Thursday 27 June

I didn't post yesterday mainly because I didn't know what to say.  Things were still very much up in the air.

Wednesday started well.  We went to the harbour office and spoke to the lady there who said that the canal was closed today, but would definitely be opened tomorrow.  This was just the news we wanted to hear.  The not so good news was that we couldn't get very far today, but it would be a help in trying to go to Toulouse tomorrow.  So we phoned the Marina in Toulouse town centre and they also heard that the canal would open, so they took a booking from us for Thursday and Friday nights.  At the same time we made reservations for dinner at a Michelin 2 rosette restaurant for Friday night.

After a quick shop to top up the fridge, we set off.  We got to the next lock quite quickly and went through without any problems.  We then had part of the long 18km stretch without any locks that we hoped to do the other day.  We then got to the town of Grissoles.  This was where we had been advised to stop on the basis that the next lock was closed and there are no good stopping places before then.  Really there is nothing here in Grissoles.  The mooring station is just a short wall with a few bollards.  Nothing else.  There is what they call a commercial port, but it looks awful with high walls and no other amenities.  So we moor up to the mooring station. We decide just to have lunch first and then phone VNF to see what they say about exactly where the canal is closed and when it will open.  Their news is not good.  They say the canal closed very close to here and may not open until Friday!  Despair sets in.  Had we known this was going to be the case we might not have left Montech.  But then it is nice to have a change of scene.  Montech was convenient, but hardly a place one would choose to spend 5 days!

We take a walk in to the town.  There is not much of it.  A market square and a couple of streets with basic shops.  There is a funny little museum in an old house with a very eclectic collection which we to go to.  Very cute and free!  But there is not much else to do so it is back to the boat.  When we get there we find that a French couple we had seen in Montech have moored in front of us.  They are also on a sailing boat with their mast on board and obviously doing exactly what we are.  Then a cute little narrow boat moors up.  It turns out to be a couple from the north of England who keep their boat here.  They too have heard that the canal may not open until Friday.  We also find that the marina in Toulouse have been ringing us about our booking, because they too have heard that the canal may not open until Friday.

So we are in the middle of nowhere with no place to go.  We cheer ourselves up with the last of the Pineau and then drink one of our bottles of claret- the Margaux, and very nice it was!

This morning we tried to ring VNF at about 8:30am.  If the canal is open we need to start off in good time.  But of course they do not open until 9, and even then we can't get through.  I guess everyone is trying to find our what is happening.  At 9:30 we finally get through and---THE CANAL IS OPEN!  So we dash off.  We have to go about 20km and do 12 locks before 7:00pm when everything closes.  We have also been warned that if you can't get to the marina in Toulouse, you shouldn't stop on the canal in the city because there are shanty towns on the edge of the canal with suspect people and it isn't safe.  We note the French couple managed to get away just before us!

Well, to make a long story short, we made it!  Despite 4 out of the 12 locks we went through not working properly and our having to call out the VNF to sort them out, we are now in Toulouse and we have left the Canal de la Garonne and are now in the Canal du Midi proper.  We have found the three Canal du Midi locks we have been through today much less turbulent than the Garonne ones.  So we have now travelled 194km and done 56 locks.  We have about two more weeks to go another 240km and do 60 more locks!  Let's hope there are no more hold ups and that they continue to be less turbulent.  Also, we will reach the summit fairly soon and everyone says it is much easier going downhill.

We had a quick walk into the city this evening.  It is a really nice place with lots of old buildings including ancient town houses (Hotels), cathedrals and a spectacular town hall called the Capitole.  We shall have a proper look tomorrow.

Tonight we shall sleep the sleep of the just!

Tuesday 25 June

I have not written anything for a few days because there is nothing to say.  We are still stuck in Montech because the canal is still closed.  When we went away to Montauban we hoped they would open the canal on Monday.  However after our massages on Sunday and lunch in a sweet little restaurant, we returned to hear the news that it would probably not open again on Monday.  Later in the day people in other boats started talking about Wednesday and one person said next Sunday!  Had we known we would be stuck here this long we might have taken the boat to Montauban, but then it is a lot more locks.

So on Monday we decided to make the most of it and get domestic things done.  We found a launderette and washed everything we could find that needed washing on the boat.  I even got the iron out and used my ironing board for the first time!  Then we found a large Intermarche and did a big shop.  We even managed a bit of walk on the canal.

Today the weather was much improved.  The trip to the capitainerie did not result in good news.  VNF say they have been working day and night trying to clear the fallen trees from the canal, but now don't think they can open it until Thursday or Friday.  We could get 14 km further on, to a place called Grissoles, but it only has a canal bank with rings and no facilities.  That would be fine for one night, but I don't want to take the chance of being stuck there until Sunday!  So we will wait to see if tomorrow brings any more definite news.

We walked around the canal today and saw the big sight which is the  water slide called the Pente d'eau de Montech.  It was used to push larger boats up to the town without using the locks.  It was supposed to save 45 mins on the trip to Montech.  It is no longer in use.  According to the harbourmaster in Moissac it never worked properly and was condemned a couple of years ago.  Anyway, it is an interesting piece of industrial archeology.

We thought we might be able to go to the cinema tonight because there was a flyer showing a local cinema playing the Great Gatsby in English.  However it turns out the cinema is 14km away!  We also tried to find out if there was a bus to Toulouse.  But there is none.  The only way out of here is by car and there are no car hire firms in the town.  So, still stuck as I have said.

This evening we decided to use the time to try the local wines.  We drank our less expensive bottle of Fronton.  It was quite quaffable.  We also tried a sweet Gaillac, a local wine we tasted at dinner in Montauban, to go with the last of our foie gras.  Also very interesting.

Having been here for 5 days now we were running short of water.  There is a water tap on the next berth, but our hose can't reach it.  We looked in Intermarche for another hose, but they only had very large unwieldy ones.  In the end we borrowed the capitainerie's hose and managed to fill up.  So we showered on the boat and did a bit of cleaning.  Great excitement!  Someday we will get to Toulouse!

Saturday 22 June

Despite being able to lie in for a change, we wake early.  We have a nice breakfast and then pack to go away for the day.  The weather seems improved.  It is much brighter and the sun even comes out at one stage, but it still isn't very warm.  The sun here is very hot when it comes out.  But when the sun is not out, the air temperature isn't much above 19C or so.

We order a taxi to take us to Montauban and for a change it works and they turn up.  The hotel is in a converted Capucine convent.  The rooms appear to be created out of two or three cells.  It is all around a courtyard, which was obviously some sort of cloister.  The decor isn't very imaginative.  Very plain and modern.  But it is all very comfortable and there is a bath.  I don't usually have baths, but after 5 weeks of public showers a nice bath sounds like heaven.

First stop is to the spa where we book massages for tomorrow morning.  Then we take a walk in to the town.  It is a very lovely ancient town.  We have arrived at lunch time so the Tourist Office and most of the shops are shut.  We therefore just have a little wander around and find a cafe with outside chairs to have a bit of lunch.  I have a huge salad gesiers.  Too much to eat as we will have a big dinner tonight.  In our wanderings we find a hardware store.  It is closed until 2:00pm so we continue to wander. We find the main central square which is lovely and probably where we should have had lunch.  Anyway, we get Richard a coffee ice-cream.

Then we make our way back to the hardware store.  Richard wants to find a mallet to use to bash our new spikes in.  We find that, but while wandering around we find something better to use for spikes.  I have no idea what their real use is but they are metal spikes about 18 inches long with pointy ends, which will make them much easier to get into the ground.  Now we just have to carry this lot around all day!

When we get to the tourist office it is open.  It is in a wonderful old building.  They give us a brochure in English to take a walking tour of the city.  We have already done some, but we do most of the rest.  We stop in the Ingres Museum and see the works by Ingres.  Not his most famous works, but nice to see.  The weather is now very pleasant.  It is on and off sunny and not too hot, which is a delight.  By the time we do the bridges, Neuf and Vielle we are tired and make our way back to the hotel.

Now we hit the spa.  Quite a change from this morning when no one was here.  Now it is heaving.  There isn't even room in the men's changing room for Richard to put his clothes.  So we spend nearly an hour there, in and out of the Jacuzzi, the steam room and the sauna, finally even sitting out by the swimming pool sun bathing!

