This is an old Humber Sloop that sailed across the North Sea a few weeks ago to be here for the festival. It's a gorgeous old tub and beautifully converted for living aboard.
No introductions required by now, but of course, the Wandering Snail has a special spot in the festivities.
Just a shot of the Leuven Harbour with a few boats pottering around.
And here is the collection of tugboats that always arrives - a bit like rent a crowd - for these festivals. They are the boating equivalent of groupies ;-)
We've had a great time with Anne and Ollie, as the pics below will testify, and we even took them on a tour of the harbours on the Vereeniging. What joy to have my lovely shippy on the move again...
In the last pic below, you can see the famous Blauwe Vis belonging to our friend Philip
All photos were taken with my phone, so apologies for the poor quality.
No worries about the photos
ReplyDeleteval , they are wonderful.
And they show that it looks like alot of fun!
Thank you! The photos indeed are great. Boy I would've loved to be there to catch and breathe in the festival atmosphere!
ReplyDeleteWOW how wonderfully colourful! You must've had a lovely time! I always love your shots of this quite foreign world.
ReplyDeleteHi VallyP, greetings from over the water! As you can see, I followed your suggestion, and here I am at your blog! How did the Wandering Snail get there? Across the channel under its own steam? Or transported?
ReplyDeleteYour pictures take me back to our holiday in the Netherlands a couple of years ago, where we saw the boat lifts on the Canal du Centre and the amazing inclined plane at Ronquieres. We went up the inclined plane (as tourists) and also went up the stunning Strepy Thieu lift.
Hi Val,
ReplyDeleteyou must be have such a fantastic weekend. We had good weather here in Kassel and a great weekend, too.
Wish you a good start for the next week.
Love
Stefan.
PS.: Your phone make real good pics.
Thanks Grace. It was a whole canal full of fun ;)
ReplyDeleteMaria, it's really time you came over here. So much food for your creative eye!
String, good to see you again. We did have a lovely time. You must also come back and re-acquaint yourself with your roots.
Halfie, thanks so much for coming to take a look. The Snail had to be brought over by lorry as following Terry Darlington's book, the insurance companies sadly decided not to cover channel crossings in narrow boats. They've been cruising Belgium and the Netherlands for the last year and a half though, so they're becoming pretty well-known over here. It was great to see the Humber Sloop/keel here though. They made it across the North Sea much to everyone's astonishment! Funny you should mention the boat lifts at Strepy. We were there just a couple of weeks ago, and I did a post about them. Wonderful structures all of them!
Thanks to you too Stefan. It was a great festival and has been lots of fun. My phone isn't as good as my little panasonic, but it does fine under the circumstances.
Hi Val! My computer was down for a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe colours!
I love the bright paint and designs with which these seafarers have so lovingly adorned their craft.
It's also great that they are all definitely seaworthy, and not just ornamental. Isn't the North Sea noted for its rough waters? Kudos to Anne and Ollie!
I've often seen photos of the Wandering Snail on Salty Splash's blog. How neat is that, to actually meet and form a lasting friendship with like-minded folk!
It looks as though Philip has returned from his watery travels, too.
I would so love to visit you, but I have to save my money right now, as I'm not working again until December when the ski hill opens.
You and Koos are at the top of my list, though!
And it seems that our weather stretches across more than a continent!
xx
lol
ReplyDeleteI just took note that Anne and Ollie had to lorry their vessel across. Too bad - I was thinking of what an adventure that would have been.
Aha, it was the Humber Sloop that braved the cold, rough crossing on its own.
All the same, I think you are all brave souls!
xx
What wonderful festivities on the water - and to be right in the middle of the action. From your photos (which are a fine resolution for posting online) you really get an idea of what it was like on the water and surrounding shoreline. Glad you had a wonderful time and sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteLesley
xx
Wow, it looks so colourful. I know you don't always like the noise of your busy neighbourhood, but sometimes it's nice to be in the thick of it, no?
ReplyDeletexx
AM
Dale,yes, Anne and Ollie brought the Snail over by lorry because the insurance wouldn't allow them to cross by sea, although they wanted to.
ReplyDeleteLesley thanks, it was fun to be in the middle of it all.
Anne Marie,yes, fo once I didn't mind,but it wasn't all that noisy really. Lots of music though which was great!