I think it’s the light… Sitting in Vincelles, France, watching the evening come on, I still don’t fully understand what took us onto this path. Roughly 22 months after taking a hire boat trip down the Canal du Nivernais, we’ve returned to it, this time in our own boat, Desormais.
For those that know boats, you know your boat is never just yours. Each comes with a legacy of its own, contributed by prior owners and their journeys. We are grateful that Sandra and Neville, the most recent owners of Desormais entrusted Desormais to us. I must confess, I don’t fully understand yet the drive and appeal that brought us to this point myself.
In search of something to do with much of our year where I can be actively engaged in something that allows me to move slowly, absorb history, and
experience different regions and/or cultures, all while Suzanne has the opportunity to relax, read, and take things in as she wishes, we landed on a strange new path. Suzanne’s several bouts of seasickness ruled out an open water activities, such as the Great Loop in the US. The search then took us to a family hire boat outing in the fall of 2016 on the Nivernais, followed by two weeks elsewhere in France. I was hooked. Suzanne was convinced I was simply delusional.
The clichéd path followed; join the Dutch Barge Association, prowl the websites offering boats, trips to Europe to look at boats; read books on barging, canals, buying boats, etc.; and, finally, making an offer. The target of our affections was Desormais, a replica Dutch Barge built by Sagar, having an aft en suite cabin, wheelhouse, kitchen and living area, and forward bathroom and cabin. Built in the UK in 2005, the boat is 54 feet long and 12.5 feet wide, drawing less than 3 feet of water and with a low (and demountable) wheelhouse.
In late May 2018 we took our courses at Bisham Abby in the UK for CEVNI, ICC, and VHF, all required for operating a boat. That was followed by accepting the boat in Long Eaton, having it trucked to Migennes, France, and having it lowered into the water for our first journeys.
Over the first few days, we experience our trials. An outing down the Canal de Burgogne (notorious for its weeds) taught us a lot, including the purpose for a weed hatch. Quickly reversing course and abandoning the Burgogne, we chose the L’Yonne, and learned to trust out of the way moorings such as the one Suzanne got us to in Joigny. Two nights later, we were moored in Auxerre for an extended stay in a city that is a jewel in every way when seen from the water.
In Auxerre, Suzanne departed to fulfill important commitments she’s made to an organization in the US, so I’m now single handing my way up the Nivernais. Due to rail strikes and the rental car required to overcome that, we had the opportunity for a side drive to Vezelay on Saturday. After some time getting ready, I departed Wednesday 6/20 for my first day handling the boat alone and, so far, no injuries or serious crises.
Now, as I sit looking at the hills surrounding Vincelles, I come back to the light. While both my parents were trained as artists, that gene had always seemed to skip me in every regard.
But the higher latitudes of France make for bright early mornings and lingering evenings. I’ve read about famous artists and their regard for the light in France. As I sit watching the growing shadows over recently harvested wheat fields, see the deepening shadows in the vineyard rows, and study the mirrored reflections of it all in the water around me, I think it must be the light that has touched some remote element of the artist gene passed on to me (or at least, my parents might hope!). Perhaps. Or the sound of the water. Or the history, culture and adventure. We’ll have to see.
What is clear is that we’re blessed to have this opportunity, to have met those we have along the way, and to have an opportunity to explore a new world, a different culture, a different history. The sheer age of it all is bound to keep us feeling younger.
Perhaps the light will lead us to new adventures….
I just know that, for Sandra and Neville, and so many others I met along this path to this moment in time and this time on this boat, I’m grateful.