To Helling and gone

This is something of an interim post between my blogs about our holiday. As those of you who are Facebook and Twitter friends already know, we have recently been to the slipway, or helling as we call it here, with my Vereeniging. It was inspection time again. Yes. That nerve-wracking moment when the surveyor comes with his hammer and starts bashing the bottom of the hull as hard as he can to find weak or thin spots. My blogging friends who have known me for many years, or those who've read my Watery Ways/Harbour Ways books will know how alarming this can be. The first inspection I had cost me more than just sleepless nights. It was a day I'll never forget. Since then, I've calculated Vereeniging has had four more inspections, none of which have brought such bad news, thank heavens, but it's always a tense time.

 

Luckily, this time, my lovely barge passed muster although the inspector had some advice for us regarding other things that need attention above the waterline, one of which was to attend to some play in the steering bearings, which will need some thought. Anyway, it was a relief to see that her bottom is a good thickness almost everywhere and above the minimum requirements in the one area where it is a little on the thin side. No need for further action at this stage, but something to keep an eye on. 

I must say he was very thorough and precise, which is reassuring, although I find it strange that over the years some of the numbers don't seem to make sense. I suppose it depends on precisely which spots they measure, as this can vary within quite a small area. Whatever the case, Vereeniging has been pronounced fit to fare, at least for another year. I believe that these days, the validity of the report is limited to one year. In the past, the only proviso was the date given for the next inspection.

Anyway, below is a kind of picture story of our trip to the helling (all of 6.5 kilometres), the work we did and our trip home again (a bit longer as we did a slight detour). Despite the patches of blue sky, we got throughly soaked going to the yard. Conversely, the return trip looked very threatening but remained dry the whole way. Needless to say, we loved every minute in both directions. The in-between days at the yard were, fortunately, beautiful and we had wall-to-wall sunshine for the painting. I've added a couple of brief videos as well to animate the story slightly. 

Leaving Oudenbosh

Out on the lovely Dintel river

A nearby factory on the water

There are large areas of lovely rural scenery, though

Heading towards another factory

Arriving at the yard, a lovely evening sun makes a lovely scene

8a.m. the next morning, ready to start.

Going up the helling

A short video of her ladyship rising 

A safe 'landing' and ready for spraying

One blessng: we didn't have to do the spraying ourselves
this year

The inspector's verdict. All good news!

Most of these numbers are the guesstimated length in metres. 
She's still 19.8, and thankfully hasn't grown!

After days of back-aching painting, one very shiny bottom

And again

A proud prow!

Time to go home: early Saturday morning, a misty start
but so still

The river was mirror smooth

The only ripples were made by Vereeniging

Almost home

Back on the Mark into Oudenbosch

And yesterday, basking in the sunshine

And lastly, a short video of our return trip for

the sound of the engine and the atmosphere :)

Thank you reading and watching, allemaal. If you have any questions about what the inspection or work involves, feel free to ask! The next post will be about the fabulous historic boat lifts in Belgium.