Nice cool night – needed the duvet! Warm sunny day, blue skies and white fluffy clouds – a few grey ones later. La Nauve went past heading downhill, loaded, at 8.50 a.m. Had a text from Helen with info about moorings. Sent one back to say thanks and tell her we’d just seen La Nauve. Set off at 9.30 a.m. following Charley after Mike had been to see the lock keeper at Episy for him to tell the next keeper we were coming. He said he’s not there until next week! Joker. Didn’t tell him about our car being robbed right by his house. Up Berville lock 15 (2.0m) together, which worked OK except the keeper was a student (studying level 6 Maths, he had his books out on a table by the lock) lifted the wrong paddle first which blew Barley off the right hand wall. As Charley is not far off the same width as the lock it didn’t have far to go and Diana soon got it back against the wall. 
Two downhill cruisers arrived, one Dutch one French, as we left the lock. 2.3 kms to the next. Followed Charley up to lock 14 Bordes (1.9m). Below the lock a gang of men were doing some piling using a JCB to push the piles in helped by a high speed vibrator. They’d only just started, they were pushing the third pile in, but they stopped and went away in a van as we went up the lock. It was only 10.40 a.m. The keeper was a middle aged chap. He told Nick as we left that there was a loaded barge coming down. Nick slowed right off when a very smart péniche called Adria, a German boat from Hanweiler, came round the bend. Mike called him on VHF to ask him not to stop (not a good idea to go too slowly either, needs some way on to keep steerage) as we’d have no room to manoeuvre. 6.3 kms to the next lock. I finished defrosting the ‘fridge and refilled it, made a cuppa and went to sit out as we were going through the flood lock, 13 Fromonville and onto the river Loing.
On the stretch of river going into the town there was a pontoon mooring, which was still empty. An ex hireboat and the hotel boat Absoluut2 from Douai were moored under the trees by the car park. We went up the lock, 12 Buttes (1.5m), worked for us by a young lady and a young man (more students). It was midday as we banged pegs in the gravel and concrete on the old quay beyond the moorings as they were full. We had intended to carry on after lunch but decided it looked OK and stayed. Mike rushed off to buy a loaf then I made sandwiches for lunch. Gave him a hand to get the fizzer off the roof, easy as the quay was halfway up the cabin and he went to get the car from Episy. Mike came back (with a 15€ tin of mastic to do the front deck) and we put the bike back on the roof after a group of French people had come up the path especially to have a chat (there is no exit beyond the quay where we’re moored as there is now a builder’s yard at back of it which is fenced and gated). The water and electricity were free so we ran leads out – and Mike had to change plugs to use all the long leads. More boats arrived.
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