Kerr Barging Blogs

In general, everything has been going very well.

However, sometimes mechanical things as well as bodies need maintenance and repair.

A few weeks ago, this ageing body started to notice something sore on his back. Only a second person can see it and Mechanic Penny reported it was a small lump, quite red itself and the surrounds. Unfortunately, treatment with antibiotic and antiseptic creams achieved nothing and it grew very much bigger and more sore quite quickly.

In a separate situation, our big generator/welder which we use for welding occasionally or also when we are staying somewhere for more than a few days, stopped producing electricity. Since I built it in 2010, we have come to take it for granted even though we probably only use it about ten to twelve times a year.

So, we ordered spare parts from the USA (the only place one can obtain them, as the company is a specialist manufacturer).

We chose a small town (Sillery) South of Reims which has a convenient Post Office for the delivery and also decided to seek medical assistance in the same place, reasoning that it might be easier in a smaller town rather than the very large Reims.

We arrived in the pleasant town of Sillery around 5pm on a Wednesday. I asked the lady in the small Tourist Office if she could find a Doctor for me. She kindly did this and obtained an appointment for the next morning. Great! Next morning I went confidently to the Post Office to collect the generator parts. Nothing! However the US Postal Service web site said that the parts had cleared customs the previous week and were expected in the Post Office the previous Monday.

I was quite worried about my back. However, the good news was that the Doctor believes it is a cyst and she made an appointment for a Specialist Dermatologist in Reims the following Monday. She did a lot of persuading to get an appointment quickly as we are on the move back towards Migennes. Hopefully on Monday it will be removed, 'though there will undoubtedly be stitches and follow up needs and we will have to figure out how to do those things. The Doctor also prescribed antibiotics, antibiotic cream and antiseptic base preparations. Cost for the Doctor was 23euros and for the medicines 17euros. Wow, that is cheap!

So, excellent medical services.

The saga of the generator parts is continuing. The US sender could not give me any new information. I could not fill in the USPS web enquiry form (it had too many details I did not know). But when I returned to the local Post Office, the ladies there had been doing some homework on my behalf and found the parts were stuck in Customs (Douane). The supplier had not included an invoice and also had not provided sufficient detail as to what the parts were on the US customs form. So, I have packaged up some information and made some statements and sent them off to Les Douanes and we hope the matter can be quickly resolved.

In the mean time, I have finished painting the other side of the boat- hooray! This was the last thing on the list of work we wanted to achieve before we set off in May. We are also enjoying some of the sights and other things we missed last time we were in this area.

Best Regards,

Dave

We are now in the North West of France, travelling south towards our final destination, the boat yard in Migennes where Anja spends the winter. En route we are filling in gaps from previous trips in this area. We also made the long trip to Auxerre to renew our visas for 2015.

We have as usual come across various curiosities or funny events.

Monkeys hanging from a rope
The first was in Lille where we stayed at our favourite mooring, in a closed off arm behind the Vauban Citadel. Here there is a huge park which dates back several hundred years, and the free zoo. The park has a wonderful children's playground so the area is very popular during school holidays. The runners, cyclists and walkers are plentiful, as are the gazers, who sit on park benches and just look. In the mornings, the monkeys are very happy and make plenty of noise.

One evening one of the park- bench fellows approached us to ask for a bed for the night. He was sure we must be a travelling B & B (Bed and Breakfast or Chambre d'Hote). He seemed very disappointed when we had to knock back his request. He said he had always wanted to sleep on a peniche.

As we left Lille we came across a curiosity which is still puzzling us. There is a large prison just outside town, two or three stories high, surrounded by the usual high fences and guard towers at the corners- but there was graffiti on the roof! How? who, when, why? We are still scratching our heads. Did someone risk his/her life to put it there?

A monument to the pigeons of Lille- WW1Our trip to Auxerre took all day, from 6am to 9pm, travelling on eight trains. We could have taken less time but the first and last trains needed to be booked so we decided to be generous with our limits. It gave plenty of time to read books, observe the passing scene, have a relaxed lunch and not be stressed. Perhaps because we were not rushed we noticed for the first time that the two main stations we travelled through, Gare Du Nord and Paris Bercy, both have baby grand pianos in the waiting area with invitations to pianists, professional or amateur, to sit down and play for their own enjoyment and that of other passengers. Somebody had taken up the offer at Gare du Nord.

Our final special moment was at Auxerre where we found a cafe for lunch, away from the centre and well- priced. We ordered from the menu of the day, one fish, one meat dish and both came with the biggest range of vegetables we have ever seen. We had potato, sweet potato (purple skinned) kumera, beans, zucchini, hot beetroot, carrots, red and green capsicum, tomato, cauliflower, mushrooms. We had already had tomato and lettuce with our entree, so came away from that lunch with our full day's, maybe week's quota, of veges.

The best result of the day was an uneventful visit to the Prefecture which we hope will result in visas renewed for 2015.

