Through the Pouilly Tunnel

We have now completed our ascent (up 300metres to 389metres altitude, 115 locks, 156Kms) to the highest point on the Burgundy Canal, Pouilly en Auxois, where a tunnel takes the Canal beneath a mountain. Leading to the ascent the locks become much more frequent to cope with the steep ascent: on each side there are 12 locks within 5 kilometres, so on average 400 metres between locks, whereas on the rest of the canal the gap is about 1 kilometre, still rather close! Hardly anyone is moving on this part of the canal so we had the whole team of lock- keepers to help us get along quickly. Frequently one pair would stay to get us through a lock then close it after us, another would go ahead on their motor scooters to the next to get it ready for us and see us through while the other team jumped ahead. We counted ourselves very lucky especially as they were so cheerful and chatty. There are a few "vacationers" mostly uni students who come to help out during the holidays when there are more barges and the usual staff is wanting to take a holiday. Those we talked to were very experienced as they have been doing it for 3 or 4 years.

Not far before the summit we had a chance to cycle to Semur en Auxois which dates back to the 8th Century and was fortified in the Middle Ages. We enjoyed walking around the ramparts, inspecting the towers and gates and visiting the 13th Century Church. The Armancon River winds around below the town which is set on a granite outcrop, helping to keep it safe from invaders.

Notre Dame de Semur, built in 1220 on the site of XIth Century Church

The Gehenne Tower. Note the crack from the 16th Century!

View from the higher (wealthier) part of Semur overlooking the poorer partThe Semur rampartsThe Armancon River at the foot of ancient Semur

So what of the tunnel itself? David has been dreading it since before we left Australia and in fact has been in touch with the "expert" who has details dating back 20 years. As long as the canal is not above its official average depth (30cms below maximum) the roof is just high enough in the centre of the circular arch for us to fit. If the water were at the top of its possible height range, we would not fit at all. However, even with average depth, because the tunnel is curved, the edges of our rather wide roof can fit only if Anja is steered right down the centre. There would then be 15 centimetres clearance on each side and this gap has to be maintained for 3.4 kilometres to give us 5cms of clearance from the roof edges.  This may be easy if the old girl were a nimble light boat, but she weighs 36 tons and there is no power steering- it is 18 turns from lock to lock! The boat does not steer completely straight in such confined water (it moves a little like a crab with the front pointing slightly left and the rear slightly right) so needs constant correction. It takes an hour to get through the tunnel and any lapse in concentration is severely punished.

David first rode along the cutting leading to the canal with tape measure and plumb bob to check the height and water depth. He then rigged up some thick planks of timber to act as fenders, so that they would touch the wall first if he went off course and be able to correct quickly without scraping the roof. So, the task is to steer the back of the boat in the middle and not deviate from the centre line by any more than +-16cms!  One also has to hope that none of the rocks in the tunnel sticks out at all- a little unlikely in a structure designed an built at the end of the 1700s. In  total we touched three times. Despite our best calculations and plans we scraped the back corners of the roof on each side, not badly- really just paint, but in theory we should have avoided any damage. The slight problem was that the planks are behind the widest part of the roof so it only works if the bow is right in the middle. Now David has cut back and rounded the edges of the roof so that the back corners are not as vulnerable.

The heavy planks firmly in place
By now you might be wondering why we did it, for the second time, after also damaging the roof in 2010 when we went through in our first season. Maybe it is because it is a challenge we have not yet conquered? Also, this is a beautiful canal and we really hoped we could get through unscathed this time. Ah well, it really went quite well. Indeed, for the last 2,000metres we were perfectly in the middle.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave