While the Gasthof zum Hirschen was quaint and comfortable, it was also on a main road into Bern, and so the traffic noise was a bit loud, especially the farm machinery still going past at midnight, and the early morning peak hour commuters into Bern. As a result, we didn't get the best of sleeps. But we were up around 9am, and over to Mutti's for a morning coffee, before jumping in the car to head back to Saint Jean de Losne, since I wanted to make sure we caught up with the H2O staff before they closed shop for the week.

The drive back through the Jura was pleasant, as always, and somehow we found a back-roads route from Poligny to SJDL that was still relatively quick. When we got back to SJDL, we found that the heat was still around, but at least I saw something that I hadn't seen in a long time.

I went over to the Capitainerie office to speak to Vasily, and when I arrived there was a Dutchman in there talking with Vasily. I then witnessed some extraordinary customer service. Apparently the Dutchman had moored his boat at SJDL for 12-18 months, and was using H2O as his mailing address. During the last year while he was away, his boat insurance renewal letter had arrived, but he had not received it until today when he returned. He was concerned about the status of his insurance (as was Vasily) but could not understand the details in the letter (written in French), and wondered if Vasily could explain it to him. After a few minutes reading the letter, Vasily picked up the phone and rang the insurance company to ascertain the position. He spent 10-15 minutes on the phone, and then explained to the Dutchman that he had arranged for the company to send him an email explaining (in English) exactly what he should now do to renew his insurance policy. Great service from Vasily.

When it was my turn, I collected the specification sheet for the new batteries, and Vasily explained that the new batteries had been fitted OK, and that the new Mass Combi was charging them OK. However, when the technician had connected his laptop, there were some readings that he could not understand. He was still waiting for final clarification from Mastervolt, but it appears that he might just need to update his laptop's Mastervolt software. Hence, no problems for us, and we're allowed to go cruising! (after we pay the outstanding bills at the H2O office). I told Vasily we would do that this afternoon, since we wanted to get away in the morning. However, on getting back to the boat, I checked the weather forecast and saw that thunderstorms were predicted for tonight and tomorrow, followed by heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday. So we decided to stay in SJDL over the weekend, and head off on Monday when the weather had cleared.

We saw that Piper barge Wanderlust had arrived in port while we were away and was moored at the end of the next pontoon (with our swan family in the background). We made a note to catch up with Dave Oare and Becky Gray (who I have corresponded with frequently on the internet, but never met personally) while we were still in port on the weekend.

As the evening closed in, the sky got darker and more threatening, and soon we were surrounded by very dark clouds, thunder and lightning (but nothing directly over SJDL). It certaintly made for a spectacular evening lightshow.