2152 Left at 0855 this morning with the rain just about holding off. Practised ferry gliding onto the fuel barge pontoon where we filled up. Set off downstream with a really strong current, making between 6 & 8kts over the ground. Lots of trees, logs and other bits to dodge which have been swept into the river due to the heavy rain over the last few days. As we came to a weir, the channel lead us into a long canal section with no flow and we went back to our usual 4.5kts. At the end was the big lock, which I did single handed as there was a sign saying we had to wear life jackets & Mayuri couldn't find hers. My boat handling must have improved as I moored up while putting the life jacket on and eating cheese on toast. The fan belt started making a noise after we set off, but with nowhere to stop on the sides we waited for a few miles until the next lock. We were the last boat in, and as I threw on the mooring line the gates started to shut. I passed it inside to Mayuri (still with no lifejacket), took the engine cover off, tightened the fan belt, went in and washed my hands, killed two blue bottles that had bypassed our flyscreens, washed my hands again and was back to release the ropes just as the front gates were opening - just like a formula one pitstop! The sun came out for the rest of the day and we did the 46 miles by 1500ish. As we pulled into the marina at Chalon sur Saone, dodging a full tree floating past, the staff started waving their arms to tell us to go away as they were full. We turned around and headed back into the main river to make for a commercial dock we'd seen about 1km back upstream. It was really difficult to make any progress at all and to keep control in the big whirlpools that were downstream of anything fixed in the water - like bridges. It was quite scary for a while until we got out of the narrow section of the town and past the bridges where we could move over to the side where the flow was slower. We went for a walk into the town later and spotted at least three or four spaces in the marina - but at least ours cost nothing. An English chap who owned the restaurant barge near us came over for a tea later. He said the river sometimes floods in April like this but never August, and pointed out the top of his electric point on his usual mooring just sticking out of the water across the river - he's been here 30 years. He said parts of the rhine has been closed for navigation due to the rain and that we will struggle through Lyon in these conditions although it should subside within a few days if there's no more rain. We decided today to park up when we reach the med and come back home for the winter to earn a bit of cash ready for the spring next year.
