Week 203: Kalispera Greece, Hallo Belgium

We didn't intend to move to Belgium this week—heck, we hadn't even thought of moving to Belgium four weeks ago. You might rightly think we're very disorganised, but I'd argue the opposite. We plan, decide what needs to happen, and then we act. This is the logical conclusion to a series of extreme events.

To recap, we decided that we needed to change things up and that it was time to find a way to make some money. A lot of this was covered in Week 180: New directions. Having made that decision, we've spent a lot of time researching barges and the barge hotel market. Our initial plans were for France. A couple of weeks ago, while we were at the Costa Brava with my parents, we had a series of conversations with one of the largest barge holiday brokers in the US.

The outcome of this was three new pieces of information:

1. The market in France is saturated. While there's demand for more barges, the capacity (docking locations, etc.) to operate them is strained in the popular areas.
2. This is about to get worse. Changes are afoot in the way the canals are funded. National funding is being withdrawn for maintenance, making the canal authority more responsible. Consequently, they are doing two things: one, they are increasing fees, and two, they are discussing withdrawing maintenance from some canals. Both impact tourism operators—especially point two. The smaller, scenic canals used for tourists will likely become unnavigable by barges without maintenance. The funds instead would go to the larger routes, which have more commercial traffic.
3. Climate change is challenging in Southern France, where it gets very hot during the season. Aside from the heat waves, the more significant issue is the droughts. This restricts the water in the canals and creates a problem for navigability.

What's needed is a new market. The broker told us they are investigating Belgium and want to offer cruises there, as it's "undiscovered" and has very few operators. To do that, they must find the right operators providing the right quality and experience. Well, all that planted some seeds that Belgium could be a great place for us to locate ourselves.

In Week 201: Around Burgundy, then Athens we went to France and visited some barges. We decided that one of them would suit us well. After some debate, we leapt in feet first. If we're going to do it, we need a barge. With almost six months of market research under our belt, we know that the right sort of barge is few and far between. If we want to be ready for 2025 to run cruises, we should snap up this one while we see it.

Put all this together, and we have a plan. We're buying a barge (we have a draft contract under review) and have decided to operate it in Belgium. We just need to create a Belgian company. But that means we need residency (or, at least, it's faster and easier if we do). Now that we have a specific barge in mind and somewhere to operate it, we also know the scope of work better. Oh dear, we need to get started on all of this.

All of which leads to Week 202: Diesel Drama where we fight Matilda and the weather to take her to Athens and put her on the hard,

I think that's the relevant background. So what happened this week?

Any boat owner will tell you that boats have a soul. They are individuals with personalities, and Matilda is no exception. And, oh boy, is she pissed at us for deciding to sell and abandon her. Things always break on boats; that's just a fact of life, but Matilda is being particularly difficult at the moment. We had to put her in time-out.

We finished the week waiting for the weather and the mechanic to arrive with the genuine parts for the generator fuel filter, which was still leaking diesel. With plans in place, we were also trying to move quickly with setting things up in Belgium.

On Monday, the weather hadn't changed. The forecast was still for strong northerlies that would prevent us from crossing safely and comfortably to Athens. However, a possibility emerged for Thursday if we chose to go the long way round. We spent the week monitoring it and playing "what ifs."

The mechanic still hadn't returned with the parts, so the generator was sitting there with no fuel filter, and the fuel tap turned off while it waited. This was also an issue. We didn't want to leave before the parts arrived, although we figured the generator wasn't critical for the run we needed to make.

In the morning, the rear bilge pump started going and wouldn't stop. The fact that there was water in there was no surprise. The AC produces a lot of condensation and drains into that bilge. The fact that the pump wouldn't stop was. It seems Matilda had another surprise. The rear bilge pump appears to have failed and needs to be replaced. At this point, all I can do is eye-roll.

Progress was made in setting things up in Belgium, although not as quickly as we'd like. Contracts were signed with accounting firms, conversations were had, financial plans were prepared, etc. Setting up a company in Belgium is much more complex and involved than in the US or Australia. There is no simple filing; you must prove you have a plan, etc.

Our challenge, of course, is that at each step, without residency, things are just that little bit more complicated than they need to be. But we didn't want to leave Matilda in Mytiline again, either. Our berthing contract expires soon, and it's not an ideal location to sell a boat.

Which is where we spiralled for the first few days of the week. The weather window opened up, but there was an issue. The long way around would take four days (and couldn't reasonably be done quicker). By the fourth day, the weather would close in, and a strong wind was predicted that meant we'd leave the safety of Mytiline, not make it to Lavrion, and we'd be stuck. Unable to go forward, unable to go backward. And, unable to go to Belgium if we need to sign documents because we'd have nowhere to leave Matilda safely.

By Wednesday evening, we called it. There's no foreseeable weather window for moving safely to Athens. Things in Belgium are more complicated than they should be without residency, impacting our ability to buy the new barge. We could stay in Mytilini, wasting time while we "wait" for everything to line up, or go to Belgium and get on with things.

We spent Thursday preparing and packing as much of our things as possible into three pieces of checked luggage—no travelling light. We have stuff we want to bring! Our plan is simple. Move to Belgium, take as much as we can, find somewhere to rent, then eventually return to Mytiline and move Matilda when the weather has improved.

But Matilda was not done with us yet. We had to move her on Thursday afternoon to a new location in the marina. The engines behaved, but there was diesel pouring over the side again. We checked before moving, and it didn't seem to be the engines, but the generator again. When we reached the new location, we had to empty the bilge of diesel yet again and clean the generator. I don't know why it leaked; the fuel tap is OFF, and we didn't run it, but leak it did. No fuel filters are currently fitted; we're still waiting for that part to come with the mechanic, so perhaps it was from within the generator; I have no idea.

Fine. I'm over it, but so be it. We know how to clean diesel from the bilges now. It's 36C, and I'm up and down in the engine room, sweating heavily. It's uncomfortable and horrible. We take a break, turn the AC on, and rest in the rear cabin. Then, the AC starts throwing errors and switching itself off.

I went back into the engine room to find that the water cooling pump for the AC had burnt out. It's only a €15 part, but that's it. There was no AC overnight, which has been the one saving grace keeping Matilda civil in this heatwave. I think it's time to go.

Friday morning, we ran around, did some last-minute packing, and then bundled into the cab to the airport. TUI fly direct from Mytilini to Brussels, with a stopover in Thessaloniki, where you stay on the plane.

Friday afternoon, we were in Belgium. From 36C to 14C. A drop of 22C in temperature. I guess we did say we wanted cooler 🤣

We've chosen Gent to settle in for no real reason other than we know it's one of the towns we'll operate the barge in. It's big enough to have the services we need, and it's stunning. All good enough reasons, we had to pick somewhere.

We're in a tiny hotel apartment, but we can now attend rental viewings (a crucial step here). We went to the first one on Saturday and found something that could work, but we need to see a couple more properties first. We've got meetings booked with accountants next week, and things are moving forward faster again.

We'll still need to head back to Mytilini to relocate Matilda, but that can wait for a few weeks, perhaps until the end of August, after the Meltemi settles, and we're more likely to find a good weather window.

It's not the end of our Greece adventure. After all, we still have an apartment and a boat there, but it's safe to say that it IS the end of that chapter of the adventure. Now we're here in Belgium and it's full steam ahead on company formation, barge buying and the big adventure of relocating it from France to Gent.

Time for something new!

Tim & Karina