SWANSONG

The final articles

A retrospective of five years living on a 90 year old Dutch barge in Europe.

Its been some time since I reported on the meanderings of the crew and the ship Van Nelle in France. We have been there now for nearly five years and at the time of writing, are in Perth arranging our permanent return, as our ship is up for sale.

Van Nelle, our 27metre Dutch ‘Katwijker’ type barge is currently secure in her winter port at St Jean de Losne, a short distance from Dijon, in middle France - the heart of the Burgundy wine region. St Jean de Losne is the centre of inland pleasure boating in France. At the confluence of the Saone river, the Burgundy and Saone au Rhine canals and more, this is the centre of a French national asset that comprises some 7,500km of navigable canals and rivers that extend from the Mediterranean in the south to the Belgian border in the north, to the English Channel in the west and the Swiss border on the east. This extensive waterway connects into the Belgian, Dutch and German waterways that make up another 7,500km. In fact, you can take your vessel from St Petersburg, Moscow or Berlin, though the Netherlands, Belgium and France to the Mediterranean, or Bordeaux and the Atlantic, or branch east and go all the way down the Danube to the Black Sea - if you have the courage.

For those who have not followed our exploits in earlier issues of Tidings, my wife Maureen and I closed down our Public Relations and Events Management business in 2001 to take up life on the waterways of Europe for ‘some’ years. At that time it was undecided as to how long it would take us to see all we wanted to see and go to all the places we wanted to go to. In fact it has now been 5 summers and almost 5 years (in June), and we decided during 2005 that we had indeed fulfilled our initial intent and to continue would be to repeat things we had already done. So, with great misgivings, we have placed Van Nelle on the market and begun our planned re-entry into Perth. But why did we decide to go in the first place ?

When you have come to the realisation that life is not a rehearsal, you should make plans to do all the things you ever wanted to do, before its too late. No good looking up from the pillow as you draw your last breath saying ‘If only I had.....’. We had been on a canal cruise in 1999 with friends and had seen first hand the couples who were living the life, not just visiting. We thought at the time ‘wouldn’t it be nice’. However we had a business with employees and clients and contracts and all. The thought would not go away and while the Internet gave me the opportunity to research boats, costs, regulations and opportunities, time gave the chance to review cash and business forecasts, review employee costs and projections and to realise that we were working 12 / 7 just to pay everyone. We realised we could actually close the business and live on investment income for the time we were away. So then, why not. Our clients, advised a year before our move, were highly supportive and so, as the time came closer, all the other objections were overcome.

We found Van Nelle though a broker recommended by another member of the Dutch Barge Association (an invaluable organisation to interested parties) and went to see her while I took my French barge operators qualification (in French). She was a mess but under the rubbish was a gem with everything we were looking for. Good lines and looks, a huge uncluttered back deck, a big wheelhouse, three cabins big enough for double beds, a large and comfortable saloon leading into the open plan galley, office and adjoining bathroom. I took notes and pictures of her, and several others, and returned to WA. Finally, in June 2001, the house was sold, the furniture packed in a container and dispatched to Rotterdam and I was on the way to buy, with a fistful of dollars from the sale of the house. I revisited Van Nelle and several other boats. She was still for sale but the promised conversion and cleanup had not been completed. Fine I thought, I’ll use that as negotiating leverage and, away, from the influence of brokers, suggested to the owner (80% Frank, so named as he never actually completed anything) that I would like to buy but at a much reduced price due to Van Nelle’s condition. He agreed almost immediately, and so, having secured a win / win outcome, we continued on to the survey and legals, all completed in 22 days - a record according to the broker.

80% Frank had managed the conversion from commercial to live-aboard with a quality internal fit-out but many items were left unfinished. I had some 7 weeks before arrival of the crew, so it was down to work. I was situated in a marina for a week, long enough to jettison all the odds and sods on deck in within that I did not want on the boat, then I took Van Nelle out onto the normally placid Loosdrecht lakes near Amsterdam for the work up. Painting, plumbing, varnishing, electrical wiring, engine servicing, decorating, installation of lights, pumps, tanks and more. The work list piled up but then slowly diminished as I toiled and became familiar with all the systems, kinks and corners of this venerable lady of the canals.

Built in 1915 in Alkmaar in the Netherlands, she was employed by her commissioning owners, the Van Nelle coffee, tea and tobacco company of Rotterdam, collecting raw materials for delivery to their factory and taking finished product to their distribution points, all within a days sail from the headquarters in the now historic section of Rotterdam. Originally built as a 22m ship, she was extended to 27m when converted to carry drinking water in 1941. Sold through three water companies, she was finally taken out of service in 1991 and after 3 private owners, converted for live-aboard and sold to us in 2001. We celebrated her 90^th birthday, back in Holland, in August 2005 on our discovery cruise last year.

