 |
1. Prior to the charter, Crown
Blue Line send you quite an impressive pack of booklets and
guides. |
 |
2. Not all Crown Blue Line’s
fleet has two position steering and a fly bridge. Although it
costs a bit more, its well worth the extra in having a fly bridge. |
 |
3. The Clipper 36, quite new
to the Crown Blue Line fleet and extremely comfortable down
below. |
 |
4. Although Crown Blue Line
will provide life jackets to suit all ages, a harness with a
2m lanyard proved by far to be the better option. The other
side of this hatchway was a 2m drop - a life jacket would have
done little to protect this child! |
 |
5. The St-Louis incline, A
45m drop which has replaced 17 locks and a full day’s cruise. |
 |
6. The incline is basically
a giant bath tub rolled up and down the ridge of a hill. |
 |
7. The control post of an automatic
lock, The small blue box mounted on the side of the control
hut is the intercom to the lock supervisor. |
 |
8. The head gates of an automatic
lock, the traffic lights control the movement of boats to and
fro through locks. The small boxes at the lock entrance and
just above the water, are the lock’s photo cells. These
count the boats in, as well as count them out. They also prepare
the next lock for your imminent arrival. |
 |
9. A typical entrance to an
automatic lock. The traffic signals are saying "Prepare
for passage or enter at your own risk." |
 |
10. A lock on the flood. Believe
it or not, this boat is actually made on port side to. The force
and turbulence of the water entering the lock has pushed the
boat right over to the starboard side of the lock. |
 |
11. A fully flooded lock. When
the head gates open, your exit should be prompt and swift. The
boats ahead to the right are lying on the waiting pontoons. |
 |
12. These boats are leaving
the waiting pontoons on the right to proceed through the lock. |
 |
13. The photographer of this
picture is properly located at the at the waiting pontoon. The
other boat wanted to station himself midstream right outside
the lock entrance. Consequently he made rather a nuisance of
himself as he stood right in the way of the boats exiting the
lock. This is quite common is nothing more than an owner being
too bone idle to single up on a waiting pontoon. |
 |
14. A simple technique for
a crew of two. The boat is held to the lock wall by a single
slip amidships. With more crew, you can afford to use bow and
stern warps. |
 |
15. Breakfast in Lutzelbourg.
|
 |
16. The tariff board at Saverne,
Almost 8 Euros for an overnight stay on a 36 ft boat and note
than shore power is cheaper than water. |
 |
17. Saverne high street. Very
picturesque with plenty of shops to browse around, although
a tad frustrating if looking for supplies since a food store
was nowhere to be seen. |
 |
18. Crown Blue Line’s
base at Hesse, Very quiet, very peaceful, but nevertheless an
excellent centralised location for CBL. |
 |
19. This makes a great holiday
for young families, plenty to do and see, and because its all
within reach by car, luggage is not an issue. |
 |
20. Saverne at dusk. The strong
evening light and heavy clouds is due to an evening thunderstorm.
At the height of summer, these can be quite common. |
 |
21. Surprisingly, the canals
where pretty quiet even at the peak of the season. Sometimes
you may not pass another boat for up to an hour. |
 |
22. Lutzelbourg. Perhaps the
prettiest village on the cruise. |
 |
23. You can almost stop anywhere
on the canals. |
 |
24. When the sun’s out
it can get a tad warm! There are public swimming pools in most
villages, but we found this inflatable paddling pool a great
investment. |
