Engineering:Nymphea
 Nymphea
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
| |
| Name: | Nymphea |
| Owner: | Leigh Wootton |
| Operator: | Wootton, LTD |
| Port of registry: | Vermenton |
| Route: | River Cher in the Loire Valley: Nitray to Montrichard |
| Launched: | 1921 |
| Christened: | Nymphea |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Commercial passenger vessel |
| Tonnage: | 80 tons |
| Length: | 24.5 m (80 ft) |
| Beam: | 4.20 m (13.8 ft) |
| Height: | 3.15 m (10.3 ft) |
| Draught: | 1.0 m (3.3 ft) |
| Decks: | 2 |
| Installed power: | 10kva Hawker Siddeley |
| Propulsion: | DAF 615, 120 hp |
| Speed: | Maximum 14 knots |
| Capacity: | 6 passengers |
| Crew: | 3 crew |
| Notes: | Holds 3 tons of water, 1 tons of fuel |
The Nymphea was built in 1921 to carry cargo along the canals of Europe and is a classic Dutch design with shallow draught. She presently serves as a hotel barge, one of around 60 that offer luxury cruises on the European waterways, mainly in France. The waterway authority Voies Navigables de France estimates that this branch of waterway tourism brings 60 million euros of revenue to the predominantly rural areas where they operate.[1]
History
Nymphea originally carried barley and hops to a brewery in the north of the Netherlands from Rotterdam and returned with bottles and barrels of beer, on one round trip per week. The owner had seven children and lived in the bow cabin with his wife, and at maximum, five of them at a time. She was first converted in 1978 to carry 20 scouts in hammocks. She was converted to a hotel barge in 1985. The barge has traveled from the Netherlands to Bordeaux on most of the France waterways. She pioneered barging on the southern Canal du Nivernais and the River Seille. She has also been to Barcelona and Monte Carlo by sea. She was moved in 1990 to the isolated River Cher on a trailer. In 2005, part of the Rick Stein's French Odyssey for the BBC was filmed on board. She presently plies the River Cher.
The barge today, a boutique hotel barge
Nymphea currently has three double cabins allowing her to carry up to six passengers. She also has separate crew quarters which house the crew of three. The crew consists of the captain and pilot, chef, and tour guide.[2][3][4]
References
- ↑ Les péniches-hôtels en France. Béthune, France: Voies Navigables de France. 2015. pp. 12–18. http://www.vnf.fr/vnf/img/cms/VNFhidden/VNF_-_Etude_peniches_hotels_20160601154042.pdf.
- ↑ Steven B. Stern (2004). Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation 2005. Pelican Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-58980-240-7.
- ↑ Kay Showker; Bob Sehlinger (2007). The Unofficial Guide to Cruises. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-08791-6.
- ↑ Shirley Slater; Harry Basch (1997). Fielding's Worldwide Cruises 1998. Fielding Worldwide. ISBN 978-1-56952-156-4.
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