Now back to the room to get ready for dinner.  I have bought one of those fizzing bath bombs in town and run a bath to use it.  It is a bit of fun, but I don't think they are worth what they cost.  Anyway it makes the bath water a beautiful blue colour.  I even blow dry my hair.  First time I've done that for ages.

So we have dinner in the gourmet restaurant.  It is OK, but I think a bit of a disappointment.  The food is fairly straightforward and the portions are minute.  The foie gras was only a finger sized piece less than 2 inches long!  The other problem is that we have ordered the wine flight to go with the meal.  As small as the portions of food are, this is not mirrored in the size of the wine portions.  We thought we would get 3 medium glasses of wine plus a small glass of desert wine.  Instead, we get four large glasses of wine plus desert wine!  As we have had an aperitif I am pretty squiffy by time the meal is over.

So roll into bed.  Nice to be in a large proper bed for a change.

Friday 21 June

The summer solstice is today and it is the longest day in the year.  So here quite far south one might expect a lovely long sunny day.  Well, that is not exactly what we got.  The day started with a hint of brightness, but that very soon went away.  When we left Castelsarrasin it was just dull, but by the time we got to the first lock (only 500m away) the rain was threatening.  So on again with all the waterproof gear.  The locks here are quite close together.  The plan is to go as far towards Toulouse as we can.  There is a long 18km stretch without locks and we would like to finish that.  We will just find any place to moor the boat even if it is just one of the waiting pontoons for a lock.  Then we hope to get to Toulouse tomorrow.

We are told that the good marina in the centre of Toulouse needs to be booked in advance.  Richard didn't get around to phoning them before we left our berth, so I ask him to do so while we are under way.  That is when we get our first shock.  The lady Capitaine says that she is full because the canal is closed between us and Toulouse.  She suggest we speak to one of the local capitaineries to find out what is happening.  Richard tries to ring Montech, the next proper port, but can get no reply.  All that happens is the line goes dead.  We had heard a rumour about this yesterday.  We were speaking to a Brit who had emigrated to South Africa on the boat next door and he said that he heard that a bit of canal just before Toulouse had been closed.  We spoke to the Capitanerie at Castelsarrasin about it and after going on the computer they said there was no warning about such a problem, so we assumed that whatever had happened had been fixed. We were wrong and the office at Castelsarrasin obviously did not make proper enquiry.  I am not happy about pressing on only to find that we might have to go back to where we started.  It is bad enough doing all these locks without having to repeat any three times!

We get to the next lock and find the VNF man who helped us through the last lock yesterday.  He is very nice.  He confirms that there is a problem.  The canal is fine until Montech, but after that it has been closed because there was a mini tornado and the way is blocked by fallen trees!  He cannot say when it will be cleared.  He says we will need to ask at Montech.  So that is plan A ruined.  We shall just have to go to Montech and stay there.

We press on.  The weather is getting worse and worse.  The rain is persistent and steady.  We are OK in our waterproofs, but this was not what we expected.  There are 8 locks between Castelsarrasin and Montech.  The last five are in a chain with each one 500m from the last.  I am dreading this.  Five locks to jump on and off and tie up all in a row are going to be hard work.  As we get in the last lock before the chain there is a notice on the machine that works the lock to say you must ring up to go through the next 5 locks.  Richard understands that I need a piece of paper to write down the number so we can ring them but he can't go below to get them because he is fully occupied keeping the boat from smashing against the lock wall.  (The way it works is like this.  We are going upstream.  When the lock gates open we take the boat into the lock.  The crew then goes up a ladder to tie the boat up and to press a button to set the lock sequence in motion.  The gate behind us closes and the sluices in the gate in front of us open, letting in a surge of water.  At this stage the water in the lock is fairly shallow so the surge produces a wave that comes down the lock.  When it hits the gate behind us it bounces back.  Each time it passes the boat is flung back or forwards with considerable force.  For the first couple of minutes, until the water gets to about half way up the lock, the skipper needs to keep the boat off the walls of the lock - sometimes quite an effort.)  Finally I take over holding one of the mooring lines, he gets paper and pencil and I get the number and jump on board.  I don't know what you are supposed to do if you have no mobile phone!

So Richard rings the number and they tell him it is fine for us to go through the locks.  It turns out that these locks are not automated and we have a lock keeper at each one.  Also the locks are set up in such a way that all we need to do to safely secure is to get a single line from the centre cleat on to a long pole in the lock.  Easy peasy.  So with someone else working the lock mechanism, and only having to fix one line we get through the locks in record time with minimal stress or effort.  Were it that all of them were like that.  The only bad thing is that the last lock keeper says that the canal past here will not be open before Monday!

So we get to Montech.  As we expected it is rather full.  I guess there are a lot of others in the same position as us.  Also, most of the berths are stern to without anything to hold the stern off the stone wall.  Richard won't moor in one of them.  We are about to go back to a bit of municipal wall, which we saw on the way in.  It doesn't seem to have any amenities, but there are bollards to tie to.  However as we are about to turn around, a boat next to us shouts asking if we are English and saying they are just about to leave (going the opposite way from us) and we can have their space.  It is an odd berth.  It is a wooden jetty about 6 foot wide.  There are bollards on the land at the back (a long way away).  It isn't ideal for our shape boat, but at least it is somewhere to stop.  There does not seem to be any electricity, though apparently there is water, because the boat leaving is just doing usp his hose.  We have arrived just after 12:30, and the office is closed until 4:30!  So we just decide to take the space.  At least we have somewhere to stop.  It takes us quite a long time to work out how to tie up to this arrangement, but we are now safely in.

However, I am not happy.  I guess we will be able to use the port showers and toilets, but the thought of being here 3 days with no electricity and in bad weather is not what I want to do.  I suggest to Richard that when the office (which is also the tourist office) opens we enquire about hiring a car and go away.  However, he has a better idea.  His nose is in the Michelin guide and he has found a top rate hotel and spa with a one rosette restaurant in the next town.  Before I know it he has booked us a room, for tomorrow night and got us a reservation in the restaurant.  They are also going to try to organise getting us appointments for massages!  So that will take up most of the weekend and hopefully we can move on Monday.

We hang around the boat until the office opens.  The weather is getting worse and worse and the rain is getting harder.  When we get to the office we find that we are in one of the port's official berths and there is electricity.  We have paid 21 Euro to stay for three nights with power.  I guess we can't complain about that.

Despite the rain we decide to have a little wander in to the town.  On the way we find a workshop that claims it does metalwork.  We stop to ask if they have anything we can use for mooring stakes.  They find a long heavy metal pole.  They saw it in half for us and give it to us for free!  The only problem will be that the poles don't have pointy ends to push into the earth.  However, for the moment everything is so wet I would guess they could be pushed in using a hammer. We will try them out and see what happens.  We also find a nice little cave and buy two bottles of the local wine.  It is called Fronton.  It is an appellation, though we have never heard of it.  We buy two bottles, one in the top range - 11 Euros and the other average, 6 Euros!  It is supposed to go well with Cassoulet, the local dish.  We have a tin of that to eat, so maybe after our gourmet weekend out!

On 21 June it is tradition in France for there to be a music festival.  We see they are doing one here tonight.  We get the details, but the weather is so awful, we don't have the energy to go out.  Maybe next year on the coast!

Thursday 20 June

We don't move too early today.  We are not going far.  We will go the Castelsarrasin which is only 4 miles away, but does involve 7 locks.  My new French mobile has more or less run out of credit.  Richard tries to top it up (Recharge in French) on the internet, but has no luck working out what to do.  We have finally worked out what is going on with the holding tank.  It is full, the lights have just stopped working.  So before we go we have to use the pump out here.  There is a large barge parked in front of it, so we can't use it until they move and they aren't going until 10:30am.  As we have found that we have an extra half an hour we go in to town and manage to top my phone up via the ATM at LCL.

The pump out is complicated and we need the capitain.  With his help we do empty the tank.  He confirms that most people don't have a tank at all, so I don't know why we are using it.  I think I will just forget about it.

The weather is still rotten.  There are bright bits, but the clouds are dark and threatening.  I start out without my full waterproofs, but by the second lock it looks like heavy rain, so I put the full kit on.  As it turns out it doesn't actually rain.  However every time the sun comes out and I take off my jacket, the clouds come over and I have to put it on again!

