Sunday 22 July 2007

Dutch barge applying for British citizenship - # 176

Staying with barges, here is one of the Dutch sailing barges lying at Richmond awaiting conversion to a very comfortable residential barge.

Notice the typical rounded bow ( a Thames Barge has a vertical sharp bow), and the huge keel boards for when it is under sail - typical of all shallow water sailing barges. Note also that, different from the Thames Barge, it has no mizzen mast at the back to carry a small steering sail. I don't know why this is. It obviously has something to do with not having the same manoeuvrability needs. Could a true sailing barge expert tell me why?

3 comments:

  1. i wish the british government will approved its request.

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  2. ... if not, it will be welcome to the Seine banks!

    I really enjoy to see these posts about barges and sails... Especially old ships are beautiful to look at.
    Have you ever leased a houseboat for a river trip? I always dreamt of it, but the ineterest from other family members was more than limited.

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  3. Been reading about the flooding of the Thames and the Severn. Hope you're alright.

    ReplyDelete