From the Mediterranean to the English Channel Episode 9

OOPS WE’VE SPRUNG A LEAK

Simon Jenkins, the managing director of Norbury Wharf is on a boat buying trip of a lifetime, bringing his first historic barge from the Mediterranean to Belgium, and now onto the Channel coast. Last month the surveyor gave his historic Belgian barge, a clean bill of health and the boatyard welded and painted to get Ambiorix back in the water. But all is not well. This is his story, in his own words.

We awoke the next morning quite excited about planning to get off - we were just waiting for a diesel delivery and for the carpenters to come and do some woodwork that was damaged when the boat was being moved around the ship yard.

No worries as we also had a lot of work to do in putting the boat back together after the repaint. But our excitement turned to dread when we examined the bilges that morning.

The cause of the leak - some old 1911 rivets

Water, and it was everywhere, not deep water but bearing in mind the bilges were bone dry it had to have come from somewhere. Was it some damage on the hull from moving this 130 ton boat around the ship yard? We wouldn't know until it was lifted back out of the water for further inspection.

Now I've seen hundreds of boats on the dock at Norbury and also ones that have had leaks so I have a pretty good idea about such things. Unfortunately I could not get into the bilge space.

This area was about 2ft 6” high but pretty much full of ballast from bottom to the floor so my poor partner Amanda - she is only little - had to crawl in to the space, firstly to pump out all of the water - about 70 litres and then to try and find the leak.

After a few days the leak turned in to a weep and almost healed itself up, and I had a good idea it what it would be - probably a leaking rivet. With a bit of tenacity from Amanda she found the area of the offending rivet and so it was that once the slipway was free we were hoisted up again, this time only far enough to see the affected area.

When I say tenacious I meant it, as its no mean feat finding a leak on such a big boat. We had managed to measure the position of the leak on the inside and then transfer that information to the outside where Amanda proudly pointed at the spot.

This happened to be on an over-plated section of the hull and the workmen set to and cut a 12” x18” patch out and - lo and behold - there were three old 1911 rivets that had popped.

Welding the rivets and patching the hull

It was easy to weld them up, weld the outside of the plate up, and then weld the patch back in. A few hours later, all painted, we were off down the slipway once more to the river Meurse.

We set off enthusiastically, as we had been there so long we wanted to get on the move again heading further North, much waiving to Akim, and Michael and the other staff and we were off heading North and through the Lock at Namur and shortly on to new waters.

The river  Saone joins the river Meurse at Namur and is a much smaller waterway, as we left the last lock in Namur we let a rather large commercial go in front of us. The rules say to give way and precedence to commercial craft and only right too.

These large commercial boats take up most of the waterway

Yes we are sort of commercial, as the boat will ultimately be sold for profit, but we are not time dependant like these guys! As we turned on to the Saône we had to wait behind this large commercial vessel as another one came around the tight bend taking up the entire width of the water way in doing so. The boat in front slowly moved off and that also filled the entire waterway. We were glad we were following that and didn't meet the one coming the other way.

At the first lock it is very industrial and we had to wait several hours for the commercials to pass through this very slow lock. The Sambre goes all the way from Belgium and in to France - 87km long - but we were only going about half way before we turned off.

It is pretty much an industrial canalised river with lots of commercial traffic, and not very wide so navigating it was a little tricky, we shared some locks with commercials when there was space - and they were very accommodating indeed, going diagonally if needed so we could squeeze in diagonally behind them.

We pushed on all day long until the locks closed and we were forced to tie up above a lock just as it was going dark. Nice mooring and very quiet. This river has bankside moorings above the locks which is much more pleasant than the Rhone.

Next morning we were up early as I wanted to clear this industrial canal and head out in to a more rural scene, not too many locks to do, but all big ones with lock keepers. We managed to clear the last lock before it closed, and that was great as we were then on cruising out in to the countryside and no more locks-well at least for that day.

Unlike the UK canals where you can stop almost anywhere, it is not so easy to moor on these big commercial waterways. The passing boats don't slow down and the banks can either be quite high or slope in to the water. So we pushed on along the Canal de Charleroi a Bruxelles towards the next junction where I knew there was a good quay with excellent bollards and in a nice quiet place.

