cruising up the river on a Sunday afternoon

Yesterday, mechanic Kristoff helped me disassemble my bike's freewheel, but neither of us could figure out why it was freewheeling in both directions. I'm hoping bike repair guru Sheldon Brown can enlighten me.

Meanwhile, after helping the Boatlord shuffle boats around the harbour until I could get Sam Suffi out, I was too tired to enjoy the summery weather. But this morning, I was up and out the door at dawn.
The river Ill is draped with dulling fall colours, and the only leaves on many trees are the parasitic mistletoe.

My excuse for heading upstream was to get to the laundromat in Montagne Vert. Unfortunately, this plan was aborted when locals counseled me to avoid going up a side channel under a low bridge. I backed through the underbrush into the Ill and took a sampling of the vegetation with me. I tried another side stream and was flagged off by an alarmed fisherman. I'm short, but Sam Suffi has this danged frame overhead. Of course, I would never attempt anything like this with crew aboard.

I continued on for almost 2 hours to Ostwald amid swans, grebes and herons before the chill air got to me.


With a warm muff and a thermos of hot chocolate, I'll try to venture farther next time.


I spent this evening hard at work at school, but it's not so hard to take after a weekend like this. New things I learned this week:

1. Parametric cost models are statistical, so you can include any number of prototypes you like.
   
2. Don't grease freewheel pawls if you want them to actually move.
3. Save your coinage for laundry day - there is a low probability of getting change for 50€ on a Sunday.
   

"Never-say-die" Boileau

Anousheh Ansari visit

Today, I met someone about my age who was in space as recently as a few weeks ago. Anousheh Ansari is a dynamic leader who is determined to take space travel to the masses, beginning with education and outreach. Her enthusiasm and confidence are contagious - everyone was drawn to her like a magnet. She inspired me to source 6 possibilities for an internship within an hour.

Boating Season Begins!

Log of the Sam Suffi - Saturday, November 18

10.00 swabbed decks while waiting for crew and Boatlord Marc to arrive

enjoying sunshine and puttering about in bare feet

12.00 crew Simon and Dave arrive
picnic lunch in the bbq pit between working on Frog II
recaulked forward window while waiting for Marc to bring gas...
14.30 gas appeared, but no tank
15.00 tank installed, Kristoff worked up a German head of steam starting the outboard

... and explained it hadn't be run for zwei jahren.

I took Marc out to check the gears

16.00 cast off with 3 s.o.b.
16.20 entered my first lock - instructions in 3 languages. I even speak some of them.
"Raise blue bar" - there is a green bar and a red bar. hmm.

Mars astronaut candidate, ex-navy officer and engineer are flummoxed.

Fortunately, Lockmaster was on hand to explain and reset the lock.
(Noted locks close at 17.30h.)

17.00 checked out yachts and barges near the Rhine


escorted down canal by rowers, swans, coots and ragondins
the local version of muskrats
17.15 back at lock #83 - no rope to pull to open lock.
17.20 Dave discovered LED switches at water level

... but still no gate action.

17.25 Simon calls for help - Lockmaster is gone for the day.

Duty officer assured him there are 2 ropes.

17.35 headed back downstream to next bridge

- and found the rope off to one side

17.40 green light! *phew!* heading back for la Petit France

18.10 tied up at quayside restaurant for dinner - great Salate Pecheur
19.40 flooded engine trying to start it - called Marc who is now in Metz

(swans drift away, indignant at the noise)

20.00 ignition
20.30 docked at Marinest - first Strasbourg boating adventure over, all accounted for.

crew already planning next trip.

As Water Rat said, "There is NOTHING--absolute nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
Except maybe going into space - space ambassador Anousheh Ansari will be on campus tomorrow to receive an honourary degree and meet the students.

(photos by Simon Auclair, Mars Project candidate)

Barbecue Season Begins!

The First Semi-Weekly Beach Party-Gras was launched last night at Marinest. My credibility was severely challenged by the Auchan customer service when I had to convince them to bring briquets back out after they've launched their Christmas campaign, but in the end the only things I forgot were marshmallows and cups. At least we're close enough to share a couple mugs.

The barbecue proved surprisingly roomy and the weather was very mild. Thanks to Thomas, Kieran, Seun, Wanjin and Dave for providing logistics support and entertainment. The best entertainment, though, was tales of how people managed to find their way to my door - one involved several layers of translation, another successfully used a compass to follow my map! Sorry no pics this time!

A leisurely cruise down the Ill is in the offing for tomorrow. My crew will arrive at 10AM to swab the decks. The crew cut will be a picnic at anchor somewhere upstream. Then we can drop in on ISU by water... for more project work.

