Alarm clock went off at 8am, as we wanted to get away by 9am to be the first through the lock at Clairac to get down to Aiguillon in plenty of time to get across the Garonne this morning (since the Pilots only work Tuesday morning, and then not again till Thursday afternoon). The Clairac lock looked peaceful at this time of the morning, and this time we knew to tie up on the outside of the lock where the bollards were better spaced.

It took less than an hour to go through the lock and get to the next lock at Aiguillon, where we met up with another Aussie moored up there. He was just starting up the Lot, but had heard that the crossing would stop on Friday afternoon, because of falling water levels. When we phoned the pilots, they told us to come immediately to Nicole to fit in between two boats coming from Buzet. We met the first one coming along the Canalet from Nicole to Aiguillon, and the second we met halfway up the Garonne.

We had the same pilot on board as we had a few weeks ago. We were making good speed under our own power until we got to the crossing zone near the confluence of the Lot and the Garonne. Then we needed help from the pusher to make further progress. Even with our 135HP and the 100HP from the pusher, we were still only making 3kph upstream. But all worked out OK and I managed to keep her between the buoys until we got to the lock into the River Baise.

From there on, everything was very quiet and sedate, although we still had some trouble at the hairpin bend, where the tree trunk was still blocking the inside of the bend. This time I went VERY slowly, but still the tail swung out and clipped a different tree on the outside of the bend. Luckily, no damage to the bimini this time. We dawdled up the Baise and moored at our favourite spot above the first lock just below Buzet. Rita took the opportunity to visit Lac Damazan for a swim, while I cycled up later to join her for the Damazan Tuesday Night Market (another potential performance for Pans on Fire next year). Met up again with Helmut and Meryle, the couple from NZ who came to the Steelband Festival in Marysville in April. Learned a bit about their adventures with ocean sailing around the world a couple of times. Cycled home to Buzet after the Market (this year with lights!).