Passing a long commercial boat with a female skipper

We passed only one other boat, a loaded commercial about 100m long and steered by a lady. It’s not uncommon for women to steer these big boats on the canal in Belgium. It started to get darker and by the time we reached our mooring for the night it was pitch black. This boat lights up like a Christmas tree if you turn all of the outside lights on, which I did, making mooring really easy and we must have looked like a space ship coming in to dock!

In the next episode: Heading for the coast – via the biggest boat lift we have ever seen.

From the Mediterranean to the English Channel Episode 8

NEWS FROM NORBURY

BOATYARD IN SIGHT

Simon Jenkins, the managing director of Norbury Wharf on the Shropshire Union Canal,has been on the boat buying trip of a lifetime, bringing his first historic barge back to Belgium, the country in which it was built, from the shores of the Mediterranean.

Last month he travelled through the Ardennes to Namur where he said goodbye to his crew, Now it is time to find out the truth about his historic Belgian barge. This is his story, in his own words.

We had a couple of days off, I think we deserved it, we had travelled over 1200 km, through 230 locks in a total of 19 days cruising. This was the first leg of our journey nearly over, after a much-needed break and some sightseeing around the beautiful city of Namur we untied and headed for our temporary mooring at a boat club at an old lock at a place called Lives-Sur-Meurse,

Dawn on the way to the mooring

 This was at one of the old locks on the river and we were given permission to put the boat at the bottom of a ten foot wall on the river side of the lock.

Bloody hell - the commercial barges just don't stop - almost 24 hours a day they come past at speeds of 15 kmph, loaded down to their gunwales, weighing up to 2,500 tons, and really close to us. We had eight ropes out to secure us, and even then the ropes would heave and stretch at an alarming rate, going ‘ping-pinggg-pingggggg’ until I really thought they would break.

The commercial barges don't slow down

It worried me a little that the boat would be left there unattended for two months whilst we returned back to the UK, but return we must. The next day saw a taxi at silly-o’clock pick us up and take us to Charleroi airport for our return to Blighty. Oh how much I was looking forward to an English curry - that sounds wrong, I know!

It was arranged that the local ship yard at a place called Beez would side-slip the boat on September 10, and that a local surveyor would conduct the first survey two days later. So after our stay back in UK catching up on jobs at Norbury and buying much needed essentials for the boat - much cheaper here than the continent because the pounds is so weak against the Euro - we headed back to Belgium with the car full to the brim with stuff for the boat, plus clothes and personal items as we knew this would be another long time spent away from home.

So it was with some trepidation that we arrived at the boat club, worried what I might find. To my surprise the boat was fine. The ropes had stretched somewhat and I’m glad I had put rope protectors where the ropes came over the wall to protect against chaffing, but everything on the boat was fine, except the water pump had decided to pack up. Soon sorted that with a bit of persuasion to the motor.

It was hard work lowering everything down on to the boat 10ft below using a rope, there were some heavy items like two 20 litre oil drums for the engine service, new water pump and accumulator (not like the ones we use on narrowboats) and some rather large ropes for securing the boat, as well as suitcase full of the missus's clothes (I think she thought she was not coming home ever).

There might have been a kitchen sink in there too, I lost count of everything in the end, but there was a new gas hob, so chances are the sink wouldn't have been far behind! Another trip to the local supermarket and we were ready for the off and up to the shipyard.

We departed from our temporary mooring for the half an hour trip to the shipyard and tied up by a large quay, which was a good 16ft up from the water with ladders. I stayed put until I saw the carriages (known as Shires) being lowered down the side slip rails and in to the water.

Coming out of the water at the boatyard

We were beckoned towards them and floated over the top of the three of them. Slowly we felt the boat staring to feel different as it settled on to these large carriages as they were being drawn back up the side slip, anew experience for me.

The railway bogies supporting the boat

I have docked hundreds of boats, side launched boats, craned boats, but nothing like this. We waited patiently until at the top of the railway lines. A tower crane swung around with a rather large steel set of steps which it placed next to the boat so that we could get off and in to the ship yard.

We were greeted by the loveliest of men called Akim. He showed us where the water and electricity were, and then I made my way to see Michael, the yard manager, to discuss the works. We set up a meeting with the local painting team, and that was it, they started straight away in pressure washing the hull in preparation for the hull survey two days later.

