Cracks Appearing

    

 

The next 10 days were spent tied up at the marina in St Jean de Losne trying to restore our poor boat to some semblance of her former self. 3 winters and 2 hot summers of total neglect (thanks to Australia's stringent Covid lockdowns) had not been kind to her. 

Although still quite early in the boating season water restrictions were already in place and boat washing with hoses banned. So, there was nothing for it but fill the buckets, get down on hands and knees and scrub. Hard work at any time but even more so in the heat; clear skies every day and temperatures in the high 30s.

As the filth disappeared the true state of the bodywork was revealed and it was a thoroughly depressing sight; flaking paint, bleeding rust patches, peeling varnish. The more we cleaned the more it became apparent that l'Avenir was going to need a complete repaint. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Belgium to France

Image
The fortified town of Huy in Belgium Profondeville - Belgium Thought for the day - pavement in Profondeville Namur - Belgium Namur River Meuse Welcome to France - with a downpour '-and stood the clock at ten to three' Givet, France The Ham Tunnel. Looks short but it's actually over 500 metres long. We weren't altogether sure we would fit but we did - just. Relaxing in Fumay, France Fumay an argument over a game of boules - Fumay Our Mooring at Fumay
Read more

Mother of Invention

Image
  Val de Garonne  'If we wanted, we could be there in a day or so' (my words a week or so ago) Talk about tempting fate. I was referring to our impending arrival in Castets-en-Dorthe the final port of the canal system in the south west of France. From Castets it is possible to lock down onto the tidal river leading to Bordeaux and then the Bay of Biscay. There had been some talk of taking our boat to Bordeaux - a conversation to which my enthusiastic contribution was along the lines of, 'yeah, right.' I was keen to make it as far as Castets though - the end of a long journey from the north of the country to the south. Fontaine de la Font d'Uzas Our plans weren't to be thwarted by fate or mythical water gods but by Spring in full force. I've already posted some pictures of the riotous growth of trees and plants along the canal banks but a similar thing is happening in the underwater world. For some reason the water is particularly clean in t...
Read more

Our Boat

Image
Type - Dutch Steel Motor Cruiser Make - de Ruiter Grand Star Gsak Year - built 1980 but completely refitted over past 5 years Length - 13.25m (43ft) Beam - 3.7m Draught - 1.2m Air Draught - 2.75 with everything folded down Engine - 110hp Daf Generator - 4.5 KVA Name - L'Avenir
Read more