We were up early at 0800h because today we would start cruising east with Ian, Flis and Sarah on board. Our intention was to get close to the town of Marseillette.

But while we were having breakfast and doing other preparations, we were twice hassled by the skipper of the barge that was going to take our position at the moorings, even though we had told him yesterday that we wouldn’t be leaving till 1000h.

Before leaving we also had to lower the bimini because there were many more low bridges ahead on the Midi. While we were doing this, we were given gratuitous advice about biminis by the same skipper. After initially conversing with him,  I finally just ignored him and eventually he went away. We made our 1000h departure as planned, but the incoming barge insisted on hovering in mid-stream right next to us, so it made it more difficult getting out of our mooring space without hitting him. I have no idea why he was so impatient!

While all of this barging stuff is new for Ian and Flis, it’s also all new for us from here on, since Carcassonne is the furthest east we have been so far on a barge. We have visited many of the places by car, so it’s not all a mystery, but we literally don’t know what’s around the next corner. It should be fun!

But before the fun begins, we had to experience some non-fun stuff, when we arrived at the first lock and were 4th in line, with three hire-boats in front of us. Luckily the eclusier fitted all three into the lock, so we went to the head of the queue for next time around.

Or so we thought, until two tourist boats arrived, and they have priority.

And then another tourist boat arrived, so we fell back to fourth in line again. But the eclusier again managed to get all three boats in the same lock together.

We were waiting for the lock to be refilled for our chance to go through, but it was taking a long time. And when it did fill, we saw that all three tourist boats were still in the lock, but facing the other way. They must have all exited, then done 180 degree turns and come back into the lock to return to Carcassonne.

But once the gates opened, no one came out. Then we heard raised voices coming from the direction of the lock. So Rita went down to see what was going on. It seemed that one of the tourist boat operators was having an argument with the Lou Gaberet driver for cutting him off in the lock (sounds like I’m not the only one with a problem with Lou Gaberet!). Then a passenger on the Lou Gaberet started complaining about the poor service and high price charged by the Lou Gaberet. The arguments went on for about 10 minutes, till everyone cleared themselves out of the lock, and we finally got our chance to go down at 1130h (only a delay of about an hour!).

500 metres later we found 5 boats waiting for the double lock 42 at Fresquel. By this time however, it was noon and the locks were closed for lunch. So we tied up for lunch in the queue. Ian and Flis’s time barging had not begun in spectacular fashion, although they seemed to enjoy the confusion at the first lock; we had gone a grand total of 4km in 3 hours. And to top it off, the eclusier at Fresquel took a long lunch and didn’t return till 1330h. So by the time we had cleared this double lock, and then another single lock at Fresquel at 1430h, we had now gone a grand total of 4.5km in 5.5 hours!!

So on we pressed and eventually reached Trebes in the late afternoon, by which time the wind had picked up a bit. We cruised through Trebes and reached the triple lock 43. It was closed with one boat ahead, so we pulled over and moored. And that’s when the fun started!

Before the lock had been prepared for us, the boat ahead unmoored and started to manoeuvre in mid-stream, perhaps impatient to be gone. But the more he manoeuvred, the closer he got to the lock gates, until eventually he was wedged into a corner to the right of the gates. But now he started to go backwards and forwards trying to get out of the corner, and looking more and more erratic. So I walked up to see If he needed any help, and it was then that I saw that every time he came back he was slamming the rear corner of the hireboat into the concrete edging of the canal, just above the water line. I tried telling him to take things easier and slowly move away from the concrete edge, but he continued going full throttle backwards and forwards trying to “force” his way out of the corner. By this time, I saw that he had punched a first-sized hole in the fibreglass of the boat, just above the waterline. He wouldn’t get very far without taking on water and potentially capsizing the boat. So I got Rita up to explain in French what the problem was, and advising him to return to the hireboat base at Trebes to get it attended to. With her advice he eventually got the boat facing upstream and slowly returning towards Trebes.

