Green Point Greenie

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 25

2016-04-28T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Shangri La headed across the canal and through one last lock on the Burgundy Canal toward H2O to undergo her winterizing. As we approached the lock a car came hurtling around the corner and crashed into the railings on the bridge just before the lock bashing a section of the railing into the very space of water we were about to pass. A minute or two earlier and we might have been bumped on the head. He was lucky most of the railing held in place or he would have ended up in the water. The lock-keeper looked like an 80's rock star - long hair, lean and a few piercings.

The very last lock.

The bollards had been painted to look like toadstools. He indicated to take the ropes and wanted to place us right at the back of the lock. But with davits poking backwards we preferred to sit in the middle of the lock. He did as we asked and gave the Gallic shrug. Then opened the manual locks. The water came through with such unexpected ferocity we had to hang on for dear life and fend to prevent our poor boat getting flung against the side of the lock. The lock-keeper said he knew better but did as we asked. Lesson learned.

St Jean-de-Losne

We had a lady mechanic at H2O who spoke great English. Slight trouble with words for engine and motor parts but a few gesticulations and noises helped clarify what was meant. She had a look at our engine and agreed there was a bit of smoke. An early oil change would be wise and the auxiliary engine functions like fuel injectors could possibly do with an overhaul. We had no idea when that was last done. If ever. Winterizing is done to prevent pipes freezing and bursting. All water is drained from the main tank. She used a food grade anti-freeze for the shower, basins and loo. An engine anti-freeze went into the engine parts that use water. Only thing was, we still had two nights left of the boat and no water.

We always deliberate whether to check into a B and B or stay on the boat. There's last minute cleaning, taking down of awnings, putting up of winter covers, packing away fenders and deck furniture, getting the dehumidifier tubs going and a good few other jobs that need to be done. It's easier to be on the boat. But not having water to wash hand or clean dishes and not being able to use the toilet is a huge inconvenience.

H2O marina St Jean-des-Losne

That evening we watched rugby Rugby World Cup Brasserie de Port that night. France was playing and South Africa was out so we supported our host country. Early the next morning we heard the H2O blokes knocking on our boat. They had already started dragging her toward the slipway. I was still fast asleep but woke up and got dressed super-fast. I grabbed a hoodie and a bowl of breakfast and watched from the quay as Shangri La was towed out the water by a tractor. They guys hosed her down and took her to a spot in amongst all the other boats either being wintered or repaired. It's such a weird feeling not really on the boat - but not yet off her. It's always so hard to say farewell to our holiday home.

Shangri La coming out the water.

My other half had gotten us a train time-table from the Tourism Office so we could travel from St-Jean-de-Losne to Dijon. And from there to Paris. We planned our morning doing last minute things with our train time in mind. Then we set forth with our wheelie suitcases along the little road toward the local Garre (station). You know how sometimes you think you have your day planned - and it turns out NOTHING like you expected? This was one of those days if ever.

My other half doing the oil change.

At the station it emerged that the train time-table - is actually subject to a whole lot of conditions. Not sure who the guy was who helped me as he wasn't in uniform, but he pointed out that the train times indicated had a digit at the top of each column, which unbeknown to us indicated the limited dates the service actually occurred. As it turns out there were NO trains until significantly later.

The next thing to do was race back the 1 kilometre plus along the tiny road toward the Tourism Office and explore our options. The woman there apparently spoke English. But actually didn't. She mentioned one bus in three hours time but seemed to think we had to go all the way back to the train station to catch the bus. All she could tell us about the train service was what we now knew. The one and only taxi service wasn't open. Luckily for us our lady mechanic drove past us and stopped to chat. We explained our predicament and she kindly offered to help.

St Jean-des-Losne

She phoned a guy who travels from Dijon to St-Jean-de-Losne daily to find out how he does it. He confirmed there are very few trains. Then offered to ask someone to drive us to Dijon. Or - if we could hold out - she would take us when she went on lunch. I cannot begin to explain our immense gratitude to this woman. We were more than happy to wait at the local café for her. The minutes felt like hours and when she arrived in her van I could have kissed her feet. But first, this is France, she invited us for lunch. Lunch was a surprise. We had to tell her that we don't eat meat and an uncomfortable look flashed through her eyes. As we arrived at her vintage Dutch barge she explained it to her partner. Who had made a meat stew. Awkward moment if ever! But these two so rose to the challenge. They rustled up an amazing meal. Home-made humous. French bread. Pickled peppers. Shredded beetroot salad. We picked out the meat and ate the veggies from the stew. I wouldn't normally do that but in situations like this I do. And we had a lovely glass of Burgundy wine. Of course.

Then we dashed off for Dijon. Oh my Word! It's a HUGE place. We got a bit lost but my husband produced MapsMe on his Smartphone and yet again we were saved. Some modern inventions I can do without. Fast food is one of them. But life without MapsMe is unthinkable. I don't get paid to say that.

The Captain.

The next train to Paris was a few hours away so we had a little wander about Dijon before we finally got to Paris and checked into our hotel. Not sure how we are going to get to St Jean-des-Losne next year? But that was the end of almost three months of the waterways. I've said this before, I would never have imagined traveling on a boat, let alone on the waterways of Europe. This holiday had some stressful times but we have had the most amazing experiences on our beloved Shangri La. I have to thank my other half for this.

Shangri La is getting some much needed upgrades and Summer 2016 we will be boating in and around the Burgundy region. We want an easy year and have less time. You can read all about those trips on my blog.

Au revoir.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 24

2016-04-21T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Once on the Saône River we had one last lock to Pontailler-sur-Saône where we planned to spend two nights. We had mountains of washing and were desperate to catch on communcations. We found a lovely hire boat marina with everything - except - laundry facilities. And a guy who spoke perfect English. The relief at getting this far, being able to buy food, have wi-fi and take a day or two out was immense. We dashed up to the marina office with our lap-tops but alas, mine did not want to know this marina. I had to transfer all my important stuff onto my husband's portable hard-drive and of course I had forgotten my password. By the time we got sorted the shops had closed and the heavens opened. Rain came down in sheets. The last thing we wanted was to move. We had plenty wine, a few cracker biscuits and half a jar of red sauerkraut. That was supper. Both of us were in bed and asleep by 21.00pm.

Laundry on the back of the boat

With a free day we did a mini walk around Pontialler-sur-Saône. Gorgeous place. It's also a hub for hire boats so there was a lot more going on in terms of boats and boating stuff. We found all sorts of things to buy at the marina. An extra long boat hook and some water-proof gloves for me. More maps for my husband. We also contacted the previous owners to find out a bit more about the engine. One thing we did not want was to be scrutinised by lock-keepers on our next holiday. If it meant an engine overhaul - or even a new green engine - then we would have to be open to that. Luckily for us the previous owners have always been generous with information regarding our boat. It was their home for a good few years too. I cannot bear to think of the day we have to part with Shangri La. We also found a nice big supermarket with lots of yummy things so did a stock up. There was a laundry at the camp-site across the river so we took a walk there to find out what the procedure was. It's a 2 kilometre walk, hardly a hardship. But carrying a big bag of clothing made it a touch difficult.

Pontialler-sur-Saône

Our next morning we got up really late. The marina is so quiet it's easy to oversleep. It was so nice to have time to just be. We did a quick catch up on commms again and got chatting to one bloke working at the marina. We asked about the problem we had with locks not working. He was saying that it's as much of a problem for hire-boat companies. They get calls from customers stuck in locks. They also have to get boats around to fit the needs of clients and cannot afford to wait for a lock to open. He said he often waves his jacket in front of the sensors to re-set the lock. Or if a lock won't open, as a result of filling due to leaks, he gives the lock gates a gentle nudge with the boat. Not sure we would want to use our boat to open a lock but the jacket idea might come in useful.

Pontialler-sur-Saône

We piled our washing in a big blue IKEA bag, strapped it to our wheelie shopper and took it to the camper site. The washing machine was able to take big loads but the dryer was a disaster. I ended up with a heap of wet washing. But one thing did work. My lap-top happily connected to their wi-fi. I was grateful it worked and that I didn't have a serious problem. I also had the Gerald Morgan-Grenville - Barging into Burgundy - book with me to pass the time whilst doing the laundry. As I said earlier, he wrote this book forty, maybe even more years ago. It's amazing how not much has changed. He certainly gets himself and his crew into all sorts of messes. It's a light, fun read. My other half in the meantime gave Shangri La a much needed clean. He scrubbed the awnings and muck on the sides of the boat from the fenders and moss in the locks. She was gleaming when I got back.

Pontialler-sur-Saône

The following day we got going for Auxonne. There we bumped into another boat we passed a few times on the waterways and got chatting. Lovely couple from Australia. Auxonne is just like many of these old villages. The French are known for being resistant to change and I guess in some ways it's a good thing. A person can walk the streets of a town and imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago. We did a wander about and found a place to have something to eat. Then stocked up on food as well as a detour into a Boulangerie. They are SO hard to resist.

Leaving Pontailler

The other boaties invited us for a drink on board their boat and we were happy to accept. They also have a Valkkruiser but theirs is a touch bigger. We were keen to see how that translated into layout. They have a lovely boat and like us are very happy. From Auxonnne it was off to our last stop and the place where we planned to winter Shangri La - St-Jean-de-Losne. My husband had pre-booked for our boat to come out the water. One nice thing about meeting fellow boaties is they share information and it would seem our apprehension at leaving our boat in the water during winter was possibly unfounded. We live in South Africa which is far away and we would rather she was up on dry land but we may re-consider this approach in time.

Back in the locks

St-Jean-de-Losne was nothing like I imagined it would be. It's one of THE boating places in France but the town is so small. The marina wasn't all that. The floating ablution block could have done with a clean. But the wifi was excellent. We arrived on a Monday when nothing happens anyway and the day was taken up locating all the various people my husband had been in contact with and finalising arrangements for the boat.

We also made contact with the world again letting people know we were still alive. The next day the cafés opened and the town looked a whole lot busier. We piled yet more washing into our IKEA bag and set out for the Laverie. How does a person generate so much laundry? Once the washing was going my husband tempted me into sharing a pichet (carafe) of vin de table (house wine). We sat under vines at a café next-door looking over the River Saône watching myriad boats floating up and down. St-Jean-de-Losne is a major juncture for a whole lot of canals and waterway routes. It's goes back eons. What's nice about this area - and handy for the next few years of boating - is there are relatively few locks, lots of lovely old towns and the area is geared for boats and boating.

The story continues - next week.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 23

2016-04-07T12:00:00.001+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

As we were about to enter the tunnel we discovered that - contrary to the French guide book - the height was NOT 5.7 metres but only 3.5 metres. We discovered this as we were about to enter the tunnel. My husband switched gears and headed backwards fast so we could drop our awnings while our boat drifted in the water. Once we got that sorted, we made a second attempt to enter the tunnel. I had the torch shining forward. Inside the tunnel we saw they had installed huge big fans overhead. The trip through the tunnel takes just over an hour. Our boat had a metre clearance on either side. The guide book mentions there is debris, logs and litter floating in the water. This we could see. After 20 minutes the torch light started fading and we now faced doing this transit in complete and utter darkness except for the glow of our navigation lights which was by no means sufficient. Have I mentioned I am claustophobic? I was terrified.

Balesmes Tunnel

At first we were bumping the sides of the tunnel so went very, very slowly. It could also have been logs floating in the water bumping into us. After a while our eyes became accustomed to the darkness. My husband figured out that if he lined up the hand-rails of our boat with the middle rung of the towpath in his line of vision as he was driving, he would be more or less in the centre of the tunnel. My job was to try and see if we veered too close to either side and fend with my hands if need be. I tried to take some photos. The flash popped up scaring the living daylights out of my other half. It was too dark to get a decent pic. We knew there was another boat ahead of us and we thought we were catching up on them as we saw a light getting bigger and bigger up ahead. We went slower fearing we might bash into them. In such darkness any light is bright. You can't make out what it is. Turned out it was actually the light at the end of the tunnel and not another boat. We were glad when that was over.

Light at the end of the tunnel

We stopped at Piépape that evening and went for a walk. It's a teeny, weeny little town with a handful of houses. Some run down. All beautiful. Centuries have passed but not much has changed in Piépape which only adds to it's charm. The sign next to our mooring and the French guide indicated there was a supermarket nearby but it had closed some time back. I love the French word for a picnic spot - Halte Pique-Nique. There was an apple tree laden with fruit so we stopped and filled my bag with a good few wild apples. We slept in total darkness that night. No street lights, no nothing. So peaceful.

Piépape

Each day we set out hoping to have a problem free day. We could ill afford delays. It had been arranged the previous day that we would kick off at Lock 12. By 09.05am we phoned to find out when the lock would open. At 09.30am a lock-keeper arrived and got things going. Things were looking good. Then a large barge came out a lock and never saw us. We hooted but it was too late. He pushed us aground. We struggled to get going again. There were three more barges passing at the next three locks so we had to wait for them. We weren't willing to risk getting stuck again. And there isn't much space to pass comfortably on the canals. These barges are huge and have to drive extra slow as they are scraping the bottom of the canal. You can see mud swirling behind them as they pass. How do they fit in the tunnels?

The other difficulty we encountered was low bridges as you exit the locks. The guide book has one height, the warning sign for low bridges has another height and the actual height we found is something else. We had a system where I would stand on the fore-deck and hold my hand up. If it touched the bridge we knew we were in trouble. We decided to take everything down and rather keep our precious boat safe.

Piépape

The rest of the day our remote control operated at whim. We could never figure out why sometimes it worked and other times not. Was it wind, rain, the distance or direction we pointed that affected it? We stopped being shy and kept pushing the button until we got our "Get Ready" lights. These locks leaked so badly that as fast as they emptied they started filling again. That caused the lock gates to refuse to open. We hoped to keep going until closing time which is 18.00pm - one last lock - before we tied up. We got there 17.30pm and the lights were off. Had it been switched off or was it broken? It would have been nice to get that last lock under our belts but we were dog tired. We tied up outside the lock. There was nothing for miles and we knew it was going to be a quiet night. We love those. There is something particularly special about being in the middle of nowhere, in nature, in total darkness, the only sounds that of trees or birds.

Wild stop with not a soul around

The following day we decided to phone VNF early to make sure we could get through the lock by 09.00am. They assured us a lockie would be there by 09.00am. Five minutes past nine, a lady lock-keeper arrived and we got going. One thing that did concern us was graffiti scrawled in black marker pen on the sides of the locks saying "H2O = Voleurs" (H2O are thieves) We had pre-booked our boat to be wintered there. Hopefully it wasn't true. At the very last lock on the Canal Entre Champagne and Bourgogne we got stuck in the lock. Again. This was probably our fault. A person is supposed to drop the remote control in a box, pull the gadget, jump back on the boat and it should all work perfectly. We were too scared to part with the remote control and were pushing the button furiously.

Nowheresville

Finally a woman spoke from the call box which scared the life out of my husband as he hadn't called the Help Centre. She could see him via surveillance camera which scared him even more. She asked him to please put the remote in the box. Which he did. They activated the lock and let us go. Phew!

The story continues - right here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 22

2016-04-07T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

We were aiming for Langres as our next stop. The route has manual locks - no remote controls. Our lock-keeper drove past our boat as we were loosening our ropes which was most encouraging. We met him at the first lock. He was a rather serious looking bloke who had a habit of muttering to himself. I kept thinking people were walking past on the towpath and only later realised it was our lockie talking to himself.

