Saturday, 22 February 2014
French Classes in Briare.
We read, and had to translate, a childrens story about Le Blaireau a Lunettes (The Spectacled Badger) so Mike, our neighbour on the barge Elsie May made a badger with balloons and took it to the class!
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
2014 New Year. Where to cruise this year?
Beautiful winter in Briare, with Christmas decorations:
and many scenic walks
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| the Aquaduct emptied for repairs |
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| Briare mosaics |
Monday, 16 December 2013
Winter in Heybridge
We went exploring in Tollesbury.
Low tide in/on the salt marshes.
Which way to go?
Restored ships lofts, Tollesbury.
Nigel's mother, Margery Fisher, was born and raised in Tollesbury, so we just had to go and have a look at the village. After some research on the internet he discovered that there were historic connections to ancestors having been involved in fishing and landlords of public houses. No surprises there then!
We arranged to housesit for some friends we made while cruising in 2012. They were going to Australia for a few months to visit their children, so with us there the house wasn't left empty, and it gave us a base to host Christmas for our family. So all round mutual benefits.
This pink house in Heybridge had an unusual notice on the side gates. Just couldn't resist taking a picture of this!
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Adapting to life in Good Old Blighty
Supermarket club cards and other mysteries of life.
As I was in England on my own and without a car, and no longer had a Tesco loyalty card, I had to reapply for one, so that I could have groceries delivered. Actually this was a much quicker process than I had feared, and the delivery person even carried the groceries into the kitchen. This made things much easier for me, as I had to get 'Christmas' ready before Ni joined my on 19th December.
So I managed to buy most of the family Chrismas presents, disappointingly quite a few online as the local shops didnt have what I/others wanted, all before Ni arrived to enjoy Christmas.
I soon got to grips with the local buses, having paid out for a taxi to and from Maldon just to find my way around. Though I did have to take a taxi to get the 6' Christmas tree back to the house!
There were lots of good walks around Heybridge, and Tashi enjoyed exploring, although on reflection it seems she was quite unsettled. We hadnt realised this until we retuned to our boat when she lept onboard, and settled down into her own little corner.
As I was in England on my own and without a car, and no longer had a Tesco loyalty card, I had to reapply for one, so that I could have groceries delivered. Actually this was a much quicker process than I had feared, and the delivery person even carried the groceries into the kitchen. This made things much easier for me, as I had to get 'Christmas' ready before Ni joined my on 19th December.
So I managed to buy most of the family Chrismas presents, disappointingly quite a few online as the local shops didnt have what I/others wanted, all before Ni arrived to enjoy Christmas.
I soon got to grips with the local buses, having paid out for a taxi to and from Maldon just to find my way around. Though I did have to take a taxi to get the 6' Christmas tree back to the house!
There were lots of good walks around Heybridge, and Tashi enjoyed exploring, although on reflection it seems she was quite unsettled. We hadnt realised this until we retuned to our boat when she lept onboard, and settled down into her own little corner.
Friday, 29 November 2013
Hosting a Family Christmas
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Gesina: The End of another Season
Briare, winter mooring 2013/14
Gesina: The End of another Season:
Well Gesina made it to Briare, via an unexpected route, meeting some interesting people, and seeing beautiful scenery.
A picture of concentration, passing spectators, photographers and strong winds didn't put the skipper off his course!
A beautifl autumnal day enhanced our walking around the now disused canals around Briare.
A very smart visitor came to lunch!
Some locks we encountered on our summer cruise. Some are pretty and some are just pretty awful!
Gesina: The End of another Season:
Well Gesina made it to Briare, via an unexpected route, meeting some interesting people, and seeing beautiful scenery.
A picture of concentration, passing spectators, photographers and strong winds didn't put the skipper off his course!
A beautifl autumnal day enhanced our walking around the now disused canals around Briare.
Some locks we encountered on our summer cruise. Some are pretty and some are just pretty awful!
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| Geraniums on the gates on the lock at le Guetin |
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| Coming off the Saone onto the Canal du Centre |
Thursday, 16 May 2013
In the Beginning
It all started in 2008 on the Greek island of Lipsi. "We could sail around the Mediterranean in Chantal", the 27' yacht we had moored back in Poole Harbour, says Nigel. For some strange reason I didn't agree. However, we did come to a very English compremise - a Dutch barge around Europe.
So, how to go about it? Well first of all we rented a Locaboat in Loosedrecht, an area we later came to know well. This was to see if we thought we could cope with handling a boat through locks and bridges. All went fine and so we booked ourselves onto Di and Tam Murell's ICC course in France aboard their boat Friesland.
Having looked at various boats for sale on the internet, while we were in France we travelled to several boat yards to look at actual boats, and then up to the Netherlands, where we found our dream boat - Gesina.
The following year we went again to Holland, Haarlem in fact, to join Roger van Dyken aboard his barge Vertrouwen, to spend a week with him, his wife Marlene and two other Americans Shelley and Ken Smithson. The object of this week was to learn all aspects of skippering a 65 ton barge, and was the most beneficial thing we did.
So, how to go about it? Well first of all we rented a Locaboat in Loosedrecht, an area we later came to know well. This was to see if we thought we could cope with handling a boat through locks and bridges. All went fine and so we booked ourselves onto Di and Tam Murell's ICC course in France aboard their boat Friesland.
Having looked at various boats for sale on the internet, while we were in France we travelled to several boat yards to look at actual boats, and then up to the Netherlands, where we found our dream boat - Gesina.
The following year we went again to Holland, Haarlem in fact, to join Roger van Dyken aboard his barge Vertrouwen, to spend a week with him, his wife Marlene and two other Americans Shelley and Ken Smithson. The object of this week was to learn all aspects of skippering a 65 ton barge, and was the most beneficial thing we did.
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