Sint Lennart to Schoten

Lovely day, lovely weather, lovely place to stop.

We left our free mooring at Sint Lenaart just after 9.00.  We were heading for Shoten Marina, only 15 km away but there were 7 locks and 4 lift bridges on the way so it would be a slow trip.

The lock/lift bridge system on this canal is great. It might only be at this time of year when there are not many boats going up and down the canals, but it sure worked for us.  There were 3 lock keepers along the whole length of 7 locks, etc, and they cycled/rode a scooter from one lock/bridge to the next and so we could just drive on into a lock, or pass through the bridge, with minimum delay.

And they were really friendly, had a chat about the weather, took our lines, such a treat.

At one of the locks we had to wait for a a commercial barge coming through the lock in the opposite so we pulled to the side and I held a line while we waited.

In the last lock the keeper asked where we were going, I guess he deals with a couple more bridges/locks on this stretch, and we said Schoten Yacht Club.  Oh, he said, he thinks it's closed but he'll check, phoned someone, and indeed, it is closed temporarily because it is being dredged.  He told us there is a good free place to stop just after Bridge 13.

Anyway. the trip took about 3.5 hours of non-stop activity, hardly chance to make a cup of coffee between locks/bridges.  But it was easy, and a real pleasure.

Many of the commercial barges have dogs, this one obviously enjoys watching the world go by.

There are a lot of houseboats on this stretch of canal, and one houseboat had his boat tied up alongside.

Coming into Schoten, a busier and more upmarket town than we have seen since Maastricht.

With properties stretching down to the canal side.

We took the lock keeper's advice and dug our stakes into the ground just past the bridge in a gentle residential district, and just 1km from the Yacht Club.

Ian hinged up the solar panel to get a better anger for the sun - don't you like the support?

That was one of the treasures that travelled all the way from Horta to Maasbracht in the box.  Unfortunately, it is now empty.

Then we went in search of an internet solution.  We were coming to the end the second data SIM card we had bought, and although Shaun, on Elle, had given us one of the cards he had taken out a contract to get, we could not get it to work on our dongle.  So off we go on our bicycles with SIM card, dongle and laptop.  Miles into the unknown, heading for a GPS co-ordinate, going along major highways, with  bridges over other major highways, along narrow leafy lanes, but always with cycle paths.  Then suddenly we ran out of cycle path and ended up riding along a busy road with trucks rushing past just a foot from my handle bars!  Not a great experience, but I got through it - another character building exercise! 

Eventually we found the right shop, 5 minutes later the dongle was reprogrammed and we were live to the world!  Amazing how a 20 year old can do wonders with electronic stuff that a 60 year old finds totally baffling!

Off we set in the homewards direction, until we get to the road where there was no cycle path to find a sign saying no bikes allowed!  Well, that made sense.  I guess there must have been a sign when coming in the opposite direction but neither of us saw it.  So we took a detour, that went on and on, through some really lovely up-market residential districts but we did get rather lost.  2 or 3 times Ian had to fire up his GPS (in his pocket, no handlebar mount) to get us back on the right road.  All in all 15kms and a rather interesting excursion into the unknown - plus an active internet signal!

After we got home I spent a few minutes on the internet (horrayyyy!)

to find the closest supermarket then set off on the bicycle again to go shopping for some meat for a  barbecue tonight.

The ride took me past the marina where we hoped to stop tonight, and it is in total disarray with dredgers and barges, and pontoons all pushed into a corner.  This 1km of canal before the marina is full of pleasure cruisers which we suspect would normally be moored in the marina.

This evening Lynn and Shaun had some Belgian friends come and visit, Fredrick and Josephine.  Really great  people, just up our alley!  They arrived on a 1200 BMW motorbike, have been on a motorcycling holiday in Cambodia, travelled extensively through Africa in a 4 wheel drive, and even gone micro-light flying with Ian when he met them a few years ago in Durban.