En route to Langres

He of course spoke no English and was - we think - trying to ascertain what our travel plans were. If the language gap is hard for us it must be as difficult for the French people we talk to. Trouble is, we think we're speaking French. We understand each other but we're learning from the same source. We resorted to writing what we needed to convey in the hope that would make it easier for people to understand us since our pronunciations must be atrocious.

Condes Tunnel

The lockies in this section of the canal wear full VNF overalls and a life jacket. It's hard work winding these ancient locks and coaxing them into action. Fortunately these blokes work right through lunch time and Sundays so we could keep going. Next thing a youngster arrived on a scooter in regular clothes to take over from our lockie. This bloke had some incentive for sure. He had prepared the upcoming locks before meeting us and worked the locks with Olympic speed. He had no time for small talk. I wondered if they were being tested as future candidates or perhaps were paid per lock?

View from the boat

We found Langres easily and tied up to rings. Nice not to have to use our stakes as we never got around to buying a hammer. The service was free but electricity was limited to 3 hours per day - an hour in the morning, one at noon and a last hour at night. There was water - but no hoses. They provide hoses at most places in Holland but not in France. And there was a toilet minus a seat. No toilet paper. Not the best facilities.

Facilities in Langres

Langres is built up on a hill 3 kilometres from the little port. It's a hellava steep climb. Both of us needed to stop and rest every now and again. We saw a bus go past but never thought to look for a stop. It is exactly the sort of place we hoped to see on this trip. An old walled village with towers and gates, many still in tact. Langres is apparently one of the 50 most beautiful places in France. We had to sneak another day out of our hectic schedule to see more of this lovely place.

One thing that really irks me is some people have unlimited travel time on the waterways. Yet I have a 90 day limit. We met some Brits who had been in France for 18 months. It comes down to where you're born and has nothing to do with your character or integrity. EU, British, Australian and a few other nationals are free to spend as much time as they wish in France. The rest of the world need a visa. So Nelson Mandela or the Dalai Lama would have restrictions despite their humanitarian efforts and the Yorkshire ripper or any other criminal born in the right place can roam France indefinitely.

Langres

We made a slow start to the next day and ambled back up the steep hill toward the old city. En-route was a local supermarket. We popped past to check what they had and what time they closed so we could shop on our way back to our boat. Supermarkets in France often have restaurants where you can get bargain meals. There was a brasserie there but I suspect it was privately owned. Locals were standing around the bar having a café or a glass of wine and buying Lotto tickets. An elderly couple were having an early lunch. We decided to have a café and something to eat. I was surprised that the staff were drinking wine along with the customers. Before noon as well. Things work differently in France.

Map of panoramic view from Langres

The cheery waitress came over and rattled off a whole bunch of stuff so fast. My other half and I looked at each other and tried to decipher what she had just said. Then it dawned on her - we were Anglais. We quickly mentioned that we don't eat meat and she picked up the menu and tried to find something for us. Every suggestion she made had cheese. In the end we let her go off and get creative knowing our meal might have have cheese. I got a big plate of salad and tomato with diced potato and baked goats cheese on French bread. It was tasty and she tried to accommodate us which we appreciated. Our waitress was thrilled to get a tip. They don't seem to expect a gratuity in France.

Lac de la Liez in the distance

Back up the hill we found the outer wall that circles Langres and set about walking it. The circumference is 3 kilometres long and the views are incredible. On a clear day you can apparently see the Alps. We hoped to see the Des Vosges mountains which are a little closer but I think it was too cloudy. There is a map showing you what you can see and where. Then we popped into the Tourism Office to catch up on Internet related stuff like e-mails. And bought some sinful foods at the Boulagerie/Patisserie. Which we devoured with a cup of tea back at our boat.

Old wall and towers around Langres

We had some catching up to do after a day out so made an early start. We followed a French boat toward the first lock. The locks are supposed to open at 09.00am but nothing happened. We saw the French lady the boat in front on her mobile phone. At 09.20am a lady lock-keeper arrived to get the locks going. She helped us through the first and the second lock. Then she mentioned that there were no lights in the 5 kilometre long Balesmes Tunnel. Did we have a searchlight so we could make our way though? This we did not have. She gave what we have come to know as the Gallic shrug and left it at that. My other half managed to connect all our extension leads together and plugged in our re-chargeable torch to make sure it had power. Then he turned on all our navigation lights.

The story continues - on this link.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 21

2016-03-31T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Lock house en route to Joinville

Joinville was lovely. We arrived on a Tuesday evening when they have late night shopping - until 19.00pm. We stayed on the banks of a hotel. Good facilities, electricity, water and yes - they had wi-fi! There was space for about four boats. One of which was a beautiful old wooden Dutch barge with four similar looking barefoot, long haired, bearded French blokes in scruffy clothes and one elderly lady. Not sure if she was the matriarch or a sugar mommy. Our initial impressions of them were not favorable I'm ashamed to say but they rushed to help us tie up, offering their own mooring stakes. I felt so bad for judging them on appearance. They were heading for Montpellier and ultimately Las Palmas. Wow! That was ambitious boating if ever.

It had become now routine to get going as soon as possible and keep going as long as we could. We knew one thing, we did NOT want to be behind the old Dutch barge. Lovely as she is, and benevolent as her occupants were, she would be going very, very slowly. We couldn't afford any additional time delays. As we were leaving Joinville, who should we see moored at another spot further along? The Belgians! They who caused us so much grief with their fuel leaking into the water. That made us even more resolute to keep going as much as we could.

The canal en route to Joinville

We managed to get the remote control to work. Even if it meant pressing it a few times until we got a green light despite dire warnings never, ever, to do so. Only twice did we encounter no lights at the locks. Both times the lockies were actually doing repairs and had disabled them. These lockies saw us coming and were most helpful. In fact this pair of lockies were fabulous. VNF should clone them. They were furiously greasing hydraulic arms, clearing weed from the waterways and opening bridges for us. The one guy spoke English willingly and they even helped us tie up our boat that night. They also pointed out that we were required to pre-book a lock-keeper to take us through the manual locks the next day - before - 15.00pm. However they would take care of it. We had heard this before. Time would tell.

Joinville

Our stop that night was Viéville. Also shrouded by tall trees and a beautiful and peaceful spot. We had hoped to get a little further but an almighty wind came up and blew our boat all over the place. Rain plus thunder and lightning helped us make the decision to stop. We didn't want to risk entering or exiting locks in those conditions. Fortunately we had been doing this continuous boating in perfect weather. Not too hot. Nor heavy rain or cold. The weather forecast had predicted rain but we had been lucky to avoid the worst of it which helped us get that little bit further each day to catch up the extra distance we had incurred. Further inland weather changes are not as drastic or as extreme as they are closer to the coast. Which is probably why boating in Champagne and Burgundy is so popular.

Viéville

The next day we were full of confidence that we had - at last - got the lock thing mastered. As we entered our second lock, it would not close behind us. Another phone call. Luckily the number to call was stuck with tape onto our remote control. It was also on a leaflet given to us when we received the remote for this section of the canal. To be fair, VNF always send someone to sort out issues. Usually within half an hour. But half an hour here and ten minutes there add up to an hour plus a day. Something we never anticipated. We wondered at times if we were stupid or plain unlucky. Each time we asked other people if they had difficulties with the locks, without exception everyone had experienced some degree of problems.

When the eclusier (lock-keeper) arrived he had more bad news. The wind from the day before had blown a tree down blocking the canal after Lock 28. His suggestion was for us to stop at a pontoon just before Lock 29 and tie up, then phone the control office after lunch. We did as advised and got ready for a walk along the tow path to see this great catastrophe, but also hopefully to find out when we could get moving again. The weather had turned and rain was pouring down. I was glad for a change of clothing. Five metres away from our boat a VNF van passed us and we flagged them down. According to them the canal had been open for some time. We tied up for nothing. One can only conclude these guys don't speak to each other.

Stuck in a lock

Motoring at a brisk walk or slow jog pace along the canal is mesmerising. I saw faces in the trunks of the trees and clouds. It was early autumn and the tips of the trees were turning golden and rust coloured. Leaves were floating softly to the ground. Blue cranes lurched from just ahead to further ahead as our boat approached them. One wonders why they never fly away. Ducks, a Kingfisher or two and even the odd water rat darted in front of our boat. Yes, our fate was in the hands of VNF and their locks but at this point they were our only worries. Without Internet we had no idea what was going on with our families and in the world. The banking system could have collapsed or a third world war could have broken out and we would be blissfully unaware.

VNF trying to fix the lock

Our boat passed sleepy little villages and old lock-keeper houses. Some empty and lonely. Some were homes. I have no idea if the occupied lock houses are for VNF staff or are sold off to gain income. We noticed quite a few quirky ones. There is a tendency to place pots or wheel barrows or old ploughs over the front and fill them with bright coloured plants. Garden ornaments are another popular feature at these houses. One had a plethora of gnomes but just two of them were flashing their private parts. Another home was a shrine to the French star Johnny Hallyday. A giant cut-out of him loomed in the upper window and he was painted on the wall at the front of the house.

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 20

2016-03-24T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Parny-sur-Saulx

From Pargny-sur-Saulx we did another 21 kilometres plus 8 locks and arrived in Vitry-le-Francois at 15.00pm. The region we traveled through is known as the Valley of Seventy referring to the 70 locks descending into the valley. And the seventy ascending up and out the valley. From brochures and travelling through we could see it was a lovely region. There is a green cycle route that follows the canal. I must say the tourism office at Vitry-le-Francois were outstanding. We mentioned we had a key from Bar-le-Duc and they got hold of the regional office for us. They paid us back our deposit and we returned the key to them. We knew we needed extra fenders with all the bouncing in the locks and they located a boating shop who were happy to drive out to meet us on the waterways with fenders. They also gave us a weather report. Kudos to them. We did a quick walkabout in Vitry-le-Francois and resolved to get going the next day for Saint Dizier before the rain set in.

When we arrived back at the marina we noticed a noise coming from our boat. And could see water pumping out the bilge. Instant panic! We turned off the water pump and opened up the decks to hear water dripping and saw the hull was full of water. Have I mentioned how lucky I am that my husband is a handy guy? He checked the water tanks. Empty. He took off his shoes and as he stepped onto the carpet in the bedroom he noticed it was waterlogged. That gave him a clue. He checked the shower and it turned out a pipe to the basin had slipped off. The water pump reads that situation as an open tap and pumped 750 litres - our entire water supply - through that pipe. The water had run all over the cupboards, spilled out the bathroom and into the carpet in the bedroom.

Vitry-le-Francois

Luckily we have a boat full of tools and spares. And someone who knows what to do. My other half re-fitted the hose and clamped it back on. He checked all the other hoses. And added that to our growing list of things to ultimately have replaced. We lifted the carpet, placed it on the back deck and mopped up the water. Fortunately we had access to unlimited water and were able to fill our tank. At a wild stop this would have been a disaster situation.

The next day was another full day with 30 kilometres and 14 locks. Except we were ascending again. More deep locks. I walked between the locks if they were close together but would jump off the boat just before the lock if they were too far apart. Naturally the remote failed a few times. The itinerant lockie exchanged it for us. And the lights didn't work at one of the locks. But by now we were getting used to things not working. We were also travelling with a carpet draped over the front of our boat which might have appeared unusual.

Waiting for a big barge to squeeze through a lock

We arrived in Saint Dizier at 17.00pm on a Sunday evening. Not a lot we could do at that time except have a quick walkabout, then back to the boat for a shower and a glass or three of wine. The approach to Saint Dizier is industrial and not particularly appealing. The first mooring point is next to derelict buildings and the second mooring point is a mass of concrete opposite a huge big empty looking place called Centre Nautique. There are electrical and water points at the second stop but they require tokens. We spoke to a French couple tied up there and they had no idea how or where to purchase these tokens. If locals couldn't figure it out what chance did we have? So we resolved to stay put next to a glass recycling point. Cars drove up and flung bottles into this thing all night long. My other half had business to take care of the next day which required wi-fi. We would have to find a wifi cafe or some way to get Internet.

Our next day was a much needed slow start. I got on top of clearing and labeling my photos, caught up on this diary and cleaning. My husband spent the day sorting out a bunch of issues via e-mail and on the phone. He was back and forth from the Tourist Office so he could have access to wi-fi. I should have tried to see Saint Dizier but it was raining and I had no desire to. It's amazing how a mooring spot can affect a person's feelings about a place.

St Dizier

One thing we could have used is an honest and truthful account of which places to stop and which to avoid. I found a book called Barging into Burgundy by Gerald Morgan-Grenville in amongst a stash inherited from my husband's cousin lurking in a cupboard on our boat. It was printed in 1975 yet it's surprisingly apt in many respects. He describes Saint Dizier thus - "Soon we were entering the vastly unattractive industrial complex of St Dizier and from here to Vitry the canal runs straight, through plain scenery without distractions." So maybe it wasn't just me. The French waterways guides paint every place in a perfect light. But I think it unwise to tempt people to the less attractive places. Those become memories and associations.

Truthfully, the trip from Void to Saint Dizier wasn't the most exciting. Morgan-Grenville wasn't impressed the upcoming part of our trip either. He says of Chaumont - "The town has been badly damaged and is not worth a visit." His main beef was two airfields nearby and supersonic planes flying so low that apparently windows shattered. We heard those planes a few times and had planned an extra night there but after reading that decided to give Chaumont a miss.

St Dizier

I'm reluctant to be unkind about a place because people live there. There is beauty in everything if you look deeper. On the way into Saint Dizier at one of the lock houses a super friendly guy was bragging about the wonders of this region. About MIKO ice cream and local Champagne. I barely understood him but he believed Saint Dizier was too wonderful. To be fair once we left Saint Dizier, the area on the other side of the marina heading south was much nicer. And the scenery only got more and more beautiful. Not far from Saint Dizier was a gorgeous little stopping place called Chamouilley. By the time we got to our next stop Joinville we were feeling a whole lot better about our holiday.

And . . . we realised that the trick to getting the remote control to work, was to ignore the VNF sign telling us when to push the button. This section of the canal the receiver was inside the lock and the closer we got to the lock the greater the chance it would work.

The story continues - on this link.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 19

2016-03-18T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Ligny-en-Barrois

We tied up that afternoon in a place called Ligny-en-Barrois. There was a petrol station right next to the marina. It would have been ideal to top up our fuel canisters but we were too scared to carry any diesel on our boat given the circumstances of the past week. It was a nice enough town but we had no time to explore as we needed to locate a supermarket before the shops closed. There was a Carrefour just over 1 kilometre out of town. And a Brico store which is what they call a hardware shop in France. We took a walk with our wheelie shopper bag.

Ligny-en-Barrois had Internet if you sat right outside the toilets. And it had clean facilities. The shower allowed 10 seconds of luke-warm water. I had to wash my hair with one hand so I could keep the other hand free to push the water button. My other half and I met a lovely Australian couple also trying to get wifi outside the toilets. Their boat was similar to ours, a Dutch steel motor cruiser which they bought around the same time as us. They had done all their boating in France and were heading toward the Netherlands. The opposite to what we had done. We got some really useful tips from them. One thing I wanted to see was what they did with their radar arch. The maximum height on the French waterways is 3.50 metres - with the odd exception. We had to drop our radar arch every morning and it was not only taking up space on the back deck but we kept knocking our heads. Not an ideal situation when dealing with ropes in locks every 500 metres. It's always nice to meet fellow English speakers and share experiences.

