It's Ours!

As the title of this posting suggests, we are now the proud owners of a Dutch barge in France. The results of June's survey gave us the confidence to complete the purchase, and on July 7--our 39th wedding anniversary--we officially took ownership. As we are still in process to change the boat registration, our new-to-us "baby" will continue to be called Antares until the French registration changeover is complete and she officially becomes C.A.R.I.B. III (Chill and Relax It's Bargetime).

On August 21 Lon and I flew back to France for two weeks to take physical possession of the "bateau".  She was still at the shipyard in St. Jean de Losne, after having some post-survey remedial work done in July, including a bow thruster repair and new bottom paint. The basic plan for our trip was boat cleaning, a two-day Saone River cruise back to the marina in Pont-de-Vaux, and whatever boat projects we felt needed to be done before winter (and could be accomplished in the time we had). The interior boat cleaning turned out to be a 3-day effort in St. Jean. The previous owner had cleaned out the bare minimum of "stuff" and left us with a bit of a mess--old/opened food in cabinets, old make-up in the head (bathroom), old you-name-it in the various storage areas below and above decks. Fortunately, we had booked into a B&B in St. Jean for the first couple of nights, which gave us time to get the living quarters in good shape for our move aboard on the 3rd night and prep for our cruise to our home port (for now) of Pont-de-Vaux.

A cleaned salon, ready for occupancy

We departed shipyard Atelier Fluvial mid-morning on Sunday, August 26, after a delay due to fog.  Lon did a masterful job of pivoting the boat out of our very tight mooring spot and into position to wait for our entry into the lock on the Bourgogne Canal that would take us down into the Saone River.
   

                         

                               A foggy Bourgogne Canal

First lock on the Bourgogne Canal, our
entry point into the Saone River

After the fog cleared we had absolutely beautiful weather for our cruise.

                         

                                     Captain Lon conquers the Saone River

 
                   Pat enjoying the cruise

Our destination for the day was Chalon-sur-Saône. A Roman port city existed on the site in the 1st century A.D., but the current name is from the 6th century and derives from Saint Marcellus of Chalon, said to have been martyred there in 179 AD.  Chalon is perhaps best known as the 19th century birthplace of photography, when Joseph Nicephore Niepce developed heliography, a technique he used in 1825 to create a print made from a photoengraved printing plate. We had stopped overnight in Chalon on our trip upriver in June, and had hoped to have more opportunity this time to explore the medieval city center. Alas, the late start from St. Jean de Losne and a 2-hour arrival delay due to Formula 1 boat races just upriver of our intended mooring spot for the evening kept our explorations to a minimum. Maybe next time . . .

Boat races on the river at Chalon-sur-Saone

Town square of old Chalon, with Chalon Cathedral (8th-19th C.)

Moored for the evening in Chalon-sur-Saône

Monday, August 27, was also a wonderful cruising day. The weather was fine and the river traffic minimal.  Because we were heading downriver our trip took just a few hours. We were through the lock onto the Pont-de-Vaux canal and at our mooring spot in the Port de Plaisance (marina) by mid-afternoon.

We worked very hard over the next several days. The primary work projects were a good exterior cleaning (Lon); exterior window caulking (Pat); washing curtains, bedding, and towels (Pat); and dealing with rust spots on the hull (Lon).

       

         Pat addresses window leaks with fresh caulk

Lon sands and paints to keep rust damage at bay

At the risk of sounding like at 1950's housewife, let's take a moment to consider--laundry. Never thought I'd say it, but the one feature of the boat that has made it worth every euro spent is this little beauty--our Miele washing machine.

One of the things I missed most during the years that we lived on C.A.R.I.B. II was being able to do laundry on the boat. The boat had come with a combo washer-dryer, but the first attempted use resulted in a torrent of water through dried out seals and the sad realization that it was beyond repair. We became dependent upon laundromats for the duration of our time as liveaboards.  I was concerned that I would have the same issues with the washer on C.A.R.I.B. III, or at the very least, the washer wouldn't be good for much more than cleaning socks and underwear. Laundromats--when you can find them--are very expensive in France, so I was thrilled to find out how wrong I was. The Miele took everything I could throw at it--bedding, curtains, towels, jeans and other clothing--and took a lot of it per load. It was quiet, easy on water consumption, and the spin cycle took out so much water that air drying most things took no time at all. I am in love!

           

           Clothes drying goes low-tech

I haven't ironed since I stopped working, but
the curtains needed it after washing

Despite all the work, we did manage to find some time for rest and relaxation in Pont-de-Vaux.

                        

                                        Pont-de-Vaux hosts a lively Wednesday
                               morning market

Walking around Pont-de-Vaux

A Saturday visit by Dutch friends Yolanda and Joost (and Suze & Rosa)

All good things must come to an end. We finished as many projects as we could and decided to hire the marina to complete the boat winterizing activities in the fall. On Monday morning, September 3, a marina neighbor drove us to Macon to catch our Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV, "high-speed train") to Paris. What an awesome, stress-free way to travel! Less than 2 hours after departure from Macon we arrived at Gare de Lyon in Paris, stored our luggage, and enjoyed a few hours reacquainting ourselves with the city.

