Wednesday, February 01, 2006

On the slipway

Practically every Dutch barge owner does the helling maintenance themselves. This is hard work, and rather unpleasant, especially when cold and wet. As a result a week out of the water in winter is in lower demand and therefore cheaper. Even then the facility is in such demand that sharing is stimulated. So this week we see two small barges, ready to be pulled out: Orca on the right and Concurent [sic].


Bertus Hekkema (background) is in charge, his first assistant Jurgen Schiphuis looks back to see what his dog (a very rare Dutch breed, kooiker) is up to.

6 comments:

Dale said...

Dear Koos

Thanks for the comment on my "art" post!

I love the photo of the "kooiker". He/she looks very intelligent.
Cute dog.

You must live right by the water. Do you keep your barge in the Netherlands?
I notice that you do a lot of boating up & down the Thames...

Coincidence...
I think that concept is one that could be held up in the air forever!

Regards to Val!

Love
Dale

Mary Beth said...

Hi Koos,

Thank you for the kind and encouraging comments on my blog! The job seems to be going well, although we'll be in training for 4 long weeks.

I love both the pictures - though, as usual, I gravitate to any animal right away, so I noticed the sweet looking dog first! Typical me. :)

Koos F said...

Hi Dale
It's worse: I live in the water. My barge is my home, and is moored in the Oude Haven, same place where the helling is, so I can keep an eye on that.
The pics from the Thames come from two trips to London where we go now and then to see Val's dad.

The boat trip on the Thames was when we bought a ticket like any tourist, which felt like defeat; we'd rather use our own barge for that purpose, but having to cross the sea is just too much of a risk.

Love
Koos

Dale said...

Dear Koos

Thanks for answering my queries. I am always curious as to how others live. Especially when they are involved with unusual hobbies.
(You're the only one I know who has an interest in Dutch barges...)

I figured you for being multilingual - just little things you say.
Myself, I am bilingual English/French. It is not very common for someone to speak more than one language where I live, so I consider myself an anomaly!

You have a great mastery of the English language yourself, & I'll wager it's not your mother tongue...

We live 2 blocks from the beach on a lake in the mountains. We have a little motorboat with an 85 hp Mercury outboard that we enjoy during the summer months.
And a canoe...
We fish, waterski & sometimes head down the lake for a cool drink at the pub. It's called the Lakeside & I'll bet you can guess where it's located!

Take care & hi to Val.

Love
Dale

Anne-Marie said...

Hi Koos,
Thanks for the sweet comments on my blog. I love the pictures you have up today,and I'm a real sucker for cute dogs. Cute men are good too. :)

Interesting thing about the Petersham episode: we had an English friend with us that day, and she was really anxious about crossing the Petersham lobby, unlike her two North American partners in crime. I realised that it was because it was a very posh place and my Canadian accent would not make me seem out of the place the way her North London speech might. A quick lesson in the politics of class.

-AM

Mike S said...

Thanks for coming over and commenting,Koos.I do have a
DVD of the 73 Voorburg show.
If you are interested send
me your shipping address
to me at lowgens02@aol.com

Regards,
Mike