Tuesday, May 29th, we landed at Heathrow and picked up a rental car. We were there to take lessons that would provide the certificates needed to operate a boat on the European canals, take possession of a boat, and see it transported by truck to Migennes, France, where it would go back into the water.
In true Carswell style, within an hour of landing, I had Suzanne walking through a hardware store. As the boat was a British build boat (with UK electrical plugs) that would be operating in France, we had a list of items to equip the boat we needed to gather while in the UK. The electronics store was the second stop!
The following day, Wednesday, was a day of rest, which we used to travel a short distance from our hotel to Windsor. We thought it would be a good day to tour Windsor Castle and the town around it, and it was. The weather behaved and the Castle proved as remarkable as one might expect. We had arrived not that long after the royal wedding, and there were barriers, banners and bunting still decorating the town.
Thursday and Friday were dedicated to lessons at Bisham Abby Sailing School, located on the upper River Thames not far from Henley, home of the famed Henley Royal Regatta. There, we spent two days on their Dutch Barge, Le Coq, with our instructor, Gaius, patiently teaching us about boat
safety, boat handling, use of lines, and operating locks. Each of got plenty of time at the helm, with the end result being the issuance of both an International Certificate of Competence (Inland Waterways) and a VHF Operators Certificate.
Happy but tired after two long days of education, we turned toward Long Eaton, near Nottingham, Friday night. We were to meet Neville and Sandra Crook on Saturday to go over all the details of operating Desormais.
Saturday came, all went well, both Neville and Sandra were generous in sharing their knowledge, and we simply hoped we could retain most of what they shared. Stories continued over dinner, and it was a very pleasant and informative day. From the stories they shared of various adventures, it was clear we were sailing into a very different realm.
After spending Sunday getting some additional items, such as bedding, we were at the boat early Monday to meet the truck that was to take Desormais through the Chunnel and on to Migennes, France, where we were to meet them Thursday morning.
There were some tense moments. The truck had shown up equipped to haul
a flat-bottomed boat, which Desormais is not. While the haulers sorted that out, we waited for the boat yard operators to confirm full payment had been received. Both issues were finally sorted and, with fingers crossed, we left the haulers making final adjustments and headed for the Nottingham train station. From there, on to a day in London, followed the next day by a train from London to Paris, then Paris to Migennes.
The truck arrived as scheduled Thursday morning, Desormais was lifted into the water, and Suzanne and I set about getting the boat in order so we could begin our journey.
