The morning after - the ice is frozen solid. Other barges are moored nearby permanently so we start talking to some owners. There is a small town close by, so shopping would not be a problem, but there is no electricity (well we could survive with the generator) but there is also no fresh water.  Residents use water purification systems and use water from the canal.

So what does the VNF (Voies Navigables de France - Canal Authorities) do while all this is going on - they mow the banks of the canal! Remember it is January and all is frozen.

But later in the morning there is action. A lock-keeper from the VNF stops by, and tells me that they could send an ice-breaker tomorrow. It looks that even the VNF was surprised by the ice. They also tell me that later in the morning a commercial barge from the Fehr concrete factory will drive by. There are two commercial barges, they ferry gravel between Strasbourg and Hochfelden. The VNF suggests we follow the barge up to Hochfelden. In Hochfelden is a VNF maintenance base, a small port and drinking water.