From Ray-sur-Saône, we continued upstream to Soing. It saved us a trip to Paris. No longer any need to go there to see the Eiffel Tower.
Soing is almost 100 kilometres from Auxonne. It is as far as we had planned to go. Of course, being the farthest from home, our thrusters – both of them – stopped working. We now had to pass through the Savoyeux Tunnel – all those locks and flood gates – and make it through the marina to our mooring spot – all without thrusters.
It was also raining hard the whole way back. So, our windshield wiper failed. It seemed the grey cloud in the sky was following us.
To say I was not thrilled we had to go all the way home without thrusters would be an understatement.
I had been warned not to become dependent on thrusters – that one day, they would stop working. On this day, they both stopped working.
Fortunately for me, just three days before we left on our journey up the Saône, a retired commercial barge captain who now lives on his barge at Port Royal, spent some time with me onboard Aleau. Roy had me practice navigating the narrow confines of the marina without thrusters – and then, do the same thing on the Saône . Little did I know that those few hours would soon prove to be invaluable.
Back at the Port Royal marina in Auxonne, Becky from Wanderlust was aware of our predicament and came out to help us moor. Jeannie is at the bow. I’m in the wheelhouse – trying to fight the strong winds that were blowing.
Apparently, someone else who had heard we were coming in without thrusters thought our arrival would be as entertaining as watching a movie. He made himself some popcorn and sat outside to watch. He wasted his popcorn. We moored up to the pontoon without any problem. Thanks for your help, Becky.