Apr 2010
The first part of the Bossuit-Kortrijk Canal has three small old sluis manually operated by a small team which was a nice intro to the 2010 cruising season - how much to tip - the perennial question?
 |
| Kortrijk Sluis 9 |
After completing the next few sluis we tied up at Bossuit for two nights. At which point the generator cooling impeller failed - Peter's fault for not replacing it overwinter (new rule No 1)
The Bossuit sluis onto the Haut Escaut was our deepest drop to date 9.5m and we were back into the commercial world.
 |
| Bossuit 1 |
Entering Wallonia on the High Escaut meant getting a new 'vignette' - no charge but every move is logged y to z (keeps civil servants in business) Peter managed to do it all using sign language and waving arms as we were back amongst the French speakers.
 |
| Tournai Bridge |
After passing through Tournai, the little basin at Antoing sheltered us for the weekend which allowed a visit to the Neptunia chandlery and a bit of sightseeing. We noted that the Chandlery fuel barges have big engines and/or cheap fuel..
Then it was on to Peronnes where we found a nice little boat yard (Roelens-Maes) to get a welding job done. Marjorie who ran it was very helpful, but like most boatyards it was always 'tomorrow' probably because confusion reigned and ad hoc solutions seemed the order of the day - it was though cheap and cheerful which helped. Four days later we got away along the Canal Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes to join the Blaton- Ath Canal at Blaton
 |
| Marjorie in action |
