Introduction.
Just before publication this week got itself mashed in a black cyber hole.
What follows is what we remember.
August 18 Sunday
I
n Cambrai Canal St-Quentin.Hot - very - so just sat around on grass in empty park under the trees - lovely
Official celebratory fireworks in evening, some 2 hours after light to medium rain began to fall. Good show, and we had ring-side seat. Public not permitted into port area at all, but we were already there with boat!
Also meant we had a very quiet day, without anyone at all coming in, promenading, fishing etc, with the whole sitting out area of green grass to ourselves.
August 19 Monday
Cambrai to Bassin Rond l’Escaut
Still very hot. Short day to-day to leave us in good jump off position for
dash up Grand Gabarit to-morrow
Met Carol and Bob of Carol-Ann.
Townscape of old and new. Which is which?
August 20 Tuesday
Bassin Rond l’Escaut to Courcelles les Lens Canal de la Deûle
Filthy weather - off in some doubt as to safety very early onto
Canal de la Sense - full size ginormous canal with full sized ginormous boats.Canal so wide that other traffic no problem - plenty of room.
Rigged strong nav lights on forward roof - kept them on till afternoon.
Heavy commercial traffic up through Douai and getting bigger. However, locks of hundred acre variety, 3 off, and don’t remember problems.
Landscape industrial - a bit like Manchester.
Into Courcelles after looking at 2 other moorings - grotty, grottier and grottiest.
No choice but to stop here - at least well out of danger of wash and heave from passing big boats. We were given mooring completely blocking entrance to inner harbour - but no-one seemed to mind. Had to do fancy maneuvring to turn boat!
However, it was the meeting place for local teen-age children. They were perfectly
dreadful, and apparently well known in French boat circles for their nuisance.
About 40 of them - running around in groups, then re-forming, just like
starlings. Girls all shrieking, boys honking with recently broken voices.
Fortunately, it wasn’t sitting out weather - too cool - but by the same token didn’t rain to put them off.
Mentioned nuisance value to Madame Capitaine, but she said she had neither seen nor heard anyone.
Met a French boater from Courcelles who said that most locals kept their boats at Bassin Rond, or anywhere else, rather than at Courcelles P. de P.!
August 21 Wednesday
Courcelles les Lens to Lille Canal de la Deûle
Into Lille virtually in convoy with commercials of every size and description. Coal mines, gravel pits and even a container terminal, on way in.
Absolutely fascinating, and even though terror was never far away, and our
heads and eyes
were never stationary, wouldn’t have missed it as an
experience - or a sight!
Super moorings at Lille. The only "official" moorings at Lille are a single grotty pontoon on a grotty and busy canal corner/cross-roads. Right opposite cross-roads, (this for other boaters heading that way) there is a short dead-end stretch of canal up to old disused lock. Up it, on right, length of wall with bollards, by a small factory in grounds. Whole area completely security ring fenced and gated - couldn’t even get out, let alone disturbers get in. Only minimal surge from big commercials in main channel. The factory was closed and deserted - presumably for summer holidays - when we were there, so no one to ask. Photos of "official" pontoon available.
August 22 Thursday
Lille to Deûlemont.
First, enjoyed wander round and shopping on bikes in Lille before starting
- object to find maps of Belgium in avowedly best book shop in North France.
Had to move boat first to get out of security compound - hid her behind hedge and lifted bikes over.
Found set of maps which looked super, but turned out to be pretty poor!
On way out of Lille met absolute swarm of commercials racing for lock we were just vacating, and, as before, one started trying to enter before we were out. This time Herself put yellow flashing light on, fixed bayonets, and charged. Never seen a boat look so embarrassed, or give out so much black smoke as he hurriedly reversed.
Warmbrechies for lunch - yet another disaster of a mooring. Even the mud on which we ran aground was black and nasty.
Rain.
