Boloeil to Mons

Another great day.  We travelled 31 km, including 10 locks in a 4 km stretch, to drop down 29m. 

The day started cool (8.5C at 8.00) and foggy.

We hauled up the stakes at 8.50 and our trusty "equipe" arrived at 8.55!  They only saw us through 2 lift bridges then handed us over to the next team that would take us down the 10 locks, without us having to do anything.

The sun burnt off the mist by mid morning.

For a stretch of 8 locks we could always see the one ahead

and the one behind.

This one had burst its banks

and was flooding the neigbouring fields

Ian had to step off and hold the boat off the quai because the fenders were just decorations hanging off the side of the boat!

Most of locks must be empty for long periods because we saw a lot of verdant plant growth which can't possibly grow under water.

The last lock.  Au revoir, messieurs, we salute you. 

They did a great job.  It took just under 2 hours to get through 10 locks. 

Less than 3 hours after we left our mooring we said goodbye to the lovely Ath-Blaton Canal, to find a fishing competition right at the junction.  There must have been 20 fishermen in 100 metres or so!

Goodbye, Canal Ath-Blaton, we enjoyed every metre.  

Now we are onto the Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes Canal.  

We expected a huge wide busy commercial canal  but we were pleasantly surprised. 

There were some industrial sections and there may have been a lot less commercial traffic today being Sunday, but we only saw one barge, which was going slowly so we passed it!  First time that has happened.  As we passed I noticed the driver was a young mother with a baby on her lap.  The captain appeared out of a hatch with very greasy hands as we went by, and motioned to his wife to slow down. But she didn't, much, and Ian really had to up the revs to get by before a corner.

The canal water was a really strange emerald green colour. 

And, 5 hours 30 minutes after leaving the mooring at Beloeil, here we are at a marina in Mons.  There is a fancy yacht club (in the background) but we are in the Port de Plaisance.

Costs: €10 per day for under 10m (reasonable), €2 per day per person for use of showers and toilets (rather excessive!), and €3 per washing and drying machine load (really good value!)  Electricity is €3 per day, no mention of a charge for water and there are water connections - we will inspect that tomorrow.

We will stay here tomorrow to do some much needed grocery shopping and make good use of the washing machine and dryer!

We are all out of fresh meat.  Tonight I am going to delve into the back of the store cupboard and use up our remaining fresh veg to create a vegetarian Nasi Goreng.  This is only the third meal I have cooked on the stove since we arrived 2 weeks ago, all the others have been bbq!