Out and about – Ravels and Turnhout

Thursday 16 & Friday 17 April

My morning view from the hatch

A couple of days getting provisioned at Del Heiz in Ravels

A pretty Ravels garden

and internet link sorted out at Mobistar in Turnhout (very helpful people at the branch there), sanding and varnishing and once again vainly trying to find oxalic acid to clean up residual rust marks left on deck by the people who fitted the new fore hatch. Had a good lunch at the Stads Café; ‘croque bolognaise’ which was two slices of toasted cheese smothered in bolognaise sause – delicious.

Turnhout station on right

Turnhout city hall

The main city square - Stads Cafe at junction.

On Friday we rode the 10kms into Turnhout again and, apart from guzzling a huge portion of chips and mayonnaise (Note to self: Order the small portion next time!)

visited the only mildly interesting Playing Card Museum, the 12^th Century castle of the dukes of Brabant which is now a courthouse,

Castle of the Dukes of Brabant

Castle Courtyard

and the fascinating Begijnhof. A begijnhof was a community of women who did not want to marry and wanted to lead a Christian life without the strictures of entering a convent or being bound to a single religion.

Begijnhof entrance

The museum

Making ribbon lace.

From Wikipedia:

While a small beguinage usually constituted just one house where women lived together, a Low Countries Court Beguinage typically comprised one or more courtyards surrounded by houses, and also included a church, an infirmary complex, and a number of communal houses or 'convents'. From the twelfth century through the eighteenth, every city and large town in the Low Countries had at least one Court Beguinage (they shut down, one by one, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries). They were encircled by walls and separated from the town proper by several gates which were closed at night. During the day the Beguines could come and go as they pleased. Beguines came from a wide range of social classes, though truly poor women were only admitted if they had a wealthy benefactor who pledged to provide for their needs.

Soup for supper and early to bed.

Sluis Lommel to Ravels

Wednesday 15 April.

Another very fine day so at 07h45 we dropped our moorings and headed for the lock only to find no-one around. Eventually a lock keeper arrived and we were quickly through – at the next two locks they were ready for us and, hardly waiting for us to make fast before emptying the lock, hurried us through.

At 10h00 we stopped to do some maintenance; us sanding and varnishing and Ian and Sian sanding their coach house roof in clouds of white paint dust.

 Had a bit of a ‘moment’ when one of the commercials who seemed not to care a whit about us, steamed past at such a rate that my screw in mooring pins were ripped out of the ground; fortunately Ian and Sian had popped around for a chat and managed to catch the lines and, together with Lynn, managed to prevent Ellle from doing a 108 degree spin in the middle of the canal. These ‘biggies’ don’t seem to care for the passantes as the will slow down as they approach us but as soon as their stern is level with our bow, they open up engines creating quite a backwash which is not funny.

Njord squeezing past a commercial

At 14h15 we cast off and headed for Ravels where we moored up at 16h30 at the very pleasant Jachthaven Het Ge Vaer

That's us on the right

Jachthaven Het Ge Vaer

€1 per meter mooring including water, Electricity €1.50 per day.Shower €1 for 8 minutes.

26.9kms

6 hours

3 locks

3 bridges

And back to Sluis Lommel.

Tuesday 14 April.

A stunning day! Relatively warm, clear and no wind.

We cast off at 09h40 and, three hours later, arrived at the watering point just before the lock where the girls went off in search of the lockkeeper who held the key to the taps. Be warned – if you want to fill up here you might need to join two hosepipes together as we had to reach the far side of the boat where Murphy had situated the water filler.

An hour later and ready to go we were informed that the lock was broken and, while it would not take long to repair, preference would be given to the commercials which were stacking up in line – presumably the same was happening on the opposite side of the lock for vessels going upstream. So we made the decision to moor at the jetty where we had spent Sunday. And a good decision it was as we watched the ‘heavies’ going up and down until late into the afternoon; part of the problem is that the locks are quite small and only fit one +/-50m barge at a time.

A relaxing day in all.

14.8kms

3 hours

No locks

One bridge

Sluis Lommel to Leopoldsburg along the Beverlo canal

Monday 13 April.

An uneventful cruise along a relatively quiet, partially tree-lined canal with campers, joggers and cyclists all out and about, past the marinas of the jachtklubs Lommel and Blauwe Reiger, through a quaint little lifting bridge and into the very pleasant Jachtclub Leopoldsburg where we were to overnight.

The town of Leopoldsburg, virtually a ghost town as it was Monday, seems to have one real claim to fame viz; it was the place where Lt Gen Brian Horrocks received his orders to advance against the Germans which was effectively the start of Operation Market Garden, the biggest airborne offensive of any war.

Jachtclub Leopoldsburg: €1pm mooring, €1.50 for electricity (we did not use) and €1 for showers. Free use of toilets and charging post for eBikes.

The members set about laying a new lawn and boy, could our locals learn a thing or two about working quickly and efficiently! Not a single spade supporter in sight.

A very pleasant stay.

14.8kms
3 hours

No locks

One bridge