We thought Paris would be overrun with tourists, but it seems that the summer holidays universally finished the last week in August. Unlike during previous trips to the city, we didn't encounter long lines at some major tourist attractions, and so were able to--finally--see the interior of Notre Dame Cathedral and the royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle. Construction on the well-known Notre Dame Cathedral started in 1163 and continued off-and-on until the 19th Century. During the French Revolution, the cathedral was converted into a storage warehouse for food, and the heads of many statues were removed. The Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel) was constructed between 1242 and 1248 within the medieval Palais de la Cite. It was also damaged during the French Revolution, but restored in the 19th century. Its extensive 13th-century stained glass collection (over 1100 panels) depicts stories from the Old and New Testaments. 

Lunch at a sidewalk cafe near
 the Seine

Cathedral of Notre Dame provides a backdrop
for a tourist boat on the Seine

Interior of Notre Dame Cathedral

                                     

                                                         Close-up of stained glass in
                                                      Sainte-Chapelle

  

         Interior of Sainte-Chapelle

Near the Louvre Museum

The next months will be spent planning next year's travels in France. Because our 20-year old cat Zipper is still with us, and we don't know for how long, we will have to create alternate plans: ZP-Zipper Plan and NZP-No Zipper Plan. We will also try to improve our French. Google Translate was a wonderful communication tool for us this time around, but it's not perfect, and we would prefer to be able to communicate without depending upon GT too much. We'll do a posting in mid-spring 2019 with a broad outline of our plans.

Canal Cruise/Survey/Bath, England

May 30th - June 7th

After being back for a couple of weeks, it was time to head back to France for the out-of-water inspection of Antares.  The best part of this trip that we were looking forward to was the chance to spend 2 days on Antares cruising from Pont-de-Vaux up the Saone River to St Jean-de-Losne.  We arrived back at Pont-de-Vaux early afternoon on the 31st.  We checked into our Airbnb and walked across the street to meet up with Graham, the broker, to find out what time we would be leaving in the morning.  When we found him, we were greeted with the news that we would not be leaving on Friday morning, but hopefully we would make a Saturday departure.  The marina here has a maintenance shop and Graham had requested that they ready Antares.  Unfortunately, they did not, so Graham was getting Antares prepared for cruising.  One of the items was to fill the water tank, so he placed a water hose into the what he thought was the fill for the water tank and went about his business doing other chores.  When he went to check the water level, he realized he was putting water into the fuel tank.  Big Oops!  To resolve this, temporary tanks (3 - 15 gallon barrels) were placed in the engine room and a fuel pick-up hose was installed between them and the fuel filters.  This took all day Friday to resolve.  In the meantime, another problem revealed itself, a leak that had started in the forward bow locker.  It turned out to be a small hole in the bow thruster tunnel that required a temporary patch to stop the water intrusion.  With not much time to do anything else, Graham never did get the water system filled and running.  So, we had 2 days of cruising ahead of us with no pressurized water system available...fun, fun, fun.

      

      Leaving marina at Pont-de-Vaux

      

      Entering Saone River from lock

We left on a beautiful Saturday morning, making our way down the canal to our first lock with Antares to get on the Saone River.  Going thru the lock was just like riding a bike--no problems.  It was a nice sunny day for cruising and we saw some nice towns and even one of those massive river cruise passenger boats (think "Viking Cruise" commercials).  We spent the night at a marina in an old medieval town called Chalon-sur-Saone.  Very nice, we will be back there to spend more time.

Tournus, church in background dates back to 10th century

MS Lord Byron with Riviera River Cruises

We left Chalon at sunrise.  It was an awesome time to be on the river.  We had another sunny day for the trip up to St Jean-de-Losne.  By mid-afternoon, we had locked into the Canal Bourgogne and tied up alongside a huge barge that was being worked on at the shipyard there.  The dry dock that Antares was going into the next day was right next to the lock at the start of the canal.

Leaving Chalon-sur-Saone at sunrise

Locking into the start of Canal Bourgogne, dry dock to right

Friends of ours, Tom and Carol Cason (also from St Petersburg), had their barge "Vivante" in this dry dock two years earlier and had mentioned to us how interesting the process was to watch.  It was.

Antares being pushed into dry-dock

Philippe, the owner of the shipyard, dons his scuba gear and dives under the hulls to place the steel stands before the water is removed from the dry dock.  Antares was 2nd into the dry dock after a huge 38 meter barge, which made Antares, at 21 meters, look quite small.  They also squeezed a smaller 15 meter barge behind Antares.