Ligny-en-Barrois

Our next day was much easier with only 16 locks and 15 kilometres. While it's easier to set your ropes locking down, the water levels inside those locks was so high that our boat fenders kept finding their way onto the quay and were not protecting our boat. Also the bollards to tie the boat up were so small our ropes kept popping off. They put the bollards at weird intervals so we were either almost at the front of the lock, not close enough to the pole to activate the automated locking process or our ropes weren't long enough to tie up at both ends. But after what we had been through that was plain sailing. Never-the-less, pressure to get to our end point in good time was causing us both quite a bit of anxiety.

I was too scared to use the remote control but my husband seemed to have the knack. At one of the locks he pushed the button and the flipping thing wouldn't work. Again. He tried a few times. Still nothing. We had an action replay of the day before. Me hopping off the boat and walking to the next lock to ask for help. Muddling in French to try and explain. Desperately trying to understand what the call centre said to me.

My other half activating the lock

They managed to open the lock from a control centre. Fortunately the remote control worked after that. We stopped around 15.00pm at Bar-le-Duc and planned to take a much needed day out. The marina was right next to a motor-home facility. They seem to do that in Europe - put all the travelers and happy campers together in one place. A lady pitched up at 18.45 to 19.45pm at the office next to the marina. My husband paid for our two nights, plus a R20 deposit for a key to the facilities and got his receipt to display in the window.

Bar-leDuc

Bar-le-Duc had an old city and a new city. We found a walking guide in English at the marina and went to explore the lovely old medieval section of the town. We also had a meal at a Middle Eastern type cafe. Nothing sexy, a plate of chips and a salad sandwich. With sauce. Plus a pichet (carafe) of red wine. It was nice to do something different. The covered food market was a bit of a let down. A huge hall with only four vendors. However right opposite was a fabulous organic food shop called Bio Clair. Oh. My. Word. Lots and lots of fantastic food options for us. All the things we couldn't find in any of the supermarkets were available and then still more options.

Meal out in Bar-le-Duc

The predicament we found ourselves in was because we had to add extra distance to our planned trip as a result of the Canal des Vosges closing and us finding out far too late. We had to to do quite a bit of back-tracking to get to an alternate route. It was partly our own fault. No-one was surprised the canal was closed. Apparently canals in France flood or don't have enough water and close often. It would have been nice if the lock-keepers had asked us our route and offered advice but it would seem in France it is incumbent on a traveller to foresee any potential problems. The canals in France are divided up into priority canals and non-priority canals. France is big country with 8 000 kilometres of waterways and major waterways take priority over smaller ones. These little under-used canals do not get sufficient attention. Understandably. We would have to be better informed in future travels.

Bar-le-Duc

It was also apparent that very few if any people working on the waterways could or would speak English. We would have to improve our French. You would think in this day and age VNF would have something in place to allow for waterways travellers who don't speak French to receive assistance? Particularly given the frequency a person experiences some kind of glitch passing through the locks?

We made a point of asking fellow travellers if they had problems with the locks. Our experiences were by no means unique. I remembered the words of the Australian guy we met with his Dutch wife returning after spending a few years in France. He commented that things are a lot cheaper in France. But nothing works. Certainly not a day had passed for us without at least one problem with either the telecommand (remote control), the locks or the lock-keepers on the waterways. All this added unexpected time delays to our trip. One other thing we had to do was allow a LOT more time for our trips.

Leaving Bar-le-Duc

The next day we wanted to get to Pargny-sur-Saulx. It was yet another long day so we got ready nice and early. My other half went to return the key at Bar-le-Duc. And collect his refund. The office was supposed to open from 8.30am to 9.30am. By 9.15am we gave up waiting for anyone to arrive and left with the key, leaving a note on the door with our mobile number. No-one bothered to call.

The story continues - right here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 18

2016-03-03T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

An aqueduct - one canal crossing over another

The male lockie helped us with our ropes as the locks are deep. You can't see the bollards from down below inside the lock. Fortunately the other boat had solved his problem and there was no diesel in the water. We went through two more locks with the Belgians.

At the next lock things went pear shaped. We didn't have much space at the back of lock. We thought the lady lock-keeper would help us but she stood watching us battling to reach our ropes up 4 metres without lifting a finger. My husband left the engine and came to help me get my ropes around the bollard and next thing our boat drifted and bashed into the Belgians. Fortunately it wasn't anything serious but the lady lockie chose that precise moment to tell us our boat was leaking diesel. There were two bystanders helping her translate for us. No-one could see it but she insisted. The Belgians asked me what was going on so I explained. They got off their boat came over and a big fat conversation went on between them, the lock-keeper and the bystanders most of which we didn't understand. And then they all agreed there wasn't diesel in the water. There were traces of old oil but nothing serious. She opened the lock and we went on our way.

Looking up from inside a deep lock

We did a few locks with the Belgians and then they stopped for lunch. We made a point of carrying on to the next stopping place so we could continue our journey without them. There was no doubt about it the lock-keepers were keeping an eye on us and it was making us decidedly uncomfortable. The map had a stopping point in a tiny little place called Void which turned out to be right next the local VNF offices. After tying up we walked to the first lock so we could get a sense of what to expect and hopefully read any notices they put up next to the locks. These notices have vital information like - the closure of Canal des Vosges - but in normal sized font on an A4 sheet of paper - and in French. But even that would be OK if we had time to read them. The automated locks allow you three minutes to exit before closing so reading them is actually not possible.

VNF van

While we were at the lock, a lock-keeper arrived and luckily we managed to converse in Fren-glish with a few gestures thrown in. He answered all our questions and our journey through the next day's locks, the returning of the VNF remote control (telecommand) and our passage through the 5 kilometre long Mauvages tunnel was arranged.

When we got back from our walk to the lock, who should be parked right next to our boat? The Belgians. I feel so bad to say this but they were the very last people we wanted to see. We considered moving but decided to stay put and deal with whatever the day presented. We also decided that I would go for a run on the tow path with our boat-hook so I could help with the ropes at each of the 12 locks in the chain.

Helping hold the boat from the side

Another early start the next morning but this time I was in my running gear on the tow path. The lock-keeper was at the first lock only. He showed me how he likes to do ropes. I got some handy tips. We gave back our remote control and he predicted we would get to the tunnel before 13.00pm. We soon developed a little routine. I would help us and the Belgians tie up and then activate the lock. Once the lock gates opened I would jog 500 metres to the meet the boats at the next lock. I got in a 10 kilometre run that day. We got to the tunnel in good time and after a short wait were able to go through. The Mauvages tunnel allows passage at fixed times each way. The guide book says they tow the boats through the tunnel but we were allowed to go through on our own steam. A lock-keeper cycled on the tow path next to the boats. It takes an hour to get through the tunnel. My word it's cold in there. Quite an experience.

It had been a good few days of hard boating and lock upon lock so we stopped at the first stopping place just past the tunnel. Another really small place called Demange-Aux-Eaux. We didn't even try to explore it but I don't expect we would have found much. It was a tranquil spot. We like those.

Inside the Mauvages Tunnel

The following day was yet another day of boating and ceaseless locks but we had to push ahead so we could make sure we got to St-Jean-de-Losne. Fortunately we were locking down. A lock-keeper met us at one of the locks and gave us a new remote control for the next batch of locks. I was the first one to push the button on the remote control. My first attempt - nothing happened. I tried again and still nothing. I was convinced I had caused the lock to shut down. We tried to pull the boat to the side of the canal so I could walk to the next lock and hopefully ask for help. The water level was so low that we ran aground before we could get close enough for me to jump off. Out came the gang plank and I managed to get off the boat with our French-English phrase book and my reading glasses. I left my husband to get the boat unstuck which thankfully he managed to do.

There was an intercom. Good start. Naturally no-one speaks English so I did my best to explain the problem. The lock-keeper who gave us the remote arrived in his lock mobile while I was walking back along the tow path. I jumped into his van and my met husband with the boat at the following lock. The lock-keeper opened the lock just like that. He said he would take us through the next lock to see what the problem was. If the remote was faulty, he would exchange it. This lockie was a hellava nice guy. Talkative too. Problem was I didn't know what we was saying. We passed the French-English phrase book back and forth.

Raising or lowering lights at the lock

Of course everything went perfectly with the remote control and we felt like complete idiots. The lockie explained that we must be the right distance from the activator. And we must point the remote toward the receiver. I suspected we had tried to get too close and gone past the point where the signal would be recieved.

The story continues - on this link.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 17

2016-02-25T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Verdun

My husband shared our respective travel plans with the German couple. They asked which way we were going to St Jean-de Losne. Then asked if we knew that Canal des Vosges was closed. No we did not know that Canal des Vosges was closed! That was part of our intended route. I've mentioned how hot it's been a few times. There was insufficient water so that canal was simply closed and we had no idea this had happened. Our travel route went up in smoke at that moment. Just like that! My other half is British. He's welcome to stay in the EU as long as he likes. I hold a South African passport and am only allowed 90 days in the Schengen countries. Our travel plans would use about 87 days. This was already a tight trip and the very last thing I needed was to be stranded on the waterways. My husband could manage the boat on his own with great difficulty. But not with a dislocated finger.

Verdun

There must be websites and apps with all this kind of information but we had yet to discover them. That evening we took a look at the various maps and considered our options. Our intention was ask as much as we could from various lock-keepers and fellow cruisers as it was unlikely we would have Internet anytime soon. An alternate route at this late stage would add considerable extra days onto our trip. One thing we knew for sure is we were going to have to put in as much motoring as we could.

Rather important notices about closures that we missed

The next morning we left Verdun along with another boat and waited outside the first lock. The lockie was a friendly chap and confirmed that yes, Canal des Vosges was definitely closed. We waved goodbye and a new lock-keeper greeted us at the next lock. He kept gazing into the water and we wondered if there was weed or something lurking there. As we were leaving the lock he shouted after us pointing into the water saying "Huile" (Oil). Our immediate thought was that we were in trouble. Shangri La is over 20 years old and although she comes out the water every year and her engine gets a full service, we have no idea when she last had an overhaul.

En route to St Mihiel

Small confession, she does smoke a bit first thing in the morning. We've been led to believe this is normal with engines when they travel at slow speeds and never heat up properly so not been too worried about it. We had been going very, very slowly on the canal. The German couple told us that waterways officials boarded their boat twice in France and once in Belgium this year. The authorities looked over their papers, checked their boat complied to regulations and made sure they had the requisite safety gear.

At the following lock, the lock-keeper was at it again. He was going round and round the lock talking to us in French. He was prattling so fast we had no idea what was going on. Next thing he was on his phone. More hectic conversation. Now that we looked in the water we saw rainbow coloured streaks. You could smell diesel. The guy on the other boat climbed off his boat and came to speak to us. One of the boats had a problem and neither of us could leave. What we didn't know was how to deal with this. All good and well saying there's a problem but some solutions would have been helpful. Like maybe locating a mechanic for us? We had no idea what to do on a Saturday morning stuck in a lock 4 kilometres outside of Verdun. In France. No one around us spoke English. Our french was way inadequate.

Manual lock

With both engines off my husband and I soon realised it was not oil in the water. It was actually diesel and it wasn't coming from our boat. The other boat had been running their engine in the lock which was creating turbulence and dispersing the oil back toward our boat. That made it difficult to tell who had the problem. The other boat opened up their engine and were doing all sorts of things including putting dish washing liquid in the hull. We stood watching this not knowing what to do. Eventually both boats were allowed to leave the lock. At the next lock - and last lock with that particular lock-keeper - we specifically asked if he was happy and he said "Tres bien". What a relief.

St Mihiel

The next five locks we had another lockie help us though. Both of us were making a point of checking Shangri La and no doubt about it, the other boat was spewing out diesel but we weren't going to say anything. The current lock-keeper wasn't complaining and the last one had said he was happy so we weren't worried anymore. As our boat and the other boat came toward St Mihiel where we planned to tie up we saw a VNF (Voies Navigables de France) white van parked on the road next to the waterways. The Belgian couple tied up and the Belgian guy came to help us with our ropes. We had bonded with this couple over the oil spill drama after all. Next thing we saw another VNF van parked at the quay next to St Mihiel and a guy in a VNF outfit on the quay. He went up to the Belgian guy and a conversation ensued. He handed his phone to the Belgian guy and there was more speaking. We feared we may be next on the phone but fortunately not.

St Mihiel

My other half went over to the Belgians to chat. The Belgian guy said his fuel pipe was leaking into the hull and his automatic bilge pump was pumping it out into the water. He had a spare fuel pipe and was about to replace it. Apparently the VNF people had said they would be checking up on him and if it happened again they would report him to the water police. We did not want to share a lock with them again after that.

The following day we let the Belgians go ahead and held back half an hour before we made a start toward the first lock. At the second lock, we saw double red lights - which means the lock is out of action. And parked next to the lock were - the Belgians. As we were about to tie up too, the lights changed and the locks suddenly opened. We had to go in with them. No way out of it. And inside the lock was not one, but two VNF vans. And two VNF lock-keepers. These are supposed to be automatic locks but we suspect VNF were indeed checking up on the situation. To say we were stressed is an understatement.

A person has to request passage via the manual locks

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 16

2016-02-18T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Dun-sur-Meuse

The terrain was becoming more pastoral. We were on a high plateau. The canal snaked through grain farms while cows munched on greenery in the fields. We had locked up 60 metres since entering France from Belgium. That afternoon we tied at at Dun-sur-Meuse. Another village. You can see all there is in a quick walk-about if you skip the museums. Not sure if there are any. The mooring spot was right next to a motor-home facility. There was a notice next to the quay saying if we planned on going further through the locks - um yes - we had to phone a number given on the board by 15.00pm. It was a bit late for that at 16.45pm. We got chatting to a couple from Yorkshire who come with their camper van to the same place every year. They gave us directions to a little supermarket. We walked past the lock and found a bloke lurking in the office. We explained our dilemma and he seemed to indicate he would be available to open the locks for us. He asked us the time and name of our boat. Problem solved. Or so we thought.

The next morning our eclusier (lock-keeper) was a no show. So we tied up and went looking for the intercom to call for help. These locks are manual. You can't click a button to make them happen. It has to be done by a staff member. The lock didn't have an intercom. Luckily we found another man in an office at the lock. He kindly phoned around and eventually managed to locate someone to come and open the lock for us. It's hard enough trying to speak French but when they reply, they speak so fast, the words are a complete blur. Afterwards I can sort of pick a sentence apart and understand bits of what was said to me. And then you get words in French like - person - which means nobody but can also mean people. How about vingt which is twenty, vent which means wind and vin which is wine - all pronounced the same.

Pastoral scenes

Now I know this happens in English punctuation, think see and sea. Or two, too and to. But the French also drop the ends of their words and add them on to the beginning of the next word. So Je t'aime is actually Je tu aime (I you love). If we did that in English, a sentence like - Let's go - would turn into - Let sgo. And that's not all. A word like aimer - like or love - can have multiple forms. It could be aimé, aimai, aimons, aimerant or aimeraient. No flipping wonder we were battling to understand French.