The locks come fast and furiously.  They are in groups which means only 5 or 10 minutes between them.  The most infuriating part is that the ladder keeps moving from one side to the other.  I have spent the whole morning madly moving fenders and lines to be on the correct side to get off.  They also keep moving where the ladders are and they seem to be in the most inconvenient places.  In one lock I just can't get off, but luckily an English walker is watching and helps us with the lines and pushes the button, so I didn't have to get off at all.  By the seventh and last lock I have had enough.  So I am very pleased to see an VNF man on the wall ready to take our lines.  He starts to chat to me.  He says the weather is terrible all over.  There has been bad flooding and dozens of houses in the Basque country have been destroyed.  He doesn't seem optimistic about the future weather either.  Ugh...

We arrive at the port in Castelsarrasin.  It is quite attractive and there are pontoon berths.  So we berth up without much trouble.  I couldn't jump off the boat, but instead managed to lasso a cleat!  I am getting more adaptable.  We have arrived just as the capitainerie has opened.  The mooring fee with two showers is 12 Euro.  Not bad.  They also have washing machines and a dryer.  I am getting desperate about laundry so we will do that later.

We walk in to town.  I am fed up with cooking.  We haven't been out to eat for over a week.  I deserve a break.  There is no Michelin recommended restaurant, but the Capitainerie (which is also the tourist office makes a recommendation.  We walk in to town to suss out the restaurant.  It looks OK, so we book for 8:00pm.

We then start the laundry.  Well, that is a saga.  The problem is that all they have are domestic machines and they are just not big enough or fast enough for me.  I overfill both machines but still can't do all the towels;  I have left a hugh bag of clothes in the boat and heaven knows when they will get done. One problem is that I have to finish everything before the office closes as 7:30.  By 6:15 is is obvious that I will not get the second load of washing dried.  So I ask Richard to take it to a commercial laundrette (which we would have used had we known it existed before we started here).  The problem is that he has locked the boat and I haven't brought a key!  So I am locked out for nearly an hour.  But in the end we have washed our underwear and all the dirty linen, so that is another problem off my mind.

With very little time to spare we dress to go out to eat.  I even put on a dress and makeup and feel halfway human for a change.  The meal is fine.  Not sophisticated, but very tasty.  So back to the boat.  We have a long way to go tomorrow.  We are determined to make it to Toulouse by Saturday!

Wednesday 19 June

As asked by our neighbouring boat we set off at about 8:30 am.  It has finally stopped raining, but it is very grey and threatening, so we put on our full waterproofs to be prepared, unlike yesterday.  It is not too warm so we are quite comfortable although all kitted out.

We don't get very far because the first lock is only 15 mins away and they don't start to operate until 9:00am.  So we wait 15 mins on the waiting pontoon and the light goes on and we are off.  We are not going far in distance but we do have to 5 locks.  They are pretty close together.  All goes quite well during the morning.  There is no rain and we cope well with the locks until we get to the last one just before Moissac, where we are headed.  I note that there are no lights on the lock and there is another boat moored to the waiting pontoon.  This must mean the lock is not working.  I am right in my fears.  When we approach the other boat they tell us that there is a power cut in the area and the lock has no electricity, so it cannot work.  A little later a VFN man comes along and confirms that is the problem.  He tells us it will take between 1 and 1 /2 hours before we can get through.

There is nothing we can do.  So we tie up to the banks of the canal.  That was a bit interesting.  In many places the banks of the canal are lined with low concrete barriers.  Some of these are in poor condition and have gaps between the tops and the sides.  We have seen people moor to these before by putting lines through the gaps and tying them.  So we try it.  I protest that there is no way I can climb off the boat and balance on a concrete slab about only 1 foot wide and tie a line.  But I do just that and we are secured to wait out the repair to the lock.  It is after noon so we just have an early lunch.

We thought that the time estimate would not be met, but bless them  VFN came down to us at 1:30 and said we could now go through the lock.  We go through with the other boat we first saw.  There are three other boats behind us.

So a bit late, but still at about 2:00pm we get into Moissac.  It is very nice.  We are directed to a good space on the quay right near the Capitainerie and the toilets.  The Capitain is English so we can communicate really well for a change.  We get in touch with the Weymers and they will come to dinner.  To make the boat presentable we spend the next hour or so washing it down and it now looks almost presentable.  We then shower and feel quite human.

We have a couple of hours before the Weymers will arrive, so we go into the town.  It is famous for its church and especially its cloister, which is what is left of a Benedictine Monastry.  So we go to see that.  The church is interesting, not least because of its age (11th to 14th century).  The cloister lives up to its reputation, though it reminds me a lot of the one in the Mont St Michel.  We then do a bit of shopping to get enough to eat over the next few days.  I am still waiting for my dinner out, but must be prepared with something to eat.

Back to the boat and prepare dinner.  The Weymers arrive a bit late, but we are now relaxed.  We are doing a BBQ.  The weather was very threatening a while ago, but the dark clouds passed and the sun came out.  But with our luck, just as we put the meat on the BBQ the rain starts.  Richard is cooking the meat under an umbrella on the foredeck.  But it all works out fine and dinner goes well.

We have bought 2 Euro worth of WIFI and are using as much as we can.  I am now listening to online Radio.  I have really missed Radio 4.

Tuesday 18 June

It rained very hard all night and in the morning it is still chucking it down.  We really can't face going on in this.  Although it is a thoroughly grey day with torrential rain, it is fairly warm and we don't want to have to wear our full waterproof gear, if it can be avoided.  The weather report is for it to turn showery this afternoon, so we will stick it out for the morning and see how things get on.

The weather does not really improve.  At about 1:30, it has stopped pouring with rain although it is still very grey and threatening looking.  But we decide to set off.  We really want to go to Moissac, which has been recommended to us by a number of people including the Gees.  But it is rather far and the weather forecast for this afternoon isn't good, so we will go instead to Valence d'Agen.  The book says it has all facilities.  The photo looks attractive and shows there are pontoon berths.  The book also makes the town sound attractive and it has a Michelin recommended restaurant.  It isn't very far, 11.4 nautical miles and there are only three locks to do.

When we set off when it is dry but grey.  Very soon it starts to rain. The rain is pretty light and we manage with an umbrella and me in my walking pacamac and Richard in his old jacket which is not entirely waterproof.  We get on OK, except that the second lock is broken.  It doesn't record that you are there when you turn the handle and despite there being no one in the lock it shows two red lights.  We tie up to the waiting pontoon and Richard walks the 200 or so yards to the lock.  It turns out there is another boat on the other side having the same problem.  There is a button to push to call for help, so they do that and an VNF man comes after about 5 minutes and puts it right.  He thinks it was an electrical problem.  So the system is not foolproof.  Anyway the VNF man stays in the lock and takes our lines so that I don't have to climb out of the boat on this one.

As we leave the lock it starts to rain again.  This time the sky is very dark and it looks like we could be in for more than the light showers we have had.  We make it through the last lock before the bad rain hits, but as we are coming in to Valance, the heavens open.  I have never seen such heavy rain, or at least not been out in it in inadequate clothing.  Richard wants me to stay below, but I can't really because we are coming up to the port and he will need me to moor up.  The rain gets even worse as we approach the port.  And, there is no real space for our boat.  We are at a loss what to do.  There appears to be no one about (or they are all below keeping dry).  We see one large barge that does have someone on it and try to signal to him to see if we can moor alongside.  He is very rude and just tells us to go look at the port for a space.  I have seen one other possibility.  There is a motor boat tied up to a wall, with room next to it to fit our boat in.  I suggest we raft out to that boat.  Luckily, there are people on board and they are Australian and help us .  By the time we have tied up the two of us are soaked to the skin literally.  We are so wet it really doesn't matter how much more rain we are in.  We can't get any wetter.  We go below and strip off in the heads.  We are laughing hysterically.  It really is crazy the state we are in.

There are supposed to be full facilities here including toilets, showers and electricity.  But as we are not in a proper mooring we can't see anything.  The boat next door kindly says we can use our splitter on his electricity supply.  Richard tries to do that, but can't work out which cable is his.  He starts to use one and gets shouted at by the rude man on the barge, which apparently he lives on and has a permanent berth here.  Now it is pouring with rain again!  This is the most miserable and unwelcoming place we have ever tried to moor in.  Not to be recommended.  As for showers and toilets we find out that they are across the canal in a caravan park and are locked!  We wind up in town at the public toilets.  I can't get out of here soon enough.  We are at least connected to electricity at last so we can charge up all our toys.

