Wanderlust Sticky

Wanderlust achieves light speed.

This is the story of Wanderlust, a replica Dutch-style barge built by Piper Boats LTD in 2013.   To make navigation of this website easier, the topic categories (click Continue reading) can be used to pull up the relevant posts. There are more categories at the very bottom of each page.

The Build: Posts about the building process and the decisions that were made.  If you are considering having a barge built look here for the upsides and downsides having a barge built by Piper Boats.

The Troubles:  Wanderlust has had more that it’s share of problems.  You can find out more about the issues and what has been done about them in this link.

The Thames: Cruising with Wanderlust on England’s River Thames

The Crossing: Taking Wanderlust across the English Channel

Barge Life: Information about living on a barge

Routes through France:

Calais to Auxerre, our first season in France, including:

 Canal de Calais, Grand Gabarit, Canal de St. Quentin, Canal de l’Oise à l’Aisne, Canal lateral à l’Aisne, Canal de l’Aisne à la Marne, River Marne and the Canal lateral à la Marne, River Seine, River Yonne

The 2015 Season, Auxerre to Strasbourg and back the long-ish way

Check the Categories section at the bottom of the page for more seasons and waterways.

The Marne and on to the Canal Saint-Martin: Lagny-sur-Marne and Port de Plaisance Paris-Arsenal

Under rainy skies we set off, or kind of set off, from the pontoon in Meaux.  In Meaux, the pontoons are diagonal to the direction of the current.  This makes it easy to dock on the upstream side when one …

The Marne: Meaux

From Mary-sur-Marne Wanderlust continued downriver to the city of Meaux.  It was for us a return visit to a favorite stop on the Marne.

The Marne: Mary-sur-Marne

After collecting our guests in la Ferté-sous-Jouarre, Wanderlust continued down the River Marne.  The narrow, intimidating-looking exit route from la Ferté-sous-Jouarre’s port turned out to be not much of a challenge at all, even with the healthy current from the …

The Marne: La Ferté-sous-Jouarre

After departing Château-Thierry in the morning, Wanderlust worked her way down the Marne through intermittent showers.  Eventually we arrived in the commune of la Ferté-sous-Jouarre, our goal for the day. 

The Marne: Château-Thierry

It was drizzling as Wanderlust left Dormans on the way to Château-Thierry.   Late season cruising can be a mixed bag.  Days with calm winds and smooth reflective water emphasize the color change on the banks.  They rank among the most …

The Marne: Dormans (2021)

Leaving Épernay we headed downstream on the Marne.  At first, Champagne’s vineyard covered hillslopes follow the course of the river, most dramatically visible above the right bank.  The Marne is autumn is beautiful, and all the more so when the …

The Marne: Épernay (2021)

Our planned hunt for an open Champagne house in Mareuil-sur-Ay to taste and buy sparkling wine was unsuccessful.  As we had feared many of the tasting rooms in the village were closed during the vendange or grape harvest.  And those …

Le canal latéral à la Marne: Châlons-en-Champagne to Mareuil-sur-Ay (2021)

Three days after our return from San Francisco Wanderlust was ready to depart Châlons-en-Champagne.  Before we departed, we made a quick run to Châlons’ covered market for fresh food.  Back on board, with the mooring lines on deck, we pushed …

Le canal latéral à la Marne: Châlons-en-Champagne, the Return (from 2021)

Time to taste at Joseph Perrier

After a month-long return to San Francisco to oversee what we vainly hoped would be the completion of two bathroom remodels in our condo, we returned to Wanderlust in Châlons-en-Champagne.  We’ll have to make another trip back to San Francisco again in the not-too-distant future.  Hopefully the long-delayed project will be actually be finished then.  But for now, we could enjoy being back aboard Wanderlust in France.

Canal Latéral à la Marne: Vitry-le-François to Châlons-en-Champagne

The last 29 kilometers and seven locks of the first half of Wanderlust’s 2021 cruising season went by quickly.  Between Vitry-le-François and Châlons-en-Champagne the channel of the Canal latéral à la Marne is broad, as Freycinet canals go, and there …