Quiet countryside

Our lock keeper duly arrived and took us through three locks. Poor bloke had to wind paddles and open bridges by hand to work these locks. He sure earned his lunch break. And then he said au revoir (goodbye) and we headed for the next lock. Not much happening there so we tied up and went to see what was in store. A boat was coming into the lock. We were happy to wait until that was done so we could pass through. The new lockie mentioned that we had to stop and gave us a number. We thought he meant stop and wait for the next lock keeper, so tied up outside the next lock. And phoned the number given to us. Only to be told they had no staff and we were supposed to pre-arrange someone to take us through the locks. We thought we'd done that. Maybe there was a miscommunication with the lock keeper we encountered the day before? Or maybe you have to phone by 15.00pm end of story. Whatever, we were stuck in the middle of nowhere outside a lock about to lose half a day of travel.

My other half on rope duty in a lock

When things go wrong they tend to all go wrong at once. The astrologers blame it on the stars and say a planet is moving the wrong way in your chart. Whatever, we managed to bash our boat tying up to that pontoon. I was standing on the deck ready to tie us up when a gust of wind took the boat and next thing we had a big fat scratch on the side. With an afternoon to spare all of a sudden, my husband decided to sand-paper the scratch down and cover it with paint to prevent the steel rusting. He had his hands full climbing back on board the boat, lost his grip and dislocated his little finger. The best we could do was create a make-shift splint out of a handkerchief and hope it would be OK. We made good use of the afternoon listening to Michel Thomas French CDs and drinking French wine. That was probably the most peaceful night we had to date.

Stuck outside the lock

The next day all went well, the lock-keepers got us through and we tied up in Verdun. It's not shown as a particularly big place on the map but it's a key waterways centre. And a lot bigger than we were expecting. Many of the towns in this area had been destroyed in successive wars and there were quite a few new buildings. Verdun had a lot to offer a visitor but we desperately need to buy food before the shops closed. We had also booked our next day with the waterways staff so we had to leave Verdun. The lock-keeper mentioned a place to shop for organic and healthy foods called La Vie Eclair which means The Lightening Life. We thought that was an interesting choice of name. Then we discovered a massive supermarket called E. Leclerc. We completely misunderstood the lockie. He meant - The E Leclerc. We located E.Leclerc and they sell absolutely everything. Plants, engine oil, tools, appliances and yes, healthy food. We made two trips there.

Stuck outside the lock

I've mentioned that this section of the waterways had been really quiet. I wasn't sure if it is a chicken or egg situation. Perhaps they don't allocate resources because there is so little boat traffic? Or perhaps boaters don't come because it's under serviced? We soon found one reason why. We got chatting to a German couple on the boat in front of us and they regaled us with tales of things going wrong on their boat. One story entailed them entering a lock, he tried to kick the engine out of gear and a cable snapped at that point causing him to smash his boat into the front of the lock. They were such friendly people. Only thing is they both spoke at the exactly the same time. We were trying to listen to each of them as they knew the French waterways well and had lots of useful advice. They mentioned they had been without electricity for the last 5 stops and their batteries were so low they struggled to start their engine in the mornings. We were glad to have our generator.

The story continues - right here.

My other half has his blog - Waterway Wanderer - which you can find - on this link.

And if you can get past our cheezy attempt to show family and friends back home what our boat looks like, you can see a video tour of Shangri La - by clicking here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 15

2016-02-11T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Food on board, carrot salad, lentil salad, aubergines

In the last post I spoke of how easy it was to find suitable food for vegans in The Netherlands and Belgium. This was not the case in France. Certainly not where we were in the north east of France. I Googled health shops in the region and didn't find much. We could found soy milk in Carrefour. However Huit a Huit, Intermarche and Cocinelle supermarkets didn't have soy milk or even oats which I would have thought was a food staple. Vegans rely on items like flax seeds in lieu of eggs. Soy sauce gives a savoury flavour. There was none of that available in these small towns.

Food on board, sesame tofu, zuchini salad, red cabbage salad

What we did find was a scrumptious red pepper tapenade, sun dried tomatoes, olives and a variety of lentils and beans both dry and tinned. We found nuts, dates and dried fruit. The salad oils and vinegars were fabulous and the fresh produce was a dream come true. Full flavoured French garlic, amazing shaped tomatoes like I've never seen before, bright orange sweet potatoes and crisp green salad leaves.They also had a good selection of mushrooms, squashes and pumpkins. Most Boulangeries had pain complet (wholewheat bread). So actually there was quite a bit to eat if we could get past our usual go-to foods.

Ratatouille, masala tea and wild rocket fpr a salad

I resolved to make a few French things, just vegan versions of them. First was Faux Gras made from Puy lentils, Cognac and Champignon de Paris (white button mushrooms).We love raw nut cheeses so that was a possibility with whatever nuts were available. We ate that with with Confit d'Oignons (sweet onion relish). Veganaise is super easy to make with soy milk, Dijon mustard, oil, seasonings and a stick blender. French onion soups sans the fromage or with a noix fromage (nut cheese) would be good.

Food shop up

I wanted to try making a Cassoulet which is a tomato and bean stew - minus meat. Ratatouille is fully vegan. I could use large mushrooms to make a vegan steak. To go with that I could add mashed white beans to mashed potatoes, drizzle it with chopped garlic or Herbes de Provence sauteed in olive oil. It's easy to toast nuts in a pan so they could go onto our salads for a flavour punch. Or I could amp up a salad by adding rinsed beans or lentils.

Organic food shop

There is nothing nicer than a proper French salad dressing and we had all the right ingredients. Mix oil, mustard, vinegar and salt in any clean old food jar, shake, and enjoy. Bean burgers would become a more frequent fixture on our plates. Pears poached in red wine or apples in Cognac are divine typical French foods we could eat. This could be fun rather than an adverse situation.

We're often asked why we want to be vegan. We usually get asked this when we're eating with other people. So meals out and dinner parties are when the topic comes up. Really awkward when a host has gone to a lot of trouble preparing a meal. I need to say this upfront. We're not ethical vegans. Those are the people who are big into animal welfare and animal rights. We're just so grateful we got to realise that an animal-free diet is not only possible but we believe it's an eco-friendly and compassionate way to live. It's also immensely beneficial from a health perspective. We have huge respect for people who try to encourage others to quit eating animal foods but it's not for us. We would rather just share our food with friends. And answer the odd question. People see our life as one of deprivation. They don't realise how much tasty food we can eat. If you're curious as to why people become vegan consider watching the Gary Yarofsy video on You Tube. He's a controversial guy but we think he has a point to make.

In a lock

We left Charleville-Mezieres nice and early, but with the absolute latest lock opening times in mind. At the first lock the button wouldn't work. What a saga. We tried going back and forth to the lock hoping to pass a sensor or a remote camera. To no avail. We looked for a number to phone in our book or a number advertised somewhere on the side of the canal but alas nothing. Then we tried to find somewhere where I could jump off the boat and go to the lock to make a call on the intercom but there was nowhere nearby to stop. Eventually so much time had passed we felt brave enough to press the button on the remote again and just like that the lights flashed and the lock sequence started. I need to mention you are strictly warned never, ever, to press the button twice or you will cause the lock system to shut down. Either the first press of the day doesn't work. Or perhaps I held the button down too long? Maybe not long enough? Who knows what went wrong. We were grateful to get going and not lose any more time.

Mouzon

At the next lock all was going well, until the time came for the lock gates to open so we could exit. We waited. And waited more. Still more. Nothing. I hate those ladders in the locks but one of us had to call for help at the intercom. I did it. I jumped off the boat onto that horrible slimy ladder and located the intercom. It's in these situations that it's paramount to be able to parler un peu Francais (speak a little French). I used one word at a time to explain that the lock gates had jammed. I was so relieved the guy at the other end understood me. He said a man was coming. It was a touch after 12.00pm. Lunch time in France. The land of lengthy booze fueled lunches. We expected to be stuck in the lock for some time and settled down to lunch ourselves. Surprise, surprise, ten minutes later a bloke in a VNF white van (Voies Navigables de France) rocked up and freed us.

French toilet

Our next planned stop was meant to be Sedan but it looked like a biggish place and after Charville-Mezieres we really wanted a nice quiet spot for the night. So we bypassed Sedan and stopped at Mouzon. Cute little town where they used to make felt hats. The facilities were OK but it had wi-fi which pleased us as we could catch up on our life in the real world again. I had to sit on the floor inside the public toilet to get signal but hey, I wasn't complaining. It was the first time I had seen a French toilet.

Motor homes next to the quay

Our plans were to keep going but that night the heavens opened. The weather report showed a full day of rain and the next morning it was still bucketing down. It's not fun boating in the rain. Wet ropes in the locks, watery decks, drenched shoes, water dripping off your clothes, and trying to see through rain drops does take some of the fun out of boating. So we stayed put for the day. Ate too much food. Read up on France and our route. And chilled. None of the other boats left either which was a slight problem as we needed to take in water and they had the prime spots. Fortunately they left one by one the next morning and we got to fill up.

The story continues - next week.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 14

2016-02-04T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Mist leaving Revin

The next morning there was a mist on the river. It looked so beautiful. Luckily we could see where we were going. It was a long day ahead and we'd gotten up nice and early as we had another lengthy trip planned My other half dashed up the road to the Boulangerie which opened at 06.30am and bought us each a pastry. Unbeknown to us they had a 2 + 1 special. It's hard enough having to resist the baked food in France and then they go and give you a freebie. Oh my word they were good. He also came back with a freshly baked loaf of wholewheat bread. We'd figured out how to ask for one in French.

Revin

The French guide said the automated locks open on a Saturday the same times as on weekdays which is 07.00am. As we approached the lock, we noticed it didn't have any lights burning. Two reds = closed for the night or a problem. One red = the lock is busy from the other side. One red and one green = get ready the lock will open. One green or two greens = enter or exit the lock. We pushed the button on our remote but nothing happened. We phoned the number in the guide. No reply. We phoned the number on a board next to the lock. No reply either. Dejected we motored back to the mooring at Revin to the surprised looks of other boaters. They came to help us tie up and we explained there was a problem at the lock. Turns out the guide is wrong and the lock opens the same hours as a Sunday. We lost two hours of much needed travel time.

Amenities Revin

I re-read the Imray French waterways guide and the author is at pains to explain that there is a massive shift in France away from a centralised waterways management system toward a devolution or handing over of the management of the waterways to local regions and towns. It's not been easy as the skills and resouces - as well as the will to take on this function - is not always there. One possible reason for the later opening of the locks and the discrepancy is shorter hours due to cost saving.

Laundry in the car park in Revin

The region from Givet to Charleville-Meziers is known as the Ardennes. It has forests and valleys. It's a particularly beautiful part of the world that attracts not just boaters on the River Meuse but also cyclists, campervans, hikers and ramblers, rock climbers, fisherman and I saw a stall with animal heads so maybe even hunting? We travelled to Charleville-Meziers on a Saturday and saw people setting up stalls and info kiosks for some event along the banks of the river. The French waterway maps give suggested walks and talk about birdlife in the woods and on the waterways as well as a few local legends. It would have been nice to have more time to go for a walk in the forests but we had a long way to go to our final destination at St Jean-de-Losne.

Greenie going for a run along the tow path

I decided to go for a run on the tow path while my other half drove the boat. It's really difficult trying to throw the ropes around a bollard in the locks when you're locking up. The boat is so low down in the lock that you can't even see the bollards. They paint yellow arrows on the walls inside the lock but you still don't know how far the bollard is set back at the top. There are ladders on the walls of the locks but I'm too scared to use them. It would useful if I could be at the top of the locks and help with the ropes. Running alongside the boat would force me into a bit of exercise. Our boat doesn't travel very fast. But aside from that, there are speed limits on the canals to prevent wash causing the banks to deteriorate. Our boat was going 8 kilomtres per hour. A reasonably fit person could probably do a jog at that pace or ask the captain to drive a touch slower and walk it.

I mentioned hire boats earlier. Hire boats are a favourite for bloke holidays. These guys usually come in big groups and squeeze as many of themselves as they can onto their hire boats. They tend to drink copious amounts of beer, play loud music and hang about the deck of the boat sunning themselves with the odd swim to cool off or sober up. A hire boat with about 10 guys that fitting this description came hurtling at break neck speed past us creating an almighty wash only to do a swift U-turn and charge back the way they came. We passed them a while later on the side of the canal. A few of them were holding the boat in place hanging on a tree while another was sawing branches off the tree. One chap was standing on the river bank. Next thing they dashed off leaving him behind. And after a short while they did yet another abrupt U-turn and went screaming back to fetch him. We weren't keen to share a lock with them so took a tea break at a mini mooring spot.

Charlesville-Meziers

Our stop for the next two nights was Charleville-Mezeirs. It's actually two places - Charleville and Mezierres - that have merged. It was created in the 17th century by a wealthy man who wanted his own town. You can see it was planned because of the square layout. It has lovely golden stone buildings and a massive town square. It's the biggest town in the Ardennes region. We arrived Saturday evening so popped up the road for a drink at the square or Place Ducale. Who should we bump into, but the Germans who did the locks in convoy with us a few days ealier. We had a quick conversation about where both of us had been. Late that night a night club next to the river got going and the music got louder and louder. It only stopped about 05.00am so that put paid to a decent night of sleep. I'm never sure if it's better to be in a tiny village where that kind of thing won't happen, but then you strruggle to buy food. All these towns have a market day one day a week but we kept arriving on the wrong days.

Charleville-Meziers

We got a free map with a mini walking tour of Charleville-Mezieres the next day from the tourism office. And did a spot of shopping at the local Carrefour supermarket. We've been so lucky with the availability of vegan foods in almost all the supermarkets in the Netherlands and in Del Haize supermarket in Belgium. Various plant milks, different soy yoghurts, meat substitutes like burgers and sausages, tofu, tempeh and even superfoods. We also found International shops where they sold Indian and Asian foods and ingredients such as gram flour, almond flour, rice paper wraps, agar-agar and heaps of spices in cities in Holland and Belgium.

Charlesville-Meziers

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 13

2016-01-28T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Greenie in Givet

We tied up in Givet, which is a very small place. The Capitain was a glamorous French lady who spoke not a single word of English. But to be fair, we were in France, where they have spoken French for a couple of thousand years. Why should she? By now we were able to speak in words. Not sentences - just words.
Une nuit = one night. Deux personnes = two people. Prevision meteo = weather report.
The mooring cost was €8.55 which included water, power, and facilities. The facilities were excellent. We strolled past the boats on our way into Givet and chatted to the American. He said his crew had let him down at the last minute. I so badly wanted to ask more and find out what happened but resisted the urge to be nosey. MapsMe showed us the town centre and we found a mini Carrefour supermarket. Bought a few provisions and went back to the boat.

Shangri La in Givet

Almost all the cities and towns we've been through right back to the Netherlands have a church or three. Maybe even a cathedral. They have bells that chime. Sometimes long complicated tunes. Sometimes only the time. I can always tell the time at night in bed listening to the bells.

Givet

That night it rained. And it rained into the next day. The first lock outside of Givet we had to wait while the canal filled up with water or our boat would have touched the bottom of the canal. There is a tunnel and the water slows down squeezing through the tunnel. It took over an hour to finally have enough water to get out of that lock. Which put paid to our plans of reaching Revin. Our journey on the waterways that day was in ceaseless rain. My other half works with Norwegians and apparently they say there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. I certainly picked the wrong clothes. I could have changed but kept thinking the rain would lift and my clothes would dry. I didn't want two lots of wet clothes hanging inside the boat. The rain never let up and I spent the day soaked to my skin. We thought of the lone American and wondered how he managed.