Next minor disaster, Richard phones the restaurant for a reservation and finds that they are fully booked with a private party.  So we have to eat on the boat.  We are down to tinned couscous, because when I went shopping I didn't buy anything special to cook, hoping to go out.  Well at least we do have a hot meal!

After we eat and get through a couple of rum and cokes and most of a bottle of wine, rather late in the evening I remember that I have to get food ready for tomorrow.  So I am now making potato salad and pepperanato.  The boat next door want to leave at 8:30, so we can't get to bed too late.  It is still raining!  I have a BBQ planned for tomorrow.  This could be interesting.

Monday 17 June

After a tough yesterday the original plan was to stay in Agen another night.  We need to do shopping and we understand there is a very good art gallery.  So we go off to a large Casino supermarket and get nearly everything we need.  Unfortunately I forgot to buy a number of things, but hope we can put that right later.

There is one thing that is worrying me.  A couple of days ago we found a pump out station for the holding tank.  But when we decided to try it (though the tank isn't full)  we couldn't find the key to open the pump out point. We have searched the boat high and low and it is nowhere.  We definitely had it last year in Holland and as the point is tightly shut, we must have had it after we used it.  We must have put it somewhere safe, but obviously too safe.  We shall be in real trouble if we can't find something that will do the trick.  Richard is relaxed about it sure that we will find something, but I am less sanguine.

We then go into town.  From the outskirts it doesn't look very nice, but the centre is quite nice.  The main streets are pedestrianised.  There is lovely street furniture, including benches and chairs.  And the streets are line with machines spraying out cold mist to cool you down.  It is still  quite warm, though because it is rather overcast, not as bad as yesterday.  But the cool mist is very nice.  Oddly, given the apparent need for cooling spray, some of the tree trunks and street furniture have been clothed with hand knitted covers.

So we make our way to the museum.  It is in a wonderful building.  Apparently it is a combination of four old houses.  Some of the rooms are nicer than the exhibitions.  But really for a provincial museum it is very good.  There are 5 Goyas, but other than a wonderful self-portrait they are rather poor things.
But we are very pleased with our visit, particularly as we got in free because they are not charging this month due to previous closures!

We then walk through the main shopping street.  We manage to buy better mosquito repellant.  Then we pass a hardware store and Richard gets the bright idea that they may have something that will open our pump out point.  The problem is trying to explain what we want in French!  After a few minutes of being shown things which are not suitable at all I get the bright idea of describing what we want as a large Allen Key.  The shopkeeper understands what that is and takes us to some very oversized Allen Keys which look like they may do the trick, but we are unsure which size to buy and as they are rather expensive (14 Euro each) we would rather not waste our time and money.  So instead we go back to the boat.

The plan is to fill with fuel (as they have a fuel berth here) and then to try to go on for a bit to get a head start on tomorrow.  But as we try to arrange that we ask if they have anything that would open our pump out point.  They think they might.  Their mechanic comes with a number of various key like things, but nothing fits.  In the meantime I have made a tracing of the opening.  Finally Richard takes it back to the hardware store and comes back with one of the oversized Allen keys and it fits!  So that is another problem solved.  I expect we will find the proper key any day now as we have bought something else!

Now the weather has turned rather poor.  It has completely clouded over and the wind has got up.  Looking at the sky, there is a very dark patch coming and surely it will rain.  We are not sure what to do, but having made our plans we press ahead.  We aren't going far, so we fill up with fuel and set off.  It is very slow going through the town - the last speed limit sign we saw said 3 km per hour compared with the usual 8 (about 4 knots).  We eventually give up on the lower speed limit when we are out of the centre of the city.  The weather is getting worse and worse and it is now raining lightly, but steadily.  We press on.  We will not try to go through the next lock.  We will just get to the next mooring place.

As we aren't going through a lock I reorganise the fenders and lines.  I should mention here that as we are no longer a sailing boat, we are proceeding like a canal boat.  That is to say we go along with all fenders out.  Much to Richard's disgust I refuse to keep taking them down when we get to a lock about every half an hour.  Anyway all the other boats keep their fenders out.  In fact the hire boats have fenders permanently mounted on the sides of the boats!

By the time we get to the mooring point it is pouring with rain.  We find a finger pontoon, but it is at a very awkward angle and has a distinct lack of cleats.  It is also very low.  We would have had a problem getting in ourselves, but luckily the boat next door is English and the skipper comes out and helps us.  So we get in, albeit at a very strange angle because there is no way to get lines on both sides of the bows.  The next problem is that the pontoon is very short and we have trouble finding a place to tie on the fender step to get me back on board.  The pontoon is so low even Richard needs the step!  But at last he finds a solution and I finally get back on the boat.

This might be a nice spot.  It has a shower and toilet and water.  But the weather is so bad we aren't moving out of the boat.  As I write, it has just stopped raining.  Maybe it will be better tomorrow.

Sunday 16 June

We want to try to get well on today.  We get up relatively early and start off a 9:00am.  We want to get to Agen which is 25 miles and 11 locks away.  The day starts fine but comfortably cool.  The bits of the canal we start on are shaded by trees.  We seem to be making good progress.  The only disappointment is that we find much nicer stopping places just along from where we spend the night.  Can't seem to get that right.

The first few locks go well.  We are finding that the worst  hazard is the rental boats being driven by people who really don't know what they are doing.  As the day goes on the sun comes up and it really gets hot.  We are also seeing a lot more traffic than yesterday.  All of it is going the other way.  Most of the locks we get to have a boat coming in the opposite direction.  That makes the journey all the slower.

We don't stop for lunch and just have sandwiches under way.  I am a bit fed up with the system.  Having set all our fenders and lines up to go in starboard side to, suddenly after about 10 locks in the system we find the next few locks have the automatic mechanism on the port side of the lock.  I try to get around this by walking around to port after tying us up at starboard, but that doesn't work at the next lock because there is no path from one side to the other and I have to scramble over grass banks.  So we bite the bullet and move all our gear to port side.

After doing 7 locks we have a very long stretch of canal to go along to get to Agen where we have four locks to get through before we get to the city.  By now it is very sunny and exceptionally hot.  The trees are no longer shading the canal.  I am beginning to feel faint with the heat.  I start dousing myself with cold water and eventually have to put on a tank top.  We are also going along this long bit with the bimini up.  It is fine at shading the front of the cockpit, but not the back which is the helming position.  We are both struggling.  We have probably tried to do more than we ought to have.

Finally we get to the Agen locks.  For the first time there is another boat going the same way as us!  We try to follow them into the lock, but firstly they don't move far enough forward, but worst, the lock mechanism and ladder are on the starboard side of this lock and of course we have changed all our gear around.  So we just give up and go back to go through the lock on our own.  We tie up to a single bollard on the shore and wait it out.  One thing is very odd.  There are a load of children (well young teenagers) diving into the water just in front of the locks.  When the first one went in we thought someone on the boat in front had fallen in.

It takes ages for the first boat to go through and then finally we are ready to go through the four locks.  These locks turn out to be killers.  We are already tired and hot and now find ourselves with the deepest locks to manoeuvre.  They are each 4-5 meters deep.  We struggle with the first two, but manage.  However we note that the current coming out is rather strong and by the third lock we come to grief.  Richard  can't keep the boat straight because of the current going in and just as we enter we go bang (really nasty noise against the stone stairs at the entrance to the lock.  Ugh, what have we done.  We just soldier on.  Finally we get to the last lock.  We have both just about had it now and Richard is very upset about bashing our nice newly polished and repaired hull.  When we get to the last lock there are loads of people around quite a few right up on the lock.  But do they offer to help and take lines?  Not likely, they just watch me, this little old lady struggle up a long muddy and slippery ladder to get to the top to take the lines and set them up.  We just seem to be some sort of entertainment for everyone.  It is just as well that this time we did everything perfectly.  Also I can now see what damage we did to the boat.  It isn't half as bad as we feared.  We just have a nice long wide scratch in the gelcoat. Well that can be a repair in Agde, or for the winter.

