BOOTE reader Andreas Hahn discovers the British shipyard Piper Boats at a trade fair. A few months later, he is the proud owner of a Piper Motor Class Dutch Barge 49M and, with the help of friends, transports the 15-metre-long steel displacement vessel “Rives et Rêves” from Paris to Berlin.
A text by Andreas Hahn
Piper Boats – The Discovery
One summer’s day, we’re at the ‘Boot’ and ‘Fun Inwater’ boat shows in Werder an der Havel. We’ve already gained plenty of experience sailing our Dutch steel displacement boat around Berlin and are really just there to ‘have a look’. That’s how we end up at the stand of Piper Boats Ltd. from the UK. Without realising it, this is the moment that is set to fundamentally change our boating life. “Where’s the boat, then?” asks Andrea, scanning the jetties. Unfortunately, nowhere – the team hadn’t been able to provide a boat for the show. So we just flick through some lovely brochures. “Why not come and visit us at ‘Piper-Port’ in France!” suggests Roberto, who’s manning the stand. I’m sceptical.
A few weeks later, we arrive in Basel, where Roberto is already waiting for us. We drive across the border to Saint-Jean-de-Losne in France. At ‘Piper-Port’, there are many boats from the shipyard, ranging from 15 to 20 metres in length. As the season is drawing to a close, many owners are on site, so we’re able to have a good look around. Back in Berlin, our minds brimming with wonderful impressions, one thing is certain: we’d love to have one just like that. Six months later, with serious intentions to buy, we take the direct ICE train from Berlin to Paris to view a second-hand but still fairly new Piper.
Love at first sight in the City of Love
As we step aboard the ‘Rives et Rêves’, it immediately feels familiar. Our memories of autumn in Saint-Jean-de-Losne are still fresh in our minds. The owner is letting us have the boat for a few days and nights. After a test sail in Paris, extensive deliberation and ‘sleeping on it’ once more, I say to the owner the words I’d painstakingly rehearsed: ‘Nous achetons le bateau.’ – ‘We’re buying the boat.’ With beaming faces, we strike a deal.
We met Lesley and Steward from the UK during our first visit to France. They offered to help us, as Piper owners tend to do. A few months later, they’ll be taking over the boat for us in Paris. As the new owners, we won’t be there for the handover. That’s rather unusual, but we know the boat will be heading for Germany with a very experienced and level-headed crew. Lesley and Steward will take the first half of the journey. Beforehand, we had to sign a few deregistration forms for the French authorities. The boat, which is ready to sail, had previously been registered as a place of residence. That’s allowed in France. The deregistration formalities are sorted, the Berlin registration number has been allocated, and the radio frequency licence has been issued – we’re good to go!
Shores and Dreams – Farewell, Paris!
Back home, we’ve all agreed that we won’t rename the boat. As everyone knows, that’s supposed to bring bad luck. If the name had been ‘Hasimausi’ or something like that, we’d probably have taken the risk. ‘Rives et Rêves’, on the other hand, means ‘Shores and Dreams’ and could hardly be more fitting. We’re happy to put up with the challenges the name presents when communicating by radio in Germany. On a glorious May morning, we set off from the Bassin La Villette, high up in the city centre of Paris. The previous owner cycles alongside the boat for a while along the Canal Saint-Denis – then he lets it go.
The first lock presents Lesley and Steward with a ten-metre drop. The pair are well prepared and remain relaxed. After just under four hours’ descent through Paris, the crew reach the Seine. From here, they head into the Oise and on to the Aisne. To operate the automated locks, there is a remote control which will be needed over the next few days all the way to Soissons. After a week’s journey and lock no. 14 on the Canal latéral à l’Aisne near Vieux-lès-Asfeld, the Canal des Ardennes begins. This is essentially the same canal under a different name. The river running alongside it is no longer navigable at this point. The lock-operating mechanism changes again. To request a lock, you pull a cord suspended from a long arm above the canal. I’d only ever seen this in multi-storey car parks before. Lesley comments: “This is always fun!”
