Though my
last posting is only 4 weeks ago, a lot has happened since.
Our
planning so far has been a bit much, not so practical but there you are.
Dry dock –
repairs in the yard – marriage on board – Oostende-at-Anchor – DBA-rally in Paris (without our barge) – Rebecca going to Amsterdam for a few days
– the one after the other and in between barging from one place to the other.
All of it
was nice or useful or fun or special, but not exactly the laidback living we
have been saying praise off.
Oh well,
this is part of life as well and we will take things veèèèèry slowly for the
remainder of this years cruising season.
My previous
entry was about the marriage on board and I was reluctant to show this photo
then, but now I will.
A few days
before the wedding, pictures of another bride were taken on board. First they
were on the quay-side, but on board was nicer.
Her dress
was in honour of her Henna-celebration, the civil ceremony had taken place
already and the really big party will take place in Turkey – and we thought two
happenings was a lot!
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| completely different from Malka but she looked just as happy |
After
departing from Amersfoort we went along the
Randmeren, the river Amstel, the Aarcanal and the river Gouwe to Gouda and then to Dordrecht.
De Gouwe
knew a lot of commercial traffic so we were cruising convoy-stile because the
commercials don’t go very fast and the bridges were only operated for all ships
together.
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| keep the fingers crossed this one won't com down |
One of the
lifting bridges – the one that crashed down last year, just missing a yacht
that was passing underneath - was replaced by a ferry.
Apparently
they are building a new one, but the whole looked like one of Cristo’s works of
art.
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| Cristo on the Gouwe |
Just like it
is when driving your car, other peoples behaviour is more threatening and
dangerous than what you do yourself.
Especially
smaller craft take lots of risk, thus causing problems to others; often they
have no notion of the limited manoeuvrability or breaking speed of a big, heavy
barge and they certainly don’t take it into account.
Our ship
weighs some 70 tonnes, hard to break or get around a corner, not mentioning the
length that makes it hard to get bow and stern going in the same direction at
the same time. So imagine what it is like for the commercials, being even
bigger than we are.
This
picture shows the perfect stupidity of the sailing boat and the positive
outcome was no thanks to them.
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| passing just before him, don't think of what could happen |
People who
had been sailing behind the big barge told us afterwards that they were covered
with soot, because the barge had to go full-rev’s to stop, only because the
sailing boat slipped in, in front of him.
In Dordrecht we were accompanied by friends on their own
barge and from there we had to sail up speed so as to reach Oostende
in time.
Being
experienced sailors by now – ho-ho – we were not nearly as impressed by Antwerp’s enormous
harbour as had been the case last year. Not so for our friends, theirs was the
first time.
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We even
found time to fiddle around with our new camera, showing below how tiny we are
compared to the real biggies.
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| we are on the left foto taken from the Twister, our friends barge |
In Antwerp
we went through the lock to the Scheldt river, first awaiting the right tide
together with all other ships that were also waiting for the tide; and we all
had to go through the Royerssluis, not really too big.
You have to
announce yourself and are given a number they use to call you. Not necessarily
in that sequence because the lock keeper
puzzles a lot to get as many ships in as possible at each turn.
Entering
the Scheldt at low tide and having the flow behind you towards Ghent really
works wonders for your speed, over 16,5 k/h at moderate rev’s, speedboat-like J.
We – that
is Rebecca – had been a bit frightened by the prospect of cruising the Scheldt, but in practice it went smoothly.
Things went
well, easy cruising, thanks to the skipper and even time to spare for looking
at the surroundings and discovering some-one had a plane in his garden ….
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| I prefer plant and flowers |
Cruising
from Brugge we were joined by other boats going to Oostend, all using the only
waterway to get there. Convoy-stile again, going through locks and bridges
together.
All happy
people on their way to a party, all in a good mood.
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| convoi on the canal circling Brugges |
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| they really know how to pack a lock |
In the
canal circling Brugges there are quite a few artefacts (denoting locks and
bridges), bridges opening in a fashion we had not seen before. They are lifting
bridges, so no room for masts there. All sailing boats have to lower their
masts or go via the sea.
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| the whole road goes up but turned a quarter circle as to used |
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| swinging from left to right like one of those things on the fairy |
For 't
Majeur it was her first salt water experience and we could pretend setting out
for sea, but not really so as she is not sea-worthy.
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| straight on and we are on open sea |
Oostend-at-Anchor
is a yearly ships festival in the last weekend of May.
All sailing
boats that are normally moored in the inner harbour have to leave for the
occasion and the pontoons are dismantled, only the ones parallel to the quay
remain.
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| in the centre of Oostende with view on the beautiful station building |
The inner
harbour is filled up completely with little tjalks, sloops, small and big
barges, powerboats (some nice looking) and all kinds of ships worth looking at.
Four, five
abreast.
In the
outer harbour – open to sea – all tall ships (at least 5 with three masts)
steam ships, kotters and Navy ships are moored.
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| the harbour is full as can be and very lively |
The town of
Oostende is
pampering skippers and crew and the public (each year a quarter of a million)
saunters through town and quays, looking at ships and sometimes boarding.
There are
stands with all kinds of things and there is live music all over.
This year
it lasted for three days because of Pentecost and the weather was beautiful every
day.
We were
third ship from the jetty and had the advantage that most people didn’t bother
climbing over, although …
We quickly
rigged up – copying from others who had been there before – a notice board with
information on ‘t Majeur. Pictures and a bit of text explaining the ship and
her history looked very well and were well read.
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| there is lots to tell about 't Majeur |
As soon as
Oostende was at an end we sailed to Veurne where we could moor after consulting
the harbourmaster whilst we went to Paris
leaving poor Panache in a kennel.
Paris was host to a DBA-rally (Dutch
Barge Association), a UK-based society of people with boats like ours or narrow
boats.
In order to
celebrate their twentieth anniversary this rally was set up, next to a party in
the UK.
Over thirty
barges – anywhere between 15 to 30 meters – belonging to people who cruise the continental
inland waters – had gathered in the Bassin de la Vilette in Paris.
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| all the barges in the Bassin |
The Bassin de
la Villette
is just a huge rectangular pond in the North of Paris where the Canal St Martin,
cutting off a huge bend in the Seine river, is
connected.
Five years
ago a special arrangement between the DBA and the town council has been made,
allowing mooring in the Bassin, which
was appreciated enormously by the Parisiens.
Until then
the big pond, where ships had been unloading meat for the slaughterhouses on
the one side and wood on the other side, had been bare since 1974 when all
activities ceased.
Now, five
years afterwards, slowly activities are re-appearing in the Bassin and the DBA
was allowed to organise a rally again.
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| lunch on the quay for about 100 people, everybody contributed something |
The days
were just packed; we stayed on board with friends and we have met lots of new
(to us) people.
We took
part in the barge handling competition and The Big Lunch on the quay, but also
found time to sniff at the real Paris.
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| breakfast in the café with coffe and croissant, that's Paris |
On the last
day we cruised – onboard our friends barge – the Canal St Martin to the Seine and disembarked there, going back to our own barge
again.
The canal
is a beautiful stretch of old Paris
with cast-iron foot bridges.
The last
part is a long tunnel underneath the boulevard Richard Lenoir ending in the
Arsenal, the Paris harbour on the Seine, a special outing.
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| the canal St Martin, worth a visit and to stroll along |
