Rob Davidson & Terry Bothwell, with Rosie and Lilou

ASLAUG was built in the Netherlands in 2006 and is certified for the Rhine. She is underway in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. During Summers 2014-18 we are in the Somme, Picardy. Facebook: Barge Aslaug

We are Peter and Nicci Skerritt living on 'Aurigny', a 24mtr. Dutch Barge currently travelling through the canals of France.

This blog is my solution."  - Widebeam Boat Build blog and this blog is Deb's.

This boat is intended to allow two middle-aged people to live and work almost anywhere one can go by water, getting there with reasonable dispatch and with a reasonable degree of comfort and safety, and living there in a relatively uncompromised lifestyle

Welcome to our home, our pride and joy, our nightmare, our everything!

Aussies Ian and Lisette travelling the waterways of Europe in our 100+ year-old barge 'Catharina Elisabeth'. Still carrying cheese, as she was built to do, but now - us, wine, food and fun as well.

We will indulge in French food and culture, learn a new language, explore the countryside and absorb the history; sampling wine & champagne along the way.

A blog of the build of our Piper 49M, due to launch at Reading 23/03/2017

Delfini is a 15m x4.2 m Tjalk currently based near Haarlem, Holland. It is being refurbished in readiness for travel in Europe.

Welcome to Castelsarrasin.  This site’s been up and running for just a couple of years now, and I’m still tweaking and adding to it as I go along.

This is a site that embraces my major interests, writing, cruising the French waterways, and animals. It’s less of a blog (though there is a page for that) than it is a record of things I’ve seen, experienced, written about and photographed.

A. S. B. Ebenhaëzer (Ebenezer in English) was registered in 1904 having been built in the Croles shipyard in IJlst, (just outside Sneek, Friesland) in the Netherlands.  Now an auxiliary sailing barge she is a 63ft (inc. fixed bow sprit) gaff sloop rigged, sailing barge (tjalk).

Eclaircie is a Katwijker, built in 1902 at the Vrijenban shipyard in Delft.   A Katwijker is a type of barge that belongs to the catagory of Beurtschips, which had regularly scheduled service between towns, and they carried freight or passengers.

We are back living in our California home, but we will leave our website as it was while we were cruising, and we would be happy to answer any barge related questions.

Stewart and Lesley MacLennan, from their home in Australia, decided to plan an adventure that would take them out of their comfort zone. Not that they had spent much of their lives in that particular zone!

The adventure involved designing and building a boat for the waterways of Europe - and it had to be wheelchair accessible.

Hmm, So how did all this begin? Hard to say at this point so best left for another tale, “Why we decided to do this now”. It’s fair to say though that Rick Stein’s “French Odyssey” series on the Canal du Midi had a hand in the decision making, tempting us with its syren call to warm climes, slower pace and promise of fine food and wine.

Chris and Diana Grant lived on board their classic Dutch Barge Esme for 13 years until deciding to sell her in 2019 and return to the UK. Esme was built in 1927 at Amels yard in Makkum, Netherlands. The website is a record of their travels throughout UK, Belgium, France and the Netherlands over those years and will hopefully inspire new bargees to follow their trail.

Wir er-leben unseren Lebenstraum! 

We are experiencing our life's dream! Our "Fenna" was completed to our expectations in early 2012. Then we discovered Holland.

As the name of my website suggests, our travels are largely determined by two abiding interests - food and wine. (Oh, and beer if we are up in Belgium). I hope you will enjoy life in our “ditch crawling” world as we slowly make our way across the Continental landscape. We want to share with you our encounters with wine growers, cheese makers and the lady who feeds the ducks which produce the foie gras.

We retired to live aboard our Dutch barge Harmonie II and cruise the European Waterways. The objective of this web site is to keep friends and relations informed of our whereabouts, adventures and now, after seven years afloat 
The site might also be of interest to those who are planning to do something similar or who are just interested in the lifestyle.

This blog is about boating on the European Continent. To be able to do so we acquired a Dutch Barge, named "Hebbes", in December 2010. The preceding years we owned a narrowboat in England and lived on her for 3,5 years. 

Maps & Movies

Hoop Doet Leven was built in Holland in 1926. She is 21.4 meters (about 70 feet) long and 3.4 meters (11 feet) wide. The family quarters behind the pilot house are all original, with wood paneling,tile fireplace and leaded glass skylights. “Hoop Doet Leven,” in Dutch means “Hope Sustains Life,” similar to “Hope Springs Eternal.”

