Tuesday 6 October 2015
Sulking about having missed such a long term planned
meal, Tuesday we called the VHF frequency for lock service and, seemingly as
usual on these small canals, received no response so it was back to GSM and
after Lynn having battled away in French trying to request lock service, the
polite young gentleman on the other end said “No problem Madame – what time
would you like the lock to be prepared?”
“When can you make it?”
“15 minutes?”
“Fantastique! Merci/Thank you/Dankie/Siyabonga!”
And 15 minutes later our super-efficient two man team were there to take us through the lock and onto the prettiest 8kms of waterway we have yet seen – crystal clear water, beautiful avenue of trees, autumnal farmlands and fabulously anticipated bridge and lock openings,
despite the
rather drizzly weather which, just before we turned into the big Haut-Escaut,
became torrential. Poor foredeck crewmember!
With the rain eventually letting up to a pesky occasional shower, we travelled up the surprisingly pretty commercial canal,
 |
| Canal Haute-Escaut |
 |
| Trickster with which we later locked through |
dodging the
odd ‘biggie’, until we arrived at the 120m long Ecluse Kain and moored under
the stern of the 90m long commercial barge Trickster
– a bit intimidating I can assure, especially after hearing what had happened
to friend Willy of Diksmuide (see the last paragraph of Sian’s post here http://carterscruises.blogspot.de/2015/10/stalhillebrug-jabbeke-to-nieuwpoort.html
). But after about an hour we moved into the huge lock without incident and
then locked out into the historical city of Tournai, past Henry VIII’s arches, and historical canalside buildings
to our mooring which we later named Donk Poo Dock due to all the duck poo on the
pontoon and all the dog poo on the pavement above – not very pleasant...
The incessant drizzle was no motivation to go exploring and
after six hours on the water we were a little weary so after engine checks, a
great chicken curry supper, it was off to bed for a long read.
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