Barge at Mercury

This old sailing barge has been alongside at Mercury marina for some time so I took the opportunity of visiting some fiends to take some close up pictures.

We have some friends in Ghent in Belgium who have a similar old sailing barge, maybe slightly smaller at around 75 feet, but they sail her 2 handed and have voyaged all along the north sea coast of Belgium, Holland and Germany. Apart from the obvious high cost for mooring and maintenance, a barge like this would be fantastic for summer coastal cruising.