Ieper BE 1-4 April 2022 In my last post I was very smug about being warm when the weather was so cold. But late on Friday afternoon we found that our Kabola central heating boiler was losing water and generating a lot of steam through the exhaust. Howard found that water was leaking from the main central unit. Not good! So that meant trying to get someone to help us on Friday evening. After a few phone calls we found that Davy, who has been working on our kitchen, has recently become a Kabola agent. He came out that evening to assess the damage, and found that it had completely disintegrated inside - it had rusted through and all the heat bricks had turned to mush. It would need replacing. So he was busy trying to locate a new boiler for us. So Friday night we booked a small apartment nearby, so that we could have a warm night. But Saturday morning we returned to the boat for breakfast, hoping to hear from Davy about whether there was a replacment boiler available. There was no news (not a good sign) so we decided to head off to the Anzac Rest which is a cafe/pub in Zonnebeke about 8kms away which had been recommended to us. It was still bitterly cold, but not snowing or raining, so we wrapped up and headed off. I was very happy to see an open fire when we arrived just after 12 noon. We had a pleasant lunch but the museum upstairs no longer existed and the son had taken over from the original owner. The cafe is just on the edge of Polygon wood, an area of a lot of fighting during WWI. There was a lot of memorabilia in the cafe which was quite interesting. It included many caps and items from Australia and a lot of photos relating to the underground war - tunnels etc. After a relaxing lunch we went to the nearby "Brothers In Arms memorial", commemorating a soldier dying in the arms of his brother. A little down the road was a memorial to the Black Watch - a Scottish regiment. There was a little sun on our way home so we weren't quite as cold on the way home. But after dinner we retired to the bedroom with our fan heater and watched some TV on my computer. On Sunday we had a quite morning doing jobs and in the afternoon cycled into town to visit the cathedral. From there we went into the Grote Markt (the main square). Statue of Albert I and wife Queen Elisabeth on the side of the Cloth Hall Detail of Belfry - with dragon on top On our return home I finished the first batch of chutney for the year (we find it hard to find here). As it was sunny the wheelhouse was quite a bit warmer. At Monday lunchtime we finally heard that there are no boilers in stock at Kabola so they will have to make one, which apparently takes 3 days, and then a day to ship. We hope then that the boiler can be installed on Friday.
We have decided to hire a car and go to France for a few days rather than stay here and wait. Unfortunately we could only find a place to hire a car in Zonnebeke which is 30 minutes cycle away, and which seemed to need 24 hours to get a car for us. So we will leave tomorrow. We have booked a place in Arras. The weather is rainy today and for most of the week, so it will be nice to have a warm dry place to hang out and to visit a few places of interest.
6 Comments
Ian
4/4/2022 10:55:25 pm
Sorry to hear that the ANZAC Rest has ‘downsized’ but hopefully the bits that remained, lunch and the ride were worthwhile. Bad luck with the Kaboola but Davy sounds to be worth his weight in gold.
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Judy Holden
4/4/2022 11:22:58 pm
Deb, I am really enjoying reading of your exploits. Judy
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Johanna Hersey
4/4/2022 11:51:20 pm
Oh non! Mon precedent commentaire était de vous souhaiter un bateau douillet... Hmm. Au moins vous pouvez vous échapper et jouir d'un hotel ou appartement jusqu'a ce que le chauffage soit réparé.
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Andrea Thomas
5/4/2022 09:04:52 am
Seems like one challenge after another. I admire how you two make the best of the situation. I guess repairs to be expected in an old barge but there can't be too much more that you haven't already replaced or upgraded. Will be like new soon.
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Rachelle
8/4/2022 02:04:17 pm
Not the best news but it’s probably good news that it happened still in port so you could get it fixed more easily - the side trip looked great!
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Caesar paul
9/4/2022 01:24:32 am
Bummer on the Boiler! But you guys are remarkably resourceful.
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