Arrival at Winter Mooring in Bruges

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know!!  All our avid readers have been champing at the bit as he and she await the final thrilling instalment of “What we did this summer on Riccall”!!!!!

Well as briefly as possible (thankful sigh) we left Compiègne and trundled our way up to the Canal du Nord and a meeting with David Almond, who was on his way back to CARMEN and Auxerre.  Graincourt Lock 7 on the summit is one of our favourite moorings.

A couple of days later we moored in the Bassin Rond – another favourite – then on to Cambrai for Alex to take his EGP (Extended Grand Plaisance) with Tam Murrell (which he passed).

We headed back north after Cambrai onto the Escaut which we know well, and were able to moor overnight in all our tried and tested spots.  However, we were overtaken at one point by a large and strangely painted converted peniche – strange because its whole hull was painted beautifully in a shimmering bronze-coloured paint.  It made a very strange looking craft but we each gave the other the “I like your boat” thumbs-up.

At our Mortagne-du-Nord mooring we were joined by several other commercial barges (as per usual) amongst which was one built to look like a submarine (as per un-usual).

We later learned that it, a hot air balloon barge and also the bronze barge were all headed to Mons for a weekend display (organised by that stalwart of the European canal system – David Edwards-May).  Also invited to take part in this display on a first-come-first-served basis were a total of 6 barges including our good friends Peter and Nicci on AURIGNY and recently-met Stu and Lyn on MATARIKI.

Apparently the whole thing was part of the celebration of Mons being the City of Culture 2015 but it turned out to be a bit bizarre by all accounts.

And so, for us, no stay in Mons but the onward cruise to Seneffe for a quick return to the UK.

On our return to Seneffe Jamie and Janine came to stay for a couple of nights.  It was good to see them both as it had been 18 months since they moved out to OZ.  We took them on a short trip by boat to the top of the Ronquières Inclined Plane for a beautiful evening of sunshine, and the following morning a visit to the Ronquières museum.

After cruising back to Seneffe we drove by car to show them the amazing Strepy Lift (which for the second time in 2 weeks broke down 3m from the top for some reason, and while we were watching!  It also had a faulty seal on the gates apparently which meant boats had to enter and leave as quickly as possible!)

A good look round Lille and a splendid lunch with Jamie and Janine on their last day and we waved them goodbye on Eurostar.  Then we started on the last leg of our cruise for this year i.e. up and down the Blaton-Ath Canal, onto the Dender and Schelde Rivers, then the Gent-Ostend Canal to Bruges.

Timing seems to have been the mis-order of the day here.  We booked a 10am start at Lock 1 of the Baton-Ath which didn’t happen until 10.30 – not a long delay, but when you are flailing around in the canal . . .

Similarly, the next day a 10am start actually happened at 10.40.

At Ath, where we stayed 2 nights, and after we had watched some of a 24 hour marathon for bikes and runners accompanied by the town band, we booked for a 10am start, which became 9.30 when the lock-keepers came by and asked us to hurry so as to use the lock with another boat.  We did this of course, being helpful Brits, only to find that the phantom boat never turned up.  This was the second time something similar had happened and we were convinced that the situations were engineered by the keepers so that they could have an early finish in the afternoon!

At Lessines we had a good overnight mooring close by a redundant mill and ‘booked’ our start the next day for 9.30.

The original turbine house on the ground floor with pigeonnier above.
Ripe for renovation Alex?

Nothing doing at 9.30 or 10am, until our lock-keeper arrived to say the next-but-one lock was inoperable – he thought later that afternoon it might be fixed.    While we waited we met Mike and Katie of ELSIE VIOLET who were also stuck, and we exchanged drinks and gossip as you do.  (We also had a long chat with the lady who lived in the house next to the mooring who was able to give us some history of the area when used commercially.)

Eventually after 2 days we were through and on our way to Geraardsbergen where we hoped to moor overnight.  On arrival though, the whole long mooring was taken up by boats whose home mooring it was, save for one space where ELSIE VIOLET had managed to moor.  They kindly offered to move off to let us moor on the pontoon, being the heavier boat, and then came alongside.  So very kind of them. 

The ‘linguistic border’ between French-speaking Wallonia and Flemish-speaking Flanders occurs between Lessines and Geraardsbergen (Gramont in French) and is even marked on maps of the area!  Such a strange situation in one country to have such a defined division in language.

We had come to realise at this point that we had missed the jewel of the region in Lessines, while waiting for the lock to be repaired – the 17^th century Hôpital Notre Dame à la Rose – so we took the train back to Lessines to see what we might have missed!  And it was certainly worth the 10 minute train ride.  What a magnificent building, cloister medicinal garden and excellent museum – its history very accessible and interesting.