A Dutch Luxemotor built in 1928 by the well-known constructor Bodewes of Foxhol in Holland, converted for pleasure cruising in 1996.

'Jan-Kees' - Jan Pieterse & Deb Richardson

This is a unique story because a replica of a Dutch Klipper has not been successfully recreated and certainly not to this exceptional standard.

The Joli Roger blog - Taking it easy on the waterways of France.

Houseboats in Amsterdam.

You Bought a What?

This is the question we faced most often when, in late 2010, we decided to buy a Barge to cruise the French canals. Probably a fair question, in hindsight, given that we had never owned a boat before. This is a chronicle of our adventures since then.

KEI is a 22m luxemotor barge designed and built for residential use and will be used as a permanent home. The size and style are, we feel, a good compromise of all the features that we thought a Dutch barge should include. Top of our priority list was the requirement that if one is going to have a "Dutch barge", then it should look like one and have the recognisable features and details of a traditional 1920's barge.

Built in 1922 in Leimuiden as a Luxemotor cargo ship. In 1931 it was adapted for transporting Fair carousels, with the wheelhose moved forward to elnarge the aft cabin. During World War II, the ship was hidden by the Dutch resistance movement in the Biesbosch, an inaccessible tangle of small rivers and lakes. In 1996, it was converted into a living barge, retaining its classically elegant lines.

Le Séga

This is a blog about our retirement dream to buy, restore and cruise an old dutch barge in Europe. This 18-month project has been more fun and fulfilling than we could ever have imagined.

't Majeur is a Dutch luxemotor, build in 1932 by Boot in Alphen.

She started transporting potatoes and is now our home.

We travel the inland waterways of Europe.

25 metres in length and fitted for comfortable extensive cruising for six people, we are very comfortable on her at all times of the year.

Look out Europe here we all come!    Also follow our blog at http://www.contentedsouls.blogspot.co.uk/

Misterton is a barge built in 1923 to carry grain to Lincoln. She was built to the maximum dimensions of this waterway and is one of six 'Lincoln Keels' built.  We bought her in 2008 and intend to restore her to a comfortable floating home, whilst retaining the external appearance of a British working barge.

The Mizar is a Dutch barge, a Luxemotor which once travelled as a cargo ship on the European canals. The name "Luxemotor" was given because the owner & family had a cabin behind the wheelhouse. This was considered a great luxury, because until now on cargo ships the adults as well as children slept on deck.

The "Moet" found us... and brought new friends and a different way of life to enjoy and discover...

Welcome to my website, which is a reflection of my activities.  Anyone, like me, who has been linked with heart and soul to his vessel gains a lot of experience. That experience and the knowledge I have gained on our ship, in the course of many years, I'd like to share.

This is the story behind the 1907 Humber sloop that was to help fight two wars and join the search for the Loch Ness monster.

Picaro is a 1964 38m spits, restored in 1984 and carrying cargo through Europe. Tis her story.  (Dutch/French).

Reliance is a well maintained 78’ Humber Barge moored on one of the most beautiful residential moorings on the Thames tideway. Her previous owners lived aboard for nearly 30 years, raised two children afloat and converted Reliance into a comfortable home, suitable for cruising on UK rivers and most European waterways. Now they've retired ashore and Reliance has found new crew to take care of her.

French adventures onboard Rangali, a 60ft Piper Barge.

Skookum is a 1973 12.5meter Altena Dutch steel cruiser that we purchased in Dordrecht in 2012. Since then we have circled through Holland, Begium, France and Germany.
We have travelled the Rhine from Strassburg to Dusseldorf and the Mittleland canal to Berlin and the Mecklenburg. The Elbe to Hamburg and across north Germany to Friesland.
Then Antwerp, Reims, the Marne to Paris and then down the Rhone to the south of France. Currently Skookum is near Avignon and we will journey to bordeaux this year.

Martin and Barbara Golder plus our faithful companion Kerry, a Wheaten Terrier.

In January 2017 we bought a Dutch barge in the Netherlands on a whim. Now we have to get her back to the UK! Follow our journey from Sneek (Friesland) across the English Channel, and finally up the river Thames to Lechlade in Gloucestershire in the UK, where she will become our permanent home.

We are now very much looking forward to launching our new Piper 57N  barge and living on board back on the Thames for the first year, before we head over to the European canals.

Adventures through the European Canals onboard Vivante

A photo-diary of Xavier's travels.