Trip to France - Part Two
Much like highway toll roads, many of the European countries impose a fee for the use of their waterways. The handiest place to collect or enforce these tolls is the extensive lock system. Our route took us through one of the few waterways in Belgium that requires a Waterway Permit (vignette). According to the cruising guide, the fine for not having one is quite severe. Our only option was to purchase a one year permit at a cost of eighty-five Euros even though we were only going to be in Belgium for a few days. We were able to buy this at the first lock we came to in Belgium.
The French offer a way to purchase their vignette online. Choose your time period, input your credit card information and viola! Print out the vignette, display it in the prescribed spot and you are good to go. At least one of our travel days would be spent crossing and re-crossing the Belgium and French borders, so we displayed both vignettes but we were only asked about our vignette at one lock in France.
The part of Belgium that we were to pass through is known as Flanders. This part of Belgium also has its own language, Flemish, which did not seem to be an option in the translator that I had been using. We were told that it was a version of Dutch and was much like the difference between American English and UK English. Lucky for us, most people we encountered also spoke very good English.
On our first day in Belgium, we only had to pass through two locks. Because of all the commercial traffic, it took us over two hours to get through the second lock and that made us very late to meet the “harbormaster” at the “yacht club” we had chosen for the night. The Waregem Yacht Club turned out to be a harbor for small boats at the end of an abandoned lock.
It was nearly dark when we arrived. Just after we exited the lock, we saw a line of very large metal pilings on our left with a few small powerboats behind them. We had been told to choose any berth that was open but we would be on our own for tying up and securing our boat. As there was quite a strong cross current and cross wind, we selected the one pier that was parallel to the shore. About half the space was taken up by a survey boat, part of the new lock construction on the other side of the canal.
There were only two small cleats left for us to tie to so using my best cowboy skills and our captain’s excellent piloting we managed to lasso the first cleat and make a pretty graceful landing. Lucked out again, we were in for the night, wedged between the pier and one of the huge metal pilings with about two feet to spare. We pondered how we might get out of this tight spot when the time came, but luckily, the survey crew came to rescue their boat the next morning and we were able to secure a better attachment to the pier.
The “temporary” Club House at Waregem turned out to be quite a friendly place and seemed to serve as an after-work hang out for the local lock construction team. Lots of great and inexpensive Belgium beer enticed us into staying two extra days.
On the second day we were treated to an up close view of the construction barge attaching some high tech floating fenders to the giant pilings that we had maneuvered around when we entered the harbor. The story was that a large commercial barge had “drifted” off the waterway and did some major damage to several small boats in the harbor sometime during the previous year.
The giant pilings, fortified with huge rolling fenders, were now the defense perimeter for the pleasure boat harbor. We definitely liked the idea of being behind this barrier.
The lock construction here is part of a huge project to improve this very busy commercial route from Paris all the way to Antwerp, Rotterdam, and on to the rest of Europe. The new lock being built at Sint Baafsvijve (no idea how to pronounce this) is only one of the construction sites we had seen along our route. Ship size on the new waterway will increase from a maximum of 650-tonnes to 4400-tonnes. It is estimated that a ship that size can carry the same load as two hundred over the road trucks. Not sure I want to mix it up in a lock with something that size.
By travel day number seven we were finally across the French border. We had traveled about one-half of the distance to our destination but had only gone through about one-third of the locks. The lift (rise of the water level) of the locks was also increasing, some single locks as much as six meters (nearly twenty feet). The coastal flatlands were giving way to the hillier inland terrain.
Travel Day Nine was our most ambitious day so far. We completed ten locks for a rise of about fifty-three meters (about one hundred seventy-five feet) which brought us to the highest point of our trip at about two hundred forty-five feet above sea level. We had the good fortune to follow the same commercial ship for most of the day. As these guys do this every day, we were happy to follow along and learn from them. The “Norway” was just the right size so that we could fit comfortably behind her in the locks and her cruising speed was a comfortable pace for us as well.
This was also the day we entered the Canal Du Nord. This historic canal was actually begun in 1908 and was largely destroyed during World War I. Due to financial constraints and another World War, the construction was not completed until 1966. The canal has been in continuous use ever since.
