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Bargenidd

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    France
  • Interests
    Cruising, travel, aviation,movies
  • Occupation
    I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you!!!
  • Boat Name
    NIDD
  • Boat Location
    Saverne, near Strasbourg, France

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  1. Hi Peter, Nidd has a forward and aft heavy anchor with lots of heavy chain and strong rope, but no winch! Using one of them & having to haul it back on board would really only be in an emergency. Roz's injury was such a simple fall, but has had serious consequences. Honestly, when I said she "jumped", it would be more accurate to say she stepped of as it was only a few feet, but she was unlucky to land on uneven ground, or her foot was not straight. The bow is the highest point of the barge so she was perhaps 2 1/2 feet over the bank and the bow was touching the bank. It was just "one of those things". I'm familiar with the TRIWV regs, but it's nice to dream of a big floating home with new spotless bilges, a silent generator, bow & stern thrusters, hot tub etc...... Best wishes Graham
  2. Hi Tam & Peter, Roz's injury was caused when she jumped/stepped off the barge onto an uneven wild canal bank where we decided to moor up for the night. There was nothing to tie onto at the water's edge and unfortunately, she jerked her knee and heard a pop as she obviously landed badly! The circumstances were far from ideal as there was a wind, so she knew that it would have been hard for me to control the barge until she had the bow rope secured. Even on a familiar stretch of canal, there is no guarantee that where you aim to stop will be available and you have to make a choice. The decision to sell the barge has not been made lightly and it is not the end of boating for us as we have bought a cruiser which will be much easier for Roz to handle while I do the ropes and any "jumping" off as required. She often takes the barge controls while underway, but does not feel comfortable mooring it or going through locks. She has no interest in doing a course either. This is just a new chapter for us and will be our eight boat. The cruiser will provide us with some new facilities and possibilities, but I will miss the space on Nidd. If we have a lottery win, I will be first in line at a shipyard to have a 23.99 meter barge built to my spec with all the gadgets and facilities... Best wishes Graham
  3. Hello again everyone. I've an update to the Nidd story, as reluctantly, she is up for sale again! My wife Roz fell on the canal bank and wrecked her knee ligament. She has had surgery and is doing well, but we have come to the conclusion that barge life would be too risky, especially when there will be occasional unforeseen need to jump off with a bow rope etc. We have looked at every possible way of getting around the various crewing tasks safely, but we feel this is our only way forward, so if any of you know of somebody interested in a barge, please let them know. Nidd is looking and performing great and really would require little to be done before somebody could move in and sail away. I have her listed on several boating web sites. Again sincere thanks to everyone who provided information and photos of Nidd's past which was fascinating to read as well as the help to, upload the pictures. Best wishes Graham
  4. Thanks Chris, you have the magic touch! Graham
  5. Hi everyone. That shipyard crane can lift 50 tonnes and while it does not have a gauge, the operator reckoned Nidd was about 40 tonnes based on how the crane behaved and the settings needed to lift Nidd. As regards the photos, I spent two hours last night registering with the ImageShack site to upload the photos as well as several attempts on this site to add the links. When I used the "insert image" icon, it alraedy has the interet http//: start. If I remove it to avoid a duplicate of the direct link friom the ImageShack site, I get an error message. If I leave it and add the complete link, repeating the http//: this site accepts it but I see no pictures. It is so much more complicated than other sites where I can just upload pictures directly.
  6. Here's the wheelhouse now Here's the lounge Here's Nidd for sale in 2005 and below, a few years earlier in England Here's a couple taken during the last shipyard visit in July 2011
  7. Hi George and June, the water tanks are the same! Structurally, we have made no changes - if it aint broke, don't fix it! Mainly what we have done is considerably updated the interior, upgraded the 220 volt wiring, add lots of insulation. Removing the Kubota genset was a hell of a job! The only way of getting a new one installed would be to cut out the wheel house floor and somehow manoeuver a new generator into place, so we took the easier option of buying a 6KW air cooled generator which is outside the wheelhouse it a box, near the gas bottles which I had moved outside as well. The engine is working very well and I service it every 250 hours and never push it hard. Great to hear the actual engine's history! It starts easily, although the starter motor occasionally needs a tap of a hammer at the side to engage. As there is no rev counter, I do not know the revs, but I know the sounds and Nidd cruises along nicely on the canals at around 5.5-6 km/h. We came down the Rhine at 14 km/h two months ago! When at the shipyard in July, the prop needed to come off as there was a slight shaft buckle to repair. The shipyard engineer made a great suggestion of cutting a piece out of the rudder, so now the prop can be removed easily without touching the rudder. We are thrilled to learn so much more about Nidd as the seller gave us hardly anything, through the broker, so what we have learned here is fantastic and much appreciated. If anybody has anything they can send me, please drop me a line. The picture uploaded today is of us at our former base at Homps on the Midi where we spend the past five years. I will get together a few current pics and post them asap. Thanks again everybody Graham & Roz
  8. Hi everyone, sincere apologies for the delay in responding as I did not receive any e-mail notification that there had been activity on this thread until today. Many thanks to everyone for the great information about Nidd. We are the current owners of Nidd. After buying her from Peter & Jenny White at St Jean De Losne France in November 2005, we moved in six months later and removed the kitchen units and the badly corroded Aga range cooker. We cruised Nidd down the Rhône & Saône rivers to the Canal du Midi at Homps, between Narbonne & Carcassonne where we stayed for five years cruising the entire length of the Midi and some of the rivers Lot & Baise. This season, we cruised back up the rivers and are now based near Strasbourg. The plan is to do a few circuits of Northern France over the coming seasons including Paris and then perhaps to cruise some of Belgium, Luxembourg and then Holland. We have re-pannelled most of the interior and refreshed a lot of things. The TK Bedford engine is going strong although I cannot get the temperature sender & gauge to work despite changing both. The angle of the windows meant we had a battle to stop leaks when it rained heavily, but we have most now cured. There was hydraulic steering fitted by the previous owner so that helps. We dry docked during July and there were no patches needed. The little Kubota generator finally died last year. It was badly corroded and the two water pumps had been giving trouble for a while. I also fitted a wind generator to the mast and a small solar panel. A current chalenge is changing the alternator to a more powerful one, but the new one needs to have the same dimensions to fit the gap and also to allign with the other fan belt pulleys. In France especially, motor factors are set up to supply parts by car model etc, so when you say it is for a boat or you want a more powerful model; well they just cannot cope with that! I will try to post some current pictures in the coming days. Thanks again. Graham & Roz
  9. Cannot remember his name. He just saw the barge & knocked on the door! He gave info re life onboard as crew in the fwd room with wooden chimney! Yes, still have the 2 bedroom doors! We love living on Nidd & are looking after her as best we can. She just passed her survey & is about to be painted. If you e-mail me at bargenidd@gmail.com we can write easier & I'...