Found ostensibly safe moorings at Deûlemont, and tied up. In cut to old lock, in which was moored old peniche. Unfortunately - fast moving big downstream traffic sent 18" surges straight through the lock, onto the pontoons. Very rough - but it only actually happened once, and Albert was well tied up, even though sheltered.
The moorings were disgustingly dirty, and uncared for.
Just beginning to wonder if thrashing Albert for 6 to 8 hours a day at max speed of 7.5 km/h along a major industrial canal some 3 times Albert’s length wide through heavy industrial countryside in the constant rain is what we really want to do. But Lille was fun.
August 23 Friday
Deurlemont to Menen, Canal de la Deûle.
Into Belgium.
Filled up diesel at bunker ship on canalside - .415€ as opposed to .80 to 1€ per litre.
Had a chandlery, but, believe it or not, no Belgium flags - hence no courtesy flag to display!
Menin theoretically half in France, so assumed they would have French post box or office, but couldn’t find it, perhaps because the further we cycled, the more Belgium everything became - we were holding map upside down.
Mooring much better - safe from wash, and no harassment from children. Lots of notices all round saying what was forbidden. Supposed to pay at swimming pool, but no-one there, and no-where to leave money. Electrics and water ostensibly locked up, but both vandalised, so available for use.
Countryside now flat and featureless - not surprisingly - and canal traffic as before - frightening, but intensely interesting.
August 24 Saturday
Menen to Deinze. Canal de la Deûle.
More rain, and cold.
Route through Courtray (Kortrijk - all places in Belgium seem to have 2 names - 2 languages?)
From huge wide canal, route changed to narrow tightly twisting one. Much muttering about what happens if we meet a peniche.
We didn’t, but on emerging into the wide main canal above the town met a
mass of traffic charging down from the lock just above it. Did we miss
something - we saw no sign whatso-ever of any traffic control, and no sign of
watchers or controllers. Heard lots on VHF, but, as usual, incomprehensible,
and what we could understand related to the lock above the town.
Really very frightening as to what could have happened. Meeting anything but a Freycinet peniche loaded could have been very nasty indeed. Subsequently, have heard that there is a telephone number one is supposed to ring. This not displayed anywhere, and is not in the Navicarte. The boater who told us this, and who has the number, had rung it on one occasion, but got no reply.
This is a really dangerous and ugly set-up.
Into Dienze, turned off main route to Yacht club for the night. They threw us out as being too long for their pontoons, and although there was space against the canal wall, before the pontoons, sent us up into the town some 2kms on, and in our inexperience, we went.
Found a light controlled swing bridge, but no lights on, so went under it, to find covey of boats waiting on the other side - under a red light - for the bridge to lift!
Tied up in their place to dreadful "music" from the church tower - sounded like very loud music box. Went on for about an hour, then fortunately, they got bored and stopped.
SM just over the road, so got whatever necessary, had supper and went to
bed.
Drunken revelers woke us about 0100, circulating town centre, and yelling. One leaped onto stern of boat, jumped up and yelled, then pushed off as suddenly as he arrived.
Heard revelers yelling their way round port, then they returned, jumped on the boat again. Had had enough, by now, and issued forth from under back cover like an avenging angel, cursing and shouting a mite less than angelically, grabbing broom on the way. Drunken lout left very quickly indeed, regrettably by land.
Thought about situation, and as revelers were still wandering round town making a disturbance, called police. 112 first, then 101 in Belgium.
As revelers obviously going to return, decided to leave moorings, and go back to yacht club - whether they wanted us or not, and whether we were too long or not! First drama - no ignition keys - drunk must have taken them as some sort of "trophy"! After sorting that out, blessed our narrow boat dimensions that let us under the lift bridge.
Called police again with notification of change of address - all in good English - and after we had moored, joined electricity, and put out stern riding light (it was the stern that was dangling out in the canal) the coppers duly arrived, but like all coppers in that situation, they needed positive identification, and as soon as they went into town all was dead quiet.
Back to bed - wondering if Belgium was really for us - at 0230.