Best Regards,

Penny and David

A beautiful moon rises over the Canal

We were about to sample the third of the five main North/ South routes through Belgium: we have twice travelled North on the Meuse River in the East; last year we came south on the  Leie River (the Lys in France); this year we planned to travel south on the Bovenschelde, which becomes the Escaut River in France. Two routes remain, the Canal from Brussels to Charleroi, and the River Dendre (Dender in Belgium). We had thought of travelling on the Dendre this year but others reported that it has some problems with depth, weeds and with locks. Maybe it will be better next year, if we come this way, and we can try it out then.

Oudenaarde Tapestry

The Bovenschelde has two main towns and cities on its banks: Tournai, which we visited by train from Antoign earlier this year, and Oudenaarde. We had been inclined to discount the latter, perhaps because its name is not well known to us, but it turned out to be a delightful city with an interesting and well- narrated history. Everywhere we saw recently erected photos of the city as it was during World War 1; the centenary remembrance is very important in Belgian towns such as this, so affected by that event. It was sad to see the badly damaged Church and streets of houses just rubble. The town was occupied by the Germans throughout the war and they destroyed the bridges and roads as they left. At least there were not many civilian casualties.

Exquisite silver and nautilus shell

Oudenaarde is noted for tapestries and silver and its museum had many beautiful examples of both. It is also the home of Liefmann's Beer. It also has a bustling market where we enjoyed stocking up on very fresh food.
The next unexpected pleasure was the Roubaix Canal (Canal l'Espierres in Belgium).

Grand Town Hall for a small town
Market day in the town square Oudenaarde

This Canal route joins the Escaut in Belgium to the Deule River just north of Lille, in France. It dates back to the 19th century when it was a major coal route but was closed in the mid- 80s. For over twenty years it was neglected but then a group of about 40 organisations banded together to have it restored and re- opened. Since 2011 it has operated as a tourist canal, run by the local authorities though supported by the official waterways organisations.

Historic Lifting Bridge on the Roubaix

We entered from the Belgian end so had about 8 kilometres of the canal to travel to get to the French border, marked by a very old Customs hut and a busy cafe whose proprietor delivered free croissants and a baguette to us next morning.
There were many people walking and cycling along the waterway and visiting the cafe. A good proportion stopped to ask us about ourselves and the boat, or later on stopped at the locks to watch us go through. Fortunately we were back in French- speaking Wallonia and then in France so we could manage these conversations fine. The most unexpected request came on Saturday afternoon when we were asked if Anja could be the backdrop for some wedding photos. So we snipped off the dead geranium heads and took the washing off the line then disappeared below so that we would not get in the way while the bride, flower girl and groom (complete with with a trumpet) were photographed.

The Roubaix Canal

When we started off again on the French section of the Canal we were accompanied by two men who seemed to be a combination of lock keepers and travel guides. There were many lifting bridges which they operated as we approached, and they also helped with the lines (ie ropes)  in the locks, a really luxury but helpful as we were sharing the locks with another boat and the bollards were not well- placed for us. We were given a huge amount of information about the area and the canal, including brochures of birds we might see and maps of cycle routes. They decided when we would stop for the night which, definitely the right place to stop before we entered a staircase of locks, unfortunately was not in a spot handy for any of the towns along the way. We realised that anyone wanting to make full use of the Roubaix would be best to travel from France towards Belgium rather than the way we came. Then one would have the full information at the beginning and the sensible overnight stopping spot would give better access to some of the attractions. It felt good to support this effort by using the canal. For us it was a very useful short cut to our next destination. We were not fully prepared for the enthusiasm of the local people and hope that the venture continues to be successful. Several canals have been closed in recent years but few are re- opened. 

So we are back in France, looking forward to more travelling and learning over the next few weeks.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

We had an uneventful trip from Tholon to Antwerp where we were heading for Willemdok, the only accessible marina in Antwerp for boats on the move. To get there we needed to make our way through about 20 kilometres of docks entering on each side of us- there are 200 kilometres of docks here. Willemdok is a former industrial dock area, now converted for leisure boats. We had been told it was huge but even so had tried to book ahead, to be informed that was not possible.  

The Town Hall of Antwerp

Entry was not straightforward. First we had to be let through two opening bridges, the second of which operates on a fixed and quite limited schedule. It took us over an hour to get through these bridges even though they are only 500 metres apart. Waiting for the second, to give access to the marina, we were approached by the harbour master in his inflatable boat,  looking very frazzled. He would lead us onto our mooring- along with the other ten or so boats waiting for the same bridge opening. In all, 60 boats entered the Marina that day and were rafted two or three deep in the massive area available. By the time the day finished there were 600 boats there. It was very secure, with only one, locked, gate but we were a long way from the entrance.

Embossed leather walls with gold leaf!

We enjoyed visiting Antwerp, a good size for getting about and not too crowded. We visited Rubens House and also the Plantin- Moretus Museum of Printing (in the original Plantin Home) which has copies of two rare original Gutenberg Bibles. Both houses have walls lined with embossed leather. The Cathedral and Town Hall are very impressive, The MAS Tower gives a remarkable view of the city, and best of all the tourist bureau was welcoming and very helpful. We were in the main Square for a procession of the Guilds through the streets, with members dressed in traditional clothing.   This is an annual event and lasts most of the day. At the end of the long march, there was an archery competition in the main square, using ancient, traditional crossbows.

