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Anne Marie and Michel left on Thursday 13 April as it looked as if it would take quite a while to get the engine sorted and they had to be back for Monday. There was the added attraction of a chance to ski over the weekend. Eventually the engine was ready on Monday and I set off. I had trouble at the first lock following a barge his wash turned Sufiana round and I had to put a line ashore again. At the next lock the bargee and I decided that he should enter the locks first, Sufiana would tie alongside him near the bow and leave first. He would then overtake before the next lock. This worked very well. For ecluse Port Renard he told me to go ahead as the lock was “assez long” and so it was.
I reached Saint Mammes at 1911 and all was well till a moored French bargee of Saudi parentage on JOSTHER 12.13327 F ran his engine in gear at full speed just as I was tying up alongside a Belgian yacht - Joie de Sol - going to the med. I put another line ashore astern but one of Joie’s mooring lines still broke under the strain.
The second day on the Seine was a different story. The water was a bit rougher and every barge that passed left waves for 10 minutes during which time I had to throttle the motor back to tick-over. Passed and chatted with Fair Endeavour from Cork. I arrived at Alfortville too late for the lock. During the day I had covered 32 NM through the water and 80 km over the ground in 11 hours 12 min of which 2 hours 39 min was spent in locks.
At 0715 on Wednesday I started the engine and drove into the lock. While the engine was ticking over it stopped and would not start again. I towed Sufiana out of the lock and tied up and tried to start the engine. It turned a bit then locked solid. I went and chatted with the lock keeper who advised me to go back through the lock as the mooring downstream was poor. I called John and arranged for the crew to meet me at Alfortville next day. Simon and Steve arrived about 1500 and took the engine away. They returned at 2200 having replaced the bearings and rebuilt the engine.
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