Rangali Adventures: Dole to Ranchot/Ranchot to PK57 Osselle

Tuesday 24^th June

Dole to Ranchot

6 locks 21km

4 hours

On Tuesday we were woken early by a barge leaving the port at 7am, in the direction we would be heading. We thought maybe the other barges that moored at Dole yesterday would also be moving off soon. We know that moorings are scarce on the canal du Rhône au Rhin, so we got up and left by 7.45am. We needn’t have worried, as we didn’t see another barge all day, even when we were moored up at Ranchot.

We had a lovely trip to Ranchot, alternating between canal sections and river sections. There was a barge already moored at Ranchot, a couple from New Zealand, Craig and Michelle onboard Avonteur (Apologies Craig and Michelle if I have got the name wrong of your barge). They were busy doing tarting up jobs on an already very smart barge.

There is a good boulangerie at Ranchot, and although we didn’t eat there, there was also a nice looking restaurant, plus a bar/pizzeria at the campsite. We had electric and water, 8 euros for our size boat, it’s a very nice mooring.

Leaving Dole early morning. The automatic locks open at 7am, we got it at 7.45am

Just after the lock leaving Dole there are beautiful Plane trees

Our mooring at Ranchot

Very clear water with some very big fish

Wednesday 25^th June

Ranchot to PK56.5 (stonewall of a weir)

5 locks, 17km

3 ½ hours

We were going to make it a long day today and go straight to Besançon, but we instead decided to head for a rural mooring recommended in our guide, a weir wall, only 17km from Ranchot.

Yesterday Kev had chatted to Craig and Craig had tales of people not following the recommended channel on the river sections of this canal and damaging their props on rocks, so today, Kev was even more vigilant in keeping to the advised distance from shore. The guidebooks give the distance from shore guidelines. We didn’t see any signs actually by the side of the river until we got to this mooring where it does have a physical sign, so a good canal guidebook is essential.

The river is beautiful but you have to concentrate, and the canal sections can be quite narrow in sections. The water is exceptionally clear in the canal and you can see fish and the shallows on either side of the canal. We didn’t see any other boat on the canal until after we had moored up at 12 noon.

Today we’ve observed far more cyclists than boats, I would estimate we’ve seen over 100 cyclists today going along the canal cycle way, it’s obviously a very popular route. It’s mostly men dressed up in Tour de France gear, but we did see one man dressed in skimpy swimming trunks, and nothing else, and when we looked back at him as he went past us, he had his trunks pulled down to show most of his buttocks! He’s either an exhibitionist or he didn’t want to get any white bits, or both!

The mooring by the weir is lovely, we do have a railway line opposite but its not intrusive, and we quite like trains.