Laying Low and being Laid Low in Tonnere

We had another heat wave in France in early August.  By Australian and California standards it wasn’t that bad with max temperatures in the mid 30s C(high 90s F) but the long days meant the hottest part was from about 4pm to 7pm.  Just enough time for a steel boat to heat up.  On top of that I came down with a stomach bug that lasted 5 days and kept me close to the boat.  Learning from Terry’s heat reduction strategy I closed everything up about 11am  and hunkered down inside.  Armida has reasonable insulation for a cruiser but not the windows.  Later in the day the salon warmed but the rear bedroom stayed below 30C  for most of the day and that is where I spent a lot of time reading.  Cooking on the stove was not a good idea so it was fortunate I was not eating a lot. 

We stayed in Saint Florentin for a couple of days but moved on to Tonnere for a little more shade and to get away from the carnival that was setting up next to the port.  I found out afterwards that there was also a rally of boaters in support of the Burgundy canal that is under threat of closure; sorry I missed that.  After five days my stomach cleared up, the weather cooled down and life on the water got back to normal.

But then...

I was feeling better and quite pleased with myself for getting all the way across the canal and starting back without incident. So of course that was when I forgot to remove the ladder after a difficult stop for lunch with no real mooring, and of course it got broken in the next lock.  It was a very unique design but I hope I can use the remaining side as a template. It’s now a higher climb on and off for the rest of the trip.

The next day I was grouped with two other boats in the locks with Armida at the front and not enough bollards in the lock.  I had it nicely under control until in the third lock, Armida’s middle bollards suddenly popped off and the boat surged forward. Uh Oh.  You always have this fear that the boat will come loose and slam into something and here we were.  But instead she drifted slowly towards the lock gate leaving me time to start the engine, move her back and get a rope on another bollard.  One more thing for the repair list.  Now that is only two things that have gone wrong.

I cruised slowly up to Montbard to meet my next guest, Dennis from Sweden