At the top of the slope, next to the hotel boat being built

Dry docks, slipways, hard standing - it is not a pleasant place to be when stopping on boat, but in the middle of a massive ship yard which is working 24hr a day to complete the enormous passenger ship which was next to us was even more unpleasant.

It didn’t matter during the day as we both had plenty of jobs to do, but it was difficult to really relax in the evening with giant flood lights lighting up the curtains and the sound of workmen clanging and banging around - but they had a job to do.

The surveyor duly turned up as agreed and set to banging the hull with his hammer-taking thickness readings and marking the hull with chalk-I have seen it done hundreds of times before on the dry dock at Norbury so I wasn't fazed by it at all. The play was measured in the prop shaft bearing and the rudder bearing and they were well within tolerance; and then the good news came in the form of the surveyor who announced that the hull was sound, and that it was always a pleasure to do this boat because of its excellent condition.

A first look at the stern gear - it gets a thumbs up from the surveyor

That was a big weight off my mind as, when we bought the boat, we had done the deal at a massively reduced rate on an ‘as seen as is basis,’ so it was a big relief that the gamble had paid off!

The next day we had the meeting with the painters, a few jobs were discussed with the welders like fitting 20 new anodes and some fender eyes and that was it. Off we went again only this time we were being moved backwards along another set of railway lines - like a railway truck being shunted around a freight yard.

This had two purposes - one to free up the slip so they could launch this huge hotel ship they had been building for the last year or so, and to put us in a place for the painting works to be completed. We decided that we needed a break from all of this so so we jumped in the car and returned home for a few days.

We returned to the boat, this time on our motorbike, as this would make life so much easier. We could lift it on to the boat and then the next leg of the journey meant we didn't have to worry about collecting the car when we reached our final destination.

The works were progressing well and they quoted about ten days with a team of painters to finish the job, providing the weather was kind, of which it mostly was.

Ambiorix in her new livery - ready to return to the water

All finished and then there was a delay in relaunching because of another big boat on the slip - and then the day came for relaunch.

Sporting her new livery, her freshly painted bottom in red anti foul and everything looking wonderful it was a great sight. There were a hair raising few moments when they picked the motorbike up with the tower crane, hoisting it a long way in the air and then swung it about like a conker on a piece of string. The crane trundled along the railway tracks and safely deposited the bike on the back of the boat, while I was thinking ‘how the hell do I explain this to the insurance company.’

Off the boat now wobbles down the railway line on the slip and back in to the water-we reversed back to the quay where we started from and celebrated with a drink on the back deck. But all was not what it seemed and we would need that drink again the next day!

In the next episode: Back in the water – but is that a leak?

From the Mediterranean to the English Channel by boat - Episode 7

TOWARDS THE ARDENNES

Simon Jenkins is a well known figure on the British canal system and has been a boater for decades, living on, working and owning boats and, for the last couple of decades, the managing director of Norbury Wharf on the Shropshire Union Canal.

He is back from the boat buying trip of a lifetime, bringing his first historic barge back to Belgium, from the shores of the Mediterranean. Last month he came up against manual locks which took him onto another of Europe’s major waterways and an angry Frenchman. Now he is approaching his destination and the Ardennes is coming up This is his story, in his own words.

The Canal de la Marne au Rhin is 289 km long and has 127 small locks, although we would only be doing a relatively short section of it and a few locks. As we turned onto this canal there were a lot more boats, and people boating. This was the first time we had seen so many boats on the move.

Through a lock and even more boats, including a weed cutting boat was dodging here and there in the middle of the canal like a ‘water boatman’ insect collecting piles and piles of weeds. I hoped this wasn't going to be a sign of things to come further along this canal.

Small locks were getting further apart

The canal had a different feel about it, there seemed more industry as well as old industry, as we cruised along, then another lock and a tunnel. Just before the tunnel there was an island in the middle of the canal and the tunnel entrance was at an angle, making entering the tunnel very tricky indeed with a big boat.

The tunnel was no problem but this canal seemed to have some very tight bends on it and then long straight sections. We approached another junction and a massive cement works on our right hand side which was a horrible blot on the landscape, and now turned right and on to the Canal de L’Est Nord Branche.

