In Montargis, a large “commercial” passed by as we were moored. This morning, it passed by again. It is well-equipped. Among other features, it carries the family’s car along with a fenced-in area from when the children were younger.
As the next lock was nearby, I decided to run ahead and grab a few photos. No need to run. A barge that size almost crawls as it approaches a lock.
“Commercials” are 38.5 metres long and 5.05 metres wide. A lock is 39 metres long and 5.2 metres wide. Threading the eye of a needle is much easier. By comparison, Aleau is 20 metres long – barely more than half the length of Vincita. When it comes to width (or beam as it is called for a boat), we’re pretty close. Vincita is just 15 centimetres wider. Any more and she wouldn’t fit into the lock. We both barely squeeze in.
Being 38.5 metres long in a lock that is 39 metres long means the person at the helm has to be precise and use every centimetre of available space. Hitting the gate is not an option. This morning, it is the wife who is at the helm. She stops Vincita perfectly.
School is out so the whole family is onboard – Mom, Dad, and their two boys – age 7 and 11. When they’re in school the mother stays at their home in the Netherlands from Monday through Friday – and is back on the barge on weekends. During the week, the husband is alone on the boat – steering into the locks and handling the ropes. Today, he only has to worry about the ropes.
It’s hard work operating your own commercial barge. The other day they did 30 locks. In one day. In the sweltering heat. (Our record is 19 locks in one day.) But it’s not just operating the barge. They have to work to find work. There is no computerized list of loads that need to be shipped. It’s all done by developing contacts and making phone calls. They recently dropped off a load of fertilizer in Villefrance – and then had to travel empty to Nemours. 350 kilometres with no money coming in. In Nemours, they picked up 250 tonnes of grain and are taking it to Belgium. But even that doesn’t pay as much as it should. Vincita can carry 350 tonnes – but the low water levels mean they couldn’t get through with that weight. That’s 100 tonnes of revenue they are losing because of this heat wave. On this trip alone. Even with the lighter weight, there’s just 20 centimetres between the canal bottom and the bottom of their boat. They have to stay smack in the middle of the channel. It gets too shallow on either side.
While they have a “real” home in the Netherlands, their barge carries many things a house can’t. There’s a small motorboat – and an even smaller sailboat. Even a pair of water skis.
The children may be on vacation from school – but there’s still a lot of learning going on. It is the 11 year-old who, focusing intently, takes the barge out of the lock. His mother tells me he started piloting Vincita when he was nine – then quickly adds, “with supervision.”
Here’s what he sees as he looks down. Not a lot of room between the hull of Vincita and the stone of the lock wall.
There’s a lot wash from the propeller but Vincita is barely moving as she leaves the lock.
After dropping off their load of wheat in Belgium, they’ll be heading back to their home in the Netherlands – and likely be on the phone chasing their next load.