As Roger and Yvonne (sorry readers, got the ladys' name wrong - a very quick introduction in the rain) were leaving at 9 and us at 10, we had to untie and re-position the boat on the pontoon. We set off just before 10 a.m. to reach our first lock at 10. To our surprise our nice young eclusier was on duty again, with his cheery smile! Crew was having fun practising her French on him, whereas he was practising his English on her - strange conversation!
The weather was much kinder today, without the cold wind of yesterday and the occasional short sunny spell but in our last lock, the heavens opened again!! Having stayed dry so far, it was very annoying to get soaked again. Crew had actually got her waterproof trousers ready but didn't get the chance to don them as the rain came so suddenly! Our lovely eclusier offered to hold on to my line in order for me to fetch my waterproofs.......everyones' idea of a perfect son, I think! We arrived in Rolampont around one o'clock and moored behind Out of the Blue. Whilst we were drying the boat a cruiser came in the opposite direction, looking for a place to moor - we offered for them to raft alongside us which they did. We had managed to get our rain canopy up as we had decided to stay for at least two nights.....a tricky operation since we had a couple of broken zips making it a difficult task. Whilst lunching up on deck we enjoyed some sun, then rain then sun again......quite amazing how much the temperature drops when it rained. Of course the boat was wet again and the skippers' chair emitted a cloud of steam every time the sun appeared!
Skip went to the village for a recce (nice and handy to the port) and reported back that the hotel was closed down and the restaurant closed but there was a nice boulangerie. The plus point about the port was that it was free, including good electricity and water which meant we could use our electric heater to warm the cabins.
Crew cooked dinner and we watched a few DVDs - we couldn't manage to get TV. Roger had a theory that as our satellite dish is mounted on the metal mast, it blocked reception so we decided to turn the boat around tomorrow.
13.5 km 7 locks 3 1/4 hours
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