What was planned as a two week summer cruise, end up as a very painful two day potter up river. The skipper had developed a severe back problem in May which resulted in extreme difficulty in walking, standing and sleeping. Despite treatment it lingered on until the end of September, but was so pronounced in June that he deemed it unsafe to go to sea, on the basis that he would not be able to take action in an emergency.

Rather than abandon everything, we attempted a few days in the river again, but with a little drama ……

13.06.18 – 0955 LRB to Rieux, arriving 1500 after various stops on route. River had a strong current downstream and was at least 0.5m lower than normal. Only 0.9 u/k at Rohello, top end of upper pontoon. Est. 1.0 u/k middle, and lower pontoon had 0.0 u/k in middle and -0.5 u/k at top end. Very strong currents at pontoons with big eddies.

14.06.18 – Email received from LRB announcing complete closure of The Vilaine to all navigation (including Cran bridge and Arzal lock from Friday 15th to at least Monday 18th June inclusive due to an expected storm surge of water down river early Saturday due to the previous weeks storms and heavy rain. Rather than be stuck up river for an indefinite period the decision was made to sail immediately in order to get down river of the Cran bridge before it closed. Dep. 1548, are in LRB 2005. Cum 3530.4 Nm. 11 EH.

Peter, Janet, and Monty.

End of Summer Cruise!

Start of ‘Summer Cruise’!

Last boat through Cran for 4 days!