Brugge/Munich/Brugge/Ghent/Deinze/Kortrijk - Friends and Family

Saturday 19 September to Thursday 1 October 2015

What a mad flurry of activity this period has been!

A very pleasant cruise from the pedestrian bridge mooring, via Scheepsdalebrug mooring for a shopping stopover (great tip, thanks Sian and Ian)

(I cannot get the video to upload, nor can I remove it!)

Scheepdalebrug

 to Brugge where we moored up in the pretty Coupure, enjoyed the huge street market held annually during the ‘No Cars in Brugge Day’,

and watched the Springboks shock loss to Japan in the Rugby World Cup.

Sunday was spent relaxing and preparing Elle for visitors; bright and early on Monday morning we had a taxi take us to the station where we boarded a train to the Oktoberfest in Munich where, despite arriving two hours late due to an uncharacteristic delay in the German train system causing us to miss a changeover, South African friends Gerd and Lesley were there to greet us.

The next two days were an amazing adventure through the Hofbrauhaus, Oktoberfest, English Garden, Hofbrauhaus, Oktoberfest…

 …until Thursday morning when, somewhat beermused, the four of us poured ourselves onto a train bound for Brugge and Elle.

Arriving back on Elle

Determined to show Gerd that Europe was not the overcrowded, polluted place he remembered from decades ago (although I suspect the time they had spent in Bavaria before meeting us had made a favourable impression), Friday was spent doing the tourist ‘thing’ around the city including the 40 minute boat trip through the canals, sampling the fabulous Belgian beers before enjoying a really good meal in the tiny Vaetvient restaurant – you are served a simple but delicious meal off the menu which seems to change daily. Google or pass by to check opening hours before arriving and booking in season is 100% essential. I think we were lucky to get a table…

(Note: Lesley had been clicking away furiously with her battery of cameras so I asked if, before they left us, I could copy her photographs for the record – and then I forgot to download them which is why this blog is quite picture sparse). Saturday was a ‘chill’ day with the highlight being the Springboks beating Samoa, watched in the Irish Pub with Ian and Sian who had arrived in the Flandria Yacht Club earlier in the day on their boat Njord.

The next morning, not wanting to arrive in Ghent too early, we made arrangements with Andy the English winter havenmeester to let us through the pedestrian gate at 11h00; once through we were promptly told by the unseen bridge operator to be patient as they would only open the bridge once a commercial had arrived which was about half an hour later. And then for the next few kilometres of bridges we travelled in her wake

eventually arriving at the Linderlei Yachthaven at the end of the 47 kilometer trip just before 18h00 where there was just time for a quick walk and sundowners at a café next to the Palace of Justice. Then it was back to Elle for supper and off to bed.

View from our mooring.

 Travelling down the Kromme Leie the next morning in perfect weather

(perfect to run aground in too!) was a joy and all too soon we were tied up in Deinze ably assisted by John and Sue from barge SO99 (it was a fuel barge owned by Esso and numbered 99 but not being allowed to use the trademark name when they bought her, they named her SO99 – geddit?) moored nearby. The afternoon was spent chatting followed by an on board braai. Early the next morning we were on the bicycles to the beautiful Oidink Castle...

...and then back to Elle for the trip south to Kortrijk.

Arriving Kortrijk

Gerd and Les did most of their exploring during their customary hour-long sunrise walks so by the time everyone was spat and polished, there was not much to do other than replenish beer and wine stocks, find snacks for lunch and a restaurant for our last dinner together; before we knew it Thursday 1 October was upon us and at 06h30 Gerd and Les were collected by taxi for their respective flights to South Africa and the UK, Lesley to visit her mom and sister before returning to SA. And later in the day Ian and Sian said their farewells as they began their return journey to Diksmuide where they will spend three weeks on boat maintenance.

And then silence descended – whew!

Nieuwpoort to Stalhille/Jabbeke

Friday 18 September 2015

At eight thirty sharp we dropped off our marina key with the jovial havenmeester and moved across to the duckweed filled St Joris Sluis

Happy harbourmaster

where we waited at the gates for about ten minutes with a beam-on breeze making life a bit difficult; eventually barge Silk Purse, owned by Canadians Barrie & Carole Grant, emerged and we could take their place going in the opposite direction.

