good shape through Christmas, but then started the downward spiral.  He was well enough to return with us to France in early February, but after a few rallies, he simply stopped eating, and it was time to say goodbye.

I look back at all of the posts I could have/should have done, and there are so many.  But when we bring a pet into our lives, we enter into an agreement, a compact, to do the best by them.  And that is what we have been doing for two years now.  We still have had amazingly wonderful experiences traveling the canals here in France.  Each day is the experience of a lifetime.  But it has been difficult for me to sit down and write about it as we watched our sweet buddies deteriorate.

So here we are, Easter 2014.  We look forward to the visit of our good friends Doug and Julie Joseph, sailing and diving buddies, in May of this year.  We hope to cruise up to Paris and the Champagne region this summer, but also, we know we must take advantage of the opportunity to do some things we haven't been able to do.  In June, we will travel to the American Military Cemetery outside of Cambridge, England, to place a wreath on the grave of my half-brother, Joey, an army medic, who died on June 29, 1944, from wounds suffered as a result of the Normandy invasion.  This fall, we hope to welcome our Todos Santos friends, Doug and Lisa, for an autumn cruise, and afterwards we plan to travel to the Slovak Republic to see my ancestral villages.  But someday soon, we hope to again sit in front of a blazing fire with a cat or two on our laps, listening to their purrs.

A special thanks to our good friends Woody and Marion, who have been with us through so much, and sent this photo of the nautical cats taken in May of 2011:

A Resolution

We are back in Tucson for a few months and I am resolved to do some blog posts over the holidays with pictures from our cruising season in 2013.  In the meantime, here's a pretty one from the town of Gray in France.  This was an entrance to the old chateau high atop a hill overlooking the Petite Saone River.

Happy Holidays everyone! 

Harvesting Lavender

Today I spent the day harvesting the lavender I grow on Alouette while Randy picked wild mirabelles (plums)....internet connection is not good here but life is great in rural France...Happy nearly the end of August to all from our wild mooring in the tiny village of Charentenay, along the Petite Saone river!

We cannot direct the wind, but we can always adjust our sails.

After a very cold and wet spring, we finally shoved off on a foggy morning.  We had a great winter in port, with French lessons with Frank Postma, followed by our Thursday night happy hour get together at L'Authentique.

Franklin, the last day of class, with our thank you gifts

 I started a Stitch n Bitch group in the port; we met on our boat every Wednesday to have some fun with crafts, and very little bitchin, followed by coffee.  As a group, we made a basket of baby goodies for the owners of L'Authentique - their baby Louise arrived in March, before we all shoved off.  We also have a group on the Ravelry website, Nautical Knitters, where you can see what we've been doing as a group.

Our plans were to cruise up the Roanne a Digoin canal, hang a right onto the Canal du Centre for a visit to one of our favorite towns, Paray-le-Monial, then turn around, head back out onto the Lateral a la Loire, into Decize where we would cross the Loire River and onto the Canal du Nivernais. We continued to have very heavy rainfall all across France, interrupted only occasionally by a sunny day - we began to think it might be necessary to sacrifice a goat or something to the great yellow ball in the sky when it occasionally appeared.  As we crossed the viaduct over the Loire River in Digoin, the Loire was in flood, as was La Bourbince, one of its tributaries, which flows through the town of Paray-le-Monial.  We started to have some bad feelings about the rising waters and the state of the canal and river networks in France, and sure enough, most of the rivers and some of the canals were closing temporarily due to floods.  When that happens, everyone usually stays put, so mooring spots are at a premium.  I needed to be in a place where I could catch a train to Paris, as I was scheduled to return to the U.S. for my niece Kaitlin's wedding on June 8th.  Then a serious breach occurred on the Canal du Centre, halting all traffic across that section of the canal until it was repaired.  The locks at Decize were closed and we would not be able to cross the Loire onto the Nivernais and get to a place where I could easily catch a train to Paris, so we stayed put in Paray until the breach was fixed, and continued on the Canal du Centre to Genelard, where I could easily catch the TGV high speed train to Paris for my trip home to the U.S.

