Today was the start of our Big Adventure with the Lot. Early rise, to get to the first lock (50 metres away) at 9.00am. This lock, next to the weir on the Baise, is beautifully maintained by the same people who take care of the VNF mooring, and is well decorated by flower boxes, even though the lock is very rarely used. It also features an arrangement of slider and ladder that we had not seen before. Often the ladders are in totally awkward places compared to where the barge is tied up, but this system ensures that the ladder is exactly where you tie up - a nice idea, especially since this lock was a bit deeper than most.

Stuart and Christine went first (since they had done this trip before) and we followed. The trip down the Baise to the Garonne was very peaceful at first, with lots of songbirds. The first of the hairpin bends was tight, and Kanumbra slipped to the outside of the bend as she exited, but all stayed in control. I soon got a VHF call from Stuart saying that the second of the hairpins was even tighter, and needed to be negotiated at very low speed. But the VHF transmission was a bit crackly and I didn’t hear all that Stuart said – especially the bit about the fallen tree on the inside of the turn! So when we arrived, going very slowly, we then had to negotiate our way around the fallen tree which extended a long way across the river. I missed the tree OK, but in doing so, the stern slipped out as I pulled the bow around the fallen tree. This resulted in the stern collecting a bunch of branches in a tree on the outside of the bend. These caught the bimini, and for the second time in a year, we demonstrated the fail-soft nature of the bimini construction, with the right bracket again coming free of the roof and the rest of the frame collapsing to the left.

We continued this way till we reached the pontoon at the lock at the end of the Baise, and then it only took 5 minutes to fix the bimini with good old cable ties again. While I was making these running repairs, the VNF Pilot came on board (for 16euro) to guide us across the Garonne to the Lot. He also helped Rita with the ropes in the lock down to the Garonne, which was just as well because they were a new system we had not seen before. Instead of attaching the barge to bollards on the dock, there were permanent ropes hanging into the lock. So he grabbed the front rope and Rita hung off the back rope.

Once out onto the River Garonne, there was another VNF guy leading the way in an outboard powered dinghy. We were told to just follow exactly where he went (since some of the buoys were submerged with the higher than normal water), and so we did just that and got down the Garonne in about 15 minutes.

At that point, we passed the dinghy to make the turn into the Lot. Had no idea how to do it best, so asked the VNF pilot, who said we had to get parallel with the pontoon on the approach to the lock. This was fine, but just how do I get parallel in such a situation? Luckily, the guy in the dinghy gave us some good advice as we passed him. “Just aim for the middle of the pontoon, at right angles, then slow down as you approach it, and let the fast current along the outside bank of the Garonne spin you around until you are parallel with the pontoon, then gun it and drive straight into the lock”. Sounded simple, and it was! It looked to outsiders as if I knew what I was doing (-:

After passing through this lock, we followed Stuart and Christine up a very narrow and tree lined canal to Aiguillon, where we would enter the Lot River properly. Halfway along we came across a tree-clearing barge blocking the canal. They moved aside and we squeezed through, although it was pretty tight, especially with lots of floating logs and branches from the tree-clearing operation. The rest of the trip to Aiguillon was a great lesson in low-speed steering as we manoeuvred our way in and out of trees overhanging from each bank of the canal. We arrived at Aiguillon and were given a royal escort of white swans to our mooring space half under a bridge, as we waited for Stuart and Christine to clear the lock next to the old mill. Then though the lock to a pontoon for lunch.

After lunch we headed up the Lot to Clairac. This run was pretty straight-forward with the wide river enabling us to speed up and clear out the diesel engines again (as we had done a few weeks earlier on the Tarn River at Montauban). The lock entering Clairac was an unusual arrangement, with a shortage of bollards on the side with the controlling mechanisms, due to a building which took away most of the quai space. So we single-lined from the front and tried to hold the stern in with full rudder and forward thrust. But the length of the single-line was too much and we swung from side to side as the forceful water entry from the front changed its mind as to which side of the boat it wanted to go down. But no major dramas, even though in hindsight we perhaps should have used the bollards on the left side, which had more normal placement, and walked across the gates to start the mechanism with the key-tag.

After clearing the lock, we headed under the right span of the main Clairac bridge, then did a u-turn to come back under the central span, then another u-turn to moor ahead of Hilda May and behind another barge. I notice that a higher percentage of my manoeuvres are starting to look like I know what I’m doing – but I’m sure I’m due to lower the percentage at some time in the future!

Rita, Stuart and Christine headed for the Clairac Plage where they went for a swim, while I headed for a cool drink on the terrace. I found a nice spot in the shade, even though I thought I might have heard the waitress telling someone else (in French) that they weren’t allowed to sit at the tables in the shade. But I found a little table behind some trees and out of sight of the waitress, and settled back to enjoy my beer. This went alright until Rita, Stuart and Christine decided to stop swimming and come up for a drink. They came over to my table and gave the game away, as they stood in full sight of the waitress with their drinks. She promptly came over and told us in no uncertain terms (I think) that sitting in the shade was “not possible” and that we would have to sit at a table in the boiling sun around the corner of the building. At this stage, I decided I didn’t really need a second drink. The French are strange; sometime their service is excellent (like Mathieu at SFR Moissac) and sometimes it is appalling (like today).

One thing I discovered at Clairac was that the moorings were free, and they also have free electricity and water. Also, the key-tag that we picked up at the Buzet double-locks not only controlled the operation of the locks, but they also gave free access to the very good shower and toilet rooms at the mooring. Another little contradiction about French service, in the one French town.

The key-tag operates all the locks on the Rivers Baise and Lot. If the lock-gates are closed as you approach, you have to put someone off at the pontoon with the key-tag, and they then walk to the lock and insert the key to open the gates. When you are all tied up and ready, you insert the key again, to close the gates, fill or empty the lock and then open the exit gates. If the gates are open as you approach, you just go on in and then just insert the key once to close the gates, fill or empty the lock and then open the exit gates. All pretty straight-forward, although it does mean that someone has to get off and walk ahead if the gates are closed, unlike the zappers on the Montech Canal which can be operated from the boat.

Since we are carnivores and Stuart and Christine are vegos, we decided that we will eat our main meals separately on our own boats tonight (so that we can finally get rid of the sausages we bought a few days ago!) and then get together for dessert and a drink or two afterwards, and just maybe some music on the quai.