Duckweed

St Joris Sluis

A most friendly lockkeeper who incidentally, had surfed the South African coastline from Cape Town to Durban, held us in the lock for quite a while as we waited for any other boats coming from the Nieuwpoort side to join the 10h00 convoy to Zandvoordedraaibrug. Eventually we led the dash to Zandvoordebrug but it was not long before we were overtaken by a zealous Dutch boat which in turn was overtaken by another Dutch flagged boat just before the final bridge just so they could be certain of arriving at the free mooring before anyone else. By the time we arrived at their mooring they were already tied up so I made a point of going past them as fast as possible – childish but most satisfying.

The convoy

It was not long before we arrived at the pedestrian footbridge across the canal and where there is a free mooring with pay electricity and water and from where we experienced all four seasons almost simultaneously!

Pedestrian bridge Jabbeke-Stalhille

A short while later

Took a 5km ride to Jabbeke where we had a beer in one of the local pubs and then rode back to Stalhille...

Riding across the freeway on the way to Jabbeke

The road to Stalhille

...before popping into a restaurant across the water from our mooring for a glass of wine.

Restaurant, Jabbeke-Stalhille intersection

Meat slicer

Elle through the restaurant window

Diksmuide to Nieuwpoort

Thursday 17 November 2015

Woken in the wee hours of the morning by the ghastly thought “What if the engines don’t start – how will we make our RV with Gerd and Les in Munich? Why didn’t I do the engine checks yesterday?” so way before sunrise it was into the engine room to check propshafts, strainers, oil levels, belt tensions, coolant levels and fuel filters – the only issue is that I cannot drain the fuel filters for fear of breaking the (aged) butterfly nuts. Eventually, once all in the marina were up and about, it was with great trepidation that I turned the keys to start the engines – with nary a splutter they roared into life and settled into a contented purr. Relief!

The cruise to the VVW Westerhoek marina (not the commercial ‘Westerhoek Marina’) in Nieuwpoort was done under mainly leaden skies, occasional squalls and a moderate to stiff breeze. The only other vessel we encountered was the tourist boat IJzerster travelling flat out in the opposite direction – so much for speed limits on the waterways. Closer to the jachthaven there was quite a bloom of duckweed but this hardly affects the strainers at all; we moored up at the almost empty visitors steiger (pontoon) almost without incident – apart, that is, from a sudden change in wind direction pushing us onto the finger opposite the one we were aiming for.

Nieuwpoort mooring

 At Diksmuide we had chosen not to brave the wind and rain

and to fill our water tanks from the municipal water supply rather than the osmosis treated arrangement available at the marina. Unfortunately we had not let the water run long enough to clear the old water from the pipes to the tap (nobody else seems to use this water option) and as a result our water tasted as if someone had cooked crayfish in it so the first thing we did in Nieuwpoort was to dump 600 litres and refill with untainted stuff.

After a fantastic homemade curry for lunch, a quick general tidy and clean-up leaving “Elle” sparkling, a beer and a couple of glasses of wine at the Ark restaurant in the marina, it was home and early to bed.

Flags in front of the Ark restaurant

Diksmuide

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Our start to Nieuwpoort has been delayed as the package from Kok Watersport has not arrived – but we are assured that it will arrive today. So it was another day of odd-jobbing

Quite pleased at how the new gear selector knobs turned out.

and exploring (without the camera…). In the afternoon Ian and Lisette popped over and invited us on to Catharina Elisabeth for dinner with themselves and the owners of Vroue Johanna, Joe and Janna May (http://abargeatlarge.co.uk/).

Catharina Elisabeth is gorgeous and the recent structural changes which Ian and Lisette have made really enhance the available space. Ian busied himself preparing a cheese fondue over a cute fuel stove while the rest chatted over glasses of wine. Dinner was a real dipping affair and great fun.

Ian aka M'sieur Fondant

Ian and Jo

Socialising.

Thanks Guys, that was great and nice meeting you Jo and Janna.