Guilkd marchers, in traditional costumes, marching through Antwerp

One of the two libraries in Plantin's house

Leaving Antwerp was even more difficult than arriving. To continue our journey south we needed to leave the ease of the non- tidal area, a luxury we had enjoyed for the last few days of travel, and once more enter the tidal rivers, in this case the Boven Zeeschelde and Zeeschelde, to travel 83 kilometres further south towards our next destination, the lock at Merelbeke which marks the end of the tidal influence and the start of the Bovenschelde.

One of the early Gutenberg Bibles

We had carefully planned our trip so that when we left Antwerp we could catch the tide with plenty of daylight to travel the eighty three kilometres, a huge daily distance for us. The tide runs at 6 kilometres an hour at its peak. With it we could travel at 13 kph easily; against it we would stand still.

Inside Rubens' House
Rubens' House from the garden

Our plan was to leave at 6.30 am but then we found that the first bridge opening was at 6.30, with a second bridge and a busy lock to follow. In the end we were delayed two hours so missed two hours of the tide. We travelled with it as it worked its way towards Ghent, and eventually it turned against us about an hour before we reached our destination at Merelbeke. We then appreciated even more how much it had helped us along on this long day's travel.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

When we returned from the Hague we found that an unexpected trip boat had arrived in Delft Harbour so several boats had been cleared out. We had been pushed back and someone was rafted up to us so we decided to leave straight away for Rotterdam, our next stop.

We had a very quick trip and uneventful trip, all bridges working well for us today, and tied up in a port area with plenty of bollards and no signs to ban us from stopping. Next day we had a very friendly visit from the Rotterdam Port Authority to tell us that it was not really a place to stop so he indicated a better place to stay with his permission.

Wide Rotterdam street
In Rotterdam we focussed on the Maritime Museum. We had hoped to find out more about Anja from their archives as we had read that the old boat registers are kept in their library. Sadly,  it is only open one day a week (and not the day we were there) so that was not possible, but we enjoyed some excellent displays within and outside the Museum building. The very lively Historic Harbour is full of old boats but also old equipment and support vessels. One barge on display was very like Anja and had worked in the same area. It was manned by a helpful guide from whom we found out extra details about barges of that era on those waterways. The interior was probably very like Anja's original set- up so that too was informative. Indeed the floor planks are the same as our old planks which are under the newer floor and probably 111 years old.

Museum Tjalk, extremely similar to Anja and used for the same purposes originally & 10years older
Amazing old steam-driven barge used to slurp grain from ships and barges

From Rotterdam our route would be on rivers whose tides are strong. It was essential to time our trip to coincide with the best time to travel- otherwise we would stand still or go backwards. Unfortunately our Cruising Guide was directly at variance with the Almanac in its advice about tide times and the direction of flow for our next route. David therefore cycled to the river where the tide could be assessed to use the tried and true "throw a stick into the water" speed indicator to find out what was really going on. The Almanac was correct (pleasing because it gave us a much longer period of good travel, at a better time of day) so we left full of confidence that we would have good tidal assistance.

The sun about to rise on Rotterdam and we speed down the busy waterway

Unfortunately there was a hiccup straight away. There are two locks available to exit from the non- tidal area; one has a lifting bridge that we would have to negotiate before the morning peak-hour ban on opening the bridge, from 7am until 8.30. The other has an official height  too low for us. As the lock is tidal, the clearance at the river end reduces even more as the tide rises.

Dortrecht from the river

We contacted the lock- keeper at 6am and were told to go into the low- clearance lock. Expressions of doubt about whether the height would be adequate and clear information about our clearance were swept aside, so we had no choice: one cannot disobey a lock- keeper. So in we went, and up in the lock. The doors opened onto the river, but our roof was a clear 30 centimetres above the level of the bridge. We could not go out. So the lock- keeper took us back down in the lock then we had to reverse out of this 125 metre lock plus 30 metres to pass the entrance bridge, to enter the other lock and do the whole lot again. By this stage it was getting close to the 7am compulsory closure but we were put through in time to avoid being stranded until 8.30. The lock keeper at no stage acknowledged that he had erred and made no apology for this most ridiculous situation. We had lost an hour of our tidal advantage.

Amazing- Apartments built in the shape of a huge ship!

Fortunately the rest of the trip went well as there were no bridges or locks to impede us. We had been worried about the huge ships, the frequent fast ferries and the buzzing taxis on this busy waterway, but they were of no concern as we kept a good look out and travelled on the edge of the main channel.

We travelled a record 77 kilometres that day to stop at Tholen, a delightful town beyond the tidal area. The town harbour was a friendly place with a very helpful Harbour Mistress. We had dinner out and a fellow- diner acted as translator and told us that he imports equipment for labelling bottles from Port Melbourne. He happily lives in small- town Tholen and rides his bike to his office locally.

Delightful Tholen- it is on a huge island

So we set off from Tholen towards Antwerp; the border was not marked as such, though there were traffic lights on the side of the canal at about that spot. Fortunately they were green: Belgium allowed us entry.  

30km of travelling through 200km of quays and huge ships- Antwerp

Best Regards,

Penny and David