Our cruising then started from Loosdrecht near Amsterdam in July 2001 after we loaded our goods from Australia. Tables, chairs, a double bed sofa, stereo / TV / home theatre system, washing machine and dryer, mattresses, a gas barbecue, tools, SCUBA gear, parts and spares and finally fuel and water, we accommodated and we headed south. Our first lock took us out of the lakes that had been my home for 2 months and onto the massive Amsterdam-Rhine Canal in the company of full sized ships on their way to Germany. Later we turned onto the mighty Maas River that connects to the Beatrix Canal, and further south again on the Maas to Maastricht and Liege before exiting Holland near Dinant, birthplace of Alfred Sax, inventor of the saxophone.

This first part of our journey was a real eye opener as we maneuvered in company with huge ships traveling at speeds over 25kmh,10kmh faster than our full speed. Entering cities like Maastricht we realised that we were welcome at the extensive riverside moorings in the centre of these magnificent, historic towns. Despite the devastation of the first and second wars, European cities have maintained many ancient buildings, squares, cathedrals, and precincts. Developed and modernised in some cases, they provide a spectacular backdrop to the river or canal running through their centre and a welcome break from the rigours of the frantic commercial waterways. Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium all use their extensive waterways as commercial arteries for gas and liquid fuels, building materials, heavy machinery and containers, all traveling at breakneck speed from the biggest port in the world - Rotterdam - to the major cities of Europe.

As you travel further south you reach smaller towns such as Dinant, backed by a huge rock face with a massive fort perched atop, accessed by cable car from picture book streets below. Wandering through the narrow confines of these medieval towns, one conjures up visions of dukes of old, accompanied by knights on horse, thundering through the cobble streets on their way to some derring do, or to rescue a princess from one of the towering chateau forts that grace the battlemented rocky outcrops.

Very soon you reach the tranquil canals of France, now almost entirely abandoned to pleasure boating but with the occasional 38m peniche chugging slowly from silo to city or quarry to township.

French canals are beautiful. Overarched by a canopy of plane trees, in some cases 200 years old, these highways of the past were responsible for the development of industry and the building of cities. Imaging if you can the state of pre-1700 roads. In winter and summer, muddy, rutted tracks, choked with pilgrims and travelers on horse, foot and by cart, slowly forcing their way to and fro. Carts carrying heavy loads bogged in winter and summer mud despite the best efforts of their owners and the efforts of sweating horses or humans pulling them. In high summer the stifling heat baked earth roads into rough, hard, corrugated and rutted nightmares that smashed straw packed wine bottles and fine Limoges pottery and glassware. This was a nightmare for the commerciants who waited impatiently for their stone blocks to build cathedrals or the wine to grace the tables of the well to do. And so, along came the private companies, subsidised by government, to build and profit by connecting the navigable rivers by an interconnecting series of toll paid canals. Now, in record time, both heavy and fragile loads could be swiftly and safely delivered from origin to user. Since most major European cities and towns were built on or developed as a result of their siting on major the rivers, it was obvious that the canals and canalised rivers would be a great success. Until.....

The resolute and unstoppable march of technology and the fine work completed by surveyors of the canals provided level paths for the development of railways. Initially, rail was light and engines hardly powerful enough to pull people let alone cargo, but soon, larger and more capable stock was developed and the canals were in decline. During the next two centuries the emergence of tarred roads and diesel powered trucks capable of carrying substantial loads quickly and directly to where they were required, put the final nail in the coffin of the small barge operator. Today, giant 90-150 metre barges ply the largest of the waterways while the smaller canals, limited by 38 metre locks, have been relegated to tourism. That is fine by us - so long as work continues on the canals to ensure their continued operability. Locks, barrages, banks and moorings all need maintenance and with the passing of commercial operations are being ignored. These issues are a priority for the many hire boat, hotel boat and private boat owners on the system.

Our journeys over the past 5 summers (cruising is generally from March to November) then have included:- our first journey from Amsterdam to St Jean de Losne through Champagne and Burgundy:- our second year traveling north to Paris and then south through the Canal de Briare and Centre to the Saone and Rhone rivers in order to speed south to the Canal de Midi, (famously the first major canal, built in the 1650s) to our winter mooring at Montech, a small village 60km west of Toulouse:- our third summer spent getting to know the extent of the two canals that link the Rhone (at the Mediterranean near Marseilles) to Bordeaux on the Garonne River, some 60km from the Atlantic coast:- our forth summer took us north again to revisit St Jean, Champagne, Paris, Conflans (centre of commercial barging in France), though Picardy and into Flanders, visiting Dunkerque, WWI battlefields and into Belgium to visit Bruges, Ghent and Brussels before wintering in Cambrai.

Our fifth and final summer began by cruising north from Cambrai to Belgium and into Holland to Rotterdam, then to Amsterdam, Delft, the Hague, Alkmaar, Edam, the Markmeer and back through to Namur in Belgium for a barge rally. Then in France to Verdun, turning north into the Moselle River past Luxembourg into Germany and returning via the Saar to Strasbourg. Finally, west to Champagne and Paris before coming back to St Jean de Losne on the Canal de Bourgogne in Burgundy. In all, some 15,000 kilometres in 500 cruising days over 36 cruising months and 20 winter months in port. We have used some 15,000 litres of fuel and 1,000 litres of engine oil, consumed between 1,500 and 2,000 bottles of wine and I couldn’t begin to guess how much Brie, Camembert, canard, poulet, lapin, boeuf, agneau, jambon, beurre, huile, salad et legumes.

