A stack of ships

This was seen in Rotterdam harbour ... 13 ships all welded together & to the barge .

Built in China to fuel the explosion in cargo needs. before the recession... now they are all lying around unfinished & un paid for. But it is impressive to see them stacked up like this.

French Internet

Sitting on the deck getting our new French internet working properly.

Even though we all live in the vast new Euroland.

Every country still has technology that can not pass borders.

But I feel sure that its only a matter of time.

So we have to have phone contracts & Internet contracts for every country that we cruise through.

Still it does all work.. WiFi all over , even from the deck of a moving ship.

And it gets cheaper every year.

So Life is great on the cyber waterways.

Volcanos & Barging

Who would have thought that a volcano in Iceland could affect all the barges cruising in Holland & France.
And it has,
There are barges sitting ready, with their guests stuck at home.
There are barges with their guests, still on board, as they can't get a flight, home.

As Barbara Streisand said, " we are all down wind"
I am sure the world will return to normal ... one day.

Continued Spring Preparation

Spring has finally arrived here in Holland. It has been trying to come for a few weeks, but was unable to break through. So I took the opportunity to  work in a t-shirt, instead of a sweater, and assembled Ab2's new deck furniture.
It looks great, but I think will require a lot of attention to keep the tempered black glass tops looking smart. The new chairs are very comfortable letting air circulate & fully recline in case any one is in need of a nap after lunch.
The day before I laid the new deck carpet ( Grass). This year I opted for the traditional green astro turf, as last years trendy grey carpet seemed to gather dust & water & encourage  moss to grow.
That's it for this entry... one more good wash down & we are ready for guests.

On the Road Again

We have set the date for Ab2's departure, as Saturday 27 th,with only Nico and I on board. Sailing down the Maas and across the Nord and then through Rotterdam harbor. The forecast is not as good as it could be ... but that's spring in Holland.

We are feverishly working on our new web page... well when I say we... I mean
Our web master (long time GOOD friend Edward) Now living, perhaps forever, in Florida.

I will email you all a link to the new page, soon. It is looking fantastic and should work a lot better. So Supplies are all on board & all systems checked again, will continue on Sat night from some where down the Maas.

Absoluut2 Spring Preparation

Ab2 has finally had all the work completed on the new wheel house. All the new electronics & the color radar will be a treat to use, but more importantly for our guests...seating in the wheel house. For those of you that have cruised, & spent a lot of time up there, helping to navigate, you will love the extra space & improved vision.

We will slip our mooring any day now, preferably on a sunny day and head west across Holland to our winter berth in Schiedam. I must confess to being a little nervous about this trip. Even after 20 years of cruising all over Europe in all kinds of ships (Barges) a single accident makes one a lot more cautious. However, our many shake down cruises to calibrate, instrumentation over the years have gone smoothly, so it will be good to be seriously "On The Road Again"

I should be joined by Nico, who is also a ship's captain, and our tour guide from last year, provided his work load allows for it. Margreet our hostess from last year (who is also a capable ships captain) may join us. Hopefully she will be finished piloting her tug boat, as it is reed cutting time in Holland and they have to get it done before the birds start nesting)

So I will have no shortage of very able people on board... but who is going to do the cooking. They say too many cooks, but in this case... too many captains.

more when are under way.