Another overnight storm, but only just enough to wake us before we went back to sleep. In the morning, I got an email from Ian McCauley asking for an article I promised him for the DBA eNewsletter about the recent DBA Members Survey. So I dug out the results showing DBA members getting older, but DBA barges getting younger.

Phil Tyson (Effie) is also using the same translator for some documents he needs to prepare for his Carte de Séjour application at Nime Prefecture, but was having some troubles making the payment in France, so he gave us some cash and we paid for him and us using our Visa card.

Rita went up to Credit Agricole to enquire about getting an Attestation, but since we don’t have quite the required amount in one account, they advised us to complete the OFX transfer, and then they will do the Attestation when we get above the required amount (before we spend it all again!)

The first of the canvas-printed photos for the Art Expo arrived from Monoeuvre; Dexter II and the Misty Fisherman from Phillipot Park.

Later in the afternoon, I got the generator capacitors fitted, with Phil’s help in connection with some earth wires I wasn't too sure about, and we reluctantly tried to start the generator to see if it would keep running. With bated breath (now there’s a word you don’t often write - bated. Had to check the dictionary for the spelling), we watched the control panel, but the voltage was high enough to keep it running !!  Success.

Riding a wave of enthusiasm, following our technological breakthrough, we headed on down to the Sunbeam Cafe for Friday drinks and even managed to order a pizza in good time, and thus avoided cooking on the barge in very humid weather. We realised the reason for this humidity around 9pm when all hell broke loose and the sky fell in on top of us. This was a BIG storm, and the gutters were soon overflowing in front of the Sunbeam. We retreated inside for the pizza, and then when it didn’t look like abating, Stuart offered to go back to Hilda May in the rain to fetch some rain jackets. By the time he was coming back with the jackets, the rain had eased a bit and we had made a dash for Hilda May where we settled down for a few quiet drinks and some late night chatter.