Tonight we're just wrapping up an ISU bbq (salmon-burgers for the veggies) and running SW epV (Empire - my favourite). Hope I don't sleep in and miss my own launch in the morning :-)

tup-tup down the river

Yesterday was a Red Letter Day - thanks to Thomas for ferrying briquets and a butane tank down to the dock. (New words: charbon d'bois, allume-feu, aspirateur auf Deutsch Staubsauger (vacuum). Having a conversation with 3 people and a dog in 3 languages (including canine woof) is hilarious.)

With the ride, I got home early enough to catch Marc for a primer in operating my new fleet. We took Maeva aka tup-tup for a toodle around the Centreville after dark and up the Rhin au Rhon Canal as far as the lock (they close at 6PM). Maeva is the diesel inboard version of Sam Suffi.

On the way back, Marc pointed out my neighbour along the tree-draped canal - the Boulangerie-Patisserie Charles Worle ... He introduced me to the boulanger who will gladly sell me bread after 11PM!


Now that Marc is assured of my docking skills, he assures me that he will have the Suffi moved to an accessible berth and ready for departure Saturday morning. I'm assembling crew today for a boat-cleaning/Ill discovery cruise/picnic party (no "pierhead-jumping" here!). Simon, our resident Mars astronaut, is the first brave lad to volunteer.


Aar, matey -

- Captain Bligh

Ça me suffit

At long last I'm making headway - I have a boat that is mobile. Well, a second boat to be more accurate. After being at loggerheads with Marc over winterizing Frog's legs, he has given me the keys to Sam Suffi a smaller cuddy-cabin boat. With a shallow draft, low profile and lighter displacement, it will be a piece of cake to solo-navigate the smaller canals, and because it only has a 30hp outboard, I don't have to have insurance or a special license. And best of all, I can use it all winter.

Mark said he'd show me the ropes on the automated locks today.

I won't be able to take a whole herd along with me, but "ça me suffit" - it'll do (I learned my first French pun!). The Ill River awaits. (I hope that isn't a harbinger of how my crew will feel.)

Forging ahead on the reno front, my next priority is to chase down that topsides leak. I have a caulking gun and I know how to use it.

-- "Captain Sam"
(see if you can spot the nautical nomenclature)

On boat dwelling

At some point, I must leave school early to help overhaul the carburetors. Otherwise, I doubt it will ever be a priority for the mechanic. But today, team project is the priority with the internal review looming.

Why am I still struggling up-stream? After 20 years living aboard boats with occasional sabbaticals in verious eclectic let rooms, I am still absorbed by the water. It's not even a habit - it's a conscious decision every time I wake up to a new leak, a power outage or icicles hanging over my duvet. Do I go with the flow and rent an apartment or put my back into another marine-themed problem? But life aboard is still the answer for me.

It's the limits that aren't negotiable - tides, current, wind, nightfall and sunrise - but are intuitively predictable cycles. And it's the limits that aren't limits at all - effort, skill, knowledge, even the charted ways.

It's the give under foot when I step on board, the play of light reflected on surfaces that catches my eye when I think I'm focused, it's the gentle motion that rocks me to sleep. It's the finite volume where humidity and temperature and light can all be choreographed, the cozy space encompassing the great outdoors a step away, a whole world small enough to be contained in a glance, yet complete. No wasted space, no forgotten attic, everything with a purpose.

It's the simple life after all and awareness of every aspect of it - water, shelter, heat, food, knowledge of self, the world around.

Living History

I love Sundays here - time stops and it's as if the automobile was never invented. I had to wait to catch a car on this major thoroughfare - even the A4 overpass to Paris is abandoned!

The dizzy cobblestone alleys of Centreville breathe their history in the sounds of my bike clattering along like an old cart and the smell of roasting chestnuts wafting from the châtaigne vendors on every corner. Exploring the deserted downtown while my laundry spins, I discovered why chestnuts were such an important part of Dickensian life. They attract all the senses: the charred aroma, the smooth symmetric shape, the warmth on your hands and the sharp snap as they yield, the sweetness mixed with carbon on your tongue.
Look - I saved a couple for you :-)

This week was fabuleuse - from losing an entire evening to an animated discussion on higher dimensions with Shawna and Rodolphe as our dinner lay forgotten to popping sparkling cider at Bee & Christine's intimate Bubbles & Sparkles house-warming to being treated by Ray to proper vegetarian pizza at la Poêle de Carrotte. There's a guinguette (an old-fashioned dance) at l'Artichault tonight - maybe I'll go. Mon nouveau vocabulaire de cette semaine: les bulles (bubbles), le moisi (mould) and ironically l'isolation (insulation).

