Sur-le-Daubs to Montbeliard – 23km – 2 swing bridges – 11 locks                              

Six French men and four large buckets of canal water did the trick at 3.4m

At 3.3 one petit French lady delivered – then two swing bridges to finish

Sunday jobs had include a full clean of all the water strainers, topped up the engine and gen set oils and filled the water tanks, the boat was ready for a Monday morning run from the canal side mooring of Sur-le-Doubs in an upstream push on the canalised river of the Rhone-de-Rhin, river Doubs, the river stretches had been hard to judge for current and depth but today was man made canal all the way. Bang in the middle and onward. Four locks in we were parallel with the railway line, driver of a silver and blue railway train waved and hooted.

The boat sits 3.46m above the water, the canal is registered for 3.5m clearance and to our horror at ‘les Champs Gremelus’ we turn the corner for a bridge marker at 3.4m. Ouch, we already had most everything of the roof of the radar arm and split fenders over the top wings. Time to take more down, we removed the centre spacing plate for the radar and took the base brackets of the aerial. Need just a little more. Cyclist use the towpath, so we got half a dozen of them on the back and filled four large buckets of canal water to be sure. Eased in steady as you like, the fenders squashed down and we eased under with nothing to spare. Nothing to spare at all, that’s six French men and four buckets for a job well done.

Mug of tea for the stress of impossible bridge heights and moved up one more lock to St Maurice. Blimey, a bridge sat directly before the lock with a slopping angle low to starboard, a foot higher to the port, right side. Remember, this canal is registered for 3.5m clearance. Breath in and take a deep breath because the bridge is marked 3.3m. We eased up close to touching and for the first time ever caught the soft canopies above the front screen. Wow this may be the end of the line. A small holding pontoon sat almost in wait at the bridge, we tied on.

A cycle shop supporting the tow path cyclists was over the bridge and the helped with a call to the VNF river keepers, please come and help. We took down the canopy, clearly we were going to push contact here so we even unscrewed the canopy popper studs to be sure we could screw them back in. Eased back up, the port left side was fine with 5cm to clear, the right starboard was the other way with 5cm over. First to catch was not the wing but the spacer of the TV dome base plate. Let’s take that off then. Four bolts but a gallon of silicon sealer, we sawed at the silicon with a serrated carving knife like you do. Got a long screwdriver under it and with a giant gloop it let go. That’s 2cm more then. It was going to take more than half a dozen French men this time.

A single petit French lady arrived, Ann-Sophie from the VNF, ‘I get you four cm in ten minutes, be ready.’ She drove toward our previous lock, we set the clock. For every cm we removed the scuffing fender in fear it may fowl and tear back. Eased up from the holding pontoon thirty feet and sat the radar arm roof wing against the concrete. Twelve minutes later the curve of the wing sat two cm higher than the concrete. The MAN throttled, the wing sat under the concrete, the boat stationary. Wedged in very nicely. There was about twelve feet of bridge, nothing left but to let the MAN V8 push water, we had the bow thruster full on and the boat askew to the lock wall to win every cm toward the higher side, the engine growling, the fiberglass arm wing routered its way down the concrete in one long rasp of aching reluctance. The cycle shop team cheered, one petit French lady had beaten the impassable lock with the help of the MAN engine. There was staggeringly little damage, we could not have done a more uniform job with the sandpaper and a board, the Thames boys will need a bit of time on polishing that one out!

Shaken, not stirred, but sweaty as the sun beat down without the canopy covers. It was a hot one. The next fun was a bridge at one meter, hold your horses, no it’s a swing bridge, and like buses and the previous two low bridges they came in three’s. This was not Tower bridge but a whole pile of fun. Both were road bridges, bells rang, the VNF team were on hand, the cars stopped, the traffic jam built up and we hooted our horns as the cars returned a crescendo of musical hoots and pips. We closed Montbeliard town, home of the Peugeot factory, a mini marina, electricity and pontoons, we have become very adapt at getting twenty meters of boat diamond tied to eight meters of pontoon, but we can’t kid you, it’s the still calm as a mill pond that makes it possible. Time for walk on the towns cobbled streets, get a phot of the World, enjoy the round towers of the chateau and find the post office to send our postcards.

A long day with a very meagre 23km covered, 11locks and 2 swing bridges but let’s not forget, first a 3.4 m bridge with half a dozen French men and four buckets and then a staggeringly impassable 3.3m bridge for a 4.46m high boat

Montbeliard on the Canal-du-Rhone au Rhin for the night. 47:30.28N 06:47.63E