Tunnel outside Givet

We went through a 560 metre long tunnel. Have I mentioned I'm claustrophobic? I was very tempted to walk over the top but it wasn't that bad after all. I could see light at the end of the tunnel which helped. The next few locks were easier. The German couple went through them with us. Only two biggish or three small boats can fit into these locks. They are automated. When you pass a senor on a pole, you push a button on the remote control the French waterways give you. A light flashes atop the sensor and voila! The locks set and open. They fill or empty and open the gates to let you out. Easy peasy.

Facilities in Fumay

We tied up in Fumay which is also an itty bitty town. Again excellent clean facilities including a washing machine and dryer. You first pay the Capitain, in this case another Lady Capitain, then she connects your electricity. And they had free wi-fi (wiffy). Only 30 minutes - but that's a whole lot better than nothing. No ways were going walkabout in the rain but a weather report showed an improvement in the weather. A drastic improvement in fact. The weather would go from a whole day of driving rain and a maximum temperature of 14'C to blazing sun and an anticipated temperature of 31'C in just two days. I find it hard to grasp that the weather can shift 17'C in 48 hours! But that's Europe for you.

We hot-footed it up to the Boulangerie the next morning. It had moved but we found it. Actually we followed a stream of people coming out with their daily French loaf. Only thing is we had no idea what they were selling. We're not keen on refined food. I was hoping to find a seed loaf or at least a wholewheat bread. In a small village in a remote corner of France it was unlikely they spoke English. I resolved to try and remember to take our French-English dictionary with us in future. Along with a sun hat, maps, mobile phone, sun cream, wallet, shopping bags, reading glasses, sun glasses, DSLR camera, ID, toiletry bag, etc. Now you know why I hadn't been schlepping our rather large dictionary with me.

The captain checking maps on his phone

These little towns are the sort of place a stressed out person should escape to. Town folk stand on street corners chatting, smoking, doing nothing, cats and dogs sleep in the road and occasionally a car passes by. Lunch and supper are pretty important and everything comes to even more of a standstill. We wanted to get to Revin as it was slightly bigger and we needed a few hardware items. Our one window was leaking profusely and water was seeping through the wooden panelling into the hull. We knew there was a problem with the windows when we bought the boat. My husband had helped the guys at the marina repair a few of them already. We've never been sure if the windows fitted the frames when the boat was built or if the rubber seals had perished over time. The boat is 21 years old.

Leaving Fumay

The big difference between the waterways in Holland and France is the sheer number of locks. There are a LOT of locks on the French waterways. They even have lock chains where locks are bunched together and you need to let them know if you don't intend to complete the chain. Our boating holiday in 2014 in the Netherlands was 1034 kilometres and we did 41 locks. This trip in 2015 through the Netherlands, Belgium and France was 1274 kilometres and included 298 locks. France has fewer opening bridges than the Netherlands. Locking up or down takes time as the lock chambers have to empty or fill. The locks are also old and can be slow to open and close. The motion of water coming in causes a current which drags and bounces the boats around. More than once I was hanging onto our boat ropes until I lost feeling in my hands as water surged into the lock chamber.

Schools in Europe re-open around 1st September. Most of the boats we passed were Dutch and Belgians coming back from France toward home. The waterways were a lot quieter than we were expecting. Revin was another one night stop but I could easily have stayed there at least one more day. The mooring was tranquil. No traffic, sirens, bikers or noise. Just fish popping up in the river, an occasional child laughing and the water rolling past our boat. Revin marina also had sports facilities (tennis courts, playground and boules) and BBQ spots. Sadly no wi-fi but c'est la vie (that is life).

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 12

2016-01-21T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Laundromat

There aren't many washing machines at the marinas in Belgium but luckily they seem to have laveries (laundromats) which is maybe why they don't need to provide washers. We struggled to figure out how to use them as the instructions were in French and Flemish. While we were trying to translate the instructions into English, a bloke came in, saw we were battling and kindly explained the procedure to us in perfect English. We had three huge loads of washing to do. And then the bikers surfaced. The noise started all over again. These people roared past the street cafes and the quayside in a never ending procession of bikes roaring, thumping motors, hooting and revving. One would think they would move on and actually ride their bikes but if I didn't know better they had one purpose and that was to disturb the peace. They went round and round the small town. It seemed such a pointless thing to do. I rather wished ill on them after a while.

Dinant

The next day we set out to explore Dinant. It was Monday and the bikers had gone. We went up the Citadel where the view was amazing. They incorporate the history of Belgium and the area in the museum visit. A person can't help but feel sorry for Belgium sandwiched between the Netherlands, France and Germany. The Belgians have tried to be a neutral country but they have been invaded right, left and centre and at one stage were ruled by Austria. A visit to the Citadel is well worth €8 per person. After that we walked along the quay in both directions of the town. We wanted to do the Leffe beer tour but that was closed on Mondays. Not far away were the Grotte La Merveilleuse caves. Also closed. Our plans for Tuesday would include those two attractions. We ended up doing a nice shop-up for provisions at Del Haize. They probably had the best selection of meat-free and dairy-free foods of all the supermarkets in Belgium.

View from the Citadel

We decided to go right into the Tourist Info office the following morning and try the free wi-fi once more but inside. It worked. My other half had business negotiations he needed to keep abreast of and both my parents weren't well. It wasn't good news for either of us but at least we knew what was going on in our lives. We walked up the hill to do the Leffe beer tour. It was €7 per person and included a walk around a church where they had a selection of video presentations about the history of the monks, the Leffe abbey, the region, how they made their beers as well as a beer tasting and a complimentary Leffe beer glass. I really enjoyed learning more about beer brewing however a good few of the information screens were broken so we only got half the information. We had three mini glasses of beer to taste - a rose, a blonde and a brown beer. All good. Have I mentioned how much we love Belgian beer?

Leffe beer tour

Sadly we never got to see the caves. My husband had ordered boat spares via the Tourist Info office. The bloke who was meant to come and see which spares at 14.00pm only arrived at 16.00pm. My husband ended up having to go back to their workshop to collect his goods. They charged a call-out fee of €40 which we thought was a bit cheeky. I have to confess I was sort of pleased to miss the caves. Much as I wanted to see them - I'm a claustrophobe.

At the Citadel

We sat that evening planning the passage to Givet - our first stop in France. A person can never know what a place will be like. More than once we've been surprised in a good way. We've also been surprised in a bad way. The Imray waterway books have been an immensely valuable guide for us. I noticed the French one had much less info on the towns than either the Belgian or Netherlands guides. The Netherlands waterways have a series of individual maps for each of their waterway regions while Belgium has one single large map with the entire canal and river network on it. The French maps are just the business. They're actually in a book format with maps and a guide combined. The books include history, tourist info, places of interest, mooring spots, local restaurants and more of that kind of info.

Free Leffe beers from Tourism office in Dinant

The trip from Dinant to Givet was 23 kilometres and four locks, three in Belgium and one in France. We locked up 10 metres in total. A group of us travelled in convoy. One couple on a hire boat. No idea where they were from. I couldn't recognise the language they were speaking. A German couple. A lone American from Hawaii on a big Dutch barge. And us. At the last lock, the lock keeper (eclusiere) made sure we all went up to his office to buy a vignet, a waterway license to travel in France. Vignets cost €400 per year or €133 per month or part thereof. Almost double what the Imray guide had suggested which is a steep increase in only 4 years.

The Gallery in Shangri La. We were able to make plant cheeze and veganaise

We needed two vignets for two months. You stick these on your boat window so they can see that you've paid. They also load all your boat information into their computer system to keep check when you pass through the locks. And one more thing - they lend you a remote control to manage the locks yourself. With an instruction manual. On reading that I felt a whole lot better about my poor French. The English instructions were most definitely not done by an English person. We realised how easy it is to get translations wrong and wondered what we must sound like trying to speak French.

Belgian vignet

I crossed into France with no immigration, passport control, no questions - no nothing. Since I hold a South African passport I'm used to the European immigration people at the airports making a big fuss and asking a zillion quesions. Clearly on the waterways in Europe none of that stuff happens. I just hoped that when the time came to leave France there wouldn't be an issue.

French vignet

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 11

2016-01-18T12:38:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Namur

I needed to go for a run. Let's not pretend, I go for a light jog, but whatever, I needed to move. One nice thing about the waterways in Belgium and in France is there is always a tow path right next to the canal. Long ago back when there weren't motors, they used horses on the side of the canals to drag barges. Apparently, according to one of the tourist guides they used humans in Belgium!

Woman would knit as they walked dragging barges. Now that's multi-tasking. The upside of a run is I get a bit ahead and see where we're going. Namur had a lovely promenade next to the canal. It was yet another hot day. All the world was out swimming, water ski-ing, canoeing, basking in the sun and generally enjoying the good weather while it lasted. I liked Namur.

Namur

The Capitain as they call a Havenmeester (harbour master) in French arrived late. He's a busy guy managing 3 marinas. He spoke perfect English and offered loads of information and advice including a fuel top up. Hell yes! And the rate was excellent considering it was being delivered. He gave directions to the organic market and advised us not to go too early. We were thrilled to have the fuel problem solved and geared up to pop across the River Meuse around 09.00am the next morning. He also collected his fee for the two nights a whole €7 per night. Excluded electricity which was .50c per 3 amps. No facilities either. But for those who want or need the full works they had facilities on the opposite side at the private marina.

Taking in fuel

We did the city walk in Namur as per the booklet. It took two hours. It's nice and worth doing. We like that they kept it short and we could follow it without getting lost. We also went to the organic market. It's small but they had all a person needs. According the the Capitain it's busier outside of holiday season. Many of the vendors were on vacation. We bought the tastiest tomatoes I've ever eaten in my life. The farmers supplying them are doing something right. And we bought a bag of whole brown rice. There were also organic cheese and meat vans but we're almost vegan so gave them a miss.

Handy direction sign

We were expecting to take in fuel so untied bright and early and popped across the River Meuse to a vacant spot and waited. And waited. And waited some more. The Capitain had phoned and the fuel man said he was five minutes away. Which wasn't true. He arrived two and a half hours later with his fuel tanker then drove up next to the boats. It's a bit like pumping petrol into a car but you pump it from a lorry into a boat. Fortunately we weren't leaving that day or our travel plans would have been wrecked. We were grateful to have fuel delivered to our boat. We paid €1.20 per litre for diesel.

Heading towards Dinant

The next day we left for our very last stop in Belgium - Dinant. The terrain was changing. It wasn't as flat anymore. We spotted the odd castle (chateaux). The architecture had more slate roofs and turrets. Swans glided along the canal. The canal was only going to get narrower so less big barges came past. Six deep locks later we arrived earlier than expected in Dinant and tied up on the town side of the river. The Tourist Office was directly opposite on the other side of the river so we popped over the bridge and loaded up on leaflets and were delighted to be given three FREE Leffe beers. Dinant is the home of Leffe beer. It was hell hot so we wanted to avoid the sun and sit on our back deck reading up on Dinant. We chatted to a couple who planned to go to Paris but alas their engine packed in. They were limping back to Roermond in the Netherlands to have their engine replaced.

Trying to figure out how to do a load of washing

Back at the boat we tried to connect to the electricity supply but nothing happened. My husband tried another socket. Still nothing. He took out the extension cable, moved to another pole and tried the sockets there. Nothing. We were dejected and realised we must have an electrical problem on our boat. We have an invertor and a generator so we could manage. It was a Saturday and we could only start to find someone on Monday. Not much we could do but chill and drink beer watching the world go by. What we didn't know is they were having a biker rally in medieval Dinant. Hoardes of bikers roared around this normally sleepy town. They made an almighty noise. Emergency sirens went off every few minutes. No exaggeration on this. One has to wonder what could be going so wrong for emergency vehicles to be charging about so much? More than one boat left to find somewhere quieter. We were stuck as we had to solve our electricity problem.

Keeping cool in Dinant

One thing we found in Dinant is we could sort of understand when they spoke. I keep referring to the folk in Wallonia as French and saying we couldn't understand them. I suspect the reason is they speak a French dialect in Belgium. Close to the French border it was more like we expected French to be. We were furiously brushing up on our Michel Thomas French CDs. Also some of what we'd forgotten was slowly coming back. But we still had a long way to go before we could have a conversation. I needed to prioritise numbers and counting so I could at least understand how much money they were asking for at the supermarkets. All I could say in perfect French was that I couldn't speak French. Locals would look at me perplexed.

The next day it was bucketing down

Sundays not a lot happens. We decided to move our boat to the opposite side of the river as the amenities and Tourism Info office were both there. We hoped it would be a bit quieter and we thought we might have better signal so we could avail ourselves of the free wi-fi in Dinant. We tied up right outside the Tourist Office. I don't know what made my husband think to try and plug in the electricity again. But he did. And it worked. Just like that. So it wasn't our boat but a bunch of power points that were broken. Next we went to get tokens to do our washing and . . . the washing machine was broken. And the free wi-fi? That didn't work either.

Power point in Dinant

The story continues - here.
And for a different take on this trip, from the captain's perspective, click on - this link.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 10

2016-01-07T12:20:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Huy

Our next stop was Huy. We clearly were pronouncing Walloninan place names all wrong. People did not know what we were talking about. Huy, which we were calling hay, as in straw, is actually pronounced like the French word for yes, as in Oui. When asking for a Carrefour, a French supermarket, we were saying - Carry For - but it's pronounced - Khar Foohr. Given that it was still the height of summer, and France is a boating Mecca, we were expecting to see a lot more boats on the waterways. Belgium is a through route to France for a few countries. The Meuse River from Liege is mostly unspoilt by heavy industry and I think beautiful. I would rate it up there with some of the scenic routes we have passed through in France or the Netherlands.

Approaching Huy via the canal

The marina at Huy was a pleasure. Nice clean showers with 24 hour access, a restaurant, full strength wifi, water and electricity included in the €13 fee. There were 5 other boats with us in the marina. My husband and I took a day out and went to explore Huy. The marina is about 1.5 kilometres from the town centre. We walked along the river and over the bridge into the town. It was market day. There were some familiar faces from the Liege market. We found what we thought was a Tourist Info office but later discovered a proper one near the fort. The woman there tried to be helpful but could not speak a word of English. She gave us a map and marked key attractions and shops for us. We got by with a mix of our awful French and gesticulations. She probably wondered what the hell we were doing there but was kind enough to help us anyway. I'm sure that scenario would have made a great comedy sketch.

Stair to the fort

The cable car to the top of the fort was out of order so we walked up. With all our purchases from the market. It's a steep walk up. Not the smartest idea, but we managed. After that we walked out of town to find a hardware shop. My other half wanted empty gasoline canisters. We'd been asking about fuel top ups en-route and discovered that not many marinas sell fuel. A bit of a problem. Our solution was to buy diesel from regular car fuel stations when we encountered them in close enough proximity to our boat. We had bought a shopping trolley which we used to wheel our groceries back to the boat. It's possible to remove the bag from the frame. We could roll the fuel back to our boat on the frame and not have to carry it.

We were just over a month on Shangri La. Heading steadily south and the time of year was edging closer to the end of summer. The sun was setting earlier. When we left Zwartsluis it was light as late as 22.30pm. Now it was dark by 21.00pm. With the passing of time, our boat had become home to a few insects. Spider webs were popping up all over. I don't like bumping off creatures but I was removing spider webs from the rails and awnings regularly.

