On to Digoin

Friday 22^nd to Saturday 23^rd June

We carried on along the Canal Lateral a la Loire towards Digoin. Our overnight stop was a wild stop near Gilly-sur-Loire. We thought we would walk into the village, but it was much further away, and nothing there anyway. On the good side there was an artisan micro brewery called La Saint, right there by the canal. They were closed as they were having a birthday party, but opened long enough for me to buy a sample pack of their 6 beers.

Back on board – Karen wanted to cook – the generator decides to play up. Most annoying!! We have a brand ne Whisper 3.5 kW unit fitted by H2O in St Jean. In 2016 it completely malfunctioned so (at their cost) they removed it and sent it back to the suppliers and then refitted it. Last year, 2017 we put a whole 12 hours on, and this year barely 6 hours and it is misbehaving.

Anyway, we survived and carried on to Digoin, stopping for lunch at Courlanges, also to get some diesel from the close by garage. We carry 2 x 20 L jerrycans, so 2 quick trips and 80 Litres later we were on our way. We moored up right in front of the Capitainerie in Digoin. Euro 21 for 2 nights including electricity and water.

Walked up to the little bar that had wifi – closed! On a Saturday?! That’s France. Found a hotel around the corner that had wifi and reconnected with the world.

And, of course we ate on board. Karen is really getting into experimenting with creating vegan pates, mousses and you name it – so we eat very well onboard.

Sunday 24^th June

Lovely late start. The Capitain said there was a fresh food market on Sunday near E-LeClerc. So off we went. Not a bad market but not a great market. A large market with fresh produce, clothes, and you name it. Karen bought me a ‘boy bag’ – something I have been wanting for a while.

Then back to Tourist Office for wifi.

Also time for a laundry session. Karen went off there while I did a whole lot of boating chores – cleaned the shower filter, put some oil on the teak hatch covers, cleaned the bilges, and attempted to find the problem with the generator – to no avail. Also started the repair to a scratch in the hull from Beulon! So cross – we had made a lunch stop at Beulon a while back and when leaving, I tried to spring us off but those horrible metal canal edgings made a deep scratch in our lovely paint work. Ce la vie.

We had decided not to stop at Beulon because previously it was in a bad way with a load of deadbeat boats moored and a lot of so-called ‘travellers’ camping out there. But it has been cleaned up and even has a suggestion box for improvements on a tree!

And don’t forget to have a look at Karen’s blog to get her views on our travels.