Brittany Canal Day 4

We have a chilly night after the rain, but we're snug in bed under two doonas. We have another leisurely start to the day as we can't get the heating on the boat to function, so there's no incentive to get out of bed. When we do Peter rings the boatyard to find out if there's some button somewhere we've failed to press. It takes several calls to get someone who has enough English to understand the problem, and then the answer seems to be that they'll have a look when we return the boat. We make some calls to family and friends, then, out of the blue, a technician appears who has no English at all. He and Peter establish via sign language that the heater doesn't work, he disappears, then returns about 10 minutes later with a blow heater we can plug in when on shore power. Peter tests it out drying a pair of pajama pants. Meanwhile I've started a midday Zoom with friends. As it starts the sun comes out.

When the Zoom ends we go ashore for another creperie lunch - at a different cafe because the one we patronised yesterday is fermé jeudi. The galettes are equally delicious (sauteed leeks in cream, topped with smoked salmon). We walk around La Gacilly again, buy some postcards, cross to the other side of the river to see a lot more of the "Australia and Beyond" photo exhibition. By now it's sunny and warm and I can feel myself getting sunburnt.

La Gacilly in afternoon sunshine

Amazing large photos of Australia on walls

Our boat, from the bridge (middle of picture)

There is major construction work going on around the weir, so we stop on the bridge and watch that for a while before returning to the boat. We debate whether to stay in La Gacilly another night and leave in the morning, or to return to the spot where we stayed on Tuesday night. I suggest we move at about 5pm, because I think there will be fewer boats coming upstream late in the afternoon, removing the excitement and challenge of avoiding them in the narrow L'Aff. We leave at 5pm exactly and don't see another boat. We do see a kingfisher and a heron, lovely.

Lovely peaceful journey down tree-lined L'Aff

When we get back to the junction with the canal we found there are two other boats on the jetty, but there's still plenty of room for us. We go ashore to plug in to shore power and find that we no longer have any credit. After a bit of head-scratching we go back on board and read the manual (in French) a bit more carefully and realise that there was a turn off process that we failed to execute when we left the first time, so we've probably provided someone else with several Kwh of free electricity, because our card now has zero credit. Dommage! Our newly acquired heater is useless. We think we can get the card topped up at our next destination, but for now, no 220v power.

Just as we return to the boat, it starts raining. Nothing for it but to grab the washing pegged to the lifelines and bring it in, then to open the wine, and feast on bread and cheese and the salads we bought in Redon (now a bit soggy, but OK).  Hopefully it won't be as cold as last night, but we can always dive below the double doonas to make up for the lack of heat.