Through Belgium and the Netherlands
As well as its picturesque countryside and charming villages, the Canal des Ardennes is also known for the Le Chesne lock staircase, which comprises 27 chambers. Over a distance of nine kilometres, the canal climbs 78 metres in height. The exhausted crew spend the night at the highest point of the canal. From here on, the route leads only downhill. Shortly before the end of the canal, they fill up with diesel. The boat left Paris with half a tank, which – given a tank capacity of 1,200 litres and a consumption rate of 3.9 litres per hour – is nothing to worry about. The fuel will now last all the way to Berlin – and for the rest of the season in the new cruising area. After the refuelling stop, the Meuse and Belgium await. “Rives et Rêves” follows the river, which becomes the Maas at the border with the Netherlands, all the way to Boxmeer, south of Nijmegen. Lesley and Steward disembark; the first half is done!
Many roads lead to Berlin
Three days later, we arrive in our hire car. We’re quickly settled in, so we can carry on. The journey to Nijmegen is very peaceful – then we enter the Rhine and spend five hours battling against the current, travelling at a maximum of 5 km/h over ground. Plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful countryside: ‘You see the same tree for half an hour.’ However, we mustn’t let our guard down. The Rhine winds its way through a series of bends here. If we want our steel displacement vessel to stand a chance against the current, we have to change sides of the river several times. In doing so, we cross the main channel and have to manoeuvre skilfully through the heavy traffic.
The shorter route home actually takes us along the Rhine, past Berg to Wesel, through the Wesel-Datteln Canal and the Dortmund-Ems Canal, and on to the Mittelland Canal. However, we don’t fancy travelling 80 kilometres against the current. Instead, we set our sights on the more tranquil Veenvaart. What a relief. As we don’t have time to potter through Friesland, north of Zutphen we take the eastern branch onto the Twente Canal towards Enschede and, after a few hours, turn north towards Almelo. There’s little traffic here and no locks, so we cover a lot of ground. Between Nieuw Amsterdam and Erica (named after the heather plant), we turn onto the Veenroute heading east. The Erica lock closes just as we arrive for our lunch break. This is enforced very strictly here. On the other hand, the lock service is excellent throughout the country during operating hours!
The pitfalls of a test drive
We continue zigzagging along canals, through locks and narrow passages. Everything is running like clockwork until, in Ter Apel, just before the German border, we receive some bad news whilst chatting to the lock keepers: the Haren-Rütenbrock Canal is closed for a week. So we’re leaving the boat in Ter Apel for a week and driving to Berlin. We use this enforced break in Berlin to practise handling the mooring lines, particularly the throwing technique. To do this, we place empty flowerpots on the lawn and throw the lines over them. From now on, distant bollards or dolphins are no longer a problem.
The Haren-Rütenbrock Canal opens as scheduled after a week, and we continue our journey. We’ve reached Germany! In one-way traffic, we’re guided in a convoy with other boats through bridges and locks all the way to Haren on the River Ems. We’re back on the move early the next morning. It’s set to be a gloomy day. We want to reach the Mittelland Canal, so we’ve got quite a bit to cover. But once again, it seems we’re out of luck: the news is reporting a collision between a workboat and an Ems bridge in Lingen. We’ve got to get through there! Fortunately, the bridge is only closed to road traffic. As an inspection has confirmed that it is not in danger of collapsing, boat traffic can continue to pass underneath – what a stroke of luck!
Arrival in my new home territory – Bienvenue à Berlin!
The next morning, we turn onto the Mittelland Canal at Bevergern. Ahead of us lie 174 kilometres of lock-free sailing to the Anderten barrage beyond Hanover. The next stops on the journey are a bollard at the Salzgitter canal junction, Magdeburg-Rothensee and Brandenburg an der Havel. Then comes the final leg through the Havelland region and into the north of Berlin. The final day’s sailing is absolutely glorious and surreal. Over morning coffee on board, someone jokes: “We’ve run out of beer, we’ve got to go home.” On the day Lesley and Steward set off from Paris in their boat, this day of returning home seemed unimaginably far away – now it’s here.
Do you also own an extraordinary boat, or would you like to share a report on a boat transfer or a sailing trip in an exciting area? Please write to us at: redaktion@boote-magazin.de