The highlights of these journeys have to include; the many friends we have had aboard, those we met as unknown guests and other boaties we met along the way. One of the great joys of cruising is to first take someone’s lines as they arrive at a mooring and end up hours later the best of friends. Friendships develop rapidly on the canals as you don’t have much time together at any one place but often build as you meet at different places. It is also important to stay long enough in an area or town to get to be a part of the community. I joined a choir during winter 2002 in Montech and re-joined again a year later as I wintered nearby. The members of the choir remain very affectionate friends. Discovering special experiences is fun too - our favourite Champagne maker lives in Tours Sur Marne where we go each year to stock up on his Grand Cru Champagne at half the price of the large commercial brand’s ‘ordinaire’.

I don’t have the space in this article to describe five years of cruising but let me give you a small taste of just one day.

Arising without haste before 9.00am (I’m not going to be more accurate), aromatic French coffee and croissants (or toast with vegemite) are consumed as we decide exactly what we will do that day. We have a market town to visit just 7km and 3 locks away so we caste off in the delicious morning air and quietly throb away up the canal. The water is of course still as there are no waves or current on canals, no reason to tie down the crystal or the dog (not that we have a dog), and the sunshine dapples through the interlaced branches of the huge and ancient plane trees that line each side of the canal. These were planted in the 1700s and 1800s to shade the horses, children and old folks who, harnessed to the barges, pulled them at 2kmh from dawn to dusk, every day, come snow or sunshine.

The surrounding countryside slowly slides by (normally about 7kmh) allowing glimpses through the trees of apple and pear orchards, pastures with quiet white Charolais cattle or the startling greens of the grape vines. Villages can also be seen in the near distance, made obvious by the spires of the churches, the stone walls of the cemeteries and the high turrets of the local chateau. The first lock approaches and we slow down to allow the eclusier to fill or empty the sas and open the gates for us. We slowly sidle into the lock and as the crew ropes the bollard, securing Van Nelle against the inrush of water, I leap up the wall to assist in closing the gates and opening the sluices to allow the water to raise us to the next level. We chat in the sunshine with the eclusier who has lived and worked here for forty years and knows what’s what in the wine and produce of the area. He offers us local fruit and jams but without pushing and we take on board some Coeur de Boeuf tomatoes he grows organically. (They look horrible but taste wonderful, especially with mozzarella cheese and balsamic).

The gates open, and free again, Van Nelle slips out of the lock, turning slightly to allow free passage to a couple of rental boats, eager to rush to the town we have just left. Our unhurried pace continues for two hours until we reach the market town ahead, just in time to join the throng at the marketplace and to secure a rotisseried rabbit to add to the cheeses, salads and charcuterie we have planned for lunch. We chat about the amazing shades of verdant green colours of the countryside we have just passed through as we open a chilled bottle of Chablis or Sancerre (both Burgundy Chardonnays) to augment the lunch, taken on the open back deck under the huge parasol at our long jarrah table brought from Australia for just this purpose.

There is a chateau open for inspection that we will visit this afternoon and a small family run restaurant that is worth a look for dinner - after a game of boules perhaps - or just a doze in the deck chairs on the back deck. Oh, here comes another ship like ours. We recognise its crew - so it looks as though there will be more at dinner than we expected. The quiet of the afternoon is punctuated by the chirping cicadas and cooled by the occasional breath of air that comes whispering through the trees. Jeez it’s a tough life !

During 2005 we deliberately went to Holland to slip Van Nelle for a survey and maintenance and to visit her birthplace at Alkmaar and the Van Nelle factory in Rotterdam. She and we were welcomed as long departed friends and showered with gifts and historical documents including photos of her past. The grand-daughter of the original skipper joined us and the Dutch shipping newspaper sent a reporter to file a half page story. This was a great and very emotional journey for us as we have grown to dearly love our ship and to have the chance to discover much of her past was icing on the cake. By chance we even met two previous owners in Amsterdam, an interesting quirk of fate !

I would love to spend the next few pages of Tidings banging on about how wonderful the experience has been. We have discovered a language and not been entirely beaten by it, people who have accepted us without reservation and who have treated us with the utmost generosity even as we entered their lives as footloose strangers, we have seen scenes that have taken our breath away, made us laugh and cry and we have enjoyed life more fully that at any time before. We have confronted and eaten strange and wonderful foods, washed down by subtle and sumptuous fine wines, provided by happy hosts and hostesses. In turn we have welcomed friends and strangers aboard Van Nelle, giving them the opportunity to taste this privileged lifestyle. We can never forget and probably never replay such marvelous times - but in whatever adventures we choose for our future - we will certainly try.

If you are at all interested in learning more of our experience, feel free to visit our website www.mcdaniell.com.au (excusing the many errors of commission and omission caused by its creation as a draft in progress). There you will find journals of our time and experiences abroad on the canals and rivers we have traveled.

Remember - life is not a rehearsal - we have one shot at it. Make it count.