Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide

A bit sad today: it was our last day on the water for this year.
We are back in World War 1 territory and this is my Last Post (get it?)
Before we left Nieuwpoort we filled the fuel tanks, but first we had to get to the fueling dock through the thick duckweed. 

We didn't quite make it to the dock and our fenders were definitely not required - there was a 400mm wide big green one the full length of the boat. 

200 litres filled the tank, and it is 114 hours since our last fill.  Pretty economical.

We set off under leaden skies.  After endless days of sunshine, the weather has suddenly changed to reflect our mood.

But there were some hardy souls having fun! 

(Apologies for the poor quality)

The last lift bridge of the whole trip.

Well manicured fishing spots, I wonder who keeps them so well groomed.

Passing the World War 1 bunkers of the Flanders Fields.

We saw just one other boat as we were approaching Diksmuide, 

our home for the next 3 weeks while we do some work on Njord, and Njord's home for the rest of the winter.

We got a warm welcome from Pol, the Harbour Master at Diksmuide yacht club, and he has suggested that we use the laundry and showers here (if we would like) while living aboard for the next 3 weeks.  How great is that.

I will not be keeping up the blog while we are living and working on the boat out of the water - I am sure no one wants to read "Today we were sanding, tomorrow we will be painting" - and I certainly won't feel like writing about it!

So, till next year....

Stalhillebrug, Jabbeke to Nieuwpoort

Another cold morning, but we didn't need to set off till midmorning so by the time we left the mooring it was about 10C - still thermals territory!  It soon warmed up and by the time we stopped at VVW Nieuwpoort it was a blistering 25C - sunblock territory!

We passed through the very old 17th century Plassendale Lock

and into the narrow Plassendale-Nieuwpoort Canal.  It is very narrow with 5 low bridges opened by a mobile bridge-keeper, who only operates at certain times.  We were an hour early so tied up at the Oudenburg quay to wait for the convoy to form. 

It is the third time we have passed along this canal and both previous times the convoy has consisted of many boats, this time we were all on our own. The 2 boats already there did not join us.

The canal is lined by small houses and vast flat open fields.

There are some really quaint houses.

 The farmers were busy harvesting and ploughing.

At one of the bridges this car did not heed the bells and red light warning that the bridge was about to open and got hit by the boom as it came down across the road!  She (yes, unfortunately it was a lady driver!) then reversed back with the boom leaning against the  top of her car - bet she was popular when she got home!

Ian is still fascinated by this wreck.  

Apparently it sank when no one was on board, it was refloated and moved, then sank again so was lifted out of the water and deposited where it now sits.  The owner was billed but has refused to pay, so now it just sits there.  Ian thinks it would make a great project!

After arrival in the marina Ian went off to a marine shop to get some necessary bits and pieces we will require when working on the boat, and I went to the marina where we stored the boat over the summer to collect a letter that had arrived for us.  This was the Lycamobile data SIM cards I ordered way back in August - only took 6 weeks to arrive! 

An international cycle race (as in Tour de France) was taking place and we saw many supporters waiting on the route which passed along the canal.  Well, it came right past the marina and into Nieuwpoort.  Ian got held up for ages while the peleton and all the support vehicles passed - more vehicles than bikes!

This evening we met up with a friend from Diksmuide who told us a sad and scary tale of his misadventure with a commercial barge at a bridge in Bruges.  The barge had to swing its stern around to pass through the bridge which is near a corner and did not see the small cruiser Orfelia, which was hit by the stern of the barge.  Being unladen the barge was high out of the water and the sheer line of the stern not only hit Orfelia, but rode right over the top of her forcing the bow under water!  Very scary, they thought they were going to sink.  They didn't but sustained many thousands of euros of damage.  Worst of all is the barge captain did not stop, did not enquire if they were OK, and his message on the radio was "I am bigger than you are"!

Deinze to Jabbeke

A long haul day, 59km, but an easy day.  We left the dock at Deinze bright and early at 8.30 (having already gone to the supermarket for bread, orange juice and wine - as one does at breakfast time! - I forgot to buy the wine yesterday).  We have had spectacular weather lately, as those of you who are following Jaqui and Clive's blog will have noticed, but those vast clear skies mean it is a bit nippy in the mornings - when we left today it was just 7C - thermal underwear for me!

We had an uneventful, but pleasant, trip down the big canals to Bruges.  In one of the narrower sections close to Bruges we passed this rather large barge, with not a lot of room to keep out of his way.

