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Wheelhouse hydraulic lift at full extent
to see over the bulky cargo |
Grey clouds and damp when
we set off at 9.10 a.m. Sunny later, but breezy. Five large Dutch cruisers had
gone past as we set off, they turned left for the lock on to the
Zuid-Willemsvaart as we carried on down the river, through the floodlock and on
along the Julianakanaal. I downloaded the photos from the previous day that I
had neglected to do the day before. Made a cuppa and took it out as we were
overtaken by Armira (110m x 11.45m 3,260 tonnes) loaded with coal. We got stuck
on his stern wave and Mike had to reverse to stop us “surfing” and being
dragged along with him. More cruisers were catching up.
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| Following Marga into Born lock |
Another big boat loaded
with wood chips (lovely smell) was coming towards us with his hydraulic
wheelhouse up at its full extent to see over the top of his cargo. He was
followed by an empty called Wendy-Chantal. The first of the next bunch of
cruisers overtook us at KP9.5. We met and passed an empty boat called Primair
from Pappendrecht (110m x 10.5m 2,882 tonnes) under the bridge at Elsloo on a
bend. A little further on we could hear motor cross racing but couldn’t see it
as the banks were too high. The next cruiser overtook us at Scharnbergbrug, a
busy road bridge over the canal. A police boat went past at KP12, heading
towards Maastricht. Seven girls on ponies went over the road bridge at Stein,
with a queue of cars behind them.
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| Phone mast on top of a pylon |
Another bunch of cruisers went past in the
opposite direction as we were passing the port of Stein with many arms and
basins where lots of big boats were tied up awaiting loading or unloading.
Today is a holiday, Ascension Day, but not for the lock keepers. Born lock
seemed to be reduced to only one chamber working out of the two new ones (an
older lock stood off to the left, disused). The lock was filling and we had to
wait, being blown sideways by the wind, while a whole armada of cruisers, plus
one small commercial with Sluis Maasbracht on the side of it, came up. Two
commercials had caught us up and went into the chamber first, Calanda, loaded
with coal (another 110m boat) and a smaller Belgian empty called Marga went in
behind the first one. We went in alongside on the left until a young woman came
out of the lock cabin and said “No further” when we were halfway along the side
of the last boat. There was enough room for the Snail behind us and a large
Swiss cruiser on the opposite wall.
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| Leaving Maasbract lock |
We dropped down 11.4m attached to floating
bollards. Mike held on to the rope while I made sandwiches for lunch. It was 1
pm as we left the lock. The industrial haven below the lock on the left now had
a row of houseboats at its far end and a couple of commercials moored in the
corner. A German cruiser went past heading for Born lock followed by Allegonda
(110m x 11.45m 3,344 tonnes) an empty Dutch boat from Ramsdonksveer. Four large
German cruisers behind it were racing to keep up to get in the lock with the
empty commercial, their wash was enormous – it washed our cabin windows,
watered the flowers on the Snail’s bows and swept round both our stern decks. A
few minutes later another German cruiser went past, but at a slower pace. Took
a photo of a phone mast on top of an electricity pylon at Rooserenbrug, unusual
place to see one but why not.
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| Going into Panheel lock |
The motorway A2 followed the canal on the right
for a few kilometres but below the level of the canal. The wind picked up and
was chilly as we ran along the elevated section of canal leading to the locks
at Maasbracht. Spied our first windmill way off in the distance on our left.
Maasbracht had two chambers working, the left was full with a green light, the
right had a large commercial coming up in it. We went into the chamber and tied
to the floaters on the left and only waited a short while before loaded boat
Iduna came in and went down the right hand side to the bottom end of the lock
and a large Dutch cruiser with a high bow came in behind the commercial. We
dropped gently down another 11.9m. The cruiser lost a fender that had sailed
off down the chamber and Olly managed to fish it out for them. They collected
it from him on the way out of the chamber.
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| Moored above Panheel locks |
Followed the barge and the cruiser
through the moored boats below the lock. At the end of the Julianakanaal we
turned left, crossing the Maas and into the Kanaal Wessem-Nederveert. A short distance
up the canal we came to Panheel locks and Olly called the lock keeper in his
best Dutch – he answered in English and said we could go up in the starboard
lock. The lock on the right emptied and a cruiser came out then we went up,
just the two of us. No floaters, back to old system of moving the ropes up on
to the recessed bollards in the wall. At 5 pm we moored above the lock to the
grassy bank with piling and bollards at the top of the slight slope. Before
we’d tied up we were joined by two Dutch cruisers. Gave Mike a hand to unload
the fizzer down the plank. Waah! The back tyre was flat and it had a hole in it
made by a piece of steel. Fortunately we had a new one in the engine room,
which I retrieved, while Mike took the punctured tyre off.
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