Friendly swan hoping for a snack

The next place on our itinerary was Namur. Before we left I dashed round the corner to pick wild berries from the bushes. They are yummy. And free. After about four hours motoring - excluding time spent waiting for locks - we arrived in Namur a total of 32 kilometres later. Both locks went smoothly with minimal waiting time and we berthed around 14.00pm. A person can almost always spot a hire boat in the locks. I'm sure the lock keepers must have a laugh. Not that I know it all, and for sure a few years back I made those same mistakes. But people on hire boats have no idea what to expect or how to handle a boat in a lock. They put out a single rope. They leave it slack. They focus on having a holiday and basking in the sun. They don't know how to manoeuvre a boat. Once the water starts flooding into the lock it creates turbulence and surges causing a boat to bounce all over the place. Which is why two ropes - a front and a back rope are critical. They need to be reasonably tight to stop the boat bashing about. And keeping an eye on all corners of the boat. Using boat hooks and fenders to stop bashing is rather important. We saw a hire boat sink before our eyes in a lock in France. It happens.

Marina in Huy

We chose not to use the private marina but to rather moor up next to a quay at the municipal mooring spot. As we came in we recognised a few boats from other places we had stayed. And gave a recognisory greeting. We chatted to one or two people. A Brit/Belgian couple told us they had sold up everything and now lived on their boat. All year round. They usually find a marina with all the trimmings for the winter months when the canals have limited services or close before they freeze over. They gave us some handy boat wintering tips. Another Dutch/Australian couple were making there way back to the Netherlands from a few years spent in France. He commented that things are a lot cheaper in France but nothing works. I hoped he was a cynic.

Namur

Once tied up securely we consulted MapsMe app to locate the centre ville (town centre) and once there, looked for Tourist Info signs. They're usually easy to find - but not always. You might remember in Ghent the signs pointed in the total wrong direction. One new thing to get used to is making sure we had ID on us. A Belgian requirement is to carry some form of ID.

Namur

The lady at the Info office was wonderful. She made suggestions and gave handy leaflets. We asked about places to buy our kind of food - read organic, fresh, wholefoods and vegan - and she gave a host of options. It was too late to start any serious exploring so we went back to the boat and read up on Namur. The guide book had a mini walking tour which was a must. There was also a mention of a Friday organic food market from 15.00pm to 19.00pm in the car park of the Omnisport Hall in chaussee de Dinant which is off avenue de Plante. Another must. While it may not be strictly sight seeing we like opportunities to engage with locals and meet like-minded people.

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 9

2015-12-31T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Turnhout marina at night

I still struggled to understand Flemish. But I was starting to see a Gallic influence in Belgium. Local supermarkets had four times the space allocation for wine. We stared and stared at the range of beers on sale. Never in my life have I seen anything like it. Their pastries looked sublime. And you could buy hand-made chocolates - at the supermarket! We avoid cheeses but the cheese selection was looking a lot more French. And of course, although we were in Flanders, we heard a bit of French spoken around us. I could see a bit of southern Europe in the appearance of locals. I also noticed holy Mary statues on the corners of buildings.

Turnhout is the heart of the brick industry

The shift from super industrial Antwerp to sleepy rural St Job - which was our next stop - was dramatic. From the frenetically busy Albert Kanaal we turned off into the Schoten-Dessel-Turnhout Canal and it was instantly rural. The little marina in St Job was an absolute pleasure. No more sharing Internet with hundreds of humans. It worked. The showers and toilets were immcaulate. Havenmeester came out to meet us and we got a parking space right next to the facilities. There were only a few more boats to arrive after us and that was it! Even the barges tied up along the banks of the river for the night.

Schoten-Dessel-Turnhout Canal

Speciality foods to try in Belgium? As aspirant vegans most people would think we don't have many options. But we do. Belgian frites are available on nearly every corner. We skip the mayo and have salt. We found dark Belgian chocolates which are milk free with nut and fruit fillings. Don't know how they do it but Belgian chocolate is good. And Belgian beers are the business. There are around 400 different beers in Belgium. A person could drink a new beer a day for a year and still not get through all of them. Brewing is an art in Belgium and the Trappist monks seem to have been blessed with a knack of making what we think are the best beers on earth. I was told by the vegan I met in Antwerp that all the Trappist beers are filtered with a reusable sediment and contain no animal products.

After one night in St Job we set off for Turnhout. Four locks and 10 bridges that needed to be opened. The Imray book said the waterway operators keep in contact with each other and open the bridges for you. But we found that you had to call them up on Channel 20 on the VHF radio. A bit of a problem as ours wasn't working. We had yet to find someone who could fix it. Fortunately we were in convoy with a family who lived on their barge. They spoke a little Dutch and got us through. There wasn't a lot of space to moor but a sweet elderly chap motioned us to a space next to his boat. And helped us with our ropes. I love that people pitch in and help out with ropes. We've met some lovely people on our travels. By 7.30pm the havenmeester (harbour master) still hadn't come to collect his mooring fee so my other half went looking for him. The havenmeester came past later to let us all know that there was a public holiday that weekend which would affect bridge and lock opening times. We were grateful for that info. He looked just like Father Christmas. A most unlikely looking havenmeester. His English wasn't great but we managed to get by with a mix of English and Afrikaans.

Playing card museum in Turnhout

Turnhout, capital of the Kempen region in Flanders is the main shopping area. Expect to find the usual retailers represented. Turnhout is where bricks are made. If you look at their houses, but also the local castle, you can see fancy brickwork with different coloured bricks. It's also an agricultural region. The Dessel Turnhout canal winds through farms and the region is distinctly pastural. It's flat and the canal is surrounded by a mix of tall trees from Oaks to Copper Beeches. We were expecting more boat traffic in such a pretty area but it was surprisingly quiet. Which is a pleasure on a wide canal. So I've mentioned it's been hot. Europe had experienced 8 consecutive weeks of high temperatures which had caused a water shortage on the canals. The lock-keepers were being judicious with openings and closings. We had to wait for a boat to lock down before we could lock up.

Card playing museum Turnhout

This area is distinctly reminescent of the northern French canals with a tow path and tall shady trees on either side. Except you encounter the odd small working barge. Knowing there was a public holiday disrupting bridge and lock times, we thought it best to go as far as we could along the Kanaal-van-Dessel-over-Turnhout-naar-Schoten Kanaal. Yes we were on schedule, but a person never knows what can happen en-route. Bridges break, boats give trouble, public holidays all conspire against a proper plan. We both prefer to have a day or three in hand with our travel plans. And on that note, we think that boat hire companies are far too ambitious with their recommendations. Yes, a person does want to see as much as possible. But part of being on a boat is relaxing. And enjoying your trip, your meals as well as exploring local villages and markets. A hectic boating schedule puts paid to that.

We took a day out in Turnhout and popped into the Tourism Info office to find out what to do. Belgium is not really geared for English visitors. It seems they expect obviously Belgians, possibly Dutch and maybe German tourists. So unfortunately not all information is available in English. They rotate open days at the various museums in Turnhout. The card making museum had free access that day so we made a turn there. There was a young guy who spoke perfect English but he was at the reception desk. The lady giving the tour said her English wasn't good enough. We wandered around on our own or tried to listen in and make sense of the talks in Flemish. Turnhout was the place where playing cards were printed. Fortunately many of the the exhibits had English information. The youngster popped away from his station to check on us (so nice of him) and asked if we had questions which he answered. We each got a complimentary deck of cards from them which was a lovely gesture.

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 8

2015-12-24T12:00:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Marina in Antwerp

Antwerp marina can accommodate some seriously big boats. Fancy shiny boats. The kind of boat an oligarch would have. We walked past them on the way to havenkantoor (harbour office). These are floating holiday homes. They have satellite TV, fresh flowers, pampered pets and designer interiors. Well heeled folk sit on their back deck sipping chilled prosecco or champagne and gaze down on the rest of us. We also walked past teeny tiny little yachts where no more than two people can squeeze in. All-weather gear is mandatory as they spend most of their time on deck. And they brush their teeth over the side of their boats - with a bottle of water. The variety in boats never ceases to amaze us. We love seeing old ex-working boats like tugs and trawlers lovingly restored by enthusiasts. Often a group of them will arrive together. And you get house-boats lurking on the waterways and in the marinas. There are people who live all year round on their boats. And sometimes take their homes on holiday. Handy that. We've met families who home-school their children and travel the world.

View of Antwerp from the Mas Museum

Sundays not a lot happens. So we treated ourselves to a lie in. Even the supermarkets only open for a few hours. We took the day out to catch up on chores - laundry, boat washing, grocery shopping, e-mails, paying bills, etc. The weather was still hot. Europe had been having one of it's hottest summers with consistent highs and record breaking temperatures. We waited until early evening and then went to see the panoramic view of Antwerp from the top of the Mas Museum right next to the marina. It's free to go to the top which is the 10th floor. There is a fee to visit the rest of the museum.

Although boating is hardly arduous, it does requires concentration and planning. There's always a lock or a bridge or something that has to opened. You need to keep a watch for other waterway traffic - and humans. People do stand-up paddling, canoeing, swimming in the harbours and near the boats. And of course finding a space for the night can be a challenge. A day doing something different is a pleasant change. We took the next day out to travel by train to Ghent. My other half wanted a day there and for me to see Ghent as he's been there by ship a few times. We would have needed at least week to incorporate Ghent by boat. However it was a mere one hour train ride from Antwerp.

Belgium has nearly 400 different beers

Our day got going fairly early and we hotfooted it up to Antwerp Cenraal train station. A fair walk from the marina. Antwerp Centraal station is a beautiful building. It has a wide domed ceiling with lots of curvy ornate bits. And gold coloured decorations. Very, very elaborate. There is a refurbished cafe where you can have a bite or a drink and soak up the opulence. We decided to do that when we got back. A few minutes later we were on our way to Ghent.

Antwerp Station

Pity there wasn't much tourist info signage in Ghent. MapsMe to the rescue again. We sort of aimed for the centre of Ghent. Once in Ghent, the Tourist Information signs pointed in totally differing directions. Someone must have played a prank. Needless to say we got lost. Thankfully helpful locals guided us in the right direction and we found the Info Centre. Ghent is a cute olde world city with loads of cathedrals and historical buildings. Unfortunately we only had half a day to spare. How to choose what to do? My husband and I decided to do a canal boat tour and wander the streets. Have a meal somewhere. Have a Belgian beer somewhere else. And walk slowly back to the station. We found a fabulous veggie place called Greenways. We also tried a local sweet called a cuberdon or a "nose". It's a soft gooey cross between a wine gum and Turkish Delight. Made from Gum Arabic they're fine for vegans. Noses have a hint of violet but are fruit flavoured. One or two is enough as they are very, very sweet.

Ghent

On the way back we stopped at the fancy cafe at Antwerp Centraal station to have a Belgian beer. I decided to try a Gauloise berry beer and my husband had a Gauloise dark beer. He loves these dark honey flavoured Trappist beers. I didn't think berries and beer would work. I was wrong. They are unbelievably nice. Refreshing. And pack an 8.2% alcohol content.

It was time to get going again. We were heading through the Kempen region toward Turnhout. As we left Antwerp harbour my husband called up the havenbestuurder (harbour manager) to Afmeld (de-register). New aerial, new cable, things should be fine. Unfortunately not. The mariphone was still working intermittently. Fortunately we had the Imray Inland Waterways of Belgium book. And fortunately they provide phone numbers and mobile numbers for bridges, locks, marinas and harbours. Although the book was printed in 2005, the numbers still work. My husband had also made sure his mobile phone was topped up - just in case. We used his phone a good few times on our trip.

Greenie on the Turnhout Kanal

The other big thing we had to do was get a vignet. It's a licence disc you buy at one of the locks. You're supposed to stick it to the rear port side of your boat. The first lock keeper was on the ball and we didn't even have to ask for one. My other half keeps a file with all the boat details so it was all ready and waiting. You only need a vignet in Flanders, not in Wallonia. Begium is almost two countries. The Flemish speaking top half of Flanders and the French speaking bottom half of Wallonia. Brussels is an area in the middle that is both Flemish and French. It's almost a neat line dividing the country in half. Signs and notices are in Flemish up north and in French down south. Having said that, place names have a French AND a Flemish name. So if a French person talks about Liege (pronounced lee age) and a Flemish person is talking about Luik (pronounced lake) it's actually the same place. Belgians knows this. The rest of us don't. Mostly there is some semblance of similarity in the place names but not always. How about Lille and Rijsel? Or Haut Escaut and Bovenschelde?

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 7

2015-12-15T09:42:00.001+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Arriving in Anterwerp via the waterways

I don't know why, but I was expecting a bit of something when we crossed the border from the Netherlands into Belgium. At least a sign saying you're leaving one country and passing into another. There was nothing. We had to check the map to see where we were and discovered we had popped into Belgium. Without even knowing it.

Heading toward Antwerp it was becoming decidedly industrialized. We also started wearing our lifejackets in the locks as they are deeper - and it's a Belgian recommendation. And then we got to Antwerp harbour. The second biggest harbour in the world - after Rotterdam - before Hamburg. We motored over 16 kilometres straight through the harbour and everywhere you looked there was another branch or arm leading off - full of barges and ships. Antwerp has 13 057 hectares of harbour. Some stats from 2010 show that Antwerp harbour turns over 40 ships, 156 barges and 250 train loads of goods per day. No wonder barges were going past Tholen all night long.

Antwerp harbour

And again I was expecting to go through immigration, have my passport checked. My husband specifically asked the havenmeester (harbour master) about this. We didn't want a problem as a result of not being stamped in. The havenmeester phoned his local authority and was told we needn't worry. Certainly the opposite of how it works at airports - but there you go. This havenmeester has his very own dinghy and he races out to meet the incoming boats as the bridge opens and guides them into free spaces in Willemdok marina. Very helpful that. He was a friendly guy with a John Wayne accent when he spoke English. He probably honed his pronouciations listening to American movies.

Havenmeester coming to meet the boats

Have I mentioned how much we loved being in the Netherlands? It's organised, everything works. The people are the country's biggest asset. Direct but friendly. And now after three summers we were in Belgium. We went for a quick walkabout in Antwerp and stopped for a drink. A Belgian beer of course. And it hit us - Belgium is different. I would expect a contrast between Sweden/Norway and Italy/Spain. But Belgium is right next door to Holland. They speak almost the same language. Yet the people are different in manner and even appearance. The architecture and style was not the same. I had gotten used to bending my brain to understand Dutch and now I couldn't undertand Flemish. We went back to the boat and sat on the deck, glass of wine in hand chatting and listening to the sound of laughter and water lapping on the boats tied up. It was one place we could get some relief from the sticky heat.

Antwerp harbour

Our first priority in Antwerp was to get the mariphone fixed. On our way into Antwerp my other half had tried to radio the bridge operator on his mariphone and there was no reply. We figured s/he wasn't interested in us. Luckily as we got to the bridge he motioned us over and said the protocol was to call him on the VHF. Which we had done. A few times. My husband had eventually phoned. Turned out our mariphone wasn't working. The following day, I left my husband to find a marine supplies shop and do his best while I went exploring. Access in and out the marina was via a card. We arranged that I would text him to let me back in. Fortunately my husband was able to figure out the mariphone problem. The wiring in the boat is 21 years old and the cable had disintegrated. He replaced the aerial and wiring. He also managed to get the float on the fuel gauge going. Boating is more than just cruising the canals.

