Boom to Maastricht

May 10

We were looking forward to getting out of the tidal rivers and back to safety on the Canals so we pushed on up the Nete to Lier. Chris (No 1 son) had met us in Boom for the weekend and met up with us again in Lier (Kes being sick in the BMW - disgrace! The Red Cross parcel or three from NAAFI - a mix of essentials like Glenmorangie whisky and nice to have (cheddar and bacon). Plus a load of mail so it was Xmas in May. Even the navigator seemed to have recovered.

Lier has become quite touristy since I served there in the early 80's so we had no problem finding a 'good' restaurant  - Angela has a talent for fund depletion (or is that all females).  Once Chris had departed we headed off along the Albert Canal to Herentals where we moored by the Sluis.  The Albert Canal was quite choppy and Angela who can get seasick looking at a bath was glad to get off it. The next day was a trek into town to stock up on 'kuchen' for the visit of Belgian friends.  It is amazing how many people say 'how lucky you are' (having a barge lifestyle) - what has luck got to do with it - I thought it was just a case of itchy feet and a willingness to make it happen!

From Herentals we headed east along the Bocholt-Herentals Canal - It was mainly pine forests with not a lot of moorings.  The canals were lined with pillboxes - good fields of fire but they don't seem to have done the job too well - I felt sorry for the poor squaddies who manned them in the dark and damp.

Then the run down the Zuidwillemsvaart to Maastricht on the Dutch border- all a bit boring until we had to find a mid River mooring on a River Maas (Meuse) pier.  Once again Kes had to practice his ladder climbing over my shoulder every time he wanted to cock his leg!

Maastricht is a nice city with lots of sightseeing (and shopping) potential, unfortunately it was very cold (and I forgot the camera) but this is a farewell shot of St Servis.

Blaton to Boom

May 10

We had decided to do a figure 8 route through east Belgium having done a lot of the west in 2009.  The Canal Blaton-Ath and River Dender (Dendre) was our selected scenic route north. As the route is very shallow in parts it is seriously underused, so the Sluis team on Day 1 were pleased to see us and got us through the first 10 locks in record time.

One of the few straight stretches

We took a day off to see the chateau at Beloeil.

Chateau Beloeil

At Ladeuze we found a  Bar (run by a little old lady with a border collie) that was the nearest to an English country pub that we have found in Belgium, add in free electricity at the mooring and heaven was in sight.  A major bout of washing and cleaning but no shops so two days later we pushed on towards Ath - supplying the sluis team with beer to make sure we got through before closing time. There was some dredging underway but it hadn't been finished so we were pushing through mud at the summit (with a .8m draught).  It was quite hot and fleeces were temporarily a thing of the past.

Helmswoman

Ath was a shopping, eating and drinking week out before entering the River Dender (crossing back into Flanders at the same time).

We found a nice little mooring at Tenbre with a Cave in the old Mill building - just in time for a major replenishment of stocks.  At which point the combi inverter expired - luckily the nearest Mastervolt dealer was at Boom en route.

Tenbre

The Dender was very scenic but was also shallow in parts - the navigator became quite concerned at times.

Port a bit

We re-entered civilisation through the Dendermonde sluis to the River Scheldt. The Sea Scheldt is highly tidal so we planned to sprint down with the outgoing current and then turn up the River Rupel at Rupelmonde to Boom.  All went to plan,  other than a loss of steering soon after our 7am start.  The hydraulic piston had come off the rudder post, with lots of current and no moorings  Peter found himself in the rear cabin using the emergency steering with his knees (port a bit, starboard a bit commands from the wheelhouse management) whilst reconnecting the piston with his hands - funny in hindsight but slightly buttock clenching at the time.  As a result we had to fight up the Rupel against a strong current and the squeeze into the Boom mooring at near low tide was a bit of an effort -not a lot of water.

Boom at low water - note the mud

 At high water the pontoon is up to the white ring on the piling!  The Mastervolt agent (Vennekens) decided the combi inverter was kaput and at 10 years old a new one was called for - so now seriously poor. Some time while waiting for a new unit to sightsee/socialise/admire other boats both in Vennekens and en route to sunnier climes.

Watching the boats trying to turn into the Boom sluis at right angles to the Rupel current :)

A week later we pushed onwards towards the Albert Canal - hooray!