The things we do forfun??????

Crane driver!?

Now I never thought for one moment that after giving up teaching I might become a crane driver!!! But last week, I did! Well, sort of…………….

Having arrived at Bordeaux and left the low bridges of the canal behind us, we needed to put the mast up again. We had heard it could be done in the locks at Bordeaux. What we hadn’t really realised was, that they simply gave you the key to the crane and left you to get on with it!!!!

Luckily [I just knew it wouldn’t be easy] we [I] had recruited the help of Alan who had come down the river at the same time as us. Hoping for the easiest option, I was the crane operator, leaving Paul and Alan to do the tricky stuff with the mast and rigging. Really, all I had to do was turn the crane handle as directed…but there were some tricky moments and lots of ups and downs……………..but we did it!

So, now we are a proper yacht again!

But, crane driving will not be my next carreer move!!!

25th JUNE

What a difference this time!!!

We left Castet en Dorthe and entered the mighty Garonne on Monday 18^th June. After our previous experience we were terrified to say the least! In fact, we postponed our planned departure [Sunday] because we were unable to make a certain arrangement for a place to stay in Bordeaux – we felt that we needed to be sure where we were going as turning around in such a strong tide is not always an option.

Fortunately, we need not have worried, well not too much anyway!! The sun was warm and we seemed to glide down the river with the tide under us all the way. The river was smooth and elegant – nothing like the raging torrent we remembered!! The banks were alive with ‘wildlife’ – most notably, red kites that were swooping down for fish right in front of us – we lost count of the number we saw, certainly more than 30!!

At Bordeaux the river changes it’s name to the Gironde as you pass under Pont St Pierre – from here it is officially ‘sea’ rather than river. We had an anxious moment under the bridge as the water boiled through the narrows - we were grateful for our powerful engine as we [Paul] struggled to keep control, but in a moment we were through and all was well. But, so much for our careful planning…..the waiting pontoon was being used by a water taxi which took up all the available space! The tide by now was almost slack, so we were able to go back to another pontoon to wait for the locks to open.

At dusk we locked into the safe, calm waters of the dock. The sky was amazing as dark thunder clouds piled up above us – they picked up the colour of the sunset and turned blood red! We expected a big hand to reach down at any moment!?! No sooner were we tied up than the storm [storms in fact] began – for 2 hours we had the most spectacular lightening……but no rain! Strange!

16th June

I have been struggling to access my blog site which, it seems, now belongs to google………..hence the delay!

Exactly two weeks now since leaving Castelsarrasin. And, we’ve been very busy doing very little! By the time we travel a bit, ‘do’ a few locks, shop, walk the dog, bit of boat cleaning and maintenance……….well, there’s hardly any time left for fishing!!! It’s just amazing how easily the days are filled.

The canal is also very sociable. Just by being on it grants you membership of a kind of fellowship! Everybody knows somebody that you have met, or has been where you have been, or wants to know what its like at somewhere you have been already, and so on. We pass many a happy hour over a beer or a bottle sharing canal/boat chats.

Our route included stops at Moissac, Buzet, Villeton, Mas d’Argenais, Meilhan and Fontet. We are now sitting at Castet en Dorthe, at the very end of the canal, and contemplating the next step back onto the mighty Garonne which gave us such a hard time on the way up!!! The weather has been varying between blazing hot and heavy rain – this has meant that the rivers have been in flood, but have settled down a bit now [hopefully] – we’ll see what tomorrow brings!?!