There are two lift bridges before you reach the canal through Bruges, and always before (this is our 7th time on this stretch of water) we have been held up at either one or the other for up to an hour, but this time they both opened as soon as I called.  Couldn't believe our luck.

The canal around the town of Ghent contains 7 lift bridges and 1 lock and must be done in convoy with a group of other boats.  We wondered how long we would have to wait for a convoy to form up at this time of year and when I called in I was told we would have to wait for just 30 minutes.  27 minutes later a huge commercial barge appeared, we were in his convoy!  Really lucky in one way:  every bridge/lock is ready and waiting as he approached it so it took only 1 hour (it can take 2 hours).  The down side is that we were stuck in his prop wash 

and Ian was as busy on the gear lever/throttle/bow-thruster as he used to be in his old marlin fishing days.

But we never lost touch, and never got thrown off-course.  Well done, Captain!

We were passed by another barge half way along - even more prop wash.

Along the port bank of the canal is a park with views of the ancient buildings and some windmills.

I love Bruges (Brugge).

Just before the lock we were told to pass the barge and go in first.  This is a very old D shaped lock so the barge was against the straight port side and we had to find a spot on the curved side - and there was not much to attach a rope to.  Till we saw these blue ropes.  We looped a rope around it from amidships and it worked just fine.  Here Ian is holding by hand just before we left the lock.

This container barge was waiting to go the other way - 3 high x 3 wide x 8 long = 72 containers!

Between Brugge and the Plassendale Lock the canal is lovely and leafy with flat Flanders fields on either side.

A might fine lawn-mower.

And here we have a big painting project:  The entire bridge has had scaffolding erected underneath and on both sides, and been encased in shrink-wrap plastic - just to paint a bridge.  Total cost? €940,000!!!

We were aiming for the 24 hour free mooring at the Stalhille Footbridge in Jabbeke and when we got here it was full - with 2 very big pleasure boats.  We managed to squeeze in at the end - and have to climb over the bridge railings to get ashore.

We arrived at 16.30, and had a glass of wine with cheese (brie and roquefort) and crackers to celebrate.  What a lovely day.

Kortrijk to Deinze

This morning before we left Kortrijk, Ian went for a walk and found this interesting panel with history of the town.  Click on the photo to enlarge it so you can read it.

We sadly said goodbye to Lynn and Shaun who are going south and we began retracing our steps along the busy Leie River.  There are 2 big locks on this section of the river at Harelbeke and St Baafsvijve and there is often a queue of commercial barges waiting in line.  This time we were lucky to be allowed into the locks straight away, no waiting, with other commercial traffic, but my goodness they do get up close and personal - there were just centimetres between these two.

 Engine left in gear - quite bouncy!

 Going out the lock, manoeuvering with great skill, but now two lots of prop wash.

 Very bouncy!

In the other lock there were 2 dogs on the barge which jumped off with their owner as soon as the barge tied up, dashed up and down until the water started to go down, then jumped back on again.

What a lovely cargo, just one of those logs would provide us with enough wood to keep warm for the whole winter.

We have seen quite a lot of these rather strange cows.  Apparently they are called Belgian Blues and are double muscled.  

True or not, they certainly must provide a lot of steak.

This boat is tied up a bit along the quay from us.  It is all covered in camouflage, as are the owners (that is he walking alongside the boat), and the poster on the front says "Lock, open!" and is attached to a dummy gun!  Not a great advert for cruisers, is it?

This evening a big barge came through the lift bridge and had to swing his stern towards us to make it around the tight corner.

A day in Kortrijk

We spent the day in Kortrijk today.  It is our last day together with Shaun and Lynn on Elle for tomorrow we start our journey back to Nieuwpoort, where we started from a month ago, and on Wednesday Njord will be lifted out of the water for the winter.

I spent the morning in the laundry (oh what fun!) and general cleaning (even more fun!) and in the afternoon Ian and I went for a walk, which just happened to take us through a huge electronics shop called Media Markt, just jam-packed full of every possible electronic gadget, including computers, tablets, cameras, phones - and gyro-copters!   Yes, the credit card took a hammering!

In the late afternoon another boat, Tramp, arrived and tied up behind us with a really nice Australian couple, Sue and Gary.  We enjoyed a few drinks together.

The marina at night

 The Broeltoren, right next to the marina.