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).