Nancy to Strasbourg

Jun 10

So ever eastwards with time to spare to get to the Rally.  Nancy, other than the centre, was a bit grotty but nice big supermarkets on our route out (a full refuel of food, gas and diesel - Peter's arms are stretching as all the refuels so far this year have been by jerrican).

Trundled from rural mooring to rural mooring until Lagarde (a hire base) where we tied up for a few days and improved the takings of the bar/restaurant in the village - the best crepes to date and the worst omelette! We hired a rattly 2CV from the hirebase to investigate - Angie drove as she had 'prior experience' with a 2CV gearchange (!).

The villages were fairly useless as we moved east (poor alimentation's where they existed, the bars all seemed shut and in some cases no boulangeries - quel horreur).  We overnighted at Niderviller before the excitement of the Niderviller tunnels and the Arviller Plane next morning. One of the minor tunnels:

The Arviller plane was exciting and/or fun in that it was our first plane incline and we weren't quite sure what to expect - in the event no sweat..

Arviller Plane

Onward to Lutzelbourg - an attractive village a bit like Monschau in Germany (prices to match) - spent a fortune on delicacies in the Epicerie. One more chateau to climb to.

Lutzelbourg

After a few days we moved on to the Foret du Brumath - where three other barges were waiting to go into Strasbourg - we gathered for an evening meal in the local forest auberge - but it was a bit of an Irish bargee closed shop.  Then off to the Bassin Dusuzeau in Strasbourg past the EU Parliament and a few interesting river cross currents en route.

More taxes

The Rally was 33 x DBA barges all shapes and sizes - a number of other Sagars so we could check out the mods on the newer barges. Vrouwe Catherina alongside - but no mains electricity (despite all the promises) so some boats left early.  The main Rally events were a Dinner and cruise on some of the closed waterways but the organisation wasn't up to Army standards (lets blame the French)

Strasbourg Rally

The Bassin was being developed and was very active at night (except on Kotare).

We collected the mail, did the shopping and lots of sightseeing.  The Rally visit coincided with a music festival so there was plenty of action in the streets. Petite France was pretty but full of those pesky tourists.

Petite France - Strasbourg

There was even some wildlife.

It was the longest we had stayed static since Kortrijk but after 9 days it was time to cast off.  We considered heading up the Rhin towards Basel but chickened out and went west again retracing our steps.

Givet to Nancy

May 10

We were slow timing it towards Strasbourg for a DBA Rally, so often we would only do 3 hours a day when travelling. We crossed the border near Givet but didn't see any signs to show it.

Givet

Givet was our first experience of automated 'point and zap' locks, an excellent system providing a hire boat hasn't stuffed it up.  Past Givet a German boat jammed two locks in succession so we moored up and had lunch. After motoring on we misread the Marina mooring instructions and missed our turning at Revin ecluse - at which point the River shallowed and we came to a grinding halt - no way off - so we inflated the dinghy and headed for shore and let Angela practice her French with the Eclusier - a lot of Gallic arm waving and shaking of heads - I mean the locals don't need signs do they!  A few hours later a friendly VNF man raised the river level a bit and we scraped off (incl any moss and barnacles at a guess).  The Eclusier was so pleased to see the back of us he even worked 10 mins overtime.

We passed through the Revin tunnel at dusk and a fellow bargee let us raft up in the adjacent marina.  A good stop as there was a giant Intermarche about 100 metres away. A late start therefore towards Chateau Regnault where we moored to a concrete landing with some Dutch boats - as the largest boat we ended up with another one rafted up.  We are going to miss all the English speakers as we move further into darkest France.

Although we are both moderately competent, Angela has dodgy knees for scrambling over the boat and pontoons/banks, add in a a more cautious (aka safe) temperament and we decided that Angela should officially become the Helmswoman/Radio Op and Peter (with a strong right arm) the Deckcrew.

Off through Pont a Bar to Mouzon where we got cut up by a small Dutch boat, who stole our  mooring while we were manouvring to reverse in (grump). We found another one but no electricity.  An attractive town with a nice Abbey church.

Mouzon Abbey church

Carried on south to Duns sur Meuse, where we met Roy and Beryl Ramsay on Vrouwe Catherina for the first time (also en route to Strasbourg). Then off to Verdun where we did the conventional sightseeing - not sure getting a million men chopped up is that Gloire though.

Verdun memorial

Angie took her life in her hands and had a haircut - excellent but it was a significant % of the monthly income.  Organised a French sim card to cut phone charges and bought a load of geraniums as our trough flowers are wilting in the heat. On return we appeared to have sprung a leak (see below). We shared a bottle with a Kiwi from Hastings (Clive Snow) - a lot of Kiwis and Australians seem to spend the antipodean winter barging in Europe.

