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This is the web site of Sue and Roger Biddle. We retired in 2005 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 six years afloat Harmonie up for sale. We are in no hurry to sell and will continue to cruise during the summer months until we find a new owner. The site might also be of interest to those who are planning to do something similar or who are just interested in the lifestyle. We began our new life in 2005 where we left our then winter base near Leopoldsburg in Belgium for a tootle around southern Holland. We travelled first to Maastricht, followed the river Maas down as far as Den Bosch then pottered around the canals of Holland and Belgium before tying Harmonie up for the winter which was relieved by a trip to South Africa. The next year saw us travelling north to Amsterdam and the Dutch bulb fields, then back down through Belgium to France, the Somme, Paris, the Marne and back down the river Meuse to Belgium. That winter we flew to New Zealand via China then up to Australia and back to Belgium via Brazil. After a sojourn in a Belgian shipyard in 2007 we sailed back down the Meuse to Reims then south to the river Saône, across central France as far south as Roanne then down the Loire valley to Briare for the winter with a cruise up to Paris for the Rugby World Cup. In 2008 we cruised around in central France, the Loire valley then up the Nivernais canal and south down the Burgundy canal. We returned to Bruges in Belgium for the winter. 2009 saw us attending a rally in Belgium then up the rivers Meuse, Moselle and Doubs to Mulhouse, almost to Switzerland then back to Gent in Belgium for the winter. In 2010 we headed north into Holland and the myriad of lakes and canals in Friesland. 2011 sees us slipped in Holland to complete our TRIWV certification then cruising in Belgium and France prior to another round the world trip visiting the USA, New Zealand (for the Rugby World Cup), Australia and Singapore. In 2012 we plan to attend the DBA Paris rally in early June. Further cruising in France will depend of water levels but we might go to Strasburg. We are booked into the Flandria yacht club in Brugge for the winter. We have included technical details of our barge in addition to information on how to go about buying one but more information can be found on the DBA Barge Association web site. We also describe our repair, improvement and maintenance experiences which might benefit other barge owners should they meet similiar situations or problems. Finally if you would like to write to us we have provided a contact page from where you can send us an email which we will endeavor to reply to if it is required. | |
Afloat in France |