Barging in Burgundy, France on my self converted 1922 barge

Barge cruises in Burgundy - Barge Cruising on the Burgundy Canal
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Buying a Dutch Barge and converting it into a comfortable cruising home

EX-CARGO Moving home at a snail’s pace

Moored right under Paris’s Eiffel tower, Barge Nilaya occupied an enviable city centre location. Her proud 43-year-old skipper, Kevin explained how he came to be there. On Christmas day 1989, the family turkey wasn’t the only thing being stuffed. With an over filled rucksack, Kevin readied himself for a serious bout of round the world travel. That initial trip had taken two years to complete, but succeeded only in making him ever more restless. “After diving in Papua New guinea and circumnavigating Australia in a beaten up camper van, Britain seemed rather dull when I got back” he says. Short spells of work provided the means for further trips into Asia but as the eighties gave way to the millennium, Kevin found he’d spent so much time wandering the globe, his CV contained more holes than a piece of Emmental. Things had to change, so retreating to India, nine months on a Goan beach provided all the inspiration he needed. By selling his house and worldly possessions, he found himself with nothing more than a clapped out Peugeot 205 and modest wad sitting in the bank “It was a fantastic moment and real opportunity to completely start afresh” he told me. Kevin had never owned a boat before. For someone who hated spinach as much as he did, buying an antique sea-going barge in Holland might have seemed foolhardy at best and certifiable at worst. After months of fruitless searching, almost by accident, he came upon the barge of his dreams. “The minute I set eyes on Vitesse it was love at first sight. Feeling certain there must have been some mistake, I remember waving the owner aboard while I ‘phoned the broker. I was convinced that he’d either got the price wrong or that I wasn’t looking at the right barge”. Originally named ‘Jannetje’, she was launched in Woubrugge, Holland on 29th August 1922. Renamed Vitesse and moved to Belgium in ’37, together with many hundreds of other barges she had been requisitioned by Germany’s Nazi government for the planned invasion of southern England. After the war, she got repatriated and was still owned by descendents of the family who’d originally commissioned her. Within two weeks, all 82-tonnes of Vitesse had been lifted from the water, thoroughly surveyed and after some minor repairs, found herself with a new owner, proudly flying a red ensign and enjoying the new name, ‘Nilaya’. “The name change reflected so many happy years spent travelling through India. While researching this madcap idea, the goal I’d set myself had been to somehow create a little piece of heaven in the heart of France. Nilaya means heaven in Sanskrit.” Purchasing Nilaya was just the beginning. Owning, maintaining and cruising an ancient eighty by fourteen foot leviathan with a 1950’s engine required acquisition of vast amounts of knowledge covering a huge range of subjects. “It was total immersion therapy but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Talk about jumping in at the deep end”, Kevin laughed as he told me. During the next two years and determined to reach his goal, Kevin completely rebuilt Nilaya’s interior and systems. Three double cabins each with en-suite bathroom, spacious dining saloon, well-equipped galley, generator and engine rooms, workshop, and comfortable wheelhouse. “It’s been very hard work particularly for someone who used to have to pay to get a light bulb changed,” he quipped as he guided me round Nilaya’s wonderful interior. It wasn’t all work and no play. Amazingly Kevin found time to gain the qualifications necessary for piloting such a large craft safely. Kevin, Nilaya and his full time Canadian crew Josef, have since clocked up over 3500 problem free kilometres and transited in the region of eight hundred locks. “Nilaya handles like a dream and as long as you take things slowly, piloting her is much easier than you might think. Tunnels require a lot of concentration because you’ve got little room to manoeuvre and on occasions her wheelhouse gets perilously close to the rough-hewn roof. It can get pretty exciting sometimes”. With much of the hard work behind him, Kevin can now focus on more enjoyable aspects of barge ownership. Allowing him to combine a love of cooking, fine wine, entertaining and exploration, Nilaya provides the perfect base from which to discover the very best France has to offer and those possibilities are limited only by his imagination. Kevin has the enviable ability to change direction at a whim, the views from his windows every day, moor against Mediterranean beaches in summer, pick grapes in Burgundy in the autumn or moor in the heart in some of Europe’s finest cities. The freedom offered by France’s stunning, mostly deserted water highways satisfies the nomad in him while at the same time allowing him to extend a warm welcome aboard to friends old and new. “It’s all about stress free living, fresh air, dining al fresco, soaking up the natural surroundings and taking things slowly. Very slowly! Location, location, after location!” He has a point. Nilaya has proven to be Kevin’s biggest adventure to date and at just 43 years of age he’s achieved the independence most of us can only dream about. During the winter months, he can be found exploring undiscovered parts of his much loved spiritual home of Asia. Just before I disembarked, Kevin showed me a picture he’d taken during the summer. Nilaya was beautifully photographed in bright sunlight, cascading pots of red geraniums, blue skies behind, happy healthy people populating the deck, each with a glass of wine in hand and gazing out across undeniably French landscapes. I could only agree that Barge Nilaya really was ‘Heaven’ in the heart of France. If you would like to enjoy an informal affordable barge cruise aboard Nilaya, why not check out his website or give him a call. Kevin can be reached at http://www.bargenilaya.com/ or by ‘phone in France on 0033 670 824762

Barge Nilaya - wonderful French barge holidays on the French canals

Burgundy Barge Cruises in France - Cruising the Canal du Bourgogne in Burgundy, France
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See some video at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q90_4ZsLc6Y