As the thrusters are underwater, the only way to check them is to take the barge out of the water – or hire a diver to go down and have a look. Fortunately, the owner of Atelier Fluvial (That not-so-pretty mooring spot we had been calling home.) is a diver. I told him we had lost our bow thruster. He didn’t believe me. I’m just a novice. What would I know? It took a lot of convincing. Eventually, he must have figured it was easier to put on his gear than to continue listening to me. After watching bubbles appear from underwater for many minutes, I finally saw him reappear and look at me very sheepishly. In his hand was a massive clump of tangled nylon rope – enough to bring any thruster to a halt. Vindication. (Although at a price as I still had to pay him for his labour.)
Here he is getting ready to dive under Aleau – which is not visible in this shot. The barge in the shot was built in 1887 – and is still bringing joy to the charming American couple who now cruise on it.
And here is what was found inside the thruster tube – making it impossible for us to use the bow thruster for fine tuning when entering a lock.
