Today was only going to be trip of a few hours to Moissac. The trip itself was fairly straightforward until, in one of the locks, a Frenchwoman pressed the button to activate the locks before we had our lines secured. Nimble work by Sara on shore saved the day. It was an honest mistake with no harm done, and apologies were quickly offered and accepted with a smile.

The approach into Moissac is rather neat as you can see by the following photograph

A short trip along this part of the canal, one arrived at the swing bridge where after toot on the horn (as per the book) the VNF chap activates the opening of the bridge.

Then a few hundred yards after the swing bridge we arrived at Port Plaisance where the Capitainere office is run by an English couple, who I have to say were very pleasant and helpful. They have a washing machine and dryer available and we took full use of these facilities. Whilst waiting on the washing etc some of the locals were fed by Sara…………….anyone any idea what kind of bird the big one is?

Here we are tied alongside at Moissac, and if I end up carrying much more on the top of the boat, we will be looking more and more like something out of the Beverley Hillbillies, and folks will no doubt, start calling me Jed Clampett!!

A fair chunk of the afternoon was spent on engine/boat maintenance, and it’s always a good feeling when this kind of work is completed. One thing I meant to say on previous entries is that the raw water filter (to cool the engine the sea water/canal water is drawn into the boat through a mesh filter before going through the heat exchanger) really does need to be checked and emptied fairly regularly. On Sun Dog I know when the filter is starting to get blocked with weeds/grass etc because the exhaust note changes, and a careful eye is kept on the engine temperature gauge until we either arrive at our destination, or alternatively go alongside somewhere to clean out the mesh filter.