The day started cooler, so I woke early to follow the AFL game between Hawthorn and Carlton. Finally, the Hawks learned how to properly beat a team lower on the ladder and ran out easy winners 124-51 after being in control all game.

Since it was cool, I decided to continue painting preparations by wire-brushing the cabin roof to remove the flaky paint from previous paintings. In the late morning, we had a meeting with Stuart to discuss various aspects of the Fetes, especially those concerned with the musical performances. Afterwards, Stuart gave me a tutorial on the operation of his iPad-based Mixer that he will be using for the sound-checks, and I also got some good tips about Mac software that he uses for music and related activities.

There was more of the petanque tournament in the Uvarium Parc, while we took advantage of the warning weather to do some more washing.

In the late afternoon, we went up the quai to have drinks with Nic and Sally, and their daughter, on Pomme de Mer. I enjoyed talking with them about their sailing adventures around the African coast, which I had read about in Nic’s book “Sitra” last year.

While we were onboard Pomme de Mer, Rovi 1 left its mooring to go up the Tarn for a trip with our good friends the Nobles and the Plunketts.

We must have been totally engrossed in our chatter with the Gambiers, as several hours passed and Rovi was returning at sunset (the nice thing about cruising on the river is that you are unconstrained by lock opening and closing times) with  Kaz and Irene on the bow taking photos of us as we took photos of them.

It was only later that we learned the story of the Kingfishers. Apparently, while Rovi was tied to the bank near the Chateau, they heard a loud noise in front of the wheelhouse and, on inspection, found two stunned kingfishers lying on the deck each holding one end of a small fish! In their fight over the fish, they had missed seeing that they were flying into the wheelhouse windscreen. They were rescued and given ample time to recover, during which time Kaz and Irene (as keen photographers) took every opportunity to take once-in-lifetime photos. Below is just one of the many classic photos.