31st August 2010 – Somewhere in May I sanded down the back accommodation and it still needed a good coat of primer. Since it was that long rust had touched the metal gain so I started all over again. Fortunately it went quicker this time.
Month: August 2010
29th August 2010 – The weather is no good for working outside, so I continued sanding down the back accommodation. All the vanish needs to go since I’m about to paint everything. Since my camera is broken I can’t take any pictures from the work in progress.
27th August 2010 – While driving in the country side I noticed a little sign “16 écluses d’échelle”. It were 16 locks spread over a distance of 4 tot 5 kilometers. Skippers need an hour and 15 minutes to pass them. Two girls were turning the lock, after a little chat I discovered one of them was the lock keeper.
A few locks further, they had a little barge. That lock was different from the others, it was nicely decorated, including the house attached to that lock. It had a style, something like the hippies in the 60’s and an English cottage house.
26th August 2010 – As a real tourist, I made a little boat trip in Briaire. Besides the spits barge, also point of depart, and a visit of a lock, there is actually nothing else worth mentioning.
25th August 2010 – I visited a few locks, for one way or another, French locks interest me a lot. Many of them are still turned by hand.
In the afternoon I visited two very interesting museums. One of them was an old Toueur, the other a mine. The Toueur is a tugboat that pulled barges on the Loire. It had a fixed route and used chains to make its way on the river. Only five of them are still in existent in France.
A little further down the road, there was a walenmajol (wooden spits barge). The visit of the mine, even noting nautical related,
23th August 2010 – During the visit of Bourges, I found a small shipyard with one dry dock. Around the yard there are several houseboats and barges that will be converted. A few of them were already shortened as well. Besides a tjalk, there was one specific spits barge that got my attention. If anyone has more information, please contact me.
21st August 2010 – The first day of 7 days in the French Burgoyne region. The area has three rivers that can be used for cruising: Canal Nivernais, Yvonne and the canal Lateral de la Loire.
7th August 2010 – By the end of the month I would like to see the whole deck of the Watergeus painted. It has now taken over 4 months since I started the job. Sadly enough, in the afternoon the rain avoided me from working outside.
Since I’m still working on the back accommodation and front cabin, I knew what to do…
8th August 2010 – In the morning I started removing paint until it was raining. The afternoon was entirely spent in working on the front cabin.
6th August 2010
3rd August 2010 – We went back to Antwerp to visit the spits barge a second time and to finish the deal. A new barge will find it’s way to become a houseboat in Bruges.
2nd August 2010 – The front cabin is nearly ready, once side needs to be finished. Once the wood work is done, I’ll do the fittings for a sink and washing machine. Then the whole room needs painting. I’m still looking for a floor.
1st August 2010 – Once in a while; people ask me to join them to visit a barge they are interested in. Today I went to Antwerp to visit a spits barge. I was amazed to find such a traditional looking barge with so many original fittings. Whether the sale will go through, I don’t know but at least I had a great day and have seen some nice barges!