Lionel ...d'Antan

Barge Date: 09-07-2018

The End (of the Season) is Near

I arrived at the basin in Niderviller and for the first time this summer, bad weather. Cold, grey, wet, rain; this when I need some sun to complete the paint work. The summer has been, to this point, very nice, very sunny, very warm and very dry.

I liked Niderviller as a painting site because it has a low wall along side the boat. Many times the wall for mooring can be 2 feet or more, so the side of the boat is inaccessible for painting. At this location the wall was maybe 10 inches. This allowed me to sit on the wall with my feet in the water to have access to most of the sides of the boat. Sit, paint, slide down the way and do the next section. I could do up to where the hull would bend away. I would do a second coat and then rotate the boat for the other side.

For the hull at the bow and stern I needed another plan. Some of this I could do by leaning over but at

Board is platform for the paint container.

some point I needed to be on the water. There were 2 options: use the dinghy or try out the fishing float I had purchased in Strasbourg. Went for the dinghy first. In addition to a slow leak, I had trouble keeping steady and I was too high. Had lines over the rail of the hull but this was only marginally better. I had attempted to buy large magnets to do the holding, but did not find any in any Brico.

So I gave the float a go. Much, much better than the dinghy but still needed some way to hold steady. At the bow I draped a rope around the front and going down the sides; this was an improvement. Kind of worked out a system that gave me better control but in the long term magnets are the way to go. I end up sitting with just a bit of my bottom in the water; and low for painting.

The water was warm enough and when the sun was out, it was in fact comfortable. Screw the dinghy, this is the method.

The canal company had an oil recycle container and I was able to pour out the cleaning spirits in the end.

While tied up, I decided to remove the balloon fenders from the boat and use only zigzag fenders low on each side of the boat. The balloons tend to bounce you a bit and, as you slide into a lock, they work themselves up the side to leave a mess. The zigzag types have some weight and tend to behave better. Also, my control of the boat has gotten much better and I want to see if this new option is something I can live with. The goal is to return to Strasbourg without any significant "touches" to canal objects.

What do you think?

Was able to go through the 2 tunnels without a single touch. The longest of the two is about a mile.

Spent a day below the inclined plane, then headed east. Was in the lock by myself until Lutzelbourg where a misbehaving lock had created a back-up. But up ahead I spotted the barge of Andrew, an Englishman that I had met earlier in the year back in Liege, Belgium, and later in Verdun. He had come this way to pick up a friend he had made in Toul and they spent the weekend together. We tied on together for the hour wait and I was introduced to Virginie. When it was my turn to enter the lock, a French boat was in with me to the stern.

This company makes metal carts for airports and supermarkets.


This is a stand of hops. Never a large planting but over the course of 10k I saw many fields this size up on the hills.

Now Marianne hit it on the head; I worry too much about the other boat in a shared lock and not enough about ours. So I made my first ever rope mistake. These locks are going down and as I noted in the earlier video, you have to be mindful of the rope. For this size of drop, about 2.5 meters, I use a line with an end loop over the lock bollard and the line around my center single bollard which has 2 sets of pins. The lock and boat bollards are nearly side by side prior to the water gates opening and in my attempt to make sure Lionel did not move back into the French boat (they were probably 2-3 meters behind me so not real close), I pulled the line too much around the boat bollard and did not notice - until too late - that the line, pulled tight, had the loop around one of the pins. As the boat began to drop, the pin captured the loop and there was no way to recover.

The boat began to hang immediately. There is just no time to think; you have to make something happen right away. My trusty mini hacksaw was right there, just for these occasions. I began to hack at the rope and the mini nature of the saw was its failing; it snapped. All very quickly I was able to pull the emergency stop control and grab a second hacksaw and cut away. Under tension, a rope parts very easily but when it lets go, the boat drops. How far I don't know, but she rocked for some time before being steady. A lock employee was on hand and was able to reset the lock. The French wanted to know what happened.

This is how the line is routed at the middle bollard. Good tension and safe.

Now I have a rope to splice. A little shorter. I hope the last mistake like this. No more hacksaws; a serrated knife will do a better job. And some new rules - my boat comes first, and the splice of the loop must never come round the boat bollard.

Andrew and I spent some time together in Saverne and had dinner out. He will head back to Toul to overwinter.

Have made a Captain's decision. Will add two more days of steaming before I tie up for the year. Will return to Strasbourg but will then go south for a short addition to this year. This will be on the Canal du Rhone au Rhin, branch Nord. Almost a straight line south. Some concern with weeds in the canal but trying to get some information on this before I get there.

For the last leg to Strasbourg I fell in behind the hotel barge Lilas. Forced to go slow, I found it enjoyable. Got in a couple of plays of Mark Knopfler's/Dire Strait's Sultans of Swing, long version. The number one ever rock and roll song. From the Alchemy tour. Give it a listen; Loud. YouTube if needed; the video shows the boys having so much fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pa9x9fZBtY

Along the channel to the Rhine large tour boats were double moored. Talking 3-4,000 rooms I would think. Water is low on the Rhine too, so maybe that is the problem and they are forced to tie up.

My space at the marina was not available, so I tied to a wall just beyond. Confirmed work on the boat to be done and I am scheduled to meet with some people on Monday. Rode the bike up the channel to visit with John on Johanna. He leaves the next day with his last boarders for the year. This time he has Canadians and a Brit. Then it is back to India for his important work.

This is a part of town I have not seen but needs to be done on a bike. Nothing special but there are always interesting touches to see. Here are some pictures.