Anja turns 110 years old today. The record of her original registration, dated 18th May 1903, shows her as registered as "Excelsior"in Hoogezand, a ship- building village in Groningen, northeast Netherlands.
We decided to celebrate her birthday by continuing along the Yonne River and all went very well until we entered the lock of St Bond. The lock gates could not be closed fully because a log was in the way, so the lock- keeper poked around with a long spike until he had impaled the log, a huge piece of wood. Still the gates refused to close. Eventually after bringing in a more senior lock keeper, and together spearing and removing several more logs, the gates finally closed fully.
By then another boat was waiting for the lock,
so they were opened again to let that boat in -but another log became stuck under the lock gates, so a diver was called and turned up 2 1/2 hours later. He was quick and efficient, removing the offending log and many others. Finally six and a half hours later, the lock worked properly and we emerged on the other side. So Anja spent most of her birthday in the lock of St Bond rather than happily sailing down the Yonne.
Birthday Girl ANJA with Linda and Eric on their Narrow Boat
Best Regards,
Penny and Dave