August 5, 2004

The Little Green Barge

My best friend, Nina, and I planned an adventure based on the book, “Bare Barging in Burgundy” by Erasmus Kloman. Our Charter company brochure says: “no experience necessary… leisure canal cruising on your very own houseboat, enjoying the French country side, and dining pleasures. Time on the canal is divided between navigation, search for pleasant little places, locking through, shopping, cycling or simply idling.”(*)

We arrive at the Charter’s auxiliary post in Chitry les Mines in a chilly rain to find the office closed for the traditional two-hour lunch. Tim finally arrives and we watch him clean “Grill Au Vent”, our barge and home for a week: “a motor-driven houseboat”(**) the size of a small RV with 2 bicycles for travel to the grocery and to local restaurants. We get the “how to” instructions from Tim, take ”Grill Au Vent” up and down the canal and Nina and I dock it once each. Then he says, “Au Revoir”.

It is 5:30 pm by this time and we decide to go full steam ahead at 5mph! Nina declares at this point, ”I can’t drive…can’t do it!” In that there are only two of us, I am dubbed Captain, and take the wheel. As First Mate, she will be climbing wet slippery steel ladders inside the locks, throwing ropes, jumping off the boat into unknown grassy shores, and raising hand-cranked drawbridges. I will be guiding this 27' x 8' barge that handles “like a rear-wheeled-drive car with bald tires on a sheet of ice” (**) down the Nivernais Canal.

A drawbridge is just ahead so it is decision time- how to do this? I steer the boat to shore, away from the grasses that may jam the propeller, yet still get close enough for Nina to jump to the bank. She jumps, feeling fearful, and hand-cranks the drawbridge up. I am ALONE and trembling all over. I go into reverse, almost hitting the other bank, then forward through the bridge. How do I maneuver the boat to pick Nina up after she lowers the bridge? What’s this about no experience necessary? The trembling continues but the first drawbridge is accomplished.

The pleasant French Countryside goes by unnoticed as we study the canal map. Our first lock is just ahead.

Here is how it works: At a mile out, we honk for the lock keeper. Presuming he or she is there, the gate opens and we enter. Nina jumps off and quickly wraps a rope around a bollard, and I put the barge in reverse, all in hopes of not hitting the closed downstream gate at the other end. We take turns assisting the lock keeper in closing the upstream gate, and the sluices lower the water level. The ropes must be kept loose or the boat will hang in mid air. Time to visit with the lock keeper now, possibly buying some honey or vegetables or admiring a beautiful flower garden. When the downstream gate opens and Nina calls out, “ropes aboard”, I put it into forward gear and apologize for hitting the sides; wave, leave a tip, and cruise into the canal.

Our very first lock keepers are a young girl and her grandmother. Nina explains, in excellent French, this is our first lock ever, and it is just we two adult women aboard. They agree to help with the ropes. I steer too close and the barge turns 360. Panic! It is hard to throw the ropes, keep our balance, and maneuver the barge. Thirty minutes and much anguish later, we leave the lock. Traveling gently downstream we relax. Exhausted. After 2 hours and 2 miles into our leisure canal cruise, we pick a spot in the middle of nowhere to moor for the night.

Hopping ashore Nina drives two stakes in the ground. I hover nearby: forward – reverse - go around, praying I can get back to her. I throw her the bowline, she holds on as if she has a dog on a leash and then secures that line and the stern line to the stakes. Whew! Isn’t this heavenly? Relaxing? Next we settle into our home and prepare our French Cuisine for the evening: cheese of Burgundy, baguette, marmalade and peanut butter.

BRRR. It is cold. Let’s learn to work the heater. Wonder if the boat will be in the same place when we wake up?? Our first day is done. Good Night.

At the end of this journey we had made a transition from fearful to confident. We locked through 67 locks, raised 12 drawbridges, dined on some fine French Cuisine and much peanut butter, traveled the canal for 80 miles, relished the beauty around us, traveled in lots of rain, all the while making many leaps out of our comfort zone and meeting the challenge. We lived each day to the fullest. The two of us maneuvered a barge on the Canal Nivernais in France. Hooray!! The journey continues today in the feeling of freedom and strength from our accomplishment.

Will you live life to the fullest today?

What adventure can you put on your calendar?

Susan Sadler Hayman
International Life Transitions Coach
Call me at 662-238-7754 or email me.