Valmik's Adventures: De Kleine Aukje Day 1

Summary

Early in 2008 I bought a little, old wooden Folkboat called Valmik. I was going to spend a few months on repairs and begin sailing her around Europe, with Australia being the final destination. As my knowledge of boats improved, so did the thoroughness of the restoration. I decided to become very involved in every aspect of construction, doing almost all of the work myself: making my own sails, doing the fit out and all woodwork, splicing my own rig and wiring in the 12 volt electric circuit. Self-reliance, I suppose, is the goal. Follow the link to my photo albums for a detailed documentation of the work and some videos.

For a long time now, I have been striving to achieve my goals and begin an adventure. I had planned to complete a circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland in the summer of 2015 with my wife. Unfortunately, this will not be possible and I went back to work. Valmik is ready to sail, however, and I am finally in a position to start enjoying her for what she was designed for. Of course there is a never ending list of modifications and enhancements with a small section for repairs. I will be sailing as much as possible and documenting my adventures on this blog.

My plan is to build up to a epic solo sailing Adventure.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

De Kleine Aukje Day 1

Kate's beautiful Dutch barge, De Kleine Aukje, is now for sale. HERE
It was a hard decision to make because Kate is very fond of her barge. We have just started what may be our last adventure on her. We set off this morning and we are going to have nearly two weeks of cruising up the non-tidal Thames and back.

We had a really lovely cruise today. The weather was quite bizarre with a little show of snow, hail and sleet. There was a cold northerly wind with some warm sunny breaks. Kate's mother joined us, with her two Dutch friends, up to Romney lock where they left us. We stopped further on and had lunch with our friend Phill and his lovely dog.

A few times we almost hit the lock side, but Kate's amazing ability to chuck a fender avoided a bump. The flow of the river was quite fast and the wind wanted to shift the barge around a bit in the close manoeuvres. Bray Lock's weir stream was especially tricky, but going slowly and watching the flow saved us from any embarrassment.