Noah's Ark!

Here we are still in Migennes. We were due to go into the water three days ago, but the Yonne River is in flood and it was too dangerous.

We left our friends Chantal and Christian and moved aboard Anja. The boat is sitting on blocks a few metres from the edge of the river, where there is a stone quay. After a day of rain on Friday, the river level continued to rise and was flowing extremely fast (over 10km/hr). It overtook the opposite banks and then it came over the top of the quay where we are. The staff had to work hard to ensure that the boats moored in the river did not float ashore.

We had to go to the bathroom via a ladder and then wading through several centimetres of water.

On Sunday morning, the water had retreated back to the top of the quay. Then, Sunday evening, we received word that a bigger flood was on its way. The fir brigade (Pompiers) started closing roads and we moved some of our things to high ground. By Monday morning, the water was higher than before and invaded all the workshops with the staff again being occupied moving tools, welders and other things to safety. Some of the equipment cannot easily be moved and is now under water.

Now, we are knee-deep around Anja! Here is a photo. It looks like we are in the water, but in fact, we are in the water on the land!

Best Regards,
Dave and Penny

PS- more blogs are in preparation while we wait.