Moerbrugge to Oudenburg

27 kms, 2 locks, 10 lift bridges

There is a series of 5 lift bridges and 1 lock in the canal as it passes through Bruges, and they don’t just open willy-nilly whenever a boat wants to pass through.  And there is 1 lift bridge, Steenbruggebrug, we had to go through before entering Bruges which does not open at peak traffic times, 7.30 to 8.30 in the morning.  It is all carefully controlled and has to be planned in advance.  Our plan was: leave the mooring at 8.10, get to Steenbruggebrug for the 8.30 opening and arrive at the first bridge in Bruges in time to join the 9.00 convoy of pleasure craft.

But at 7.45 a huge barge arrived from Bruges which had to wait 45 minutes for the Moerbruggebrug to open at 8.30.  We were already hemmed in fore and aft by Cherdy and Rubis, our 2 barge companions of the last 2 nights, and the new barge settled down to wait right alongside Rubis, drifting backwards and forwards across our exit.   We decided to get out while we could so set off at 7.50, meaning a long wait at Steenbruggebrug unitl the 8.30 opening time.  That accomplished, we set off for the first bridge in Bruges, Katelijnpoort.  When I called for service we were told we would have to wait 20 minutes for a commercial barge which would join us in our trip through Bruges.  So we waited again.  

Watching the traffic while waiting

And who should show up behind us but Cherdy.  

Cherdy following behind us

From then on it all went swimmingly.

Gentpoortbrug

There is a lovely park alongside the canal

A missing bridge

Looks like it was cut off in a slightly raised position.  I wonder if it got stuck!

We joined by another pleasure craft, tied up against the wall before the Dammepoort lock, probably also told to wait and fall in with our convoy.

Big barge exits lock, small red boat waits with us to go in.

In the Dammepoort lock you loop your line around the blue ropes fixed to the side of the lock

Cherdy went out ahead of the 2 pleasure craft

In not much more than an hour and a half we cleared the last lift bridge – the quickestwe have managed the trip through Bruges.  We stopped for half an hour at the Scheepsdale bridge to buy some milk, bread and meat having run low with the unexpected extra night at Moerbrugge.  Then off we went to Plassendale Lock.  This is the entrance to the Plassendale-Nieuwpoort Canal with its series of low lift bridges and the bridge service is also set at specific times.  We had to wait just over half an hour, tied up inside the lock.  

This is quite an interesting lock, sometimes there is no difference in the water level between the two canals, sometimes the Plassendale-Nieuwpoort level is higher than the Gent-Oostende Canal, and at other times it is the other way round.  So it has two sets of gates at each end.

We stopped before the first lift bridge at the Genevepiete Ponton at Oudenburg.  We have stopped here many times before but never gone into the town, today I needed to find a pharmacy to get some medication and discovered it is a lot bigger and more interesting than I expected.  It also has a really nice big supermarket.  But what struck me most of all is how clean it is.  There is a little river running into the town with immaculate banks, lots of benches, lots of people walking dogs, and not a piece of paper or pile of do poo in site.  The town centre, too, is well maintained.  Not much in the way of interesting architecture apart from the remains of an abbey dating from the 11^th century  which was built on the ruins of a Roman Castellum.  Unfortunately the abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution. 

The church dates from 1870

A water tower from the old Abbey

Statues in the market square

That was all yesterday. Today it has rained all day so we are putting off the last leg of our cruise back to Diksmuide until tomorrow.
Late this afternoon the clouds drifted away and gave us this wonderful sunset