Aster houseboat

The Aster barge, a passenger boat planned for 55 people, was built in August 1951. During its activity (until 2002), it carried out the tourist route on the Nivernais Canal between Châtillon en Bazois and Port Brûlé (18km). Following works in 1999, the annual sailing permit issued by the Nevers Mechanically Propelled Boats Supervisory Commission was granted with derogations concerning the height of the railings and the absence of watertight collision bulkheads ( de facto leading to a stability study).

From 2002, obtaining the sailing license (with passengers) was conditioned by the lifting of these exemptions and therefore the completion of the corresponding works. The work in question was not undertaken by the Department. Since then, the barge has been moored at the port of Saint Léger des Vignes.

2010: the ASTER barge is sold in the Fluvial magazine by the General Council of Nièvre which owns it, for an amount of 100,000?. The AQUA association is very interested and the first contacts with the Nièvre department and the Region are positive. Their wish is to bring ASTER back to Saint-Jean-de-Losne and integrate it into the outdoor exhibition of its collection of marine equipment for inland waterways.

The association has a structure perfectly adapted to take care of this exceptional boat, transport it, keep it in its condition and maintain it, protect it from any deterioration and install it on a site favorable to its exhibition as part of its Boat Museum.

The boat was brought to Saint-Jean-de-Losne in August 2014 by its captain, Mr. Cretier. Then, it was moored in the Water Station to the outdoor exhibition of the Museum of Skippers where the nose of the barge, the tugboat and the engines are currently located.

Later the Aster will be placed in a basin to be created next to this exhibition.

The basin will be just the depth of the boat to allow it to stay in the water so that it does not dry out. In a second phase, the exhibition must be covered with a light awning-style protection to protect the boat.