Spring cleaning, spring tides and spring fever

It's March and that time of year when I start doing something about the green algae on and in Vereeniging's nooks and crannies. This year, it's worse than it's ever been after the winter because it's been so unbelievably wet. I'm not even going to show you a picture of how green the rubbing rail (known here as the berghout) was. I'm more than a little ashamed to have neglected it for so long, but with such lousy cold weather and so much wind it's been almost impossible to clean it in the past couple of months. 
The photo below is just to show you what I mean by the rubbing rail. It's made of hardwood with a rim of steel over it, and it attracts green growth like nothing else on the barge. The next photo is of me this last Friday with my long-handled brush. I was scrubbing it with vinegar, which happens to be the best, most environmentally friendly degreener available. It was a lot of work and I haven't finished yet, but I've made a good start. Such is life with an old barge. I have to admit I miss the little green rowing boat I had in Rotterdam. It would be such a boon to have it for these types of jobs.


The berghout or rubbing rail. This is an old photo
 taken in Rotterdam


Cleaning the rubbing rail with a long-handled brush and
vinegar. Note the ship passing in the background. 
Of course, we're hoping the weather will warm up enough to do some jaunts up the canal before long, so spring cleaning gives us the incentive needed to get out onto the water. Still, there are other lovely watery places to go too. Last weekend, I took Bobby the Panda car for a test drive to meet daughter two at a beach about halfway between our two homes. Daughter one, who lives very close to me, came along in Bobby with Lucy the Podenko to keep Zoe company. Daughter two brought her boyfriend, his daughter, and spaniel, Mack. The tide was well out and the dogs had a wonderful time playing chase on the beach. I think the humans enjoyed it too. I certainly did, especially as Bobby performed very nicely as well.



Luckily, the dogs are all very good friends. Zoe is the oldest of the three but is game for lots of larking about on the beach, in the woods and even on the sofa at home. Yesterday, I 'babysat' daughter one's Lucy when she (daughter) was out for the day. The photo below is evidence of the 'ow ow' games Zoe and Lucy find endless entertainment in playing while I find equal entertainment in watching them.

March has also brought a (spring) fever of learning into my life. Quite apart from my daily Duolingo lessons in Dutch and French, I've embarked on studying for the Dutch version of the cruising license for small boats (meaning anything up to twenty metres). I was doing quite well until I reached the current chapter about the technical stuff. As it's all written in Dutch too and frequently concerns the type of craft I have never and will never use, I'm finding it a bit of a challenge, but I'll get there. It's fun to do and good for my language development, not to mention my technical knowledge. 
I now know the difference between an outboard cooling system, an inboard cooling system with outboard water and a closed cooling system...in Dutch, so I guess I'm learning something. On Vereeniging and the Shoe, we have closed cooling systems so I'm familiar with those, but it's quite a complicated matter to understand all the different types and I'm not especially technical. 
I'll keep at it, though, and when I've finished I'll have a go at the exam, but there's a huge amount to learn in the meantime, so I'm taking it slowly. There's my paid work to do as well, you see.
Anyway, weather permitting, we'll be back cleaning the boats again in the coming week, and maybe there'll be photos to show of pristine clean barges. You never know!
That's all for now, allemaal. Enjoy the coming days and let's hope they'll stay dry and bright for us all.