On our return to Homps from Toulouse Airport, we had bought a new starter battery, as a timely check had flagged up the fact that our old one was well past its best. We also popped into the boatyard at Ramonville for a recce. We left Homps on April 2 nd and cruised the short distance to La Redorte, where we stayed two days.
The port at La Redorte was very quiet and had also been awash with floodwater back in October, so the electrics where we were moored were not working. Thankfully our solar panels were, as was our generator. Several Midi locks are doubles or triples and they kept us on our toes during the next month. Our next stop was in Marseillette on the now redundant water pontoon. The town boasts one grocery shop, one bar and quite a few ex-pats; some of whom we joined in the bar on the second evening when there was a band playing.
The town is now almost back to normal, with a new town quay and car park near the River Aude. Moorings are once again available between the top of the lock and the town, although mooring on the town quay itself is not possible owing to the lack of rings or posts. The approach to Trebes lock with its huge breach has also been repaired and when we passed through the pont canal beyond the town it was still undergoing repairs. Geoff had now moved up to a mooring near Le Boat. Our cruise to Carcassonne was quiet, with very little canal traffic.
The damage caused by the flash floods on the way into the town was very evident. All credit to the VNF which ensured that the Canal du Midi was open for the start of the season. Many areas of the canal bank, already weakened by the removal of diseased trees, have had to be rebuilt.
Huge sections of the canal have had to be repaired between Carcassonne and Trebes. With the car almost sorted we left the following day having removed just the wheelhouse side roof panels once again. On previous occasions we had dropped the whole wheelhouse for some of the low bridges, but hoped our new method would suffice. The weather had been quite unsettled since leaving Homps and we were pleased to be able to stop above the double lock at Lalande for a couple of days as the temperature dropped and the rain fell.