Lessines - Hopital Notre Dame a la Rose - just wonderful

Following and avoiding other commercials through lifting bridges

So onward towards the north, passing through Aalst – the most southerly port for commercial craft coming from Gent and Antwerp nowadays.

Ghastly Aalst!!!  The town itself is better!

Ninove with its lovely church

Eventually we completed our trip down the Dender to its junction with the Schelde tidal river, and moored on the waiting pontoon 1km before the lock.  We were too late for the 3 hour trip that day, so instead we cycled the 2kms into Dendermonde – a really lovely town and well worth the visit.

Dendermonde Grote Markt

Mike of ELSIE VIOLET had given us the tide times for going out and up the Schelde (which, of course, were in complete contrast to those given by one of the lockkeepers!) and at 3.30 the next day we set off for the lock, getting onto the river at 4pm.

Lovely sky over our safe haven 

3 hours later, we were at Merelbeke Lock in Gent and managed to find a mooring with our stern just one metre into the ‘RESTRICTED TO 2 HOURS TO TAKE YOUR CAR OFF’ section.  No-one seemed to notice or care!

We had booked two nights in Gent Centrum, hoping to re-meet Martine and Pierre who used to be the havenmeesters there and arrived to find a lovely 20m space at the city end.  The havenmeester now though was someone different and he took our payment for one night but said the next night would be at the discretion of the ‘Winter Havenmeester’ who would be arriving tomorrow as this was changeover day – 30th September/1st October.

Late in the evening the Winter Capitaine appeared and said, “You must move tomorrow because this place is booked for a winter mooring for a 23m barge”.  Right hand, left hand?!!  Our protestations of our prior booking were to no avail, so although a poor alternative was suggested we just upped and left the next morning.

And as luck would have it, there was a space at one of the 3 yacht havens close to the Ringvaart, where they were happy for us to moor for 3 days.  This was great for us as our good friends Paul and Diane were going to be with us for a couple of nights and needed to know where to find us!

Finally, after a couple of days exploring the local area in their car, we set off on the last leg of our cruise to our winter mooring in Bruges, spending one night at Mooerbrug where we moored up with Andy and Caroline, and enjoyed (Louise’s) birthday drinks with them on NEELTJE.

In the early morning gloom!

A VERY early start was called for the next day when a crane arrived on shore at 7am with a pusher and dumb barge on the river to begin loading huge baulks of timber and a massive generator.


NEELTJE was moored just where they needed to be, necessitating quick dressing and moving of the boat to free the space required!  An hour later we decided we were too close to the action and followed suit!

We had already done a recce by car to Bruges and had decided that although there was clearly enough space to turn round at the end of the port, it would be best for us to just go in forwards and moor up alongside VERTROUWEN - the boat designated as our mooring.  We could always turn before we left in the spring.

What we failed to realise was the occasional strong current that could flow through this mooring.  As we approached our designated spot Alex realised that we were being drawn downstream rather too quickly for comfort, so it became obvious to him that an about turn was absolutely necessary before we got dragged into the low bridge at the end of the port.  Yes, there was plenty of room, but halfway through the turn RICCALL hit something hard and unyielding under the water.  Everyone watching from the bank saw her lurch as she went over the obstruction but what could we do but complete the turn?  We touched again as we came back against the current for a nicely controlled mooring.  But what on earth was it in the middle of the channel and has it done any damage? We intend to get the inflatable out and go over to investigate the obstruction, and the question may be answered when we go into dry dock at the end of 2016.

So now we are safely moored in the Flandria Yacht-haven in Bruges not 10 mins walk from the railway station.  It’s a great mooring with a number of old friends and new acquaintances moored here too, a good clubhouse, and a great city to explore.

Oh and just for the record, we went slightly aground as we entered the port, just onto the silt thrown up by the passing commercials, and had to back out and try again.  (The River Dender had had a surprise in store on our last day on it too – we hit and rolled over a very large object hidden 3m off the bank: another stop and reverse off.  A very uncomfortable experience which we reported to the lock-keeper at the next lock.  He appeared honestly concerned and produced the ‘accident book’ so that we could record the incident in case in the future we discover damage.)

So, all in all, and taking into account our last blog, we’ve been a bit grounded this season!!

A happy Alex after another year's successful cruising!

This year’s stats?

1559 kilometres

  235 locks

      7 tunnels

    21 lifting and sliding bridges