Bringing JoLi' Folie
from Koudum, Holland
to her new home in
central France
In late September we
finally got home to California
from Europe. Transatlantic
flights were cancelled for days
after the tragedy.
We had to make a quick
trip to Cartagena to coordinate
Net Result's delivery to
Trinidad. We had tried to sail
Net Result from Cartagena to
Aruba in June, but after 3
weeks of waiting for the
weather to improve in a bay in the north east coast of
Columbia, we were forced to return to Cartagena. Heather
Andrews, a super scottish gal whom we'd met at Pedro
Miguel Boat Club was going to deliver Net Result for us. At
the same time we would be relocating JoLi' to central
France so the conversion work could start during the
winter and allow us to enjoy cruising the canals sooner.
We did a sweep of a camping store and Ikea for some
basics that we'd need during the journey.
During the journey we had NO water, NO heat, NO
insulation, NO electricity, NO plumbing... NO NOTHING.!
After a great deal of delay from the seller in having
the barge ready for us, we finally departed Koudum on 15
Oct. Our hope was to reach our destination in France
before Thanksgiving so we could be present for the annual
family gathering.
Off we went with necessary charts and almanacs. Of
course, in Holland the required manuals onboard are ONLY
in dutch. Not much use to us, non-dutch speaking people.
We had never transited a lock in europe. We had transited
the Panama Canal and read plenty of books on the subject.
Plus, Joe had received his license for piloting a vessel
larger than 15m.
The waterways in Holland are so much different than
Belgium and France. Big, BIG ships, and locks and rivers
to match their size. Traveling on the Waal we felt we were
a little VW beetle on a freeway during rush hour. After
about a week - 10 days it started to get cold and frost
started forming inside on the bare steel. We needed to
make the furthest way each day so we pressed on in the
ice cold. By mid-day the interior was "raining" from the
interior frost starting to melt.
Once in Belgium and France the lock-keepers became
friendly and sympathetic and helped us immensely each
day working us as far as light would enable us. And
making sure we were safely moored in the evenings
before they left us. Many mornings we needed to break
the ice that surrounded the barge during the night prior to
getting underway.
We realized we would not make it to St. Jean de Losne
in time for us to return home for Thanksgiving, so we
made arrangements with the mayor in Toul to leave JoLi'
at the town quai while we went home for our annual
Thanksgiving family gathering in Sanger.