Progress of an escargot

The Boatlord was on site and active today. I finally got into the shop (the mechanic took the day off) and set myself up to cut new ceiling panels for the v-berth. This is fun.
I'm stalled for want of sealant, panhead screws and insulation, but since Marc also runs a rental business on the side, he seems to be able to get his hands on materials. Not much more I can do since everything is closed for Remembrance Day.

While Marc was on board checking out the deck leak, I corraled him into starting up the engines. Apparently the mechanic didn't have time to tune them up, and Marc finally determined that 6 months of inactivity has left both carburetors clogged. On the bright side, he found a barbecue for me and tonight is my "neighbours" last party for the season. The sheltered picnic area is all mine till spring!

No boating till the carbs are cleaned out, but at least I can plan a barbecue for my group after the first team project review Wednesday.

Superfluous gear

Back to spring weather 17degrees at 7AM - no need for heater after all that. Cycling in a t-shirt in November - I may never leave!

Boat status: Waiting impatiently for carburetor adjustment so I can leave the dock under power... frittered away evening yesterday buying such critical boat gear as a suction-cup clock and a set of suction-cup green frog towel hooks *rribbit*

Just browsing photos for a new desktop and I can't resist showing these encrusted appendages aka "Frog's legs" :->

I promise I'll run out of bad boat jokes as soon as it proves it is a boat.

back to the books...

... woke up to a warm, dry boat. Had an omelet filled with leftovers and actually made it to class on time! Weekly French class continued this afternoon with the plus-que-parfait tense; team projects start tomorrow (mine is Helium-3 - more later); space law tutorial Wednesday in preparation for our next group assignment.

I'm quite excited to be going to Auchan for a frypan as soon as I'm done here - it's always the little things that keep us happy. (I warned you I would bore you :-) I'll write home next when there's something to write home about - like leaving the dock.

Frog Gallery

With the heat equation solved, I undertook a major scouring of the v-berth to try to remove the upholstery glue that was still harbouring various lower forms of life. My neighbour, Janeau and his friends Dolphin & Hubert all theorized on methods in 3 languages until I was convinced to leave it for another day.

My boatlord showed up unexpectedly (nothing happens on Sunday in France) and tried to start the engines, but after heavy use of the pressure water system while cleaning, the battery was only up to lowering the legs. He promised a carburetor adjustment for probable departure this weekend...!

Free museum day in Strasbourg, so I spent the afternoon with some of my classmates touring the cathedral and the archeological museum - never did get to see them this summer. The cathedral scaffolding has migrated so the stair tower is closed for now. *drat* I really needed the exercise after the hike Friday and 40km ride yesterday.

Looking at all that mouldering art (and Ginny's foray to the Vancouver Art Gallery) inspired me to unpack a few momentos and create my own "Frog Gallery." Next mission - translate "sticky-tack" into French.

Tonight, I finally got up enough nerve to light the butane stove. First cooked meal on board - Moroccan couscous, and I still have my eyebrows!

The Great Molsheim Bike Trek

Took a real break finally to lead an expedition back to Molsheim. Introduced some of my new classmates to the best café liegeois chocolat in Alsace. We had numerous breakdowns, but still had time to tour the old village centre and make it home in time to get the rental bikes back. This was a great way to spend a birthday!

Heat Equation - solved

I have finally solved a heat flow problem - the defective extension cord was to blame. With my new 2000-Watt heater/fan in action, cushions are drying, I'm sure. Alas - Gary's SSP06 wrap-up party turned into an all-nighter in Seven and I have to hope the bells of the cathedral will wake me from this strange loft in time to lead the Trek to Molsheim.

Heat Equation

With the presentation looming today, I pedaled home at 3AM with Marian to catch a few zzz's in my floating fridge. Oddly, I've grown accustomed to "camping out" - I find that 6 degrees is comfortable for sleeping.

Nevertheless, after enduring 7 presentations on the same subject this afternoon, I managed to find a "chauffage" in Auchan and proudly pedaled home with it in my basket tonight. Success! Not quite - no power on board again. At least I brought my down comforter...

Cold calculations

Waking up to 3 degrees in the cabin and ice on the back deck, I finally admit I have to solve the heat problem... but not today.

La Fête de La Toussaint (All Saint's Day) is a holiday here in France, but not for a student. With 3 hours sleep in 2 days, I have to lead my assignment group of 7 students from 6 countries through the final stages (pardon pun) of a lunar polar orbiter design to build a presentation and scale model for tomorrow. They're all incredibly focused and motivated - and I can't consider leaving campus before them.

The Boatlord is in Cannes with the rest of his fleet, leaving me to balance the heat equation.