  10. What was his name? We did loads of research on her at Gloucester docks (where all the company records are kept). Unfortunately my ex has them all the history ie. names of captains and crew members. The paint work sounds great. Still got the 2 door bedroom? I thought that design was inspired!

  11. Black hull and handrail trims etc, green walkways and cream around windows & roof. The cooker was rotten iside & had to be changed. We have replaced most interior wood panels with t&g pine and put in more insulation and recessed shelves for the tv, books etc. The generator was also knackered. I did not know about teh training! A former crewman did visit which was interesting....

  12. What the old Rayburn? I loved that, she certainly had a chimney flue originally! What colour is she now? Do you have any pics? Did you know that she was used during the war to train women who took over the transportation of goods up and down the Leeds Liverpool?

  13. That must have been a hell of a trip. I don't think I would risk it with such an old engine. We bought Nidd from Peter & Jenny White in November 2005 at H2O, St Jean De Losne. While in generally good condition, it needed a facelift and we have done a lot to improve it. We changed the kitchen and removed the stove which was corroded due to there being no chimney flue.

  14. This is so exciting. We owned her between 1999 and 2004. We brought her across the Channel in 2001 (I think). She went out at Boston and entered at Calais (32 hours!)

  15. Hi there. Yes. When did you own her and where? We are to be lifted out tomorrow for a survey and a paint job at Agde, in the south of France. She's looking and performing great. I'd love to hear from you.

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