A day in La Bassée

After 2 long days we took a break today, well a break from moving but that doesn’t mean a day off, with nothing to do.  

This little pontoon, with no services, is really close to a huge supermarket (with fuel station which must have the best prices for miles around because there is always a queue to get fuel), and a laundry.  So guess what we did today!

This morning we walked to the supermarket (Intermarché) for a few essentials but being Easter weekend it was so busy, cars circulating in the carpark kind of busy, shopping trollies crashing into each other kind of busy.  No fun!

After lunch we walked up to the laundry (about 500m, I’m guessing) and I did 2 loads of laundry.  Deep joy!  But it is nice to have clean bed linen, towels and clothes. And after that we hitched the trailer up to the bike, joined the queue for fuel (which prompted a few curious stares and raised eyebrows from others in the queue) bought 40l of diesel plus some heavy groceries (milk, juice, etc)

Specially for T and N: the "bike caravan" carrying 40l of diesel plus about 7kg of groceries

Ian emptied the jerry cans of diesel into the tank and then did a second run.  So now we are fuelled, victualed and clean!

After all the business stuff was done Ian went for a bike ride.

The sign that traumatised us yesterday - no entry into the cut where we are now moored!

And here is the problem, a tree that has fallen part way across the canal - we could have got around it easily!

Here we are moored at the pontoon.  Looks really rural but there is a town just the other side of the towpath.  Great place to stop.

But the time is coming to hunker down again.  Tomorrow we will head for Douai, 30kms away, but the rain and wind are coming back again and hopefully we will arrive before the bad weather forecast for the rest of the week.

Arques to La Bassée

52km, 3 locks, 7.2 engine hours

Best laid plans… and all that.

We wanted to leave early this morning (well, early-ish between 8.30 and 9.00) because we had a long day ahead, but when I checked the AIS site on the internet (all barges have AIS so that you can see exactly where they are) we saw 2 very large, 100m and 110m long, barges approaching the lock just around the corner from the marina where we were moored.  The locks on this Grand Gabarit canal are really big (144m by 12m) but these 2 barges were too large for us to share the lock with them.  So we had to wait until they had cleared through before we could get going.  We finally left the marina at 9.50 and waited an age for the lock to be emptied, entered, then waited another age while it filled before we could exit some 3.9m higher.  That was the Ecluse de Flandre, my goodness it is slow. 

Ecluse de Flandre

The old Fontinette lift lock

Just 2km further we had the very big Ecluse Les Fontinettes to deal with (a 13m rise).  As with the first lock, the lock keeper was really chirpie and friendly and there was no delay in his preparing the lock for us, but it just took forever for such a big lock to empty and fill.  Mind you, we did remark on the fact that this huge great big lock was being operated for just one little 9m pleasure craft.

Waiting to enter the new Fonitnette Lock

It's big, it's long and it's high.  

Half way up

The water comes in from vents along the bottom

Fortunately it has floating bollards

By the time we cleared the 2 locks, the weather was deteriorating, rainy and windy, so Ian chose to drive form the interior steering position.  

Ian's view from inside

Hour after hour went by, but we never lost internet coverage and I was able to keep track of all the big barges approaching us.  What a treat. With our computer connected to GPS and the AIS website to show us where the barges were we had great fun tracking their progress and watching for them to appear.

One of them, coming up behind us and travelling faster, called us to say he was going to overtake us.  No problem, I said, we will stop as you go past. Merci, he said, he will pass “doucement” – slowly.  And he did just that with a friendly wave.

Mustang approaching from astern, big bow wave

Mustang passing by slowly, hardly any wake

Back to full speed, and look at that wake breaking over the bank

We had one more lock to traverse, Cuinchy, before we stopped for the night.  We were aware that a commerical barge was coming up behind us but instead of making us wait the ultra-efficient lock keeper had the lock ready as we approached, slammed the gates shut behind us, filled in double quick time (only 2m) and we shot out the other side almost before we could blink.  We were well impressed.  Then he prepared the lock for the biggie following us.

Just 2km after the lock was the turn off to La Bassée, our destination.  As we approached we saw a No Entry sign at the entrance.  What?  When we passed we noticed a large tree had fallen across the canal.  We continued to the eastern entrance (what would normally be our exit!) which was still open thank goodness, and then had to back track another 1.5km to the mooring.

We arrived at 17.20 as the rain cleared – it had rained on and off most of the day.

At last.  Approaching La Bassée from the east instead of the west.

Bergues to Arques

47km, 2 locks (Jeu de Mail, 1.4m and Watten, 0.95m),  6.2 engine hours

After 2 lazy days hiding from the weather, today we bounced out of bed bright and early just as the sun, yes the sun, was climbing over the horizon into a clear blue sky.  

We were under way by 9.00 back down the Canal de Bergues to the outskirts of Dunkirk, 

Canal de Bergues

turned left into the Canal de Bourbourg and called the Jeu de Mail Lock.  The lockie opened the gates for us right away and by 10.15 we exited upstream. 

Looking glamorous as usual

The Canal de Bourbourg is part of the Grand Gabarit canal that goes all the way from Dunkirk to the Belgian border near Valenciennes on the Escaut River some 189km away.  Other canals that have been swallowed up by the Grand Gabarit (which means large gauge) that we will travel along are the Canal de la Haute Come, the Aa River, the Canal de  Neufossé, Canal d’Aire, Canal de la Deule, Canal de la Sensée and the Escaut River.  I may have forgotten a few.

It is very wide and straight but not unattractive. 

