When we were talking with Stephanie last night, she mentioned a spare parts store that would probably stock the fuel filter we needed. So we were up relatively early this morning to go get a new filter from Napas. We were surprised when we walked into the store and explained what we wanted, that the guy behind the counter happened to have one in his hand at that very moment (had Stephanie given him the heads-up?).

When I got back to the boat and descended into the engine room, I remembered that Chris Farmer (the previous owner) had left many spare parts in the engine room. So I went rummaging, and soon found an unopened box of various spares from Mastervolt (the brand on the generator), including three new fuel filters. Since I figured these must be the genuine spares, I fitted one of those instead and kept our new filter as an extra spare for future use. I tested the generator and it again started first time, so it looked promising.

In late morning, we decided that we would make a move and start our long journey back to Moissac. So, firstly, we said our goodbyes to John and Wendy, and then went up the canal to say bye to Steve and Lynda. John and Wendy are a great example of the benefits of barging for staying young in mind and spirit. While both are well into their seventies, they are both bubbly personalities, always looking for the next challenge. Their son runs an outdoor activities centre in Interlaken in Switzerland, and last year he took John for his first skydive. John made us promise to look him up when we are next in Switzerland, and spoke glowingly of the beauty of the experience.

After a relatively late start, we only went a couple of locks before it was time for lunch at La Douce ecluse, but it was a very pleasant place to stop. By now the forecast winds had arrived, and they were gusting at 60-70kph, which made handling a sometimes tricky experience.

The area around La Douce was in one of the many vineyard regions, which gave some interesting views.

At 1330h, as we were preparing to leave our moorings to enter the lock after lunch, we saw a tourist boat coming up behind us. Since they have right of way when entering locks, we let them through and then prepared to follow. But the eclusier signalled that we should stay where we were and not enter the lock. This puzzled me as I thought there would be plenty of room for two in the lock, as confirmed when I went up and took a photo of the tourist boat in the lock. Even more annoying was the fact that on leaving the lock, the tourist boat did a u-turn and immediately re-entered the lock to come back down. When we finally entered the lock 30 minutes later, Rita said that the eclusier explained that he did not let us enter with the tour boat because the winds were so strong and he judged it to be an unacceptable risk. Maybe.

As we moved further along the canal the winds picked up even more, making some moorings particularly difficult when the wind was blowing from behind. In such conditions, it was very difficult to hover in mid-stream, or to get the stern into the bank, when waiting for a lock to become available.

Finally, at the end of some tiring conditions in the afternoon, we decided to moor for the night at Villesequelande, a nice little village mooring with picnic facilities and water, but no power. By nightfall, every available spot had been filled, mainly with hireboats.

After I went for a preliminary walking tour through the village, I returned to find the sun setting.