We are in the planning stages of our ninth European canal boat trip! It will be the second trip for our good friend, Adele, who joined us in the Loire Valley a year and a half ago. It will be our first time renting a boat from the Nicols company, which has merged with Locaboat, from whom we rented once before. The new merged company name is Riverly. Looking forward to seeing this beautiful boat, the Octo Fly! Below is a stock photo. It's a large boat, just over 49 feet, with four cabins and four heads (bathrooms). We three should have plenty of room!!
Also new for us is not having a paper chart (map). In the past, we've received a book of charts when we get the boat. We use these to follow along as we travel. For our own planning purposes, we've always ordered the charts in advance, but I was unable to locate any on line. It turns out they're now using an on line chart called "Waterkaart". I spent a good amount of time playing with this website so, (as navigator), I'll be thoroughly familiar with it before we embark on our trip.
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| This is a picture of the Waterkaart app, some of this is the area where we'll be traveling. |
Our boat trip departs from the town of Kerkdriel, travels around, and returns to the same base. But before we take possession of the boat, we plan to spend a few days exploring the southwestern part of Holland. Specifically we're planning to go to Leiden, Delft and Den Haag (otherwise known as The Hague). We've booked a large apartment in a house just outside of Leiden to be our home base for these three days. Below is a view of the outside of the house.
