A Very British Weekend

On the banks of the Thames river, 800 years ago, King John put his name to the Magna Carta at Runnymeade.This was the founding document of  British democracy.

           
       The royal barge Gloriana., A gift to the Queen at her Jubilee, was completed in 2012

        
  Gloriana, 29m long and pulled by 20 rowers on her passage down the Thames to Runnymeade

I had an invitation from my old sailing mate and co-author of Swatchway Magic, Paul, to head over to England for the weekend,  Apart from the appeal of a Thames side beer or two, there was to be a river pageant leading up to the Queen returning to the site of the original signing at Runnymeade, all happening close to their riverside home and Antiopes' first port of call when we first bought her 6 years ago.

The annual Shepperton raft race.

The weekend turned out to be filled with very British events, The Queen inspected her troops at the trooping of the colour as her official birthday treat, the annual Shepperton raft race, and the grand river parade.

An original jolly boat from the Royal Yacht Britannia

Could only be in Britain !

Altogether a very British weekend, topped off by NZ winning another cricket match.

Cheers Charles 

Many faces of Metz

After a week of exploring and a bit of maintenance time in Nancy, I am joined by my daughter April and family arriving by train from Paris after flying direct from NZ. Nancy is an excellent train connection for cruising boaters.

The Nancy Embranchment canal

Soon underway we take the scenic route out of Nancy along the shortest canal in France but the most heavily locked, 15 locks over 5kms. Then a short diversion down the Vosges canal brings us to the aquaduct at Flavingy

  

Antiope floats across the young Moselle river on the Flavingy aquaduct

Back once more on the navigable Moselle river we stop for the day at Liverdun, A dramatic turn in the river almost circles this old fortified town, which is topped by a restored chateau

Liverdun on the Moselle river, a favorite stop.

The old Rhine canal once ran through a tunnel under Liverdun cutting off the big loop of river

For the crew, France is a new experience, even GREEN BEER !

The Moselle locks are huge, this one drops by 9 metres 

  

Before reaching Metz we moor below the Roman aquaduct that fed water from the hills for 22 km into what is now the city of Metz

Built in the 2nd century this Roman aquaduct carried water across the Moselle river

The aquaduct still dwarfs the town below

Metz will be my home for the next couple of weeks as the Moselle downstream is to be closed for maintenance. There are worst places to be held up !!

Metz, the view from the window

The Cathedral at Metz is special for its' amazing stained glass, The camera just cannot do it justice

All of this was built before New Zealand was even on the map !

Enough for now.  Charles

Down the other side

                 From Epinal we descend another 32 locks before joining the Moselle river.
                                   All the water from here on ends up in the Rhine.

The Vosges canal runs alongside the young Moselle river for many miles

We even cross over the Moselle on an aquaduct at Flavigny

The Moselle river gathers volume and becomes a serious waterway

 capable of handling the huge Rhine Barges

These monsters have right of way, 110 m long by 12 m wide,

 and are capable of carrying 2500 tonnes

We pass Toul with its magnificent cathedral overlooking the river. Construction started in the 13th century and took 200 years to complete.

Toul Cathedral

We arrive in Nancy 8 days after leaving Corre, A fast passage but unavoidable as my crew David needed to get back to work.

   

'Art Nouveau'  Nancy

At the beginning of the 20th century, Nancy became the French capital of 'Art Nouveau'

Market day in Nancy, Saturday morning 

       Antiope safely alongside in  the 'Bassin St George' Nancy, and paintwork still intact

It's that time of year

   

A new adventure begins

10 am on May 6th and the boat trailer moves in to take Antiope back to her natural element.

 

It is a great relief to see Antiope afloat once more

The following morning we get underway along the Vosges canal, heading towards Epinal 

on the climb to the summit we have 46 locks to manage.

Once out of the marina and on to the Vosges canal we head past the township of Corre

The Vosges canal was completed in 1884 linking the Moselle and Soane rivers,

David, a sailing mate from way back, now living in France, drove across the country to help.

On the summit laevel, an overnight stop at the village of  les Forges

We descend through 14 locks to Epinal 

Antiope, is clearly happy to back afloat, next port of call, Nancy.

Ready for re launching

The boatyard and marina at Corre is run by a Swiss couple Doris and Jean-Pierre  'Fluvial loisirs' They are most helpful and quite happy for me to work away on my own in their boat park.
After hours of grinding, filling and fairing, the topsides almost look like new again.

                                  

                           With the aid of the anchor winch the fender rope is carefully refitted

                                        Antiope is finally ready for another season of cruising.

2015 Season. Week One

I arrived in Corre on Friday 17th April in a downpour of rain.
However once aboard Antiope all was dry below, she had survived the winter well,
Having evicted a few angry spiders, I was able to set up home. A bachelor pad for a while as Annie will be joining me later in the season.
Covers off in the morning, on a warm dry Saturday, clean up and down to work, the topsides were overdue for a repaint, so while this Summer like weather continues, Antiope gets her beauty treatment, of a kind!

Day three, sanding and filling, sanding and filling again.

A sundowner at the end of the days work.

A diferent kind of boating

                                 
                                                The writer at the helm of Steinlager 2

A week away from heading back to France and Antiope, I had the opportunity to sail aboard Steinlager2 on the annual Auckland to Tauranga race. We were frustrated by light winds, so no glory for us, the small boats beating us on handicap, but for me a great experience.

                               
                       After a complete refit, Steinlager 2 looks as good as she did 25 years ago 

Steinlager 2 was sailed by Sir Perter Blake in the last Whitbread, Round the world  race. She still holds the record for winning all 5 legs of the race.
 
                 Bags are packed, the next post should come from on board Antiope.