After the last lock we enter one of the most interesting things we will see on this trip.  It is the longest aqueduct for boats.  We are crossing over the Garonne River high up.  Really weird.  Now we are anxious to get to a mooring.  It is almost 7:00pm.  Those last locks took over 2 hours and we are still not in the town.  The approach to the city has a 3km speed limit, making everything take even longer.  We were thinking of staying on the municipal port, but when we see it there is no way we would stay there.  So we carry on.  We finally come to the commercial port and much to our relief there are pontoon berths.  So we will stay here.  It is next to a main road, but it is on a little inlet with boats all around and overlooked by a hill full of very impressive houses.

Because we are tired and upset, we have to make two tries at mooring.  At first Richard can't get me close enough to get off. Then the only cleats are ring things, awkward to use.  While we are fussing around one rental boat of 4-5 people are just watching us and not helping.  I can't believe what is going on.  Later I note that they are English.  Richard says it is just because all these people haven't a clue what to do anyway.  But we moor up fine in the end.  We find there is a toilet and shower so we both have a good long cool shower which makes us feel much better.  Then I do a BBQ for dinner.  At least that means cooking on the foredeck with our Cobb and not in the cabin making it hot.

It is now after 11 and we should be in bed, but we are still too hot.  What a difference a few hundred miles makes!

Saturday 15 June

We have been away for a month.  It hardly seems like it.  But here we are now in the canals and a new adventure begins.

We did two locks yesterday, but they were not typical.  They both had a lock keeper who took lines and worked the lock mechanism.  The rest of the locks are different, they are automatic and have no lock keepers.  In fact they are very clever.  As you approach each lock there it a wire with a piece of hosepipe hanging down.  As you pass in the pipe you grab and twist it and that makes an electric connection to the lock to tell it that you want to enter.  It then sends out the necessary light signals to tell you to wait or to enter the lock.  When you get in the lock one person has to get off the boat, secure the lines and then push a button to start the lock operation.  It then all happens automatically.  When the lock gate opens the person on the lock gets on the boat and you slip the lines and away you go.  It sounds hard, but in practice it turns out we can use the same technique I use to moor to a wall.  We take the boat up to the ladder in the lock.  I tie us on to the ladder and then climb up to the lock wall where I take the lines and pass them back to Richard.  I push to the button and wait for it all to happen.  So far we have been climbing up so it is a doddle to get back on the boat when it has risen to the top.

So using this technique we did 7 locks today without much problem.  It has been a learning curve, but interesting.

Going along the canal is also different.  The speed limit is a very sedate 8Km an hour (4knots).  So it is very gentle.  There are places where boats are moored where the speed limit goes even lower.  This makes progress slow.  Today we were out for  8 hours (less half an hour when we tied up and had some lunch) and we still only went 21 miles.  No wonder it takes two to three weeks to get to the Med.

The weather was really nice.  Mainly bright but cloudy.  That meant it was not too hot and we had very comfortable at temperatures of about 21C all day.  We finally wound up in a little town called
Mas D'Agenais.  We are on the town quay.  It was obviously set up to have most facilities, but seems to have been closed for years.  There is a sign on the main building referring to it being closed for the winter and due to open in April 2012!  There are machines where you can hook up to electricity and get water, but they need tokens to make them work and there is no explanation as to where you can buy a token!  So we are basically without any facilities, but we are comfortable.  The town is sweet.  It is very old.  It has ancient ramparts and an 11th Century Romanesque Church with a Rembrandt painting of the crucification.  Very lovely, but we are not sure it is very protected.  We hope to get a bit further tomorrow now we have the hang of the locks!

There are some advantages to being inland.  The landscape is very pretty with the banks lined in lovely  trees.  Also we are surrounded by bird song.  However the main disadvantage is the insects!  There are some nice ones.  We have seen lots of water boatmen and lovely dragon flies.  But the mosquitoes are driving us nuts and I am covered in bites.  We bought an anti-mosquito candle this afternoon, which has helped a bit, but I still have at least three new bites.  Well, nothing is perfect.

Dinner in the cockpit watching a lovely brood of baby ducks (16 of them) swimming around with their mother.  Hope to manage a BBQ tomorrow.

Friday 14 June

We did not get details of the tide timings for leaving Begles in Pauillac.  We got here too late to speak to the harbourmaster here.  So Richard is trying to work it out.  The problem is that each book suggests a different answer.  We were also told that because the river is in flood from the snow melting in the mountains, local knowledge of how the tide will be affected is necessary.  Richard thinks we probably should leave about 9:00am, on the basis that it is 25 miles and high water at the lock is at 2pm, and that will work out with the opening hours of the Capitainerie in Begles, 9:00am.  Anyway we have to get fuel and there is a fuel pontoon here.  The problem is that it is inside the harbour where we have been warned the currents make it very difficult to manoeuver.

So we stay in bed a bit longer than we thought and Richard goes to speak to the Harbourmaster.  It is now 9:00am and he comes back in a hurry saying we should have left at 8:00!  Well, nothing to do for it but to press on.  So we make our way to the fuel pontoon.  We are advised to go in backwards so at the face the tide.  Richard does a great job in lining up and we tie up with no problems.  Then we fill up.  Needed over 60 litres of fuel.  And off we go up the river.

The day seems nice.  It is bright and the sun shines through quite a lot of light cloud.  It is a bit cool however, and we have to go back to wearing our fleeces, at least initially.  The river here is much prettier.  It is not so wide and it is wooded down to the shore.  Hence all the driftwood we have been coping with.  We pass the famous names in wine, including Barsac.  We see a fair amount of birdlife including hawks and herons.  Then as we are going along I note what appears to be a large piece of wood in the water.  When I look closer I see that that top keeps moving back and forth.  It is not a piece of wood at all.  It is a deer swimming along.  Amazing.  I hope the poor thing made it.

The weather has brightened up.  We have decided to motor at full pelt, going 6.5 knots to make up for lost time.  But we lose the advantage of the tide fairly early on and the journey takes a bit longer than we expected.  Long before high tide the melted snow coming downstream from the Pyrenees beats the incoming tide and we eventually have 3 knots of current against us.  But by 1:30pm we have made it to the first lock in the canal system.  We actually go through two locks and then decide to stop for the night in the port at Castets.  It is a very pretty spot.  They are very friendly and the harbourmaster directs us into a space where we moor stern to in Mediterranean style for the first time.  We did have the advantage of someone on the shore taking our stern lines, but we managed very smoothly.  We guess we will learn.

We have been worried about getting the licence to use the canal which we know we have to pay for.  But that is all sorted out here.  The harbourmaster does that, and we are now legal.  We take a walk around the town.  It is very tiny with little here.  There is a small grocers, a bakery and a butcher, but that is it.  It is now mid-afternoon and it has got very hot and sunny.  We settle down in the cockpit, but I can't take sitting in the sun for too long.  So again up goes the bimini.

Life here so far is very laid back.  We think the journey will be very pretty, but the locks will be hard work.  Two today tired me and we will have to do at least 6-8 a day to make sufficient progress.  We shall see how we get on.

Thursday 13 June

It has been a long and eventful day.  We had to get up early to meet the lorry transporting our mast to Agde.  We were a bit shocked to find that after the beautiful hot and sunny day we had yesterday, it was cold and very grey and threatening.  I was determined that we got the shippers to take the boom as well as the mast.  The boom has been on the side decks since Monday.  So we had to take it off the decks and walk it up the pontoon and across the marina to where the mast is stored.  Quite a little haul, with a bit of metal that is surprisingly heavy.  We got there just in time for the arrival of the lorry.

Watching the mast and boom being loaded on to the lorry was another new and nerve racking experience.  One of the more interesting aspects of it was that the lorry driver was a woman!  She drives this huge flat bed articulated lorry.  Not only does she drive it, but she positioned the mast and boom and secured them to the lorry.  Not the usual job for a woman!  Horray for feminism.  All went well and we waved goodbye to all the gear.  They will arrive on the Med either today or early tomorrow.  It will take us at least 3 weeks to get there!

Just as the lorry leaves, the rain starts to come down and heavily!  It stays like that all morning and afternoon.  We were going to clean the boat, but in this weather it is a no, no. We have to leave at teatime today to get the tide up river.  The timings are very inconvenient.  Because we have to start late we won't get in to the next port until 8 or 9pm.  It will only get worse tomorrow, so despite the weather we really have to leave this afternoon.  Therefore after a quick stock up on food (I have no idea what sort of facilities will be available over the next couple of days) we climb into full waterproof gear and start out in the pouring rain.

