Coldest yet, but the sun is on it's way

Freezing, can't do work on the barge. I'm even heating the engine room...
As it's been so cold I decided to begin to look for work for the up and coming season on the hotel barges.
Fantastic luck, I found a vacancy on a nice looking barge.
I saw the owner last Friday and he took me on straight away. I've known him for a few years, but I've been working with his competition for the past seasons. His offer was interesting and the barge has everything to make a pilot's job worthwhile and not a constant nightmare of breakdowns.
I piloted the barge a few times before. It's only 100 ft long, good engine, hydraulic steering, some keel to keep off the wind when locking through. There is a nice remote control for steering the barrge when going through locks, which means I can look along the side as I put the boat in to the lock. Better than hitting the wall :)
The boat will be cruising in a calm and pretty part of the Burgundy canal. I'll be off to check her out in a couple of weeks. You never know what has happened during the winter season.