The locks on this canal are all pretty much the same size and style. The lock gate looks much like a very large guillotine which rises above the entry on the downstream side. This arrangement tends to provide a not so welcome “lock water” shower to anyone on deck as you pass under the gate. Once all the boats are inside, the gate lowers with a loud clunk and water rushes in to fill the lock.
We were perfecting our lock procedures as we traveled along. Armed with an extended boat hook and docking lines, the procedure was to direct the driver to the selected bollard in the wall, loop the line around the bollard in the wall and back to the boat and wait for the water to rise. The driver would then gently tap the controls to keep the boat in place as the water rushed in and the line handler snagged the next bollard up the wall as it became accessible
Ride up to the top, wait for the gates to open, bid Au Revoir and Merci to the eclusier (lock master) and you are on your way.
Our most valuable tool for this part of the trip was a set of wireless headphones for clear communication between driver and line handler.
On Travel Day Ten we were at the Ruyalcourt Tunnel by mid-morning. The tunnel is just over four kilometers (almost three miles) long.
It is only wide enough for one way traffic for about one-half mile at each end and then becomes wide enough for two vessels to pass in the mid-section of the tunnel. This theoretically allows vessels to enter at each end and then be able to pass in the middle. Not sure if this really works or not as we were fortunate enough to be the only vessel making the passage when we arrived.
There was no control tower visible from the canal and we received no answer to our radio call. There were only the red and green lights which were all green when we arrived so we slowly moved forward from the bright sunlight to the dark, dimly lit tunnel.
We discovered the glare from the wheelhouse windows was quite annoying in this situation and made it nearly impossible to see the narrow passage and its concrete side barriers. Shining a bright light at the front of the boat only seemed to make the glare worse. We sort of bumped our way through at the mandated slow speed and arrived at the other end of the tunnel about an hour later.
Out of the tunnel, we were now headed downstream for the rest of the day. Five locks and about thirty meters (ninety feet) down brought us to a small marina near the city of Peronne
Peronne has a long history of battles and devastation, dating back to pillaging and burning by the Normans in the eleventh century.
Important battles of World War I were fought near here and are artfully depicted at the Museum of the Great War located in the castle, Chateau de Peronne. All of the exhibits are presented in French, English, and German and are very well done.
Our route out of Peronne took us upstream once again. Three more locks up to the next tunnel. This tunnel was shorter at just over one kilometer and was one way traffic only. Lucky again, we did not have to wait for traffic and made our way through without a problem. Only thirteen more locks to go and they were all going downstream which turned out to be much easier than the upstream locks. The drop was also decreasing, some of the remaining locks were less than two meters.
We were traveling with French friends that we had met in Peronne whom we followed for two days. It was great to follow someone who could contact the eclusier and actually understand what was being said. Our friend Phillipe would then call us on the radio and relay the instructions in English. It certainly was much less stressful for us to travel this way.
Our friends, Phillipe and Catherine, were able to obtain the last berth in a crowded marina in Compiegne but there was no more room for another boat our size in the harbor. The cruising guide listed two other possible mooring spots along the river.
The place we chose turned out to be closer to the city than the marina but the constant rain dampened our tourist spirits and kept us inside for the rest of the day. Rain did not deter the many joggers, walkers, bicyclists, and anybody who wanted a nice view of the river during their outside activities in the lovely park.
It also did not deter the bevy of swans which immediately came to greet us and beg for swan treats.
The next day brought more rain mixed with occasional sunshine so we decided to take advantage of the free dockage and the great view of the river and all of its traffic. As we sat warm and dry inside our wheelhouse with this excellent view, we wondered why we hadn’t done this years ago.
With less than one hundred kilometers (about sixty miles) to go we set out on Travel Day Thirteen. Only seven more locks to go, all downstream and none over a two meter drop. Piece of cake. This was to be our last night out and we spent it at a small dock next to a fishing park. The park had several ponds stocked with fish and a small clubhouse. The restaurant was closed for the winter, but the bar was open. What French fisherman would be caught out without his glass of French wine?
Travel Day Fourteen, our last travel day, dawned bright and sunny but didn't stay that way for long. Just as we arrived at our last lock, the rain began again. At least it was still relatively warm outside.
Early that afternoon we arrived at Port du Plaisance Cergy. It had been twenty-four days since we left Heusden, Netherlands and the marina entrance was a welcome sight.
It was good to be at our new home. Swans and new friends were already there to greet us.
Click Here for Part One