I ended up buying another ticket home to the U.S. to see my sister, who had been recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.   So I flew into Chicago a week earlier than planned, and hopped a flight to Fort Myers Beach, Florida, to spend some time with my sister.  We had several really great days together, but  then on June 4th, my sister passed away in her sleep.  It was a shock, as she had been given a prognosis of 8 months, but in retrospect, I am grateful she did not have to suffer longer.  Her last few days were pain-free and filled with happy occasions, including a ceremony by the Nightingale Society, which honors nurses for their years of service.  In attendance were my sister's two children, Melodie and Mark, and their spouses Tony and Sondra, her grandson Cody, our sister-in-law, Sandy, and Marge's partner of 15 years, Allen.  Also attending were several of Marge's close friends, including Mary Maci, who had become Marge and Allen's "Meals-on-Wheels," bringing home cooked meals, and so much comfort, to both of them.  

I flew back to Chicago to end my trip on a joyous note, the wedding of my grand-niece, Kaitlin, and Drew Koessler.  The days before were packed with lots of happy events, culminating in one of the most fun weddings I've ever attended.  And the days before gave me time with my niece Kathy, mother of the bride, her husband Tim and their sons Taylor and Corey, my nephew Dan, who flew in from Florida, and my sister-in-law Julie, grandmother of the bride. I had a fun time getting to know a few of Drew's relatives.  We - Kathy, Kaitlin, the bridesmaids, Drew's mom Jane, and her twin sister - had some good girly-girl time getting pedicures, manicures, make-up and hairdos together. 

The morning I was scheduled to return to France, my flight was cancelled when the air traffic controllers in France went on strike.  I was able to get on a flight the next day to Brussels, and then catch a train from Brussels to Paris, and on to Le Creusot, to get home to France, just before the trainworkers went out on strike!  Summer is the season for one or two day strikes here in France, and I managed to dodge both of them!

The weather had finally improved while I was gone, and we spent another week in Genelard, doing a little painting, and visiting with friends passing thru the port.  I plan to do another post on how small a world it is later, but we once again adjusted our plans, this time to cross the Canal du Centre, get onto the Saone River, heading north, and take either the from Champagne to Bourgogne and up into the Champagne region, over to catch the Nivernais and back down to the Lateral  a la Loire, or up the Saone, catch the route to Strasbourg, and back down the Rhone a Rhin, the River Doubs.  We then learned of a bridge repair on the Nivernais that would last until November and boats over 4 meters wide would not be allowed through.  We are 4.4 meters, so that put a stop on that route.  Then on July 4th, the huge incline lift on the route we would take to Strasbourg failed, crunching up a tour boat, thankfully no one was injured, but repairs will take several months.  So once again, we had to adjust our sails.

So we are now on the Petite Saone River and what a wonderful spot to be.  The weather has turned very hot, but the River is wide, always breezy, and we can jump in for a swim to cool off.  So, the universe provides!  Why didn't we think of doing this during the hottest months of the year?  Who knows, we're just happy to have been pushed by circumstances in this direction right now!  More on this lovely area next!

Mantoche

Sunset in Gray

Let the Cruising Season Begin!

I still haven't gotten around to finishing posts from the 2012 season, and here we are shoving off today.  We had our last minute repairs and maintenance to do, and were ready to go around the 15th of April, when it turned cold and rainy, and continued until yesterday afternoon.  We're getting underway this morning, taking advantage of a break in the weather, but we expect thunderstorms this afternoon, so we will tie off somewhere along this canal, hopefully for a quiet night in a rural setting.  This year's plans are to travel up the Canal du Nivernais, perhaps into the heart of Paris, perhaps along the Marne River into the Champagne region, back down either the Champagne a Bourgogne canal, or the Canal du Bourgogne, part of which we cruised last summer.  That will take us to the Canal du Centre in the late summer, early fall, and back down to the Canal Roanne a Digoin to the Port of Roanne, where we will leave Alouette winterized in her slip, and return to the US for a few months of winter sunshine in Tucson.  We now have smart phones, so I will be able to do some quick posts along the way, with pictures.