Meanwhile I met a bunch of vegans at an animal anti-cruelty outreach in Antwerp and they had suggested some vegan eateries for us to try. That evening I treated my other half to a meal and a glass of wine. We were both tired and went back to the boat early. There was a sprinkle of rain which cooled the air.

Antwerp

The havenmeester had given us a map and a booklet of what was happening in Antwerp. We liked the idea of a city walk which takes place at 14.00pm from the Tourist Info office - Tue to Sat in high season - and lasts 3 hours. The information office said it was €7 per person if you pre-booked. Or €9 per person if you pitched up on the day. Only thing was they do the tours - in two languages per tour. They also had a guide book for €5 which lets you to do your own thing. Luckily they had an English book. We opted for the book which allowed us to explore at our own pace. In English only. And at 1/3 of the price. We somehow managed to drag the walk out to 5 hours by which time we were exhausted, so raced through the last few pages. There's a LOT of information to take in. Each museum or historical place expects an entrance fee. We poked our nose in those places but didn't venture in.

Antwerp

The nice thing about following a proper guide versus just wandering about is you get to see places you would never have known about. And find out about their role in history and modern times. The bad thing about this guide is the directions were not clear. Not sure if it was due to a poor translation from Flemmish to English? Or if the writer assumed the visitor would have a detailed map as well as the guide? Thank goodness my other half has a MapsMe app on his smart-phone. It doesn't need data. You load up maps of your intended destination and then refer to them when you need them. You can delete them when you're done with that part of the workd. Without that app we would never have been able to do the walk. He also uses MapsMe on the waterways when he's not sure about something on the nautical map. I use it to find a long straight road to go for the odd run so I don't get lost. That app has been immensely valuable to us.

Part of Antwerp Pride drive by

While we were doing our city walk, Antwerp was having a Pride festival. There was a Gay Vintage Car Club and members had decked their cars out in flags, flowers, feather boas, you name it. The drivers and passengers dressed up in bright colours. A pink satin suit with a pink feather hat to match was one of the colourful outfits we saw. There were lots of pop-up venues for eating, drinking and partying all over Antwerp.
The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 6

2015-12-10T12:05:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Approaching Doordrecht

We opted to spend three days and four nights in Doordrecht. I mentioned before that my other half had planned this trip meticulously. We had gained one day which we used to catch up on things. Day One we used to find IKEA and a proper marine supplies shop. We don't have a motor vehicle so getting there is either walking, taking a bus, using the train, or a mix of all three. That took almost a full day. Day Two I did a thorough clean of the boat - defrost freezer, dust, wipe and vacuum, washing and drying. My other half checked all the workings - cleaned filters, replaced the water pump and checked oil and water levels. Day Three we caught up on comms at a bar and did a mini walking tour of Dordrecht. The weather had now gone from days and days of rain and cold to three days on a trot of heat and humidity.

We were edging closer and closer to the Belgian border and one of the requirements is an FD number. Which a person can easily obtain - apparently - via the website. Not so easy when wi-fi is limited. My husband was stressing no end about this. We tried to ask people en-route - either in the locks or at the marinas - if they had crossed the border and what to expect. We got differing responses from those who had travelled to and from Belgium. Which did nothing to allay my husband's apprehension.

Doordrecht marina

Our next stop was Willemstad. I mentioned that in Enkhuizen boats were not just double banked - but tied up to SIX abreast. We tied up to a boat that was already double banked to another boat as per the havenmeester's instructions. By the end of the day there were six boats abreast - all tied to each other. Which meant we were in tight proximity to each other. Fortunately no-one snored in the boats near us but the boat next to the quay had a rowdy bunch of people who were well into their beer stash. They were mimicking the sound of bow thrusters and finding it extremely funny. We feared they might carry on all night but luckily the lot of them went off to one of the many restaurants next to the marina in Willemstad. Lovely place. Would have liked more time there. It was hot and people were out in the streets and cafes. We chose to sit on our back deck and listen to people laughing and the sound of the water slapping the hulls of the boats as the sun went down.

Willemstad

Stuck between a bunch of boats meant we had to wait for the others to move before we could make a start to the day. There are people who get going early but most boats begin moving around 10.00am. You have to factor in bridge opening and lock times if they affect your boat (size) and route. No point in hanging around for hours in the water waiting for a bridge to open. Once we got going I was having a turn at driving the boat when the engine suddenly slowed down. I had managed to get sea grass tangled around the propeller. Luckily all it took was a couple of reverse and forward manoeuvres to dislodge it. On one of our trips on a hire boat we managed to get a man's jacket tangled around the propeller. I'm eternally grateful my other half is a master mariner and an avid boatie. He instinctively knows where to look when things go wrong. He also understands nautical navigation rules and signs. A person can get into a lot of trouble if you don't know what you're doing and what to do. Also important to know is which documents, permits and paperwork are required. The authorities dish out heavy fines to transgressors. Ignorance is no excuse. And yet again, I defer all that to my husband and he does a great job of it.

Tholen

Our last stop in the Netherlands was Tholen. So named as it was a point where people paid a toll. We deliberated between Bergen-op-Zoom or Tholen as our last stop. What helped us decide was the marina in Tholen was closer to the town centre. Sometimes a marina can be quite far out of town. Which is a bit inconvenient carrying shopping bags or even exploring. Marinas may offer bicycles either to hire or for free but in the height of season the bikes go fast. It was the first week in August. The apex of European holiday of season. Most children were taking school holidays and families were enjoying the waterways. It seemed like every single person on the planet was out and about. I prefer the shoulder seasons as the marinas are less crowded and quieter. But then less bars and cafes are open and the vibe is subdued. The weather is another factor. I prefer not too hot and not too cold. The warm weather had continued and it was frankly plain hot. Sticky humid kind of hot.

We later discovered Europe was having a heat wave with temperatures up to 39'C in the Netherlands. Humidity levels were around 80% plus. I'm always amazed at how the Europeans relish sun and heat. They don't miss a ray of sunlight. People were in their swimming gear spread on the bow of their boats topping up their tans. That's when you can tell who has a hand-held or remote driving device for their boat. Perhaps we get enough sun back in South Africa. Temperatures can soar to 40'C plus in Cape Town but we don't get the same heavy cloying humidity we were experiencing. South Africans are taught to have the same cautious approach to the sun as Australians.

Nordersluis

With hindsight it might have been best to stay at Bergen-op-Zoom as it's a bigger town and we needed provisions from a health shop. Tholen is a small town. Throughout the night there were barges driving past Tholen.

A person would expect to lock up going inland and lock down heading toward the coast. In the Netherlands - it works the other way around. It's always hard for us to grasp that they live below sea level. We were locking up - together with big fat barges - who always have right of way. I was more than a bit annoyed when were told to wait while beroepsvaartuie (working boats) from no-where in sight were given right of way. We waited over an hour for them to arrive. And then a massive pleasure boat was placed in the lock before us. Hardly a working boat. I didn't think that was fair. Fortunately there was enough space and we all managed to fit into the lock.
The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 5

2015-12-03T09:42:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

I mentioned C-Taste earlier. It's an eatery where you dine in total darkness. A person doesn't realise that there is ALWAYS some light even in the dead of night. Alarm clock, street lights, mobile phone, LED lights, something is producing even a teeny bit of light. At C-Taste you leave your watch and phone at the front desk, put your hand on the waiter's shoulder, and are guided to your table. Not so easy to sit down when you have no idea which way the chair is facing and where your table is relative to it. I'm a hectic claustrophobe. I nearly bailed but I'm glad I persevered. Oh and one other thing. You have no idea what you're about to eat. C-Taste will accommodate any food preference or diet, provided you give them notice.

CTaste

The food was amazing. Our quiet waiter came to life in the dark. Have to confess I used my fingers to eat. It's nigh impossible to aim a knife and fork if you can't even see your plate. Let alone the food. I just assumed I would easily guess what we ate but was surprised at how much we eat with our eyes. We liked that they ask you afterwards what you thought you ate and corrected you.

Big passenger ship

Back at the boat we heard a deep horn blowing and raced out to see what it was. The biggest passenger ship I've ever seen in my life was being assisted by a pilot and tug. We tried to count the outer cabins but there were too many. That excludes inner cabins. Crew are probably in the bowels of the boat so add them as well. That boat surely accommodates thousands of people. It's a city - moving on water.

The weather was conspiring against us and we were pretty much trapped by boats at Sixhaven marina. An early start was not possible unless we could get to the outer boxes where we could at least leave without waiting for the surrounding boats to surface and be willing to move. We definitely did NOT want to be doing tight manoeuvres in wind and rain. By about 11am we were finally able to get out the inner section of the marina and move the the periphery.

View of Amsterdam from Sixhaven

We made an early start to Utrecht. The weather was still rubbish. Cold and intermittent rain. We know in the height of summer if you don't get to a marina shortly after midday you run a real risk of not finding somewhere to berth. Shangri La arrived at Utrecht just after 15.00pm and we bagged the last of three spots. Phew! We've been to Utrecht before, so spent the night on the boat. We didn't feel like going out in the rain after a day of battling the elements on the boat.

Utrecht

Utrecht marina is the cheapest by far at €12. But no wifi. And limited hours at the ablution facilities as they're connected to a retail shop. That fee did include unlimited electricity (walstroom). We took a day out in Utrecht the next day. Less sightseeing and more about finding things - like brass hooks and stationery. Sometimes just wandering around a place is also a nice way to explore. Apparently Utrecht was plagued by flooding so the canny Dutch rebuilt a new city on top of the old one. Now that they are able to keep the water at bay, Utrecht has two levels. The lower levels are typically where people hire canoes or little dinghies. Coffee shops (real ones - not cannabis smoking spots) and restaurants line the lower canals. The upper level has more cafes and bars but also retail shops. We had an appelgebak (apple tart) and a coffee at HEMA so we could get wi-fi and check for any urgent messages. Leaving Utrecht is special. There a lots and lots of low and sometimes long bridges. Almost tunnels. We dropped our mast, radar arch and awnings so we were as flat as possible. It's surreal gliding along the canals watching people beavering away and slipping through dark tunnels.

Market day in Utrecht

Next stop was Schoonhaven. By now we'd had five straight days of rain. As luck would have it, the crucial moments, like entering a lock or tying up in the marina, the rain subsided. We were grateful for that. Schoonhaven is a teeny little place. Not a lot going on but we found a gorgeous pub full of old fashioned decor items and authentic interior design. They also played some solid rocking music. Think Stevie Ray Vaughan. A perfect reason to enjoy a glass of wine or a rich dark ale. Or two. For the most part we self-cater on board our boat. Eating out in Europe is hellishly expensive. Especially for those of us unfortunate enough to earn South African Rands. The Rand has been heading steadily south. I notice it every year when I need to change money. Sigh. I wish Nelson Mandela was still around. Those were good days for Saffas.

Rain en route to Dordrecht

The other big reason we self-cater is we're both almost vegan. So we eat fully vegan at home and on the boat. But if we go out to a friend for a meal or are at a place with limited options then we drop back to vegetarian food. But we prefer not to have to do that. We LOVE local organic and ethical food stores such as Marqt and Eko Plaza found all over Holland. Even regular supermarkets such as Jumbo or Albert Heijn have a fair selection of vegan and organic food. More important than eating out or saving money - is eating nourishing food. We also love being on our boat. In good weather we sit on the back deck and watch the world go by quaffing a glass of organic wine and enjoying a healthy meal.

Dordrecht marina

It was a short journey to our next port of call, Dordrecht. Along the River Lek, the River Maas Noord and the Oude Maas River. No more narrow gentle canals. Now we were sharing the waterways with big beefy barges and dealing with tides and the resultant currents. When we were travelling with the tide we made great speed but the opposite occurred when we motored against the tide. Dordrecht is quite a big place with lots of marine activity, both pleasure and commercial boats. We had to wait for the havenmeester (harbour master) to open a bridge so we could pass through. And allocate a berth. Unfortunately we were placed miles away from the havenkantoor (harbour office). Which meant no wi-fi - yet again! The shower and ablution block was a trek. Dordrecht is a lovely historical harbour and can accommodate some seriously big boats. We don't envy big boats. There is a lot more scope for travelling in a smaller boat.

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 4

2015-11-25T17:01:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Amstel River Amsterdam

For the most part on this trip we saw Dutch registered boats. Our guess is about 90% of the boats on the waterways are locals. Another 9% are German owned boats And obviously the closer one gets to the German and Belgian borders the more of those boats are on the waterways. We saw very few other nationalities. Two British boats, one Swedish and one from Denmark.

Since we arrived late - and we had Internet - sort of - we caught up on comms and chores on the boat. The following morning we caught the free ferry across the Ij into Amsterdam which was heaving with humans. Hen and stag groups - or whatever the occasion - with team T-Shirts seem to be the thing in Amsterdam. I guess people come to party. We saw a good few people who over-did it on magic mushrooms, weed or strong beers and were looking more than a little worse for wear.

Free ferry across the River Ij

And that's another thing I will never understand. Tourists don't seem to venture past Damrak in Amsterdam. It's groaning with people shuffling past each other gawking at the girls in the red light district. I get that the openness about sex and drugs is a novelty. And for sure our first trip we did the
obligatory walk past the ladies in the sex area. And we visited a kinky museum. Or two.

Nowadays we skip Damrak and head straight to the outer suburbs. Food and drinks are cheaper and it's just a whole lot nicer. If you're not keen on a walk then catch a tram. Even better, take short day trip by train out to Alkmaar, Haarlem, Delft, Gouda or Utrecht. They also have lovely canals with cruises, Dutch architecture, a town square, markets, yummy food and all that one expects - but minus the hoards of tourists.

Abandoned umbrellas after the storm

We struggle with Internet on the waterways. For four reasons. Reason One - while there is wi-fi in some marinas, a person needs to be near the modem, which is usually in the havenkantoor (harbour office). If your boat is not moored close enough, then the signal is not strong enough. Reason Two - our boat is made of steel, wi-fi signal is not able to penetrate the boat. We usually have to sit on the outer perimeter of the deck to get some signal.

Reason Three - is the sheer number of people all trying to get signal. At Compagniehaven we speculated there were around 700 boats. Sure, not all were trying to use wi-fi, but each boat has at LEAST two people - however most boats are likely to have a family or group of friends on board. There are simply too many people all trying to get on-line. Reason Four - people use wifi gobblers. I never even knew these things existed until another boater told us about them. He uses a thing called Wifi Rogue which he bought in America. Apparently they suck up available wifi signal but I really don't understand how they work

Eating in the dark at C Taste

We've been to Amsterdam a few times now and rather than pack in museums or a canal cruise, we like to go walkabout and visit places we liked before or find new places to like. Our first day in Amsterdam we wanted to do a shop-up at our favourite store - Marqt. Everything is organic and ethically sourced. They also only accept credit cards. Which is a nice change for us. Foreign owned shops such as Zara or H and and most hotels accept credits cards but Dutch owned businesses will not take credit cards. Even large chains stores like their supermarkets are not interested. They will accept a local debit card which we don't have.

We also booked at a place called C-Taste, more on that later, where they will accept a credits card but add the bank fee onto the bill for your account. I suspect in Amsterdam there is a bit more tolerance for credit cards but not elsewhere.

View from Sixhaven marina

We ended the day at a pub in De Pijp area and had a Belgian beer while watching people going about life. It never ceases to amaze us how the mix of motor vehicles, trams, bicycles, tricycles, tandem bikes, mobility vehicles and humans all manage to go about their journeys without crashing or fighting. I get scared just crossing the road with all the activity.

