Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide

17 km, 1 bridge

Our last day, our last little cruise: just 17 km from Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide.

Funny weather today: very hazy, grey sky with the sun battling to break through, but not at all cold.  And when the sun did break through it was hot.

We fuelled up at Nieuwpoort (€1.08 per litre) then set off for our home port, Diksmuide.

Leaving VVW Westhoek

The big passenger boat, Ijzerstar, passed us with a load of school children

on their way to visit the Dodengang trenches.  They were all running around there, yelling and screaming,  ruining the experience for anyone else who had paid their bucks and actually knew what they were looking at!  Yes, OK, I’m a grumpy old woman!

We passed this house on the canal at Schoorbakkerbrug.   

When we passed this way last year (twice, in May and September) it was for sale.  Since then we have begun toying with the idea of buying property in this area.  But it has just been sold. 

As we arrived at Portus Dixmude (our yacht club in Diksmuide) we were thrilled at our reception.  Some people we know were in the marina and jumped out to shout hello and wave: Herwig, Willy, Pol.  Even Klaas from Buitenbeentje, who was taking a bicycle tour past the marina, stopped to shout hello.   We really feel like we were at home.

Some statistics in 2 months of cruising:

Distance - 1075 kms

Number of locks - 117

Number of mobile bridges - 44

Number of tunnels - 4

Engine hours - 170

Litres of fuel consumed - 232

1.34 litres per hour

4.7 km/litre

Average speed 6.25 km/hr but this includes stationary time in locks and waiting for bridges.

Oudenburg to Nieuwpoort

18 kms, 5 bridges, 1 lock

We woke to brilliant sunshine yesterday, for the first time in many days.   This canal, from Plassendale Sluis to Nieuwpoort, used to be serviced by a mobile bridge keeper who travelled with the convoy of boats and this happened only a couple of times each day.  But over the winter the canal has been automated and now the convoys can pass through the 5 mobile bridges 5 times per day.

At 9.30 I called in asking when we could join the convoy, and the answer was that at 10.25 we must be waiting at the first bridge.  5 minutes later our phone rang – it was the canal operator to say there were no other boats coming through at that time but there was a commercial tug with an empty “bak” coming through in about 20 minutes and we must follow him.

Following "Kogo" through one of the lift bridges

This is a very slow gentle canal

Very flat open agricultural land

2 tiny cottages

A greedy cormorant trying to eat an eel longer than he is

A charter boat going in the opposite direction

This is the first time we have seen commercials here.   

Another commercial going in the opposite direction

.... transporting a big digger

Our tug stopped at a quay about half away along the canal

And then caught up to us before the next bridge

He had stopped to drop off his empty bak and a bit further on he picked up a full one. It seems they are dredging the canal.

Kogo turning around to hitch up to a full "bak"

We went through Sint Joris Lock and tied up at VVW Westhoek.  We intended to spend 2 nights here because we thought we could get the second night free with our VPF membership but that has changed.  Now we have to pay full price in high season, but low season is free.  Ian remarked on how few boats we have seen for this time of year and the harbour master agreed.  He reckons the cold, rainy weather is to blame.  Last year we cruised this canal 3 times and each time there was a big convoy of boats, this time we saw just 2 other pleasure boats, both of them on charter.

Brugge to Oudenburg (Plassendale Canal)

21kms, 1 lock, 10 mobile bridges

At 9.00 this morning the “rolly” bridge at the entrance to the Coupure opened and we left to join the convoy on its journey through the city, with its 7 mobile bridges and 1 lock.  It was raining again.

At the first bridge (for us, 3^rd for the convoy that had started at Katelijnepoort) we had to wait for a big commercial coming in the opposite direction.

There were 7 boats in our convoy, including a beautiful tjalk.

I love this cruise around Bruges.  There is a park alongside the canal with some lovely scenery.

The little British boat ahead of us in the convoy was a bit clueless about travelliing in a convoy: hanging back too far from the boat ahead when waiting for the bridges, and in the lock they sat in isolated splendour in the middle of a wall so there was no room for another boat ahead of or behind them

And other boats had to raft up!

Nearly 2 hours later we cleared the final bridge (the Scheepsdalebrug) and tied up at a dock so we could do some shopping.  Main priority was a pair of shoes for me – I have had to throw away a pair of shoes a few days ago whose soles were completey worn through.  There is a huge discount shoe shop there, thousands of shoes, but not what I was looking for.  They also had t-shirts so I bought 2 for Ian and 2 for me - lightweight summer t-shirts – for €5 each.

The weather was still awful and we strongly considered staying there overnight and doing a longer trip tomorrow, but by 14.00 the drizzle had stopped and the sun was even threatening to appear, so we continued another 16 km

A rowing team with trainer riding alongside on a bike shouting at them

Wild flowers - Flander's poppies

A pretty canal, and very little commercial traffic

with 2 mobile bridges

Stalhille bridge - closed to marine traffic....

....and opening for us to pass underneath

to the Plassendale Lock at the entrance to the Plassendale-Nieuwpoort Canal.  This canal is also traversed in convoy and only opens at specific times.  We arrived half an hour after a convoy had left but were allowed to enter the lock to wait for the next opening time at 18.00 (an hour and a half later). But after 45 minutes a commercial barge entered  

and 10 minutes later we were under way again.   We stopped just 2 kms further along at a free pontoon at Oudenburg.

Bruges

My favourite city!  A picture blog today, because my feet are sore from walking - and words fail me!

At 9.00 the bridges open for the foltilla of pleasure boats and 5 boats left our marina 

Three builidngs - 2 very narrow ones and the old Tollhouse

Jan van Eyck

One of the few remaining wood fronted buildings remaining

Statue of Papegano outside the magnificent theatre

The Groote Markt

The Groote Markt

The Groote Markt

Oudenaarde

As promised it rained all day, just a steady drizzle, nothing major.  So what do you do?  Read a book, clean the Barbie, go for a walk, make lunch, watch the MotoGP, go for another walk to a museum that I thought would have an exhibition on restoring Flemish tapestries – but that is on the second floor, only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The “museum” was rather disappointing – a lovely old house, 15^th century but with major re-decoration internal and external in the 17^th century - only 4 rooms were accessible to the public, no furniture.  There was an exhibition of some modern sculptures – not my cup of tea.  

Nice town, I’m glad we stopped here, and the little yacht club is delightful.

Piccies from the day.

There are lots of  sculptures:

This fountain dates back to Louis XIV. The wells in the city had bad water so he built this fountain bringing in water from 2km away.

Detail from the fountain

Sint Wahlburgakerk

Lovely little building in the shadow of the church

The Town Hall

Interesting collection styles of architecture

What a lovely corner!

Just a narrow street off the Groote Markt

More old buildings

and another one

 In a corner of the Groote Markt, opposite the Sint Wahlburga Church, I came across two tents with a bunch of people with huge cameras and binoculars, all trained on the spire of the church. Well, they were Twitchers.  There is an owl nesting in the church spire and they are waiting there in avid expectation. I found the webcam in the spire trained onto the owl a whole lot more interesting; it was perched on a railing practicing some ballet moves, stretching its legs and wings.  Yes, I was impressed - but I'm not about to become a twitcher.

Twitchers!

The Oudenaarde Yacht Club.  The big barge is a restaurant, very well patronised last night, closed today.