From Schwebsingen to Metz

On 08.05.2023, after refueling, we left the port towards Metz at 11:00 am. It was only a few kilometers to the first lock. It was the first French lock. My perfect radio message was answered by the lock operator in perfect French, with the result that I was as clueless as before.

The cargo ship, which we had already seen when leaving Schwebsingen, arrived at the lock shortly after our arrival. The lock's traffic light turned green, the cargo ship entered, and we followed.

With respectful distance, we now followed our lead wolf "Pieter" and were able to enter each lock directly.

I then instructed my first officer, Heike, in the secrets of radio communication. Since she is fluent in French, she was promoted to radio officer and could take over communication with the locks from then on.

Did we actually plan an overnight stay halfway? With the cargo ship leading the way, we decided to drive the whole way to Metz and spend the next two days there. We arrived in Metz at 6:00 pm, Roman Catholic docking worked on the first try, no wonder we are the only ship in the harbor.

Then we were greeted by the harbor master, who initially spoke strictly in French, but once the ice was broken, we found out that she spoke better German than we spoke French. Again, 5 stars, very nice harbor, great scenery, in the middle of the city, about 1000 m to the center. The harbor is located on an extension of the Moselle, is equipped with sanitary facilities, there is a small bistro, below the city is a park, and although the highway running on the horizon can be heard, it didn't bother me.

The next day, a charter boat with Swabian crew on the Sauerkraut route arrived. Now we fill the long pier in twos and extend our stay by one more day.

We used the rainy day to plan our further route more precisely. There is always and everywhere information, which is difficult to evaluate. In the meantime, we have received two different status reports on the Canal des Vosges. One says that the canal is closed from Épinal until 15.05, and the other says that the canal is open, but the water depth is reduced in a small section. Both reports were from last Friday.

Now, we are trying to clarify what applies by contacting the VNF. We sent the two reports to the VNF by email, asking for clarification.

A useful address for this is:

https://www.vnf.fr/vnf/services/situation-du-reseau/

Here you can download the reports on the waterways as pdf, which are updated every Friday.

Today we are spending the afternoon in Metz and will continue our journey tomorrow.

The next destination is Épinal on Top of the Mountains. However, we will need a few days for this route. The distance is about 155 km and there are 57 locks, most of which are located in the last 60 km, namely a whole 46 locks.