We are leaving at low tide to catch the flood tide up the river.  We realise this is a bit of a challenge as we leave our berth.  There was plenty of water there, but as we approach the entrance to the port, we just about touch bottom even with the keel completely up.  But worse was to come.  We have to turn sharp left out of the entrance and Richard cuts the turn a bit wide.  Our chart showed that there should have been plenty of water, but there wasn't and we went hard aground just outside the port!  So there we had to stay for about 50 minutes until the tide started to come it and we were able to motor off.

Despite this bad start, we made good progress up the river.  At times we had almost 3 knots of tide with us and were doing 9 knots over the ground.  So despite the delayed start we were more or less on schedule to arrive in Begles.  On the way we went through the centre of Bordeaux.  We saw one yacht tied to a pontoon in the middle of the town, which looked quite fun.  None of the books say that it is possible to stay there.  We also go under our first 4 low bridges.  Quite an experience.  In fact being on the boat with no mast is a very odd experience too.  Neither of us can get used to having no boom to duck under and walking along the decks with no shrouds to hang on to is also somewhat disconcerting.

So now we are tied up in Begles.  We have another 25 miles to do to get into the canals tomorrow, but we can't leave here until we see the harbourmaster to pay and get advice on tides (there are no tide tables in the book for the area) and until we fill up with fuel.

Wednesday 12 June

Today we are on holiday.  We have been here in Pauillac for three days, but with all the work we had to do, we have not had much of chance to look around.  So up early and to Chateau Lynch Bages for our tour of their winery.  It was all very interesting.  They show you all the modern equipment first and then they still have a whole shed with equipment used in the 19th Century.  Afterwards we got to taste two of their wines.  One, the Pauillac which we drank last night, but it was 2006.  Too young so not so nice.  We also tried a St Estephe, but that was far too young and I found it rather harsh.

Back to the boat.  It is now very hot and sunny.  In fact so hot, we have had to put up the bimini just to eat lunch in the cockpit.  After lunch we decide that we really must buy some wine while we are here.  We want to find something drinkable that costs under £50 a bottle!  We try the local Co-op, but we really didn't like what they had to taste.  So we try the tourist shop just across from the marina.  She had three wines to taste, a Pauillac, a St Estephe and a Margaux.  We liked them all and they were all about 20 Euro, so we bought two of each.  That should keep us going for a while.

We were supposed to see the harbour master who was going to give us information about the next part of our trip and in particular details about how to work the tides and get to the first lock.  However we discover that he is now on holiday.  His deputy tries to give us the information, but although we manage to understand a lot of his French, not all.  So we shall see.  The tides are at inconvenient times to go up river, but we don't want to leave until we see our mast safely on its way.

I guess a description of the town is in order.  It will be very nice when they finish building their posh new waterfront walk.  However at the moment it is all just a bit of a building site.  The buildings in the town are quite attractive with many of them in very nice golden stone.  However, as I said  before, there are a lot of empty shops and it all has a bit of a run down feeling.  The marina is friendly, but dilapidated.  The biggest problem however is the tons of driftwood that comes in.  It surrounds the boats and is really dreadful.  They try to drag the bigger pieces out of the marina and dump them in the river, but it seems like a hopeless task.

So finally we get ready to go to our posh dinner.  We are eating at the Chateau Cordeillan Bages.  It is right next to Chateau Lynch Bages and is connected to it.  At least we know their wines are made and bottled at Lynch Bages.  The chef is Jean-Luc Rocha, who we understand is on French television at the moment.  So what can we say.  The meal was wonderful.  It started with a choice of three breads and 4 different spreads/butters to go on them.  We had two amuse bouches to start.  Then I had Foie Gras beautifully set off with interesting tasty bits.  Richard had a crab dish which was a combination of Alaskan King crab and torteau (Dungeness crab)  As a extra we had a little dish of octopus.  I have never had such tender octopus before.  They wouldn't tell me how they make it like that.  Then we had roast fillet of veal.  Beautifully prepared.  We had a pre-desert of cherry and cream, which was tasty.  Then our deserts.  Both were so pretty they were a shame to eat.  Finally they bring along a whole trolley of chocolate and other sweets.  We try local specialty of Caneles (little sweet cakes) and of course some chocolate.  With all this we drink their own Pauillac, 2002.  It is very nice.  A lot lighter than the the Lynch Bages, but it goes down beautifully.  The service was, of course impeccable and very friendly.  When we asked for them to get us a taxi to take us back to the Marina, they drove us themselves.  A perfect end to a perfect evening.    Tomorrow we move on.

Tuesday 11 June

It is Richard's birthday.  However it is also the day the mast will come down, so that overshadows everything else.  We wake up early to a very grey sky and rain.  Not the best of starts.  The harbourmaster has told us not to move because he is moving pontoons.  Sure enough we see him doing this.  We keep watching out.  Eventually we see the boat due to have its mast put back on before us go to the crane.  So we will be next

We are both very nervous.  We are not sure why.  The harbourmaster tells us he has been doing this for twenty years, so it should all be ok.  Everything takes longer than we think it will.  We are now instructed to loosen all the shrouds.  A job that takes a while.  Then at about 10:00am when the tide has started running and the sea level is dropping quickly, we move on the the landing where the crane is.  Now everything happens very quickly.  Before we know it they have taken off all the shrouds, and tied the mast to the crane and then up it goes!  Just like that!

The tide is going out quickly and we will be stuck on the crane landing if we do not move fast.  One of the harbourmaster's crew comes with us and we tie up to the long visitor pontoon.  And there we are.  We have no mast!

At this stage I leave Richard to sort the rest out while I dash to the fishmongers to see if I can get some lobsters for the traditional birthday dinner.  The fishmonger is open, but alas, no lobsters.  I would have needed to order them in advance.  An impossibility as we were not here when they were last open!

So I go back to the boat to see how Richard is getting on.  The mast is now on plastic supports ready for us to take off the masthead equipment including the aerial, the windex and the wind instrument.  We also have to take off the spreaders and then wrap everything together ready for shipping.  All of this takes much longer that we hoped.  So birthday lunch is a takeaway pizza from the local bakery!  Not exactly what we had in mind.

After some puzzlement over how to dismantle the last things, it is finally mostly achieved and we can start thinking about how to celebrate the birthday.  We go into town and revert to plan B.  That is to buy a nice piece of beef and eat it with one of the good local wines.  I can't find an open butcher in the town.  I found 3 that had closed down, which doesn't say much for the state of the economy here.  In the end I wind up in Intermarche again and buy a huge bit of beef there.  Heaven knows what it will be like.  I can't find anything to go with it, so that will have to wait until the rest of the shops re-open at 4:00pm.  I can't believe that the French still keep these weird working hours when the economy is in such a mess.

Richard has had to buy more packing tape and I find him still wrapping things around the mast when I finish my shopping.  Finally we are ready to leave the mast for transport.  We see the harbourmaster and pay for the work.  The work on lifting the mast, transporting it to and from the boat to storage on the roof of the toilet block, and then to the lorry plus four days berthing comes to less that £200, so that is not bad.

The weather has improved a lot and it is now fairly sunny and quite warm.  We are off to the tourist office to see if we can arrange a visit to one of the Chateaux.  We have also been given a voucher for a free bottle of local wine!  At the tourist office they cannot contact Chateau Lynch Bages, which is the local one with very fine wines.  So we walk over to the chateau and make reservations for a tour tomorrow morning at 9:30am.  We are gluttons for punishment.  While at the Chateau we find their little village and buy a half bottle of Chateau Lynch Bages, Pauillac Grand Cru Classe, 2003 for dinner.  On the way home we find a small Carrefour and buy the rest of stuff for dinner.

It is a beautiful evening.  The sun is shining and it is quite warm, but not hot.  We can eat dinner in the cockpit, which is a nice change.  Dinner turns out to be quite good, despite all the problems. We have foie gras with Champagne to start.  Then we have the roast beef with shallots, asparagus and bought Hollandaise sauce.  The beef turns out to be very nice indeed.  The wine is superb.  But then it did cost a fortune!  For desert we have Religieuses and finish up the Champagne.  We now feel very mellow.  We are much more relaxed.  We will stay here until Thursday when the shippers come to collect the mast.

