Today was Bastille Day (le quatorze juillet), so many of the shops were shut, but luckily we didn’t want to go shopping anyway! Instead we were up relatively early to go for a cruise up the Tarn, while the weather was good. As per normal, we headed up as far as the old Chateau, disturbing a few fisherman at the end as we turned around, then cut the engine and allowed Kanumbra to drift down river with the flow, while we had breakfast on the rear deck. David seemed pretty pleased with the experience and also had a turn at steering on the run home.

We got back to la Maison just in time to catch the second quarter of the AFL game between the Hawks and the Sydney Swans (currently 1st and 2nd on the ladder). This was an important game for both teams, as a win would put them in 1st place while a loss could see them fall to 4th or 5th (such is the tightness at the top of the ladder). After a very competitive game, where the lead changed five times in the last quarter, the Hawks ran out winners 75-70, after Cyril Rioli kicked a 52m goal in the last minute to snatch the lead back for the final time.

After the game finished, we returned to the barge since we had booked an appointment to go up to the canal through the double-lock at 1600h. This time I remembered to print the VNF vignette before I left the house, and placed it in the plastic sleeve on the wheelhouse window. But once again, the VNF staff did not look at it.

When we had moored on the canal, I decided to fill the fresh water tank. While our water gauge does not work on the barge, I had noticed when taking a shower today that the water was not flowing down the plughole, but was pooling in the back of the shower tray - a sure sign that the bow had risen when the water tank was near empty. Our other gauge is to look at how high the bow sits on the water. The photo at left below was before filling the tank, while the one at right was after the tank was filled - a difference of about 15cm in elevation in the water.

In the evening, after dinner, we took David back to la Maison and waited to see if we could see the fireworks from nearby Castelsarassin. However, after waiting till nearly 2300h, all we could see from the bedroom window on the top floor was the top of some fireworks displays on the horizon - either we were too far away, or the fireworks were too small.