Meuse River at 5 knots - Part 6

There is a vast variety of boats on the river, and every day we seemed to discover another new and interesting vessel. Downstream from Givet there is a noticeable amount of commercial traffic, most likely associated with the slate and "blue metal" stone quarries of the region. Further upstream, most of the boats were privately owned, with a very small proportion of charter boats in the mix.
Most days we encountered Dutch and Belgian flagged private cruisers and barges, as well as a couple of German vessels, one or two British, and even one boat crewed by Kiwis. The boats themselves ranged from 100 year old converted steel river tugs, to old Dutch sailing barges, a dismasted 18 foot trailer sailer, and various European river cruisers. We even saw a couple of shallow draft blue-water yachts making their way through the river system with their masts on gallows on deck.
After getting back to Tuebingen, I decided to check out the cost of some of these old barges - it's ridiculous! A 30' to 40' steel barge roughly 100 years old, with running engine, but in need of total fit-out costs roughly 30,000 to 40,000 Euros! To get anything inhabitable costs more like 90,000 Euros. For anyone interested in spending more than a week or so on the rivers, the best option would be to purchase a shallow draft cruising yacht and dismast it!