Up and at it, we were ready to rock and roll by 8.45. But nothing from Big Chief Simon who was going to update us on the river opening. I strolled to the office where I found him in conference with his secretary Phillipe. Sorry Andy, doesn`t look good! sens vnf office have said its closed. Kit in Maggie May is being lifted in this afternoon so you will need to move the boat, so at least you will get to test the shafts in action.
Crap news. I drove to the first lock at Gravieres. It was immediately obvious as to why the river was closed, considered dangerous. With half the barrage open, a Torrent was piling through causing a whirlpool frenzy right in the lock entrance. I found two vnf guys working on repairs to the lock gates. They told me that there was no definate date for re opening of the river. With the Nivernais now open, we are just 9 locks and 18kms from it but are unable to move. Sooo frustrating. We spend the day blogging reading and mum watches the last 5 episodes of Homelands series one. Think she has enjoyed it somehow!
After lunch, maggie may is craned in. We get to take Doucette for a spin up and down the river. The current is still awesome and I have to really give the engines some throttle to move upstream. She feels great though. Once rafted back alongside the 22 tonne Maggie may, I check the stuffing boxes and find the stbd needs adjustment. I also discover the upper helm stbd key is not working. I take the upper helm apart and find two, not one but two leads on the back of the starter switch have unbelievably come away from the terminals. I replace them and they are very tight which just makes me more staggered as to how they got disconnected in the first place.
Collette cooks a lovely spaghetti Bolognese for dinner with epoisse and bread for dessert. Marvellous.
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