Barging from Loire to Burgundy 28

The journey begins . . . here.

Friday 13th July 2018
St-Jean-de-Losne
How to sell a boat in France? Yip, first pick an agent, which we had now done. The next step is completing the mandate to sell. It’s a heck of a lot of work. Not because it’s long winded. But because it requires critical information that isn’t stashed in our heads. They also want as much as possible about the history of the boat. We only know what the previous sellers had told us. But they also want to know what improvements had been made to the boat.

And this is where it sinks in what all this fun we’ve had on our boat has actually cost. The list of improvements over the years was long, yet the value of the boat hadn’t gone up one iota. Big ticket items like a new exhaust system, re-upholstering plus new matresses, curtains and carpets, new overhead and side awnings, new wiring and piping, replaced mosquito filters for the windows, new Whisper generator, fixed most of the leaking windows, let along smaller things like replacing starter motors, fenders and VHF radios. That is by no means all of the repairs or replacements. A look through the invoices revealed that over 7 years around around €42K had been spent on Shangri La. You can’t not fix a boat or ignore maintenance. Failing to do upgrades and repairs will cause a boat to deteriorate and ultimately have no value. But none of those improvements contributes to re-sale value. What’s the famous definition of a boat? “A hole in the water into which you throw money.”

Once the document was signed and all invoices, VAT certificates, registration papers, blah, blah had been handed over, we grabbed 4 huge loads of laundry, humped it to the laverie (laundromat) and got our laundry going. What’s a person to do on the banks of the River Saone with a few hours to kill on a hell hot day in France? Have a glass of rose and a plate of frites at the cafe next door of course. Bit cheeky to charge €16 for a glass of wine. (Note to self not to ask for wine, but order off the wine list next time.) My other half commented that the best part of boating is probably 60% finding new and fabulous places and 40% being on the waterways.

We saw notices all over about the summer festival of St-Jean-de-Losne as we walked back to the boat. So after supper and a shower, we decided to go back to our favourite place Brasserie de Port where a pichet of wine – and a beer – was €8. We did remember to ask for vin ordinaire (house wine) and it was good. I’m partial to unfiltered heavy red wines and this was exactly that. Our other favourite place was closed due to a fire! Gasp. We peered through the window and the ceiling was on the floor. It was sooty black.

After our drink we went back to sit on back deck of the boat when we heard sirens and drums. Our first thought was there might be some drama but no, it was a practise round for the Bastille Day festivities coming up. There was a marching band with the usual brass and drums section as well as metal xylophones which gave a sweet tinkle sound. A friendly Australian chap was telling us the pompiers have a morning routine in the street where they do their exercises showing off their fitness levels. Nice one. We both didn’t even remember it was Friday 13th until late evening.

The journey continues  . . . . . . right here.