At this stage, we thought we had now seen everything. But as we returned to Kanumbra, we saw another big hireboat coming full steam down the canal and looking to go around us. We waved them down to alert them to the closed lock just around the corner. They managed to stop abreast of us, and now needed to go back a bit to moor behind us. But as they tried to do this, they only managed to get the boat sideways in the canal pointed straight at Kanumbra. By now they had no chance of going backwards, so we got a rope on their bow, which was the closest thing to Kanumbra, and then with the help of some onlookers we pulled them behind and away from Kanumbra. But this now meant they were facing back upstream, but at least they had avoided a collision with us. At this stage we realised they were a group of Spanish friends who had just picked up their boat in Trebes; there was only one person holding the wheel, but everyone was a skipper! So with the use of ropes, back and forward, and some judicial use of engine, rudder and bowthruster, we managed to get them the right way around and tied up to the bank.

But just as all seemed to be under control, another hire boat appeared on the horizon going just as fast as the Spaniards. They arrived just after the Spaniards got turned around the right way, but panicked and were soon headed for the side of the canel. They speared their bow into the bank about 10 metres from the stern of the Spaniards. Ian captured the moment just after the impact.

While all this was going on, Rita went forward to talk to the eclusier to ask if we could go through the lock by ourselves, since we didn’t trust any of the hire boats to know what they were doing. The eclusier understood perfectly, and allowed us in, then closed the gates immediately, leaving the hire-boats behind at various angles.

For the rest of the day, we cruised blissfully by ourselves, and the foursome up the front enjoyed the warmth, the scenery and each other’s company.

We were heading for the town of Marseillette, but had already decided to wild moor to give Ian, Flis and Sarah a true feeling of barging on the canals. So I chose a bankside location to moor just before Marseillette, where we set up a table on the towpath and had dinner with a fullish moon and a pastel sky. Doesn’t get much better.

Just before we sat down to dinner, we heard a boat approaching from the west, and around the bend came the Spaniards at a rate of knots. I ran back up the canal to tell them to slow down before they got near Kanumbra (only secured on pegs) and thankfully they did. Soon thereafter, the other hire-boat appeared and we went through the same process. Then we relaxed and had dinner.

One of the nice things about wild mooring is that you sometimes meet up with the locals on the towpath. In this case, a local guy was out walking his large black poodle, who took a fancy to Flis (and vice versa).

That evening as I was checking my emails, I saw that the latest edition of the DBA eNewsletter had arrived, containing an article about the Kanumbra website blog. This is what editor Ian McCauley had to say:

"Not sure why but I've neglected to review the excellent blog that is written by the originator of this newsletter - off we go then! Kanumbra is a Piper barge owned by Aussie couple Tony Richardson and Rita Seethaler (who is also a Swiss national). They have been cruising and living around the Midi-Garonne region since 2011.

The blog covers their time on board (like many Aussies, they split the year between the hemispheres) with an entry for pretty much every day. Often just a smattering of text and a few photos but extending to longer pieces and videos for notable events.

Tony and especially Rita are keen musicians and have organised a steel band group in their hometown in Australia. The group visited Kanumbra's home port in 2014 and this led to both of them becoming heavily involved in the vibrant arts community in the region. Hence the blog often features and reviews of musical and other artistic activities as they travel.

In addition, we get reports on Aussie Rules football, the challenges of French bureaucracy, troubleshooting batteries and the constant quirks and challenges of living aboard and abroad on a barge.

While their heavy involvement in the Moissac and arts community has meant that they have not cruised extensively the last year or two, the blog will soon feature their impending journey up the Rhone to Auxonne.

It will be interesting to read about that cruise and the musical and other cultural activities that Tony and Rita discover in central France.

The most recent entries cover the large 'Moissac Fêtes des Plaisanciers' that Tony and Rita championed (and which will be featured in an article in the next Blue Flag).

It's light and easy to read, with a few well-chosen photos and the occasional video that combine to give quite an intimate view of life around the waterways of France.”

I noticed later in the website stats that readership of the Kanumbra.com website doubled in the week after the release of the eNewsletter, so clearly someone is reading the eNewsletter! (a later check showed this doubling had continued into the next month as well).