Channel crossing - Preparing Hendrina

Thursday 30/04/26

Two years ago Nathan bought an unconverted Dutch barge, still in it's freight configuration, and motored it back to London.  For those two years he and Charmaine have been living on board in extremely cramped quarters while renovating the interior to living accommodation.  

Hendrina pictured shortly after arriving in London in 2024

The transformation has been incredible and, although the work is not fully completed, they needed to travel to Europe to maintain the Dutch registration and tax status (another big thanks to Brexit).  

They asked me if I would like to join them as crew and I jumped at the chance and said yes.  The deadline for their crossing was looming so we were all keeping a watchful eye on the weather for a suitable window of opportunity.  She's built for canals and rivers so she really needs good weather conditions and favourable tides to embark on a channel crossing.

Final important touch-ups by the decoration department

Finally, at the end of April it was looking good so I flew over to join them at their berth on the Thames.  There were still loads of final jobs to finish and we all mucked in, fixing, adjusting, testing, checking and clearing up as we went.  It was hard to believe the amount of tools and materials that came out of her.

Earlier picture showing the newly built kitchen / living area

I was lucky to stay in the master suite, mainly because I couldn't 
fit lengthwise  in the original sleeping nook.

An earlier pic of the bathroom which has since been completed

Friday the 1st of May was our target date so, once all the final parts had been delivered and installed we prepared her for sea-trials; a trip upriver to Teddington and back to check everything was working well and ship-shape.

It was good to finally get underway, even if we were going in the wrong direction

My first time at the helm.  The huge rudder exerts a lot of force on the tiller 
so you need your full bodyweight on it the whole time.

Coming back to the berth against the wind made for choppy conditions

Everything went smoothly but the windy, choppy conditions gave us a taste of what was to come.  The initial part of the journey would be down the tidal portion of the Thames, a very busy waterway with a mix of pleasure craft, cruise liners, work boats and passenger clippers racing up and down.

Preps done, sea-trials completed, supper and a quick selfie.

An overview of Hendrina before we left

Choppy return to London

The next day we would check everything one more time and then get ready to slip the ropes a couple of house before high tide.