Saturday 23 June - Moissac Market, barging to Casterlsarrasin, tech problems


Went to Moissac Market in the morning to buy some veges etc. We had decided that we would leave Moissac today to dust off the cobwebs and get some practice in before Emma (daughter) and Rhianna (grand-daughter) arrived next week. The intention was to cruise down to Castelsarassin and Montech, staying in each place for a day or two, then head up the Montech Canal to Montauban (a place we had only visited by bicycle in 2011).

So, after lunch, we left port at 2.00pm. Reversed back up to the Tarn Lock turning area, then did a three point turn and cruised into the open lock - so simple (not). Took a while to get used to everything again, especially in the locks, but finally made it to Castelsarassin around 5.15pm. Only met one other boat along the way. They were coming over the Cacor aqueduct, across the River Tarn, so we pulled over near the "willow lock" and let them pass, before crossing the aqueduct ourselves.

We moored in Castelsarassin on the free side of the port, next to the duck platform. Could never quite work out why they had this platform in the middle of the port, but the ducks were certainly popular with the people in port (and hence very well fed!).

We found a couple of technical problems while we were in port: Rita found that the kettle would not work, then we discovered that none of the power points were working, although all the lights etc were OK. Started the generator, and the power points now worked. Don't think I've seen this problem before. When generator was turned off for the night, power points stopped again, including the two lights in the main bedroom. Seems like it might be a problem with the batteries. Problem 2 was potentially more worrisome. Rita complained that I hadn't flushed the toilet when I last went. Since I hadn't been all day, I suspected something else! Seemed like the black water tank was seeping back into the bottom of the bowl. It would flush OK but then gradually refill with black water. Luckily it didn't seem to be getting to the point of overflowing. Emptied it a few times before going to bed and hoping for the best overnight.