Locks, Canals, & other Rivers
LANCELOT
Hello Brian and Jan,
I’m very glad to see that a new „Hampton Safari“ Website is now online. Many thanks for that fine work.
Who we are:
My wife Eva and me are living in Steinfurt, Germany located in Northrhine Westphalia. This region is called „Muensterland“. We have the river Ems and the “Dortmund-Ems-Kanal” where you can travel to the Rhine or to the North Sea. Furthermore it is possible to go via “Mittellandkanal” to Berlin and so on.
We bought our Hampton Safari Mk. II (not knowing what type it was at that time) in 2002 near a town called Heerenveen in the Netherlands. It was a former hire boat from a company named “Crown Blue Line”. I think they have had some more Hamptons but I did not know where they were sold or if they had survived. In 2006 we drove the ship to Muenster in Germany and started with a general restoration. You can find all the details on our website www.udohoelscher.de We finished (more or less) in 2010 and one year later we returned to the Netherlands and we have our berth in a town called “Drachten” (Frisia).
During the restoration we learned a lot of this nice ship and we can offer a lot of tips and tricks for other owners. You can find a lot on our homepage but – sorry – it’s only in German language. But if you are interested I will sent you some information how some specific problems of this ship can be solved. We wish you many pleasure with your Hampton and a lot of success with this new website.
Many greetings from Germany…
Eva and Udo
Editors Note: Eva and Udo's website contains some very detailed photos of a detailed and painstaking restoration/refurbishment of their Safari. The relevant web pages are now included on the Dry Dock - Members Projects section. Judging by Lancelot's technical spec listed here (and lifted from his website) it is definitely a case of Vorsprung Durch Technik!! (translates as "Advancement through Technology" I believe.......).
"Papillon" - Bretagne - Fancy a French Canal cruise on a Safari anyone?
At least the initial "pilot training" would be straightforward!!
Our thanks go to Udo and Eva again for finding and highlighting this example of a Hampton Safari (Papillon) that appears to be still going strong as a hire boat on the french canal system. There is also a You Tube video of it in action that I've attached too - enjoy!
Kingfisher - Alsace
Another interesting YouTube video of Safari "Kingfisher 26" in the Alsace region of France/Germany. This found it's way to us courtesy of Udo and Eva once again:
"I found on you tube a video from 2003 showing a Safari Mk. II in France,more precisely in Alsace. It’s a former hire boat located in Hesse (France). The comments are in German but it’s interesting anyway. With kind regards to you and all Hampton skippers, Udo (Lancelot)"
The video has some scenes familiar to us on the Broads (rainy start, steamy windows, lots of food/wine etc ....... 
There are also some interesting shots of scenery and the canal network....