Before going back to the boat we had a pita at our favourite spot Maoz. For €5 you get a white or wholewheat pita pocket, 3 falafel balls and unlimited salad and sauces. Yum. Our second day in Amsterdam we wanted to go to the Albert Cuyp market. We've been before and it always gets a mention in the What To Do in Amsterdam guides.

House boat in Amsterdam

Plus the guy double-banked next to our boat from Friesland was raving about it. We thought we would give it another try. It's lots of the same stuff really. Mostly cheap clothes and fruit and veggie stalls. The prices aren't that much better than the supermarkets but we love the novelty of shopping at produce markets. They sometimes have things you don't often see. Like purple carrots. We had to try those.

The weather was atrocious. Freezing cold, howling gales and horizontal rain. How does this happen in the height of the summer and holiday season? There were broken umbrellas aplenty next to rubbish bins. We decided to catch the tram back to Dam and head for one of our favourite veggie places in the Jordaan area for a bite - Bolhoed. Amazing how bad weather sends people indoors. The number of people of the streets was vastly down compared to the previous day. We were also pleased not to be boating in inclement weather.

The captain having a break from the rain at Bolhoed

Since we've discovered Happy Cow (happycow.net) we've visited all sorts of amazing veg friendly eateries on our travels. Bolhoed (bowler hat) have vegetarian, vegan and raw food. After a meal at Bolhoed we'd had enough of being out went back to the boat to keep warm and dry. The rain lashed down and our boat bounced for a few hours more and then just like that, the weather lifted and the sun came out. We heard the following day that the tram service was suspended due to a tree blowing over and debris on the track. That's the Netherlands for you. Four season in one day.
This story continues - on this link.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 3

2015-11-19T15:25:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

Westfriese kanaal

From our wild stop we journeyed along straight canals, through the polders, heading inland and south in the North Holland province. Not sure how the Netherlands came to be called Holland. Holland is actually a province. It's a bit like calling the USA - Texas or the UK - Yorkshire.

And that's not the only thing I don't understand. The system of building a dyk or bank to close off the Zuiderzee creating their polders still confuses me. The Dutch aren't sure themselves when the process of holding back the sea started. The pretty windmills we associate the countryside - along with Friesland cows, cheese, clogs, funny white hats and brightly coloured tulips - served to pump out water. Today they have modern pumps doing that job. But consider what would happen if the pumps stopped working? There are still rivers flowing into the Netherlands. And it rains. And there is a coastline. What about global warming and the possibility of a rising ocean?

Approaching Alkmaar

So while the Dutch people sought to protect themselves from the ravages of the North Sea and create land from the bed of the Zuiderzee, they face an ongoing issue to keep water at bay. No doubt the innovative Dutch people have considered all this but it does add an extra dimension to national security. No wonder there are so many floating homes in Holland. The polders, which are essentially the old sea bed, are a much as 6 metres below sea level. I find it humid when we're in the low lying areas. Particularly on a hot day. The weather can fluctuate quickly.

Our next stop was Alkmaar. (prounounced Alekmaar) Another Dutch medieval town and well worth visiting. Many towns in the Netherlands were built with a moat around to encases the old city. Plenty old towns and cities survived the bombings of the Second World War so their buildings are still in tact. It's worth remembering that Holland was occupied during the war and certain areas were heavily bombed. Alkmaar doesn't appear to be one of those places. What to do? Head to the VVV (tourist info) and get a map. And then just get lost. Wander around the streets. Alkmaar, as do all the other medieval towns, has festivals, markets and museums. A Beatles museum and a beer museum were the two that piqued our interest.

Alkmaar

The Beer Museum was a modest €4 and had video presentations, mostly in Dutch but one was in English. Three floors of information - luckily also in English - and a pub at the bottom next to a canal where you can try one of over 50 beers at a discount. Our attempt to try the local beers failed as they didn't have them in stock. We ended up having a Grimbergen donker ale (dark ale) which is one of our favourites anyway. The canal was bonkers busy with people in slopen (dinghys) barelling past each other with more or less boating skill causing the odd bump. You can hire a dinghy and take yourself on a trip through the maze of waterways.

Beer museum Alkmaar

On the subject of drinks to try, beer is top of our list. The Netherlands have a vast selection of regional and national beers. Our best Dutch beers are Texels and Brand. We often discover a divine beer in a local pub and never find it again. Heinken and Amstel are famous local beers but they are lagers. Most pubs also have plenty Belgian beers. Often made by Trappist monks. We love their malty dark ales such Leffe, Grimbergen and Westmalle. You can get pils, cherry beers, weiss - more types of beers than you can ever imagine. Some of them pack an alcoholic punch - up to 11% alcohol - so drink with care. They're usually served in a matching glass freshly rinsed with water. Why do they do that? I really don't know. Might have something to do with the foam. We finished our day with a walkabout and a shop-up before heading back to our boat for a jog (one way to explore and get some exercise) and an early night.

beers

Our next trip was via the Noord Hollandsch Kanaal via Zaanstad into the Noordzee Kanaal which becomes the Ij River and runs through Amsterdam. We've been to Amsterdam on our boat before and headed straight for Sixhaven. It's not the only marina, but we knew what to expect. The Ij River in Amsterdam is wide and the banks are home to factories so the route is industrial. Which means you get to share the waterways with big working barges. Who always have right of way. They come from way behind you and push right past you into the locks. Never mind how long you've been waiting. You hope there is enough space for you. Or hope another barge doesn't come while you're waiting to enter the lock. Because they will get right of way. One very good reason to avoid commercial routes.

Inner canals of Alkmaar

However we like barges when there are bridges as they make sure they get opened and we don't have to call the bridge operators on the VHF radio. We come from South Africa and speak Afrikaans. Which is an old version of Dutch from the settlers way back when. Somehow Afrikaans has developed it's own words and pronunciations of words. We sort of understand Dutch if they speak slowley or if we read it. Highbrow newspapers excluded. But we prefer not to have to figure out what the operator said. Or ask again and again until we understand.

Approaching Amsterdam by boat

Sixhaven has a sharp entrance and the moorings are tightly packed. Sixhaven can get very, very full. I'm happy to do deck duty but I'm way too scared to park our boat. I would hate to manoeuvre a boat in Sixhaven. It's a bit like a Rubik's cube situation. The havenmeester toggles boats and the ingoing or outgoing boats glide past other boats in tight proximity. We also had to cross the channels in the River Ij. Which meant dodging the ferries and barges. Scary stuff. Sixhaven has had a bit of a renovation. They have a lovely brand new ablution block.

Sixhaven marina

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 2

2015-11-06T13:39:00.000+02:00

Read about this trip from the start - here.

We never for a second thought we would spend as much time in the Netherlands as we did. There is so much to see and the Dutch are geared for water travel. I started blogging about our boat when we did the northern areas of the Netherlands - Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland in 2013. In 2014 we explored the middle and southern areas taking in places like Delft, Rotterdam, Utrecht and heading into the Limberg region down to Maasbracht. For such a small country Holland has over 6000 kilometres of inland waterways.

French maps and remote control

One day we were having a chat to some people on a boat next to us and they opened a map of the waterways of Europe. That's when we realised the sheer scale of connected waterways. A person can travel by boat from Holland through Germany through Poland through Belarus to the Ukraine all the way to the Black Sea. Or from Germany up north via Denmark to the Baltic Sea and Scandanavian countries. Or from Holland via Belgium to France. From France it's possible to head back up and across the English channel to the UK. Other countries such as Austria, Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, Hungary, Bosnia and Serbia are also accessible to avid boaters. No doubt about it, we had to move on.

Last night in Zwartsluis

This is the story of our journey from Zwartsluis in the Netherlands via Belgium to St Jean De Losne in France. One continent, three countries, five cities, 44 towns, 77 days, 298 locks and 1274 kilometres in total.

Our last few days in Zwartsluis were about tying up loose ends. Final repairs, topping up on food and fuel, squaring up our account with the marina. Since we were going to cross the Ijsselmeer, timing in terms of weather was paramount. It can get mighty breezy. Which is why it attracts a lot of yachts. We said goodbye to all the people we got to know and geared up for an early start from Zwartsluis across the Ijsselmeer to Enkhiuzen. The start date of our journey was Saturday 18th July 2015.

Using the van to load up on provisions

The wind was about Force 5 on the Ijsselmeer, enough to give us a bumpy ride at times. I was glad when we made it to Enkhuizen. We had four marinas to choose from. Not always the case I need to point out. Compagniehaven was the biggest marina I have ever been to. Could accommodate - at a guess 700 boats. The 3 other marinas although smaller were jam packed full of boats. We've experienced double banking on our boat. We've seen triple banking. In the municipal harbour in Enkhuizen - boats were tied up six abreast. Sextuple banking!

Sailing on the Ijsselmeer

Although my other half is a meticulous planner, and we have the Imray Inland Waterways guide books, it's not always possible to know what to expect when arriving at a new place. The guide isn't ever going to say a place is rubbish. They have more, or less, to say about a town which is something of a guide. And the name or size of a place doesn't give much of a clue either. Some really big places have turned out to be industrialized and conversely tiny places were post-card pretty. Enkhuizen is a lovely touristy place with something we haven't seen often - a Dutch beach! They also have the Zuidzee Museum which although pricey at €15 - is worth visiting. Not all Dutch museums have their information in English but this one did. We made the mistake of not allowing enough time for the museum. There's an indoor part where they have exhibits and artifacts. But there's also a huge outdoor section where they recreate an entire village. You can see a pharmacist, a cooper and a lime kiln amongst many others exhibits setup as they would have been back when. You can buy smoked herrings and Dutch sweets at the various shops.

Enkhuizen

They also have a walking route that you can follow on your own which takes you through and past the best bits of Enkhuizen. Since Sundays and Mondays tend to be pretty quiet in most places in Holland we knew we would need an extra night in Enkhuizen. The nice thing with planning and anticipating our journey, we had a bit of room to add or subtract a stop here or there.

Zuiderzee Museum

From Enhuizen we went back onto the the Ijsselmeer heading north, close to the coast, and popped back inland at Medemblik. Fortunately the weather was a whole lot better and it was a much calmer passage. We found a wild spot to overnight. Wild stops can be free but unlucky for us, this one cost €17. The havenmeester (harbour master) pitched up on his bicycle to collect his fee. Admittedly the wild stop did offer walstroom (electricity), water and an overflowing refuse disposal bin. But to put that in context, our night at Compagniehaven cost €26 and had everything you can think of, washing machines, supermarket and bakery, two floors of amenities and showers, restaurant, wi-fi, boat repairs and various items for sale. Utrecht marina cost us €12 including unlimited electricity. You still have to pay to use the showers at the marinas over and above the mooring fee. And you pay for electricity. And for water. It's all metered and you drop in a 50c or €1 coin, or use a yachthavenbetaalkaart (yacht harbour pay card) which are only in use in a few marinas, press a button and it should work.

Wild stop

Your mooring fee is based on the length of your boat, the amount of people on board and sometimes a tourist tax. Private marinas are more expensive and usually offer the works - some even have a gym and free bicycle hire. Municipal marinas are cheaper but the facilities can vary from not so great to surprisingly good. Municipal marinas are often in the inner canals near the bars and shops. Nice to be in the heart of things. Not so nice if a group of rowdy people don't want to go to bed, which certainly happens in the summer holidays.

The story continues - here.

Travelling the Inland Waterways of Europe from The Netherlands to France - Part 1

2015-10-30T11:11:00.001+02:00

My other half and I often have to pinch ourselves as we just cannot believe we have our very own Dutch steel motor cruiser - Shangri La. How did this happen? I have to confess I had no part in it. None whatsoever. In fact I had no desire to even set foot on a boat. Why would I? Then I met my now husband. He'd been sailing dinghys as a child and went on to become a ship captain. Boats are his whole life.

Shangri La in Alkmaar

Sailing holidays in Greece and Turkey were his thing for decades. He took me on a sailing holiday to the Greek Islands. The Sporades. Fabulous part of the world. I liked being on a boat but was less keen on the actual sailing. More like hard work than a holiday. I also didn't like being lurched all over the place and ducking every time we changed tack to avoid getting smacked on my head by the boom.

Shangri La in Utrecht

Our next trip he took us to explore the Croatian islands, this time we had a cabin cruiser. (Read about that holiday - here) Again I loved being on a boat but that particular boat had compact living space and was all about speed and power.

The following holiday we did the Macclesfield Canal on a traditional English narrow boat. I really enjoyed that break. Boating at a slow gentle pace means you can leave a cup of coffee on a table without fearing it will smash or spill. The holiday after that was wonderful. We went barging in France. (Read more - here) And we did more similar holidays. A narrow boat in the Brecon Beacons in Wales and more France as well as the Netherlands.

Shangri La in Liege

Since we enjoyed our slow boating holidays, it started to make sense to buy a boat. Well that's how my other half explained it to me. He favoured a Dutch steel motor cruiser. If there is one thing the Dutch have got right over the eons, it's making boats. We did our last holiday with a boat-hire company that specifically uses Pedros, a particular design of Dutch steel boat. (Find that holiday - here) My other half knew that was the sort of boat he might like and wanted to try one out.

Over the next couple of years we looked at a LOT of boats. We had a checklist and would rate the boats according to things we thought would be important like water and fuel capacity, location of toilet for guests on the boat, engine size, air and water draft, equipment, double steering positions - something we didn't want as we felt it took up unnecessary space. We had some idea of what boating in Europe would be like. We needed to fit under bridges or travelling would be limited. We needed to have enough fuel and water. The bigger the boat the higher the mooring costs but with two of us hoping to take lengthy holidays we needed space to move.

Shangri La in Dinant

We fell in love with a Mollenkruiser in Nottingham. Beautiful boat. And fully renovated. Sadly the sale fell through as there was insufficient paperwork in place. Paperwork is VERY important crossing international borders. Proof of tax payments and ownership papers were not available for that boat. Despite the owner of that boat insisting he had never had a problem, and we were very much in love with that boat, we took advice from multiple people and never went through with the purchase.

Since my other half was set on a Dutch design boat we knew we would in all likelihood find one in the Netherlands. And so focused on boats there. Eventually we found Shangri La, the much loved boat of a German couple who had to sell. They had enjoyed plenty holidays on her and done a whole lot of improvements. Things we never considered important like an electric hob, which we initially thought was odd, but with gas regulations and safety issues it's actually a sensible idea. The boat also didn't have a holding tank but rather a sea toilet. Many of the boats we looked at had holding tanks close to the living area. They smell. My other half is prepared to fit one externally if the need arises. And we keep disposable toilet liners should we be in an area that prohibits the use of a sea toilet. Shangri La has a distinct nautical interior with a ships brass clock that chimes the bells and assorted other brass and nautical hooks and gadget holders. Luckily the owners left all that on the boat for us. And a few other handy things such as German pots, microwave, spares and tools.

Shangri La in Bar le Duc

The sale went well and we became the proud owners of Shangri La. We think we're her fourth owners. Her bouwjaar (building year) is 1992. She is a Van der Valk cruiser. My husband is happy to keep on top of maintenance and repairs either by himself or outsourcing work. Shangri La has been re-upholstered, she has new curtains, her piping has been replaced, starter motor and gearbox overhauled, woodwork refurbished, new awnings and canvas covers, the broken windows and ports have been repaired. But, like any house or car, a boat has to be maintained ongoing.

The story continues - here.