The surveyor we hired arrived early and was already in the process of doing the survey as the dry docking took place.  He was very professional in his approach, which was good to see.  One of the biggest concerns we had was the condition of Antares' hull.  After the dry dock was empty we had a chance to see the hull and it looked in fairly decent shape, considering the age.  The surveyor's sounding of the hull the next day proved that it was.  Other than the bow thruster tunnel leak and a few rivet heads to repair, the hull was in great shape.

Diving under hull to place stands

Pressure washing Antares hull

Arnaud doing hull soundings

The next day, while the surveyor continued his inspection of Antares, we spent the morning and afternoon walking around another French city famous for its mustard, Dijon.  We found the Tourist Office and we were given a pamphlet to do a very nice walking tour of the historic center.  This is a city that dates back to the Neolithic period and was also a Roman settlement.

Top left: Dijon - Medieval shopping street, buildings from 12th - 15th centuries
Top right: Dijon - Notre Dame Dijon behind Lon, 13th century, bell tower is symbol of Dijon
Bottom left: Dijon - Good luck Owl on side of Notre Dame, rub with your left hand for wish
Bottom right: Dijon - Pat in the "Place de la Liberation", market square on weekends

 June 8th to June 10th

After the survey, we flew to Bath, England to visit friends who just recently moved there from the States, Stan and Kitty Vout.  We had visited here several years earlier and were impressed with the city.  Although some things felt familiar, much of the city seemed different.  But it is still an impressive old English town on the River Avon.  We also visited another old English town, Bradford on Avon, which was smaller, but equally impressive.

Top left: Bath - View from #1 Crescent.  The Royal Crescent, home to Bath's elite, built 1770's
Top right: Bath - Stan, Kitty, Lon by River Avon
Middle left: Bath - River Avon with historic Bath city center in background
Middle right: Bradford - Kitty, Pat by old Barton Farm farmhouse built 15th century
Bottom left: Bradford - Tithe Barn from the 14th century, belonged to richest nunnery in England
Bottom right: Bradford - Church Street, with some buildings dating back to the 8th century

We are now back home and waiting for the final survey report and then we have a decision to make!!

On To the Next Step . . .

"We're too excited to sleep" is not a phrase you heard from either of us on Friday night.  After 10.5 hours of flying and 4 hours of driving (we did have a sightseeing stop and lunch break), we almost missed the alarm to get up and ready for our first look on "Antares".

Chateau de Fontainebleau

Our Airbnb in Pont de Vaux was only a couple of blocks away from the marina, so we did walk over to see "Antares" on Friday.

Pat pointing at "Antares"

But, Saturday morning, after meeting Graham, the Broker, we stepped aboard for the first time.  First thing first...Yes! Lon has headroom...yea!!  We did a quick walk-thru together and were happy to see that the barge was what we expected.  In addition, Lon could stand up in the shower.

Headroom in the shower!

The interior was in great shape.  We then split up, Pat going thru the interior and Lon down into the "belly of the beast", the engine room and other below deck areas.  After 4 hours, we had found some minor items; however, we were happy to say that we were ready for the next step...haul-out and survey.  Pat already has the tickets booked for May 31st.  We then join Graham for a 2 day cruise from Pont de Vaux to St Jean de Losne where the dry dock is located.  If all goes well, "Antares" could be ours by mid June and have a new name.  Stay tuned...

The Master's Stateroom, oops, Throne room

Pat having discussion with Graham in salon/galley

Graham, the Broker

Will This Be the One?

Things are moving ahead in our quest for travels in Europe via Dutch barge. It took several months, but our trawler C.A.R.I.B. II was finally sold in November 2017. It was a bittersweet day when the new owners took her away from the Harborage Marina.

C.A.R.I.B. II leaving her Harborage Marina

slip for the last time

Long distance boat shopping has been a challenge. The internet is a wonderful tool, but pictures and written descriptions can only do so much. We had thought to make the process easier for ourselves by working with an English "barge finder" who claimed to have many contacts among barge captains in the Netherlands, and thus would be able to screen out boats that didn't meet our requirements. However, a January trip to Holland to look at the boats he found for us was--to say the least--vastly disappointing. So, back to square one and the internet.

Lon's diligence in searching various "for sale" sites bore fruit in February. An inquiry to the broker of a 21-meter barge for sale in the Burgundy region of France led to much back-and-forth via e-mails and phone calls, with the ultimate result being that we now have a purchase agreement on the boat. It appears to have most of what we need/want, but of course, there are a number of steps that must take place before any sale is final. First and foremost, we need to actually get on the boat in person. This we will do on April 28, during a (previously scheduled) week in France. If we aren't scared off at that point, a boat survey (the boating equivalent of a pre-buy inspection of a home) will take place in early June. Successful resolution of any problems/issues that are found during the survey will allow us to complete the purchase.

So, with a sense of cautious optimism, what follows are some photos of what we hope will be "The One" to allow us to pursue European waterway cruising. Time will tell.

Will this be C.A.R.I.B. III?

Guest stateroom

Master stateroom

Salon/galley