Monday 10 June

We get up early to meet the harbour master at 8:00am.  He finds us.  He thinks we are fine where we are berthed, but we have to move at high water tomorrow.  He seems friendly and has a few words of English, so between us we just about work out what is going on.

There is a lot of work to do today.  First the sails come off.  Then all the lines come out of the deck fittings and get hanked together on the mast.  We are dismantling half the boat.  The kicker and track are now gone.  Finally Richard takes off the boom.  The boat is beginning to look very strange.

The harbourmaster’s mate comes along to confirm what we have to do to take the mast off tomorrow. This involves removing all the split pins from the rigging in readiness to take all the shrouds and stays off.  Richard thinks he needs to buy more tools to do this, but I remind him that he has a multitool and it does the job of a narrow pliers and small screwdriver.

The worst job is the electrics.  We have taken a load of photos so we have some idea how the wires go back.  But there is one wire with an end that will not go through the hole in the deck.  It is the radio co-axial cable.  In the end we have to cut it off.  The harbourmaster tells us that it is standard to cut the wire and solder it back when the mast goes back on.

While Richard is doing all the split pins I go out to do some shopping.  I manage to get tape to tape up the bits to the mast in a little ironmonger’s.  Quite a feat in French.  I also find a fishmonger that will be open tomorrow.  So I may be able to get Richard a lobster for his birthday after all.

By 6:00pm we are just about finished.  So we make our way to the showers and finally join the land of the living!  We have also finally arranged the transport of the mast and boom.  They can’t collect it until first thing on Thursday morning, so it looks like we will be here another day and will get our posh dinner on Wednesday night!

The harbourmaster came to see us later this afternoon.  We are not moving first thing in the morning after all.  So we are not sure when the mast will come down, but it is not a worry.  We have all day tomorrow and Wendesday!

We shall fall asleep quickly tonight I guess.

Sunday 9 June

We have a leisurely morning because we can’t leave for Pauillac until after lunch in order to catch the strong tide going up river.  After a fasting day we go beserk and buy croissants and pain au chocolat and quiches for lunch.  Naughty but nice.  Our French neighbour is also going this afternoon and we shall probably see him in Pauillac.

The weather is still iffy, but it is bright and not too cold.  We don’t stop for fuel in Royan because the book says that there is fuel in Pauillac and we will be there for a few days.  Also we find there is a two star Michelin restaurant in the town.  Regrettably it is not open on Tuesdays, when it will be Richard’s birthday.  But we book for Wednesday night because it seems unlikely we can leave before Thursday especially if we wait until our mast is loaded on the lorry to go south.

The trip to Pauillac goes well.  The weather is brightening and the current is stronger than we expected, so we get there sooner than we thought.  The only problem is the debris in the sea.  The books warned about this, but it is worse than expected.  There are large logs floating in the river and tons of small twigs and bits of tree.  As we get to the harbour the next disaster strikes.  We are trying to find a visitor spot, but they seem limited on the pontoons that the books say we should go on.  We try one space but it is hopeless.  As we try another the bow thruster gives up!  I am not sure how I got off the boat and managed to get it in the space, but I did.  Then as I struggled to tie up nice Frenchman helped and we found we were tied up.  Well, that was one problem solved, but it does not solve the problem of the bow thruster.  We can’t manoeuver the boat in tight places without it.  That means we cannot go down the canals until it is fixed!  I am very worried about this.

Richard tries to find the harbourmaster, but the office is shut.  We can’t find any of the services the book says should be here.  There is no sign of toilets or showers and there is no fuel pontoon where the book says it should be.  Fuel could turn out to be another problem.  The pontoons are old and rickety and there are literally tons of wood debris all over the place.

To make us feel better we decide a drink is in order.  We try the Pineau we bought it La Rochelle and that helps a bit.  Richard then decides we should walk in to town to try to get a glass of the good local wine.  We wander around a bit and find that nothing much is open on a Sunday night.  However we do find a nice little cave.  We go in and the lady is lovely explaining to us is slow French all about her wines.  She specializes in small vineyards that do the local fine wines, but are not internationally known and hence are much cheaper.  It seems a better idea to buy a bottle, so we buy a Pauillac from a minor chateau - La Fleur Peyrabon - and take it back to the boat.  There I make us dinner and we try the wine.  The first glass is a bit harsh, but it really needed more time to aerate. 

After we have tried to cheer ourselves up, Richard speaks to Nigel Gee and mentions the bow thruster problem.  Nigel asks if the problem is with both sides.  Richard can’t remember if he tried both directions.  So he goes up and tries again.  At first nothing works and then all of a sudden the thruster works on both sides!  We both feel so much better!  Also the wine has softened and we are both now very relaxed.  Tomorrow the sails come off.

Saturday 8 June

Richard is spending the morning reading the instruction brochures for the mast and boom, working out how to dismantle them.  I have to press him into action to get to the market to provision.  There is only a tiny supermarket here, so making the market is important if we are to have food on board to go - WHERE?

We are fasting today, so that makes shopping hard.  We make it to the market and buy just about all we need just in time.  In fact, we buy our local oysters for dinner as the stallholder comes with his van to breakdown the stall!

We have had no evidence of the high predicted winds, but the weather is rotten as expected.  It has been raining most of the night and the day is punctuated by very heavy showers.  But there is one ray of light.  Richard has had a reply to his e-mail to Nigel who has reassured him about what has to be done to take down the mast and he has now decided that we are going to go through the canals.  So at least we know what we are doing.  The plan it to go to Pauillac tomorrow.  The harbour master there will help us with the mast provisionally to take it down on Tuesday.  The shipper will give us a quote on Monday with a view to collecting the mast on Wednesday.  So that is the plan.

In the afternoon, when the rain abates a little we take a further walk in to town.  After going to three chandlers we finally find the proper pilot book for the canals we are going on.  We may have lift-off.  

Friday 7 June

We leave La Rochelle at 6:30am!  It starts out as a beautiful morning.  The sun is coming up in a clear sky and the light on the towers as we leave is lovely.  After breakfast I put my head down for a little over and hour.  By the time I get back in the cockpit the sky has clouded over and it is not nearly such a nice day.  Furthermore the coastguard are broadcasting force 7 winds gusting higher for 5pm today!  Richard is determined we should make it to Royan, which is 50 miles away, before the bad weather comes in.  So although we have the sails up we are motoring pretty hard to keep up 6 knots.

The weather has deteriorated and when Richard goes below to have a rest, it even starts to rain a little.  But the showers pass and the day settles in to slightly cloudy and virtually no wind and a glassy sea.  It seems impossible that really bad weather is coming.  But we did leave La Rochelle because rain was forecast for Saturday, so perhaps that is not such a surprise.

So we carry on.  At one stage Richard decides to go off course across what is supposed to be a very shallow bit to save a couple of miles.  That was a mistake.  The conditions seemed perfect, but the sea has a terrible swell and we are coasting down 2 metre waves in only 4 metres of water!  Later Richard finds that our more up to date pilot book says never take this short cut!  But we survive unharmed and arrive at the marina just after lunchtime.  The weather is now warm and sunny and we have a nice alongside berth.  Just after we come in a French boat that we passed on the way also comes in.  I’m sure we saw him in La Rochelle.  He asks if we are going on through the canals, and to my shock Richard says yes!

So now I am all confused about what we are doing.  After months of saying he did not want to take the mast down, Richard is changing his mind.  The real point is that if we go around the outside we will not make it to the Med this year.  It is a very long way and we have spent more time than planned getting this far.

So Richard spends the afternoon asking people who can dismantle the mast and ship it.  He speaks to a shipper.  The Frenchman on the boat in front of us is carrying his own mast.  He has done the canal 4 times before!  We are working ourselves up into a frenzy about how to do this.  Richard finally e-mails Nigel Gee for some more advice.  

After a dinner of fish curry we both fall into bed, but find it difficult to sleep because we are still worried about how to deal with the mast.

Thursday 6 June

It is summer!  The sun is shinning brightly and the temperature is predicted to be 28C!  So it is on with the shorts and sleeveless t-shirts.  We are still not sure when we will leave.  My research into Royan does not show that there are any launderettes near the harbour, so we decide to do laundry.  