The canal became crystal clear and we could see the bottom, and the weeds. This didn't bode well and I hoped that this wouldn't be the norm for this canal. I suspect that it was the lime that had caused the water to be so clear, you could see where it had leached in to the canal and every structure along past the cement works was covered in dust that had solidified over time.

The canal became crystal clear and we could see the bottom

We dragged the bottom of the canal, churning up weeds as we went, very slow progress, and it felt even slower than it probably was. The canal had some tight bends which went around the cement works, so it meant it was in our company for quite a long time - like some alien invasion that had devoured the hillside and surrounding area

After that the canal carried on, opening up through countryside, and then more industry, we were now following the river Meuse and from time to time the river would join the canal and the navigation would get wider and deeper. We were now on the Canal de Meurse, 88 km with 42 small locks, and amongst the names redolent of World War l.

We passed through Verdun, a stunning place and somewhere that would have been nice to stay and look around but, unfortunately, we did not have the time. There were lots of barges tied up and the town seemed to take more interest in its navigation. Bars and restaurants were clearly visible by the cut, and judging by the boats it was a popular spot.

Verdun and lots of moored boats

The canal really took on a different feel now, but I was being fooled and, in a short distance, we were back on small canals, I wish it would make its mind up as to what it is. Back out in to the countryside again and the landscape was changing as we were slowly going from fairly flat lands towards rolling countryside and eventually in to valleys.

The stunning Ardennes

We meandered our way for what seemed like miles and miles towards the Belgium border - entering the famous Ardennes region - and it was breathtaking. Vast woodlands clung to the hillsides and down to the canal on one side, with open views across farmland on the other. Glimpses of small villages and the sound of the church bells wafting across the fields, almost beckoning one to come to church, It was really like going back in time.

Ambiorix on a village mooring

Then the navigation was becoming much bigger again and the small locks were getting further apart. The buildings were also looking more business-like rather than quaint cottages.

The pace soon picked up as we were doing large river sections now, then slowed down slightly by short canal sections that by passed weirs or shallow sections of the river. We were in the middle of the Ardenne proper now and almost totally engulfed by ancient woodland interspersed with small towns and quaint villages - this was really turning in to a stunning river.

Tight locks and lots of bridges

Small campsites started to appear and the river took on more recreational use, water ski areas, jet skies, motorhome parks - we were now heading in to Belgium on the river Meuse, the locks suddenly became bigger and had lock keepers - we didn't have to operate them anymore with our ‘garage door opener’.

We also started to see much bigger commercial boats again - a sign that we were heading for Namur and lots more commercial traffic.

We left France at Givet and now we were in the French speaking Wallonia region of Belgium. The navigable river Meurse, also know as the Mass, is 115km long and stretches from the French Border town of Givet all the way to the Netherlands border and Maastricht, although we wouldn't be going all of the way as our destination for now wasn't far away near Namur.

These English narrowboats get everywhere

We passed through stunning towns such as Dinant with its fantastic churches and monuments, some incredible riverside properties, massive rock formations and cliffs coming down to the waters edge with people rock climbing. Roads and railways follow the river’s course through the valley and this was the most spectacular river section I have ever been on.

Finally we came into to Namur, which was where our crew would be leaving us, we had a farewell dinner in a local restaurant and bid them farewell, we stayed in Namur and had a couple of days off.

In the next episode: The boatyard and time to find out the truth about his historic Belgian barge

From the Mediterranean to the English Channel by boat Episode 6

MANUAL LOCKS – AND A CLASH WITH A FRENCH BARGEE

Simon Jenkins is a well known figure on the British canal system and has been a boater for decades, living on, working and owning boats and, for the last couple of decades, the managing director of Norbury Wharf on the Shropshire Union Canal.

He is just back from the boat buying trip of a lifetime, bringing his first historic barge back to Belgium, the country in which it was built, from the shores of the Mediterranean. Last month he met old friends, and avoided crushing a mad Englishman. Now he comes up against manual locks which take him onto another of Europe’s major waterways and an angry Frenchman. This is his story, in his own words.

So we are now heading downhill and are following the river Moselle, at some point and I cant remember when the locks went from automated to manual. Sacre bleu I thought – I am now thinking in French, of course - but to my amazement they all had lock keepers. Some were students doing summer work and others were full time lock keepers who were mobile, so drove to the next lock to get it ready. I was liking this.