Much later we bid all adieu and retired to Elle for a good night’s sleep – despite the Kok Watersport package never arriving…it apparently found its way to Germany for some or other reason!

Back on Board - at last!

Tuesday 15 September

No pictures unfortunately - I will eventually find the camera.

Emirates flight from Durban to Dubai was horrible; surly staff, rubbish food, agonisingly slow service - it took them two and a half hours to offer us any refreshments at all. Not even a drop of water post take-off. The next morning's flight from Dubai to Paris was like flying with KLM; happy personnel, great food, snappy service - an absolute pleasure.

The train ride from Charles De Gaulle to Brussels departed 25 minutes late which meant we missed the early connection to Diksmuide but the journey itself was very pleasant - and, at 300kmh, fast. The train from Brussels to Diksmuide took two hours, stopping at a host of small stations but our taxi was at the station to meet us and finally, at about 22h00, we were back aboard 'Elle'.

Since then it has been a rain and wind filled flurry of unpacking, shopping, cleaning three months accumulated deck grime, filling water tanks, shopping, milking cash dispensers, shopping...I think you get the drift?

As an aside, on arrival there was a very pretty visitors card stuck to our window saying that  Australians Ian and Lisette from the barge 'Catharina Elisabeth' (http://eurmacs.com/blog/) had popped around and were moored a short way from us. Needless to say, that evening we got together on Elle and had a fun evening, swopping stories and imbibing the odd glass of wine or two amply washed down with some great Lynn-made soup. Nice to finally meet you Ian and Lisette!

Tomorrow we leave for Nieuwpoort and hopefully our Kokwatersport order will have arrived - dispatched 11 September and not here yet.

Durban, South Africa - "Leaving on a jet plane"

Saturday 12 September 2015

Our three months in the ‘sin bin’ are now over and tomorrow we head for King Shaka International Airport where, at 18h40, we board an Air Emirates flight to Paris with a short stop in Dubai on the way. From Paris it is by train to Diksmuide with changeovers in Brussels and Ghent – we expect to be on Elle no later than 22h00 on Monday 14 September.

What have we been doing here over the past three months?

-          Lynn had a scan done of her knee and will now have a knee replacement operation a week after our return from Europe in November.

-          We spent a very pleasant week touring Mkuze Game Reserve

and the Tembe Elephant Park, the latter being on South Africa’s border with southern Mozambique.

  

-          I had squamous cell cancer cut out of my nose and a basal cell one cut out of my right ear which used to be about 5mm taller than the left and is now 5mm shorter.

-          Lynn celebrated the second anniversary of her 30^th birthday.

-          We spent ten wonderful days fishing on the Transkei Wild Coast.

We stay in the buildings on the inside curve of the river.

-          And I was informed on Thursday by the neurologist that I have to have another (the 3^rd) back operation “sooner rather than later” so this is now provisionally scheduled for the end of February although this date will depend on Lynn’s recovery progress after her knee replacement.

But most importantly we are packed, excited and ready to hit the waterways again. Our plan is broadly as follows:

-          Depart Diksmuide 15/09 arriving Brugge 19/09 with stopovers in Nieuwpoort and Jabbeke.

-          Depart Brugge on 21/09 by train for the Oktoberfest in Munich and return to Brugge on 24/09.

-          With friends Gerd and Lesley we will cruise Brugge/Eeklo/Gent then down the Leie to Deinze and Kortrijk where they will leave us on 01/10.

-          The same day we will start a five week journey along the Leie/Lys, to Deulemont, and then to Wambrechies and Roubaix in France and back into Belgium where we will join the Haut Escaut/Boven-Schelde to Peronnes, the canals Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes and Du Centre to Seneffe then down the Canal de Charleroi a Bruxelles to just short of Brussels and then start our return journey with a detour trip north down the Dende River and back south the same way and then finally, the quickest way back to Diksmuide via Kortrijk. The whole adventure will look something like this:

-          Elle will come out of the water for the winter on 13/11 and on 17/11 we board a train for France to catch an Air Emirates flight back to Durban, via Dubai, arriving on 19/11.