Our next stop was the City of Ravieres where we spent four nights. On the very first day, Lisa found an antique store. Despite my heroic efforts there was no way she was passing it up. We ended up finding a nice looking nightstand, and the price was right. Unfortunately when we got it back to Rabelo we discovered that our new nightstand was full of woodworms. Lisa insisted we take it back. Kevin looked at the stand, and said the worms had not done that much damage. It wouldn’t be a problem to treat the wood, and get rid of them. In another life Kevin’s specialty was furniture restoration. We now have a beautiful second nightstand next to the bed in one of our guest staterooms. Just don’t look at the back.
There was also a limestone quarry in Ravieres that we visited. I really wanted to get a tour, but we couldn’t coordinate the timing. They had a large selection of tiles to choose from, and we actually thought about using their tile on the project we have planned for Rabelo this winter.
Currently Rabelo has two guest staterooms that share one large bathroom. I have never been happy with the bathroom plumbing system. If you have followed this blog you might remember the excitement we had when the tank that holds the sewage overflowed… My biggest concern has always been the black water/sewage holding tank. It is made of steel, and 24 years old. Because most of it is under the shower there is no way to inspect the tank. The only way we would ever know that it had rusted through, and was leaking, was when we started to smell the sewage in the bilges… and that’s nasty!
A short walk from where we were moored was a beautiful park on a hilltop. Originally it was a walled fort with a 14th century tower. With the leaves changing colors, and the great views it was well worth visiting. We even found some mushrooms. When we showed Kevin a picture of them he said we shouldn’t even touch them because they were so poisonous.
-Tom Miller
Author of “The Wave” and “When Stones Speak”– Chuck Palmer Adventure novels
MAR
About the Author:
Tom Miller graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Geology. He is a consummate adventurer with over 1,000 dives as a recreational scuba diver, and an avid sailor who has traveled 65,000 miles throughout the Pacific including the Hawaiian Islands. Miller has also cruised the canals of Europe on his canal barge and given numerous lectures on cruising the canals of Europe, as well as sailing in the South Pacific. Piloting is also an interest of Miller's, and He has completed over 1,000 hours flying everything from small Cessnas to Lear jets.