Verdun fountain

Carried on south through a lot of nice villages/moorings.  At St Mihiel we ended up knee deep in Gendarmes and helicopters as a couple of jail prisoners had escaped while on a canoe outing. At Commercy we visited the Chateau (Duke of Lorraine) and then to the end of the Meuse (now officially the Canal de Este (Nord)) and turned east on the Canal de Marne au Rhin.  We lost our automated ecluse zapper as the locks are manned (in chains of ecluses) from here to Toul.

Downhill to Toul - Peter managed to trap a bow rope in one of the ecluses so quickly cut it clear - a splicing job for Angela.  Into the marina at Toul - a bit tight - met up with Vrouw Catherina again and a friendly french barge also heading for Strasbourg.  Checked out the fortifications and Cathedral and after an idle weekend headed towards Nancy.  No moorings en route, so a long flog into the Nancy outskirts (through the grottiest ecluse to date incl dead goat, birds and ?).  Found a free mooring close to the centre but no utils.

Place Stanislaus Nancy

Maastricht to Givet

May 10

We wandered off from Maastricht very early (misread the time) on Sat morning and headed south along the Maas - we knew moorings would be in short supply (as they are on a lot of rivers ) but squeezed into a tiny and expensive marina at Huy.  Most of the towns en route had Vauban type citadels perched above and all the climbing should have slimmed us down. We were colocated with a circus and Kes thought the lions and tigers were fairly threatening - compared with our farm dogs he is a big wuss - prepared to protect the boat against all comers providing he has a skirt to hide behind if the going looks tough.

Huy citadel

Then it was Namur and then a few nights in Riviere swapping war stories with an Australian bargee. Then off to Dinant near the French border.  A perfect, if expensive, mooring in the centre of town and off we went to explore the town.

Dinant waterfront

It was all a bit touristy for us,  but we were also looking for the main Post Office to collect Post Restante mail. However, the town PO had closed a week before and the replacement, once found, was 3 km uphill in a shopping mall on the outskirts of town - unimpressed especially with the dodgy directions 'near the Hospital' which consisted of 3 sites spread around town.

Our last Belgian sight was Chateau Freyr and gardens - even Angela didn't fancy the upkeep.

Anseremme - Chateau Freyr

Anyway - next stop France.

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!

Kortrijk- Blaton

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

Winter 09

Nov 09 to Mar 10

Kortrijk is a nice town, with quiet moorings on the old River Leie arm very near the centre - all the expected mod cons like an Irish pub, reasonable restaurants and a frites stall. The Library had english papers and wi fi for when we exceeded our internet download allowance (again).

Broeltorens at night

A fellow Sagar barge (Linda) joined us for the Winter to provide some social life - Kes the pup was the main attraction for Linda, while Colin provided answers to some of the newbie questions which helped a lot. We also did a day visit to Antwerp to purchase new mooring ropes and fenders at a fraction of the UK prices.

Kes 8 weeks

We had retained the car for the Winter and it proved invaluable when the Kabola central heating packed up just before Xmas - a rapid trip to Kabola in Holland on 23 Dec sorted that just in time for Xmas Dinner on the 24th. Both children and their respective partners descended for Xmas and we decided sleeping/feeding 6 adults is our max limit on 17m - any more and it will have to be a bigger barge.

Winter had set in by now, though surprisingly the River never froze over.

Angela's sister and family came for the New Year to confirm that all was well.  After that we got back into a winter routine of hibernation interrupted by lots of dog walking - the light relief consisting of reading the instruction manual for the air con (not needed so far). Angela found a dog training school, so Kes is now better trained than Peter (any comparative comments on Border Collie's intelligence/trainability will be treated with contempt - by Peter).

Gent Cloth Hall

In Feb we visited Gent sightseeing, it was a bit of a building site so we wandered down to the moorings for a shufti - Dick Monk was moored adjacent to a wide beam boat 'Renaissance' which was our first meeting with Terry and Teresa Barrett. Then in early Spring, 'Renaissance' and a couple of narrow boats ('Wandering Snail' and 'Etoile du Nord') joined us in Kortrijk for a few nights which emptied the cellars.  

Angie took the car back to UK for disposal in Mar and returned at speed in the son's BMW carrying essentials like Yorkshire tea and Branston pickle. We also got an inflatable (RIB) in case of need (note 'teach Angie to row'). 

Kes was growing fast.

Time to move so we refilled the rear cabin with Belgian beer and cast off on 1 Apr 10 down the Bossuit-Kortrijk Canal  to the East.