Monday, February 25, 2019


Barge Date:  02-25-2019

My French Visa

 

What I have been waiting for, what I have been worried about is now in hand.  Received a long stay visa for 12 months.  This give me flexibility to adjust my  stay should there be a reason to change my return date at the end this the 2019 barging year. Of course it also means I can be in Europe for more than 90 days which is the normal limit.

Some members for the DBA have been comparing notes about the process as France has made attempts to streamline the visa process. Still seeing some differences when you would not expect any so maybe some more to learn.  May need to travel to Dijon for some paperwork, maybe even an X-ray. I must register online with France once I am in the country (by email, which is good) and then we will see if there are hoops to jump thru.

So it looks good to fly out on April 4 with our first return for college graduation being May 15, I think.

 

 

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Barge Date:  02-18-2019

Preparing to return to France

I am ready to get back on the barge.  Been working on a suitable visa for France, looking at departure dates and trying to get the workers in Strasbourg to get a few things done on Lionel...d'Antan. But some progress.

Marianne and I traveled to Atlanta to submit papers for a long-stay visa.  Been working with a few other DBA members to see if we can iron out just what must be done to stay either more than 90 day up to 6 months or, if you want, to stay longer than 6 months.  We think we may have the process under control.  Will see.  I expect my passport to be returned from Washington in about 2 weeks.

Tentative departure date is April 4.  This will be the first time Marianne will travel with me at the very beginning of the yearly adventure.  If all goes well with embassy, we will fly to Brussels and take the fast train to Strasbourg. If all the work is done on the boat we will take a few days to get some heat going and to get the boat ready to travel.  This is probably a 2-3 day job so plan on a week; just work, not difficult but takes time.

We have arranged for our winter mooring already.  We will end up the year in Auxonne, France. This is very near the junctions of several waterways and is a busy spot.  Some time this year, maybe summer, maybe in September, we will come to a small town just south of Auxonne, Saint-Jean-de-Losne, to have the barge pulled out of the water for a hull inspection.  This is normally done every 5 years for insurance purposes but it is a good idea to do it anyway so you can clean the hull, check the prop for any dings and examine the anodes which are attached to the hull.  We will hire someone to come and systematically measure the thickness of the hull.  Should thickness be too little then some steel is welded in place.  All of this is important enough that I should be there to watch and make decisions as needed.

The work on the barge being done now are the projects I think I wrote about last year.  New hot water heater - an on demand heater located at the kitchen sink but also feeds the wash rooms and shower. There will be a new water pump.  Much different than previous.  No holding tank.  It is electronically controlled and the pressure can be set to a specific point.  Why?  With a pressure tank in use, the pressure varies as it cycles thru from high to low.  In the shower this is a problem.  There will be more flow some times, less at others and the mix of hot and cold changes.  You burn or you freeze.

With the new pump and water heater (this new heater has much better sensors then the 40 year old unit now in place) we can set the temperature, just run hot water and we should be able to get a constant delivery to the shower.  We will see.

And some company is working on new covers for the cushions in the wheel house.  The old covers look OK for a beach house but not a 100 year old barge.  Don't remember what I picked out but I know it will be an improvement.  Too expensive because everyone else thinks boat owners are rich.

I have been working since arriving home on a number of projects that will serve to make life on the boat better.  I will talk about these as I get them working on the boat.

With both girls away at school this year there is the question of what to do for the house and pets. A call out to friends and friends of friends did not result in any house sitters.  So Marianne posted on a house and pet sitting site for the dates we need . Wow!  Been turning people away.  Seems this will never be a problem. She is about to pick the "winner".

We will return for LiQiong's graduation at the end of May, spend about a week and head back before June.  This year we know of one visitor that will be with use.  My nephew's daughter will be on board for several weeks. I am looking forward to having a new 2nd mate.

Travel this year will be in the east central part of France - Burgundy  .  Some of the waterways have had water shortages in the past so we will want to do these early on.  I looked at last year's travels and calculated that the boat traveled about 1100km. This year?  We will see. Working on some routes for this year now to be ready.