A bit of industry started to occupy the canal and then the first commercial boats we had seen since leaving the Saône. These were purpose built ones used over short distances, unlike the large ones we had been used to seeing with their wonderful rear cabins and cars plonked on top.

Boats with wonderful rear cabins and cars plonked on top

They were being employed on what appeared to be an aggregate job, it must have been the weekend as there was no sign of life, or maybe it was their lunch time, which seems to start at about 10am and finish at about 3pm. Well that’s what it seemed like! The canal becoming industrial and built up was quite a nice change after being out in the countryside for ages, it made a nice contrast.

It wasn't long before we were back out in the sticks, though, not a very  exciting canal and nothing really notable. We crossed the river Moselle on a modern looking aqueduct, then through yet another lock and, all of a sudden, I noticed that we were picking up speed, we now had part of the river Moselle with us. That didn't last long - another lock and back to ditch crawling - but things were changing.

As we progressed the river came in and out of the canal, it was getting wider and our pace had picked up and then we locked through a small lock and into what seemed like another world.

Straight in to a huge inland port surrounded by ships and huge barges just like the ones we had seen on the Rhone. We progressed past the vast steel works with their loading bays and railway lines, more aggregate loading wharves, and giant gantry cranes with huge magnets unloading barges full of scrap. We had reached the river Moselle and its inland ports.

Giant gantry cranes with huge magnets unloading barges

Aggregate work

We only had a short journey to do on this mighty river. The lock keeper called us in once he had cleared a commercial tug and advised us to move down river to a small jetty where we should stay the night.

So out onto the Moselle – 152 km long with 16 locks, each 172 m x11 m, fortunately we would only be doing a short stretch and a couple of locks, we passed through the large lock and on to the main river and carried on our way to the mooring that was suggested, no other places to tie up between the two locks anyway.

The mooring soon came in to sight and there was a French barge already on the mooring, no problem we shall pull alongside, something customary over in France where a boat tied to the bank is considered to be part of the bank therefore another boat is allowed to tie alongside.

There was a French barge already on the mooring

Not in this instance, a vile French couple came out shouting at us in French "Vous ne pouvez pas amarrer votre bateau à côté de mon bateau, cochons anglais. Je me fiche de savoir si vous avez l'autorisation du gardien de l'écluse. Il est probablement aussi cochon anglais. Allez amarrer votre bateau ailleurs chez vous. Porcs anglais, je vais couper vos cordages. si vous essayez de vous amarrer à côté de moi!”

A rough translation sounds a bit Monty Python: “You can not dock your boat next to my boat, English pigs. I do not care if you have permission from the lock keeper. He is probably also an English pig. Go moor your boat elsewhere at home. English pigs, I will cut your ropes. if you try to moor beside me! "

It was like a scene from Trafalgar but without the cannons, oh and no Nelson. We told them that we had been instructed to stay there, but they were having none of it, so, for a quiet night, we carried on to the next lock as the sun was setting.

That bit of the river is outstandingly beautiful

I am glad we did, as that bit of the river is outstandingly beautiful and in the early evening as the sun was going down it was even more spectacular. We were shrouded in the most amazing deep wooded valley with trees hundreds of feet up the valley sides and right down to the waters edge. Every bend the river opened up a more dramatic vista.

We eventually tied up at the lock side in a most peaceful place. The next morning we were up early and met by mist over the water and hanging in the trees. This was a really magical place.

This was a really magical place.

We soon passed through the lock and we carried on to Toul where the navigation split into three sections - the main river went right, a larger canal in the middle and a smaller one to the left. We took the smaller one as we could see on our maps that there was a good stopping place at an old factory which also gave direct access to the road and some shops, we stopped to do some more essential shopping at a nearby supermarket.

Once the shopping was complete it was off again, through a small lock and on to a short section of canal where we came to a junction with the Canal de la Marne au Rhin on our left hand side and that would lead us back on to small canals.

There was a bit of a commotion when another Eric Sykes sort of chap was flailing about in the middle of the junction asking for help, we managed to take a rope off him and help him to the other side of the junction, his engine had failed - good deed done for the day!

In the next episode: The end of the first leg is in sight but there is ugly industry and the beautiful Ardennes to enjoy first.