Oudenburg to Nieuwpoort

Well, we got that all wrong!   We thought the first bridge opened at 9.00, so there we were waiting, no other boats so no convoy, 9 came and went and bridge didn't open - and we then discovered that it was 8.00, not 9.00 that it opened, and the next opening would be at 12.00!  Elle tied up to a short waiting dock and we tied alongside them.  Here we are reflected in a plate glass window on the opposite bank.

One good thing came of it, it was freezing this morning, heavily overcast and with a brisk breeze.  By noon the sun was starting to come out, the breeze had dropped a bit and it was a lot warmer and more cheerful.

By  the time the bridge opened at 12.00 there were 9 boats in the convoy. 

We ambled along through mostly agricultural countryside.  

A Farmyard with a barn full of hay

Lilac in full bloom

There was a charter boat right behind us who seemed to be in an awful hurry.  He sat right on our transom so Ian waved him through and then he sat on Elle's transom till Shaun waved him through, and shot off in flurry of propeller wash.  No idea why he was in such a hurry because the bridges were not going to open till the whole convoy was ready to go through.  And then, blow me down, when he got  to a bridge he stopped so far away from it that he took out his binoculars to see if it was being prepared!  But they don't prepare the bridges till you are there and waiting. 

Anyway, we finally cleared the last bridge and he disappeared into the distance.  Maybe he was late getting his charter boat back to the base which is here in Nieuwport.

Oh dear, this doesn't look good.

There are so many marinas here, mostly on the sea side of the locks, and we had a choice of 2 on the canals.  One of them is a yacht club beyond a lock and on the way to the Ijzer River which is our next destination.  The other is a private marina where we wanted to enquire about summer "storage" for Njord.  (At yacht clubs you have to pay a membership fee on top of the monthly rate.)  We decided to go through the lock today and go to the marina by bike, it's only 500m away.

So here we are in Jachthaven Westhoek, a huge marina with 250 berths. 

Prices as follows:

Berth for boat up to 8.99m is €12

Electricity is coin operated, so depends how much you use, we are not using any.

Water is free

Showers are €0.10/10 seconds or 60c per minute!  By far the most expensive showers so far.

We rode over to the Westhoek Marina.  It looks brand new.  Very impressive.  Had a chat with the "big boss" in a very swish office upstairs with sweeping views of the canals because the havenmeester was not able to give us a price for a long stay.  Mr Big Boss was very welcoming and gave us a price list for short and long stays, winter and summer.  For Njord 3 months from June to early Sept will be €435.   He also explained that they have a hard where you can take the boat out of the water and work on it yourself.  Haul out and in is €200.  That is so much cheaper than the place we were considering on the French border!  So we signed on the dotted line.  We even have the choice of the marina here in Nieuwpoort or in Veurne.  Veurne has a direct rail link to Brussels and then on to Amsterdam.  From Nieuwpoort we will have to catch a bus to Veurne when we leave here.  Let's think about this.  No, let's not even bother.  We'll leave the boat in Veurne.  Done, dusted and paid for.

Now we have 20 days left before we take up our summer residency in Veurne.  20 days to wander around the canals and cycle paths of the WW1 battles. 

20 days?  Is that all?  Where did the time go?  Seems just a couple of weeks ago that we left the marina in Ijselmonde (Rotterdam).