Classic 28m vessel in superb condition
During the design stage of converting Virunga to a cruising home care was taken to ensure that she would able to fulfil the roles of either a luxury Cruising holiday boat; a spacious Live-Aboard home; or an elegant City-Center house-boat.
She was purpose-designed for both long duration cruising and also for use as a static home, with special attention being given to keeping equipment as simple as possible.
Now only 28m in length she provides the ideal compromise between ease of handling and spacious living.
In her working life Virunga had worked throughout most of the rivers and canal systems of the Netherlands, France and Belgium so she was clearly well suited for the many thousands of miles of navigable waterways throughout continental Europe. Not only that, she was also clearly suitable for crossing to-and-fro across the Channel between England and France. This was borne out by the fact that she already held certification for the rive Rhine which demands the highest safety standards in Europe; clearly it made sense to maintain those standards and the requisite certification - so today she is also certified to ES-TRIN / TRIWV (NBKB) for all zones including the Dutch coastal waters of the Wadenzee, Ijsselmeer and major rivers and their estuaries.
Now that Virunga has been converted she now receives a great many compliments concerning her rebuild; her beautiful lines, and her condition. Inside she can be seen to have been converted and tastefully refitted by skilled craftsmen. This has all combined to result in the creation of a modern and comfortable vessel with a beautiful and elegant interior design.
She is remarkably bright, spacious, and airy with some 1,225 sq ft / 114 sq m of accommodation space plus good headroom, additionally she boasts a wealth of storage space - so essential for live-aboards.
The interior layout provides lots of space and privacy for both owners and guests alike with each bedroom having an en-suite bathroom.
She currently sleeps seven however, in case it should ever be required, the office was planned so that it could be converted into an additional 2-berth sleeping cabin.
Central heated throughout, with double-glazing, wall, ceiling & deck insulation, provides comfort during any chilly days.
One major factor which was also important when designing her was that she would have to be very easy to handle - easy enough for a couple such as us who had never driven a barge before. The vessel that came out of the SRF yard in Harlingen proved to be just that - a delight to manoeuvre - and we quickly became confident enough to not only berth her in tight spots but also to drive her astern (backwards) along narrow channels - which is something that most barges usually suffer significant challenges with!
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VIRUNGA is a rare example of the very last of these beautiful, classical riveted-construction barges; built only in 1960 she's a very young vessel for her type and has a great many years of life left in her.
We have travelled all over the European countryside in her; let her swing around her anchor in open waters, and snugged her down in romantic city-centres for the winters. Today we, and the family, are so thankful that we made that decision all those years ago to plan for, and achieve, such a delightful retirement activity. Now, after 17 years of ownership we are in the position where we are ready to pass her on to new owners who are also excited by that lifestyle.
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