Out of the Wilderness

It has been four months since I have added anything to this site. Marg and I are still here and I will apologise if anyone has thought that I had abandoned them.

The story so far:

Yes, our goods arrived and apart from a few minor matters everything was OK. Peter (Marg's brother) arrived Jan 13 and spent three months with us. We did lots together including quite a few excursions by car to various places. We went as far afield as Nancy with the intention of finding a place for our next winter stop. We also looked at Auxerre and took advice on a number of other possibles. We have decided on Nancy as it has a good port on a good canal, nice hotels around the port, (quite inexpensive for their standard) plenty of history and it didnt seem to shut down in winter. So the Miller Family Christmas 2011 will be there.

We have done some alterations to Matilda to suit our needs, added furniture, changed a kitchen bench, new fridge and the like. Nothing major but things that were needed to suit our lifestyle. There are more things we will do as time goes on but at present we are keen to cruise. We had a party for our formal naming of Matilda with over 30 guests. Most we knew and the others seemed eager to meet us.

We have been for our first outing with Matilda. We had a three day trip up the canal we are harboured on - the canal du Rhone-au-Rhin. We travelled to a small town called Rochford sur Nenon - not the one of cheese fame, this one is a short distance past Dole. Dole is noted as the birthplace of Louis Pasteur.



A friend, Alan (met here in France) who has a lot of barging experience and his partner Ann, came with us. Alan is a retired school teacher and was able to instruct Marg and me very well in the finer points of making Matilda do what we wanted. One thing was made clear and that is Barging is a Contact Sport. Matilda has a few small scratches in her paint to prove it.

On this occasion with  Peter at the helm there were no scratches, a perfect passing. This is a freighter loaded with grain and is a regular worker on this canal. 

From the perspective of distance travelled, Rochford sur Nenon would be a 40 minute drive away.

This was a great introduction to our visit on Easter weekend to Cambrai where we did our Barge Handling course. After 2 days of intensive instruction, we were relieved to find we had passed. We now have our ICCs,  licences to drive a vessel of Matilda's size on the european inland waterways.

Cambrai is a town just north of the Somme in Northern France. We decided to stay in the area for the Anzac Day commemorations. We visited Viller-Bretonneux and stayed for the Anzac dawn service at the Australian Memorial there. A very moving experience.

Back to Matilda and we needed to right a few problems we found on our shakedown cruise. We found that although the engine ( a 200hp 6 cylinder Henschel diesel) ran well, it ran too cold and as we went everywhere at idle speed, the generator (yes generator) could not work. Subsequently we are fitting a 100 amp alternator. I am also desperately trying to find a thermostat that will fit. If anyone out there can help I will greatly appreciate it.

Once the alternator is in we will be right to cruise. We will be making generally toward Paris, the route is not yet certain. We would like to take the Bourgogne Canal to the Yonne River and on to Paris that way but there is a tunnel on this canal which we have to be sure that we can fit through. It is a beautiful route, possibly the most scenic in France and it seems a shame if we dont try.

More planning is needed.

So, keep in touch.