Latest Adventures
Getting down and dirty in Zwartsluis
Shangri-La after a clean and polish I am back in Aberdeen at the moment, but I spent the rest of the week in Zwartluis working hard on Shangri-La. The new propellor shaft that had been supplied was rejected by the yard as it was also slightly out of true. It would...
French recollections 5 – Clamecy
Map showing Canal de Nivernaise area Back to the French recollections. I have been somewhat pre-occupied with buying Shangri-La, as you may have noticed. This is part 5 of some recollections of our canal boat holiday on the Canal de Nivernaise in 2008. I think...
Next stage of the journey
The view from Shangri-La at the repair yard in Zwartsluis Foolishly I thought that once we had bought the boat, we would simply start cruising, and I could get on blogging about our travels. The survey highlighted a lot of items that needed attending to - so the...
We have a boat!
Shangri-La 2 - really our boat this time Its starting to sink in - we have a boat! I have been very quiet the last few weeks, as the last time I leapt prematurely into print, I might have jinxed things as the deal fell through. But now, we have had the survey and...
French Recollections 4
Rochers du Saussois The next three days we motored on along the Canal du Nivernaise, locking up, travelling south towards Decize. Not that we would get that far - we would stop at Clemecy. We went through 21 locks and overnighted at Accolay, Rochers du Saussois and...
French recollections 3
The wine cellar at Bailly In the last French recollections we left off having arrived at Bailly, and bought some wine from the nearby wine cellar. (Pic 1). It was so peaceful here we stayed 2 nights. It was free mooring (which always adds to the attraction!). The...
Looking for boats in Holland
A Valkkruiser 1260 When you fall off a horse, they say you must get right back on! So, despite the recent disappointment, we are off to Holland in a few days to look for our dream boat again. We have a hectic long weekend planned - we will drive all over Holland, from...
Don’t count your chickens
I am afraid the boat buying journey has to start all over again! I thought the buying of Olivia Rose would be a mere formality - see this post. How wrong I was. I had been reading up all the advice about buying a second hand boat that I could find. The two main issues...
French recollections 2
See French recollections 1 Migenne - Connoisseur Boats I said we moored up at Migenne that night. It wasnt as simple as that. We had planned to stop at Laroch St Cyndroine which was reported to be lovely. It was - and of course all the moorings were already...
End of the boat buying journey in sight!
Smaller Molenkruiser I haven't posted in a while now, I know. But I think I have a good reason. Ive been hot on the search for our boat. When Karen and I returned to UK from SA last month, we made a detour to Belgium to look at a couple of boats. It was a...
About Me
My love of boats goes back to my early years when I went on holiday with my parents to Knysna in the Cape.
We stayed at a hotel on stilts, and I played in rowing boats and little motor boats on the lagoon.