I woke in a cold sweat this morning, having had a dream about barging that didn't quite go to plan. I dreamt that as I left a lock to enter the river, the engine kicked in but then just stopped, and nothing I could do could get it to start again. The river was running faster than the Doubs is at the moment, and all I was left with was the bowthrusters and the anchor. I kept thinking about what I could also use as an emergency rear anchor. Luckily, or unluckily, I woke before the dilemma was resolved, but I kept thinking all morning about what I would do in a real-life situation like this!

The morning in Deluz was very quiet, with us as the only boat moored upstream of the bridge. As we cruised out of port, we noticed Mermaid moored in the downstream port, but with no sign of Peter and Judy. So we sent them a text massage and said we hoped we'd catch up soon, perhaps at the Balloon Festival in Montbeliard.

There were very few boats on the move, but it was a lovely day of river cruising. We noticed preparations being made at Vaire-le-Petit for a Night Market, and thought about cycling back tonight (depending on where we moored). As we approached the last lock before Besancon, we decided to stop at the waiting pontoon at la Malate for lunch.

It was only after we stopped that we realised that there was a cafe/restaurant behind the hedge that borders the cycle path alongside the lock.

A little while later I also realised why there was a single green buoy just upstream from the waiting pontoon, with a mass of gravel, rocks and sand accumulated from a drain running into the canal at that point. All of which was invisible from a low angle on the water.

After lunch, we headed off to Besancon, to find only one other boat (Piper barge Emily) in the port. In the late afternoon, Rita rode back up the river past la Malate to go for a swim, while I did some work on the blog.  We were rewarded that evening with a lovely sunset, reflected off the clouds in the east..

Later that night, we sat back on the rear deck with a couple of drinks and enjoyed the concert being performed across the river at the bar/nightclub. The singer covered a wide range of genres, and when he broke out with some salsa numbers, Rita couldn't resist getting up and dancing. One of the reasons we like Besancon.