Winter in Bruges and Kent and setting sail

We have been thinking during the winter that our readers, if any still remain, must be getting pretty fed-up with our cruising tales, and thought perhaps it was time to stop writing this blog. But in the end, we decided to continue, if only to allow us to look back on our experiences ourselves in later years!! So here we go . . .

We have spent most of this winter in the UK trying to get the new house in Hawkinge into some sort of liveable shape, not the least of which involved re-attaching an end wall, rebuilding the chimney on said wall, taking out one set of ‘cupboard’ stairs and the associated fireplace and chimney breast, in order to install a proper flight of stairs.

Re-attaching the end wall!

The old stairs and fireplace

The new stairs

We then abandoned the house, unpainted and in some rooms unplastered, to return to Bruges and set off for more mayhem, this time in dry dock, on RICCALL.

As we mentioned last year, the tunnel over the prop was going to have to be removed and after much research, we booked in with de Schroef, near Zelzate, just over the border into Holland. All went surprisingly well; the tunnel has now been largely removed and RICCALL is handling much better. Also on the plus side, the prop walk is still much reduced.

Much reduced prop tunnel

We returned to Bruges for a week then set off for this year’s cruising season proper!

Three days at Diksmuid (our venue for this coming winter’s mooring) then a night at Ypres with attendance at the obligatory ‘Last Post’ service of remembrance. A lovely cycle ride around the old fortifications, soup and fries in the square then set sail for a night at one of our favourite moorings at Fintele on the River IJzer on our way to the Belgian/French border west of Veurne.

Ypres Museum

The Last Post ceremony - every night at 8pm

We spent two nights in Dunkirk enjoying the peaceful mooring above the Jeu de Mail Lock and having a good look round the town, including watching a basinée at Tristram Lock of a very large ship.

At Aire-sur-la-Lys on the Dunkirk-Escaut Waterway we turned left onto the old River Lys and rang the lockkeeper. This was a Saturday and the lock keeper informed us that the locks were closed at weekends until the 1^st of May. We decided to wait rather than take the shorter and much busier commercial route on the main waterway but this would miss Lille altogether. In the meantime we looked at the town of Aire for two days, but scored on the first afternoon by joining an already started tour of the ‘tour’ - the town’s ancient watchtower; all in French so a bit hard to understand but the view from the top and the bells, the bells were great.

The Ascenseur des Fontinettes

The Bells!  The Bells!

The oldest building in Aire-sur-la-Lys

We rang the éclusier on Monday morning and at first were told it would now be Tuesday before we could pass through the locks! However, with a little persuasion 2 o’clock was offered. So at last we were off again.

The Lys was lovely and peaceful with not another boat in sight till we reached Armentieres Lock 

Lovely mooring on the Lys

where we were held up by a tiny bateau école coming up through the lock! Never mind, we got through eventually and moored up for a peaceful night just below the lock on the left bank before the redundant railway bridge – a good spot which we had used once before.

The next day it was onto the Canal de La Basse Deule after a short delay to allow a fully laden péniche to cross our bows. Thank goodness for AIS – makes these junctions so much easier and safer to navigate. And at last into the Bras de la Citadelle in Lille- another all-time favourite where we can have a nice meal at the canal-side restaurant and free wifi as well. On no you can’t!!! The restaurant is closed for refurbishment! The maitre d’ apologises but says the restaurant just along the way will be good. We think he probably owns that one too, but we did give it a try and it was fine but sadly no wifi. So the next day we cycled to SFR to try and find out why our latest pay-as-you-go voucher didn’t work. Apparently we had been sold the wrong one by the local tabac, and we should return there to exchange it! Will they swap it? Yes, they did! Amazing!

Our first stop out of Lille was in the Gare d’Eau at the junction with the Dunkerque-Escaut Waterway. This is a huge, always empty boat park 400m long by 50m wide with bollards all down one side and an entrance at each end. The first time we were here we found that the edge had silted up a bit so Alex went along the whole 400m with the barge pole testing the depth. About three quarters of the way along he found a good 20m stretch with 1.4m depth right to the edge. So we moored there and painted the relevant bollards white. Subsequently we just head for that spot and we moor up in splendid isolation in this lovely place.

There has never been another boat in it but you get glimpses of the big boys as they pass on the main canal behind the bushes and trees. There are no facilities and the nearest shops are about 3 kms away but the path is used occasionally by dogwalkers and cyclists.

We trundled on heading for the Canal du Nord and eventually a fortnight’s mooring in Reims while we returned to the UK for a pre-wedding ‘meet the other parents’ lunch on the Wirral, doctors and dentists etc.

However, once we arrived at Arleux, the first lock on the Canal du Nord, we discovered that there was a closure for the WHOLE weekend ahead, including Bank Holiday Monday! Three whole days! We could still make Reims but we hate hurry so a different plan had to be conceived.

Eventually, after contact with several friends and Ports de Plaisances, Bob Marsland rang to say Cambrai would be able to take us. (Thanks so much for that Bob). So we diverted to Cambrai to leave the boat there for our UK trip. From Cambrai to Auxerre, our destination for the DBA rally in mid June, we’d go via the shorter route via Pontoise and Paris, instead of the more scenic route via Reims. Perfect.

We brought the car over from Bruges; three trains - first one late by 10 minutes, with an 8 minute changeover, but they delayed the connecting outgoing train. How sensible is that? - the advantage of a nationalised system. As we know well, in the UK the outgoing train leaves regardless, probably run by a competing company!

And here we are now back at Cambrai in a lovely mooring with our UK visits very successfully completed.

Safe haven in Cambrai