I woke early, around 0700hr, and peeked out the window to see what the weather was like. I was surprised to see mist rising from the canal waters. So I grabbed my iPhone, and some clothes, and went outside to get a photo. I was even more surprised to see two fishermen already with rods in the water. I got a photo of the one in front of us.

I then went back to bed, and since it was a very cool morning, we threw another blanket on top. This was enough encouragement for us to fall into a deep sleep again, resulting in a very late rising from bed around 1030hr. I was surprised to see the same fisherman still sitting in the exact same spot. Don't know if he'd yet caught a fish!

After breakfast, we continued the petanque challenge from yesterday. Rita tried some sneeky psychology on me by saying that the loser would get the last slice of pear crumble left over from last night. But I stayed strong and ran out a close winner, 12-10.

We had been advised by the Capitainerie lady at Buzet Port that they were closed from 1200-1400h, and that we should arrive after 1400h. So at about 1300h, we prepared to leave Phillipot, only to see a hire-boat un-mooring after their lunch-break just downstream from us. Since we had observed their erratic arrival pre-lunch, we didn’t want to double-lock with them, so we made a very slow journey to Buzet in their wake.

We had previously been advised by the Buzet Capitainerie that another barge (Highlander) was moored across the front of the Capitainerie, and that we should moor around the corner, alongside the deck but at 90 degrees to the canal. This would require a tight turn to starboard around the corner of the deck, into a narrow space, with a hire-boat already in the next space, and boats moored on the other side of the canal.

So I pulled up next to the space, bow-thrusted the nose to the right, while using the rudder to swing the stern to the left. Luckily, there was just enough space between the front of the hire-boat and the boats on the other side of the canal for me to make a complete 90 degree turn and then a bit more so that I was facing back towards the side deck, then I swung the rudder to hard left, drove forward into the space and swung the stern to the right against the deck. Finito!  When I started the manoeuvre, the Capitain said she would call one of her workers to shift the hire-boat out of the space next to us. But halfway through, she realised we would make it OK, so she just stood and applauded. It’s nice when mooring manouevres make you look like you know what you’re doing - it makes up for those times when you have two left feet. It must have impressed the guy who came to move the hire-boat, but found he just had to give us minor help with the ropes. We mentioned our generator problem, and he immediately advised that we should contact his boss Sebastian tomorrow to get some help!

Mooring in this spot completed a circle we started 6 years ago. It was like returning to the scene of the crime, since this was the exact place where I had fallen into the canal while riding my bike. The offending drop is still there, and it still doesn’t have a white line painted along the edge to show the change in level (like it does have going at right-angles). I will be more careful this time. Maybe Rita will do some diving tomorrow to see if my Swiss watch is still down there.

While I caught up with some websiting, Rita went for a swim at Damazan. I also talked to the guy on Highlander (the 22m barge moored on the front of the deck). He came over and asked a few questions about Kanumbra, without me knowing he was from Highlander, and I said that “it was pretty comfortable and handled well”. He then responded by saying that he had seen us mooring up earlier, and that by comparison his barge was like “an elephant with greasy feet”.

In the evening, we had "bubble and squeak” made up from all the leftovers from last night’s dinner, while we watched the sun setting in the west. While there are lots of boats in port, many are empty, while those on board the hire-boats are mostly in transition, so the port is very quiet at night. I’m glad we played the music last night at Phillipot Park rather than coming into port.

For the first time since starting this website/blog, it is now completely up to date. I am writing this on 20 August 2017, the day my dad would have turned 107 if he were still alive. Thanks Dad for supporting my education, and giving me a love of writing. If only you could see me now. This blog’s for you.