Wet and Happy

Dole.

At last we are in the water – the weather is great, life is good again!

After dealing with the minefield of May’s public holidays in France, adventures in plumbing that lead nowhere, waiting for parts that a) weren’t ordered and b) was the wrong part number, express couriers that took the long way round and various other frustrations we finally got in the water on Friday. A test up the river proved everything to be working fine and we are happy campers.   We had a jovial dinner with friends from last season (Pete and Allison from Il Largo) and a couple we met way back in the Netherlands, (Frank and Jill from Detente) and set off for Dole again. While we got bored with the little town of Saint-Jean-de-Losne, it is not called the centre of the French waterways for nothing.  We must have met at least 10 other boats that we have spent time with over the last two years.

We decided that our first trip should be in the relative calm of a canal rather than the large Soane River that has few moorings and still a fairly strong current so it more difficult should anything go wrong, and Dole is a pleasant place to meet our friends Craig and Toni who arrive tomorrow, that is if you don’t factor the carnival that had set up across the canal for Doles big weekend of excitement.  The fireworks were fun but the noise of the rides and screams until 2am were not so much.  Fortunately it is closing down today.

Lilou is not yet sure about this home that keeps moving and doesn’t like walking on the pontoons but loves all the action she can see, Rosie has settled back in nicely. Still got final cleaning and organizing to do but hope to get into the relaxed routine we expected  two weeks ago.

High and Dry

Still here and still out of the water.  We were thrilled when the welder started work on Thursday giving us a good shot of getting finished over the weekend, but of course this is France.  Thursday was a bank holiday but the yard still worked, why? So they could take the Friday off and make it a long weekend of course.

Still we have managed to check off some items: the water system seems to be working OK after having to replace the expensive shower mixer tap that froze despite my best efforts to drain it.  The electricals are good, so all that remains is the engine which looks to be OK.  Some of the Unknowns are resolved, hopefully we will be in the water by mid-week.

There has been steady rain in April and May so the canals that were going to close are now open so we are back to plan A, which is through the Canal du Centre and over the Nivernais, which is good as we never did formulate a plan B.

Here is what happens if you spend too much time in one place:

Unknowns

Thank you Donald Rumsfeld.  Much as I would like to forget you, your aphorism about known and unknown, unknowns is resonating with us now.  I  have my own take on it in our current situation..
France is a known, unknown: much as we like to think we have it figured out we know that unknown things will happen,such as the ATM eating my bank card and the bank cancelling both of them.  Sound familiar? It did the same thing last year.  Fortunately we transferred the account to this town and we will be here a little longer but it is still inconvenient as they send the cards here and mail the PIN numbers to our home, in California.  If you are looking for recommendations for which banks NOT to use in France, let me know.  We have other cards so it is not a show stopper but leads to some interesting interactions such as when I refilled the rental car with diesel at a local supermarket.  After the lady swiped my US (non PIN) card every which way through the machine I offered cash.  Fine, but after much interaction with the computer the cash draw wouldn’t open to give me change – the help of a strong road worker didn’t do the trick so she reached into the cupboard, produced a small crowbar and “et voilà” - change.
The other known, unknown is boats, especially to us relative newbies. I was relieved that ARMIDA seemed to survived the winter and that my jury-rigged cover was intact, until I discovered a couple of small drips of water as I prepped the bottom of Armida for antifouling paint that lead to further investigation and the discovery of excess rust inside the keel.  This will require some welding before I can finish the antifouling.
So now we have the intersection of two known unknowns in the form of a French Boatyard which epitomizes the unknown unknown. We might get the welder on Thursday and it might only take a day – or not! And we haven’t started the engine yet or filled the water tanks so we might find other things! Oh well, c’est la vie.  We just hope we can get in the water and someplace nice  before our friends, Toni and Craig arrive at the end of the month or we will be serving them wine and cheese on our back deck in the middle of a dusty boatyard.
Otherwise all is well. Lilou seems to really like France and the activity – she is angling for a promotion to Ambassador but she needs to learn a little subtlety first – “I’m here and I’m happy” works for some but not all.  Rosie is not too keen on changes but is adjusting slowly. She is perfecting her role of lookout on land by alerting us to the approach of other dogs before we can even see them.
Fortunately both our unknowns come with delightful experiences and surprises and we hope to have some known, knowns to report soon.

Setting off from SLO

Sitting and waiting for the last load of washing to finish and then we are off!

We will drive from San Luis Obispo (SLO) to Ojai where we will stay the night with our daughter Tess, her husband Tony and their two dogs and cat - with our two dogs another dogfest will ensue. Two hours drive on Monday will get us to LAX (traffic gods permitting) and then Air Tahiti Nui to Paris (CDG), pick up a rental car and about 5 hours drive to Saint-Jean de Losne (gods of sleep allowing) and the adventure begins.