Doing laundry while on the boat is always a bit of a challenge.  Today it was strange in many ways.  Firstly the launderette was incredibly busy and we had to wait for a machine to come available.  Secondly and most weirdly, we met a New Zealand couple there.  They are travelling around France mainly by public transport and what was weird is that they met Sue and Nigel Gee on the train last week!  I can’t believe what a small world this is!  I’m beginning to feel something odd is going on.  Finally the experience was odd because we had two down and outs in the launderette, one of whom was carrying all his worldly goods in a wheelie bin and washing them!

It is well past lunchtime when we finally finish the washing (and drying which took the longest and we still had to hang the towels out to dry).  After a light lunch with leftovers, we go off to explore the towers.  Only two are open, but they are very interesting, and cooler than outside.

Back to the boat.  We stock up on stuff for lunch tomorrow because in the light of the weather forecast which is for rain on Saturday we have decided to go to Royan tomorrow.  At the boat it is very hot so we finally put up our new bimini for real.  It is very effective until the sun goes down low enough to go under it.  

Then for our real treat.  Dinner at Restaurant Christopher Coutanceau.  It is a beautiful place right on the beach with all the tables facing the sea.  The food is wonderful.  We have the degustation menu with langoustines cooked three ways, their signature lobster dish, mains (lamb for me, turbot for R) and desert.  I thought the deserts were a bit of a disappointment, but the rest was divine.  There were four amuse bouches, if you count the chocolate petit fours with coffee!

So now back at the boat sated and hot.  Hope we can sleep.  We have an early start in the morning with a 50-mile trip to complete!

Tuesday 6 June

It has been days since I updated this log.  No real reason.  Just lazy.  We left Ile De Groix on the 30^th to go to Port Haliguen on the Quiberon peninsular.  As far as I can remember the weather started to cheer up and we had an easy downwind sail and motor.  The reason for going there is to meet up with Sue and Nigel Gee who own a Southerly 135 they are bringing back after three years in the Med.  We have been in touch with them regularly getting hints about what to do and where to go.

When we arrive in port we see them immediately.  Surprisingly they have just arrived back at the boat today (from their e-mails, we thought they were arriving yesterday).  We have a nice evening with them, walking in to town and I finally get my seafood platter.  Not the best in the world but it hits the spot after waiting so long

On 31^st May we set off for Pornichet at La Baule.  The weather is improving all the time.  We have light following winds and use the cruising chute most of the day.  That is quite exciting.  We also put the fishing line out.  We caught a fish, but it was a very small mackerel, so we threw it back.  When we arrive in port the Harbour office is closed, but there is a Harbour Service boat.  We have put ourselves on a very tight and uncomfortable hammerhead, so the Service Boat finds us a proper finger pontoon.  It is a very tight fit, and a short finger but much better.  We want to stay for two days.  I would like to get to have dinner at the one Michelin rosette restaurant, but when we phone for the next night they are fully booked.  Not surprising really.  We book into the restaurant in the smartest hotel in town instead.  

Next day we go to Pornichet market which is marvelous.  I am sort of sorry we have booked to eat out, as the fish market is particularly good.  We buy a lot of stuff to keep us going for the next few days.  I am surprised that I managed to stow it all on board.

We have had an e-mail from Jean and Tony who we met in Benodet.  They are in Port Haliguen and have also seen Sue and Nigel.  Apparently the Gees were their neighbours in Hythe Marina Village!  What a small world it is.

After lunch on board, we make our way into La Baule, using the Petit Train.  It is quite hot and sunny and there are lots of people on the beach and even a few hearty souls in the sea!

After a little walk disaster strikes.  I come over all weak and light-headed for no reason.  We stop at a café and I have some water, but I feel no better.  After a little shopping trip, where I buy a lemon juicer I realize I have a really badly upset stomach.  The long and the short of it is that I am really ropy for nearly three days.  I can’t make it to dinner in La Baule.  I am now glad we didn’t get reservations for the really good restaurant.  After 14 hours sleep I make the sail to Ile D’Yeu.  I just about am compos mentis, but I can’t eat at all.  We see Tony and Jean there, but as I am feeling unwell, don’t socialize. 

On 2 June I am still feeling a bit odd, but seem a little better.  We sail to Sables D’Olonne.  We have a really good wind and are going well, but it is very cold, or at least I am feeling the cold.  We arrive in lovely sunny conditions and are put on a nice pontoon not far from the facilities.  I have tried to eat a bit today.  I even had some bread and pate under way.  So I am determined to get better.

Richard goes to all the local engineers to see if he can find anyone to fix the sprayhood and the heating.  No luck with the heating, but he does find someone to sew up the sprayhood by tomorrow!

We go to the supermarket to buy food.  I was going to make escalopes a limone, but I don’t fancy the acidity.  But I am determined to eat a real dinner.  My clothes are hanging off me.  So I buy the necessary and make Veal Parmigiana.  Well, that turns out to be a disaster.  Within 20 minutes of finishing the meal and I am in agony with tummy gripes and then spend the next two hours on the toilet!  Not nice.  Sometime after midnight my tum settles down sufficiently for me to sleep!  I may have to find a doctor tomorrow.

This morning when I wake up I feel surprisingly better.  I am going to be very careful with what I eat today and hope this bug is finally going away.  As I recover Richard finds a heating engineer who says he can come and look at the system at 8:00am tomorrow morning.  So that is good.  In the meantime Richard is finally reading all the instruction booklets that came with the heating system.  Guess what - he finds out what is wrong.  On the last page of the book we are least likely to read, because it says it is installation instructions, it says that to clear air blockages in the fuel system turn the heat up to maximum.  So he does that and, yes the system works!  We cancel the engineer’s visit.  That’s two out of three repairs done.

After a light lunch we go into town.  We have a nice walk around.  Richard has an ice cream.  I daren’t even have a lick.  On the way home I am feeling much better, but oops, now Richard is getting sick.  He too has the runs.  We were going to play bridge with Tony and Jean tonight, but I think that will be off.  One good thing.  We have got the sprayhood back, and the repair is great and we have reassembled it all.  

I send Richard off to get some fish for supper.  He comes back with a tiny sea bass, but perhaps that is best as he really is poorly now.  As I type, he has gone to sleep on the bunk.  I’m not convinced we will move tomorrow!   By the way, the sun is out and it is warm.  I have even put on a pair of shorts!     

We have our very light supper and both feel better.  So we will probably go tomorrow after all.

Wednesday 5 June

We set out just before 10:00am in lovely sunshine and light winds.  The forecast was for the wind to northeast, so it would be on the beam starting as a 4, but going down to 2 knots by 2:00pm.  The wind strength was as predicted, but the direction wrong.  It was nearly a beat in the morning and by afternoon what very little there was was on the nose most of the time.  Anyway, we had to motor.  We tried to fish, but caught nothing and lost the lures on our new line.

As we approached Il de Re, Richard did some calculations and found that because of the times of the high tides, there would be no bridge opening tomorrow and maybe one at 6:30am on Friday.  So we could get stuck in St Martin for 3 days.  With that information we decide to go straight to La Rochelle.  Richard finds there is a Michelin 2 rosette restaurant in the town.  He phones and gets us reservations for tomorrow! 

It is a lovely afternoon as we enter the old harbour.  It is exciting to enter between the two medieval towers.  We are finally in new cruising area for us.  We find a nice place on the visitor pontoon just at the waterfront.  It is all beautiful and for once I finally feel like we are on holiday!  The Harbour Master finds us and tells us we are fine where we are (despite being next to a no mooring sign!).  The only problem is that the toilet block is ever so far away.  I guess half an mile walk, because we have to go all around the harbour to get there.  Who cares, we’ll use the facilities on board.

We change into shorts, it is really hot and sunny, and take a walk in to town.  We stop at the Bureau de Port and find that for 1 Euro a day we can have internet access.  The fee is 60 Euros, but if we like we can stay a third night for free.  We’ll see.  We would like to be here three days, but we are also anxious to get going south. In town we sus the place out and buy a bottle of Pineau, being in the area.

We are both feeling better and dinner of my Ratatouille, couscous and Mergez, proves our stomachs will be up to dinner tomorrow. Hurray!

So to bed.  It is noisy but we get to sleep.