Little By Boat
Has lost her ship
And doesn't know where to find her
Leave her alone and she will come home
bringing By Boat behind her
Okay, just a bit of nonsense there because this is mainly going to be a picture post. To explain, we finally got the Hennie H's engine running steadily, so last week we did a few test runs to build our confidence. However, because we didn't want to take any risks on the sea canal to Gent (the waterway on which the HH is moored), we took our little rowing boat (in Dutch bij boot, hence my bit of rhyming nonsense)) along for the ride.
Now you'd be right in thinking a tiny boat like the one in the photo below would not be capable of performing any great rescue missions, especially for a twenty-ton barge like the Hennie H, but we have an electric outboard motor for it and if push came to shove, it would be possible to pull the HH ever so gently out of harm's way with her. I know it seems unlikely, but I did mention pushing and shoving, didn't I?
Anyway, luckily, we didn't need its services, and the test runs went well. Unluckily, we have a recurrence of the same problem this week, and the Hennie H is refusing to start again. Ah well, we had some fun while it lasted! Back to the drawing board again.
Below are some photos of our last test run on Koos's birthday, the 30th of June. We did all of about eight kilometres!
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| The shipyard at Zelzate just over the Belgian border: Our goal for the day |
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| Sand barge |
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| And just to finish off, a happy skipper |
However, after suffering something of an understandable loss of motivation this week, Koos feels confident he can get the engine going again by the weekend. Keep everything crossed allemaal! Let's hope we can be faring once more very shortly!
Well, the summer's pushing along, July already so I hope you can get the engine working reliably very soon. I enjoyed the photo's out on the water, the middle boat on picture number 5 looks very similar to the Humber Keelboats that once worked along the Humber Estuary, River Trent & River Ouse. The same boats that sailed inland on the Louth Navigation to Louth.
ReplyDeleteSomething I've been meaning to ask, what does the word "faring" mean and also "allamaal"? I hope your next post is about a boat trip along your vast canal system. 😊 🐕 🐢
Oh yes, David, we've seen Humber Keels over here too. Lovely barges and full of charm! But these are much longer. They're all foreshortened in this photo, but these barges are 40 metres long.
DeleteWell done...Beautiful photos...not so good about Hennie H's engine. Hope the repair goes well. Great photo of Koos. (Steph)
ReplyDeleteThank you, my dear. We keep soldiering on. There are worse things in life!
DeleteOh, poor you! You're not having much luck lately. Your determination will see you through, as always. Enjoyed seeing the photos. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYou're right there, Brenda, but we keep at it and hope to prevail very soon. The news is a wee bit better on my latest blog post :) Thank you for your comment, as always. I'm so sorry I've only just seen it now!
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