Gee, that went quickly - today is the last day of the 2018 Moissac Fêtes des Plaisanciers.

Action started early in the day, because in addition to the Fêtes, there was also a Vide Grenier being organised in Uvarium Park by the Moissac Mariners, who were also helping us with the set-up of the stage area for this evening’s Big Finale.

Our first activity for the day, however, was the Big Tosser rope-throwing competition with a good crowd turning out at 10am to witness or participate in the  contest. The Big Tossers from 2014 and 2016 were both returning to attempt to take out the coveted trophy again, so the competition was sure to be intense. The idea is simple; throw a rope successfully over a bollard (a cask of wine!), starting at a distance of 1 metre and increasing by 1 metre in each round thereafter.  After some leniency in the first round (to settle the nerves), it was “one miss and you’re out”. Nineteen contestants faced the starter, and all succeeded at 1 metre. Two dropped out at 2 metres, 7 at 3m (including both previous champs), and all bar three at 4m. This left two Professional Tossers (Serge and Iain) and one “amateur” tosser (Clive). All had their own styles; Iain favoured the “halllujah” which he had taught in his boating school for many years, complemented by a little bum wiggle just before throwing.

To everyone’s surprise, Clive (from Cochon Noir) won through with a successful toss of 5m, and then equalled the “world record” set in 2014 by Steve Bridges with a toss of 6m, but failed to set a new record at 7m.

Here, Clive poses for the photographers with 2014 Big Tosser and equal world record holder, Steve Bridges.

While the Big Tosser was great fun, we got worrying news during the event, when we received a letter from the Police, saying that a Code Orange storm was forecast for Sunday evening, in the middle of our Big Finale where we had arranged for seven music performances to take place. As a result, the Mairie withdrew any insurance cover for the outdoor event, and all the French performers pulled out (as a result of previous experiences with Code Orange events).

But band leaders Rita and Stuart were unwilling to just give in, and so within an hour or so they had arranged for a scaled-down indoor event to take place in the nearby Moulin de Moissac that evening.

With arrangements in place for the evening, everyone could relax a bit and just look forward to the afternoon Flotilla down the Tarn and up the River Garonne.  Everyone was keen to head through the old unused lock near the Moulin, and were soon spreading out across the Tarn.

It didn’t take long for five Piper barges to find each other, and with a little VHF communication they managed to settle into a formation and steam down the river five-abreast.

The flotilla narrowed into single file past the beach at St Nicolas de la Grave (because of the narrow channel of deeper water), but this didn’t prevent some from running aground on the sandbanks near the bird sanctuary. All freed themselves and soon headed up the Garonne.

At the turnaround point, the Pipers again formed up, with Phil on Effie and Stuart on Hilda May forming a cosy threesome with Kanumbra ...

and we were soon joined on the wings by Andy on Safron and Greg on Drumsara.

We then cruised past barge Somewhere in formation, where Kaz Noble had the video camera rolling.

But all good things must come to an end, and so after a couple of hours we reluctantly filed back through the old lock and tied up on the Tarn Quai again.

Later we headed over to the Uvarium where the Trad band was again playing some old French tunes, so we sat down and had a few drinks from the buvette being run by the Moissac Mariners. The display of instuments on the stage while they were taking a break gives a good idea of the range of instruments played.

As evening rolled around, and the skies darkened, it was time to gather for the (scaled-down) Big Finale at Moulin de Moissac. Because of the change of venue, the number of music acts was reduced from seven to two, and Nick and Annette kicked things off with piano and old-time singing.

As the music finished, but the chatter continued, the predicted storm arrived around 2100h. At this point in time, we were happy that we had shifted the event, because the wind and heavy rain would have created havoc if we had been outdoors.

Now it was time to get on with the serious business of the presentation of awards. This year we had spared no expense (well, maybe 10euro) in getting proper trophies for the winners of Petangue and the Big Tosser. Kevin and Michelle from Kendra Erin were honoured to accept the trophy for Petanque Champions for 2018...

while Clive was astounded by the quality of the trophy he received, and was proud that he could officially be recognised as a Big Tosser for at least the next two years.

Nick Gambier and Dave Rothery then took over as MCs for the presentation of a couple more awards. Initially, it was difficult to tell whether they were fighting for the mike, or getting ready to sing a duet. It was hard to tell who would be Sonny and who would be Cher. The award to Captain Jim and Sandra for their support of the Fêtes was well received, apart from the few catcalls about his haircut.

Rita and I were then the recipients of some lovely glassware from the Moissac Glassblowers Shop for our efforts in organising the first three Fêtes. Again, the award was well received by the audience, apart from the few catcalls about my lack of a haircut.

But then there were two special presentations still to be made to two couples, the Gambier’s (Pomme de Mer) and the Barry’s (Hilda May) who had contributed so much to the three Fêtes, but who had recently sold their barges and this was their last week on-board. Each of them received canvas-printed photos of their barges in action on the Tarn.

After all awards had been presented, it was time for more music when the KickShins took the stage, and there was nothing more to do than "dance on into the night” (apologies to Santana)

And so another year of Moissac Fêtes des Plaisanciers moves into the history books.

But before we go, let’s get an overview of the Fêtes from some drone footage shot by Kevin Bond on Kendra Erin. He can fly a drone as well as play petanque!

For another view of the Fêtes, you can also check out this video produced by Stuart Barry.