Canal du Midi again

It was a slow start this morning. Somehow, we all felt a little tired and dehydrated. But then that's sailing for you.

Today was our first real day of moving the boat, and we had what I think could best be called 'issues' with the whole process. Mainly the stopping process. Also the tying up process. And locks... well they were interesting.

Mr B was mainly driving for the first part of the day, but was largely unhappy with our mooring technique ('technique' may be too organised a word for what we were actually doing) so kept abandonning his post (ie steering wheel and go faster lever) and hurling himself with gay abandon off the boat to secure the lines. So, although none of us actually fell in the canal (which is nothing short of a miracle) in Mr B's case that was not for want of trying. (You will see the results of his (mis)adventure on Monday seeing as how I'm backblipping...)

The weather was a bit gloomy, so there was no elegant draping of female forms on the bow of the boat, more huddling and cardigans than lounging and bikinis. After a valiant and (almost) organised descent through a double lock, we stopped for coffee and liked the look of the canalside restaurant's dinner menu so much that we abandonned our plans for the onward journey to Carcassonne and hitched up for the night.

A lovely dinner (despite Mr B choking spectacularly on some lamb) and home for an unbelievably early night. It may be the first time I've hung out with those guys and gone to bed before the next day. But after a day where I was frequently breathless from laughing too much (particularly about the rope with no end - you had to be there) it was just as well. All that fun was exhausting.