The first barge

Canal de la Haute Colme

A fisherman, a scooter and a trailer with an enormous amount of stuff

The Aa, or maybe the Canal de Neufossé

At midday it started to cloud over, the wind picked up a little and got colder so Ian moved from the outside steering position on the aft deck to the interior steering position in the saloon. 

 At 14.45 we reached our intended destination for the day, a cut on the outskirts of Saint Omer that gives some protection from the large barges passing by.  

By this time the weather had improved somewhat so we decided to move on to a marina a few kms ahead and just before the Flandre Lock.  The weather forecast for tomorrow tells us it is going to start off fine and the rain later in the day hence the decision to get a move on.

And here we are at the Porte de Plaisance de Arques.  

This is a private marina, which means we have to hand over a few sheckles:  €12/day plus electricity and water (normally €3 but seeing the water is not yet connected we only had to pay €2 for the electricity). 

2 days in Bergues

We have been holed up here for 2 days avoiding the worst of the weather.  It has been cold, it has been wet, and apparently it has been windy but we are in a nice protected mooring.

Yesterday Ian took a walk, came back with very muddy boots, and a couple of pics of our mooring.

 

Njord tied up alongside Friesland

One small dock, two big barges

The buds are swelling -spring can't be too far away

Yesterday evening the electricity kept tripping.  The French barge had run their engine all day but as soon as they connected to the electric box it tripped.  Ian, Steve from Friesland (the barge we are tied up to) and the owner of the French boat (Bohem) spent half an hour out there in the cold and drizzle, trying all possible combinations.  It turned out we can be connected with either of the barges, but they cannot both be connected at the same time. Phew, nothing to do with us, and they agreed to share the box, when one is connected the other runs on battery power.  Thank goodness we don’t have a big barge.  But it really highlights the fact that these barges with all the electrical amenities of a house, should not expect to use the electricity supply of a “halte de plaisance” which is a mooring provided by the local town for pleasure cruisers with essential but minimal amenities.  A “Porte de Plaisance” is a private marina, more expensive, which caters for all sizes of boats.

Tomorrow we intend to leave at about 9.00 and go as far as the weather conditions will allow.  It will be a long day, and I have plenty of good,wholesome, home made  soup to see us through.

26th March Knokkebrug to Bergues

 

51 km, 3 locks, 10 lift bridges, 7.5 engine hours

We intended leaving the mooring at 9.00 but at that time we were hemmed in by thick fog.

So we waited.  Ian went to chat to 2 guys working on the bridge, they were testing all the bridges along the Lo Canal and Ieper-Ijzer Canal and assured us they were all in good order.

By 9.40 the fog was slightly less dense, I called the lock keeper at Fintele and he arrived about 20 mins later to open the bridge for us.  By 10.05 we were under way.  The temperature was 5.8C, and no wind.

Knokkbrug opens to allow us through

Gradually the fog lifted, replaced by cloudy skies.

A view across the fields.  On the right is a farming mending a fence.

Entering the Fintele Lock

Doing my thing on the bow

The narrow Lo Canal

At 13.15, as we were waiting for the lock in Veurne to open, 

we discussed whether we should stop at the marina in Veurne as planned or continue to Bergues, 30 kms away.  By then it had warmed up considerably and turned into a very pleasant day.  Tomorrow is forecast is to be cold, rainy and windy all day and I was not looking forward to a 5 hour slog in those conditions.  So we decided to continue.

Look at that blue sky - can't believe it is the same day

And look - buds and blossoms

We crossed the border into France at 14.30

Looking back, a sign announcing your entry into Flanders,
but nothing to say you are entering France

called the bridge keeper at the first lift bridge and he duly arrived to check our papers (i.e make sure we had bought a vignette for the French waterways). 

And then we got to the Furnes Lock in Dunkirk.  “Pull the little chain to operate the lock” said the instructions. 

The “little  chain “was hanging about 6 inches from the wall so I stood on the bow and Ian inched up to it.  I pulled it, nothing happened.  We repeated the process, still nothing happened.  So I called the VHF channel indicated for “emergencies” and the operator told me there was a problem and the technicians were on their way.  We tied up at the pontoon and waited.  Ian took a walk to the lock and saw that the far lock gates were not closed properly with rubbish trapped between them.  The techies took about 40 minutes to arrive, opened the far gates, released the rubbish, closed them again and 2 red lights appeared – which means the lock is out of service.  Oh no, now what!  They messed around at an electrical box and eventually waved us into the lock, red lights notwithstanding.

Dunkirk

As we rounded the corner to the small Port de Plaisance at Bergues, we saw 2 huge barges taking up the whole dock.  Drat.  We have tied up alongside a British registered barge.  The owners are Australian, very friendly and opened up the electricity box so we could hook up.  You have to get the key from the Tourism office but it closes at 18.00 and by the time we arrived it was already 18.30.  Tomorrow we will present ourselves at the office and pay our dues.  It costs €7.50 per day including water and electricity, and you have to leave a €40 deposit for the key, which you get back when you return the key.

Approaching Bergues with its ancient walls

Two large barges on a small quay

Diksmuide to Knokkebrug

A slow amble along the Ijzer River brought us to the lift bridge at Knokkebrug.  Unfortunately it is not serviced on Sundays at this time of year so we cannot go any further today. 

We have tied up at the dock that belongs to De Knokke pub, which have supported a few times in the past.  In the evening we went in for a drink and had a very interesting chat with a local chap who is a keen biker and done quite a bit of toruing as we did a few years ago. 

But drinking in a pub in Belgium is not cheap: a bear, a glass of wine and bottle of water cost a smidgeon under €10!

Leaving our mooring

Goodbye clubhouse 

The dock at Knokkebrug