Dav and Pen

On the rivers we could leave the dish up but on the canals it was taken down and tied on as we lost one overboard in a strong gust of wind which came on suddenly and caught me out.

I used freesat all over france and belgium with a bigger dish than the standard sky one. To find the satellite I would start from the East and turn the dish towards the south, the first movement on the sat finder was the astra and a bit of fine movement got the 2 sats they now use lined up. A satellite finder app on my iPad was a useful tool to check elevation which did need to be pretty accurate and it also gave a line for the dish to point. Only tall trees ever stopped us getting tv.

Reims is well worth a stop. There’s a light show at the cathedral and the canal is right by the highway and the canal still has some commercial traffic. The motorway now goes round the Centre but there is an exit for the center when coming from the south.

Brought up with the Coot Club read every book and they were responsible for me getting on the water with the first canoe aged 11 on the nene at Northampton

At present we do not have a boat having sold the barge In France this April. Before going over there we had narrowboats including 2 working boats which now seem to be called historic. Our last one a 50 footer was built on an old station boat hull and after we retired we took it over to Ireland for a couple of years. Age is catching up I’m afraid and if we do get another boat it won’t be extensively cruised and that was the reasoning behind thinking about the broads but the fenland waterways could also be a consideration. when we had narrow boats we did the Trent a few times and down to Lincoln, after getting the 50footer we went from Stockton right up to Ripon via Wigan and the northern waterways that the 72 ft boats couldn’t go. probably we should just hire occasionally until we get the waterways out of our system. thanks for all the replies

Michael. thank you for your reply I think we will have a look at the Ouse as it’s a long while since I have even though we live not far away as for the last 18 years our boating has been on the continent. If the locks are now electrically operated that would be a big plus.

Afraid that goes for just about everywhere. We hired on the Broads in 1964 a sea master I think it was and loved it. A couple of years later after I had left the MN we brought a little Dolphin cruiser from Braunston and stuck to the local waterways as work was in Northampton. If we buy another boat I think we would get good use out of it on the Broads and will go over in the new year to look over some possibilities. thanks for the replies.

Yes this is one of the worries, we have been very actively boating for over 50 years but now having sold the barge still would like to have a boat. It maybe that hiring occasionally will get it out of the system. i do know the Fenland waterways having been raised by and occasionally in the Nene, and also being on the well creek trust in my iwa days.

After to many years narrow boating and barging in France we still wish to go boating but without so much physical effort. The broads being lock free would suit the crew and I wonder if it is possible to enjoy the broads or are they just to busy to consider them as a base. Obviously July and August would be avoided.

One last thought for anyone contemplating taking a wide beam to the continent the 100 cu m measurement is length x.beam x height to gunwale.

Back from the rugby and great day for us Northamptonians. Think all points answered by Tam.

Any boat over 20m needs the es-trin certificate it’s a eu requirement it’s just that the Dutch are the only ones who would certify boats on other registry’s. the certificate is in addition to rcd as it imposes equipment such as AIS class A fire extinguishers size, 2 vhf radios etc. a home built boat will be treated as anew boat from next year. these rules have been in place since 2011 when we got our first certificate which also requires an out of water survey.

At present it’s a bit of a minefield for boats plus 20 meters in length or 100 cu meters volume. All of these ships should have had European certificate originally called Triwv but now called Es-trin by the end of last year, but because there were hundreds who hadn’t and there is a shortage of qualified surveyors the Dutch gave a years extension until end of this year. Any boat that does not have a certificate by then will have to conform to new build specifications which could mean having to have an engine that meets the latest emission regulations and things like position of bulkheads which are specified in the regs but up until now old boats were passed as built. There are no English surveyors approved for this certificate and some of the Dutch ones have been certifying the UK registered boats already on the continent and having the Dutch authority issue the certificate, including for mine. An Icc is needed by the steerer (owner) and this can be done in the uk as it is issued by the rya. A vhf radio certificate is also necessary as is a ships radio license but this may be already with the boat and if brought in Holland it is best to keep it on the dutch registry. Sounds difficult so the advice is avoid anything over 20m which does not have a current certificate (they last for 7 years) or buy something under 20m which at present needs no certificate. Hope that explains a bit more what’s involved. Now off to the Rugby for the big game against Leicester COYS

Although the Tjalk and Aak type barges were built of what is now considered “thin” steel most of them were built of proper ship building steel not the modern mild steel that has lots of scrap in it. My Hagenaar barge was originally a sailing barge as were the Tjalk and when it was surveyed for me prior to completion of the purchase (at my expense) I was very surprised to see measurement of 4.5mm and 4mm which coming from Narrowboats I thought to thin. The surveyor said that as built 80 years ago it would have been 5.5mm and at 4mm was ok. Anything under could be doubled or if unconverted cut out and replaced .The ribs are much closer together around 400mm apart so the strength of the hull is there. These were mainly cargo carrying barges mine being built for a brick company and had load marks for 55 tones so clearly like narrow boats they were designed for the job. when these barges were converted to pleasure boats and houseboats many had poured concrete as ballast which is now considered bad practice and some insurance companies do not like it. If you buy in Holland or Belgium through a broker a contract is drawn up between the buyer and seller agreeing the price subject to survey and a deposit is paid. If the survey turns up problems the buyer has the option of walking away or the seller has to put it right. It’s more legalistic than here and the brokers have to be licensed and registered. Theres literally hundreds of small barges for sale but avoid anything over 20meters as another set of regulations apply and cheap barges are unlikely to have a certificate and if they have not got one by the end of this year then the rules change and they will be treated as new boats and need compliant engines. Good luck and enjoy the hunt it’s well worthwhile

For European waterways narrowboats are not ideal especially on the big rivers although of course there are some over there. in the Netherlands there are lots of steel cruisers for sale and you should be able to pick one up for the money you are talking about. Small barges for this money could well be a money pit although generally the Dutch look after their boats. There a lots of brokers web sites you could look at.