7th - 12th June 2015
Our seven kilometer exploration up-stream to Bessan from the Round Lock at Agde on the wide river Herault, for just a few days was quite exciting and very beautiful; but I remember being rather grumpy at being harnessed for the duration of this deviation, excepting for our short stay at this small town itself where there was an extraordinary floating pontoon as shown below.
Both Teddy and I never wandered far from home when we knew we weren't staying long. It seemed a good idea, just in case we got left behind by mistake.
After a beautiful morning's down-stream cruise back to the Round Lock we turned left onto the Herault estuary with five kilometers to the Mediterranean Sea. I sensed that neither Bigdad nor Mum had any real plan for how we were going to spend the next three days before the 15th nor did they have a clue as to where they were going to tie up for the next three days.
.. 
On and on they went whilst clearly enjoying the wonderful wide estuary views with masses of private boats on either side together with sea fishing vessels of all sizes and much commerce. Bigdad was able to get a good view of the sling crane, booked to lift us out, at Allemand's Boatyard as we slowly passed by, searching for a place to tie up and prepare for our scheduled departure. Finally, with some trepidation, Bigdad finds a temporary "slot" between a couple of other leisure craft at Grau D'Agde - by this time we are practically on the Mediterranean Sea and subject to tidal influences. Our temporary pontoon turned out to be ideally situated for the preparation of Body and Soul for her epic journey. There was a lot to do.
With so much going on; the heaving of tidal waves and the slapping of sea underneath the pontoon, the noise from the coffee shops, ice cream parlours, pubs and restaurants just above us; this was another new experience which took a bit of getting used to. I was quite pleased to be harnessed securely to the poop deck cabin doors for three days, often choosing to spend the time curled up on the bed with my paws over my ears. I imagined it was just like being tied up to the peer at Brighton or Blackpool. Teddy felt the same. He was increasingly hot as summer moved on and deprived him of places to walk.
Bigdad busied himself with his generator and clearing the roof of everything, Mum spent time finding fresh fish from the small fishing vessels on the quay and visiting the market - much shopping and cooking done.
All items were to be removed from the roof before lift-out. Bicycles, all flagpoles, storage boxes and aerials. Worst of all was the problem of dismantling the "bimmini" - a sturdy stainless steel framework holding up a decorative sun roof over the poop deck. All these items had to be stored within the cabin - and we had to live with this intrusion until the relaunching at St. Malo.
De-constructing the bimini was a nightmare
