Wednesday 8th May 2013 Visé to Maastricht. 14 kms 2 locks

Geese at Vise

Sunny first thing, clouding over by lunchtime and rain again in the afternoon. Mike went by car to get some bread and parked the car on the far side of the river in Devant-le-Pont. It was 10.20 a.m. when we set off back up the river a short way then crossed to the opposite bank and into the lock channel, divided off from the river by stone walls with trees along it. There were dozens and dozens of geese, white ones, greylags, Canadas and Egyptians, besides all the seagulls, ducks and swans that are also lured here by people who feed them. What a mess, bird pooh everywhere, and the grass had been grazed down to next to nothing and there was a constant noise of honking and squawking. 

The bell below Vise lock

Past all the moored boats and a 90 degree turn to the left, noting that there was a new dark glass building that might be a pub, and on up to the lock which was open and ready for us (Mike had called round by car and booked it for 10.30 a.m. with the resident keeper) no need to ring the bell below the lock to summon the keeper (took a photo of the old bell). 5.5m deep and a bit larger dimensions than Freycinet sized locks (roughly about 45m long x 8m wide). The walls were covered in live mussels that were spitting water out all the time. As the lock filled we moved the centre rope up from one muddy recessed bollard to the next until the lock was full. The keeper wanted our papers. 

Controls from a bygone era at Vise lock.

I took my camera and took photos after I’d asked him if I could, as his lock cabin and the lock controls are unique. Anne came in with her papers too and we had our one and only stamp on the back of our papers. (In the days of “quittances” any boat entering Belgium had to fill in forms and get a toll ticket called a “quittance” and pay a toll equivalent to an empty commercial boat of a few centimes, the “quittance” had a list of canals for the route the boat would take. At many of the locks on this route the skipper of the vessel would have to take the “quittance” to the lock cabin, where the lock keeper would enter the details from the “quittance” in his ledger and then stamp the back of the boater’s “quittance” to say that the boat had passed through his lock. 

The boats in Vise lock

The system was time consuming and antiquated - even with computers - so they stopped it several years ago) It was nice to have one lock still on the old system. The keeper told me that the new locks they were building at Yvos-Ramet and Lanaye were going to be 250m long by 20-odd metres wide, BIG! Back on the boat, leaving the lock we were back on the Albert canal, turned right after checking nothing was coming. A police 4x4 drove along the bank at the same speed as us (we reckon they were taking photos!) as we headed for the last locks in Belgium at Lanaye. Ten minutes later the first boat went past, a cruiser. As we were being overtaken by a loaded tankership called Europe 03 (72.35m x 7.3m 1,087 tonnes) a crow tried to land on our roof, took off and landed on the handrails on the tanker boat. 

In Lanaye lock getting a free shower

Mike called Lanaye in French on VHF and had a reply in Flemish! He translated it as follow the yacht, then follow San Remo (in French, sort of) so we hung about while the commercials went in, San Remo from Maasbract and Misonda from Wessem went into the right hand big chamber and Parola from Wervik (53.24m x 6.23m 505 tonnes) went in behind Misonda on the right. We went in and tied alongside Parola (after asking the skipper’s permission) and the Snail came alongside us. The yacht (Swedish) had gone further forward, behind San Remo on the left, and tied to a bollard on the lock edge. Someone on the bank suggested that he tied to a floater as the lock was a deep one (14m deep) As the couple on the Swedish yacht pulled their boat back down the lock chamber Anne said they could tie alongside them. Slowly we dropped down 14m, getting a free shower from the leaks around the top end gate. 

On the wall in Maastricht

Slowly the two big boats left the chamber followed by the yacht then we followed on to give Parola room to swing out from the wall and get out of the lock. It was 12.30 p.m. as we headed towards Maastricht. There were lots of boats moored, mainly péniches and empty pans, along the high concrete walls on either side of the lock approach until we reached the lake on our right and the Dutch border. A Dutch thousand tonner, called Jan Van Orst, passed us heading for the locks as we were passing the long defunct customs offices. Mike and Olly changed our courtesy flags while Anne and I steered. Into the Netherlands at 12.45 p.m. Our Belgian police 4x4 shadow was parked at the end of the wall, maybe taking a last few photos! Just after we passed the lake a loaded sand barge called Gregory went past heading for Lanaye. Two very smart new trippers went past as we entered the city of Maastricht, there were more like it opposite the moorings on the wall. The Snail went into the only gap left that was long enough and we tied alongside at 1.20 p.m.

Monday 6th May 2013 Ampsin to Visé. 44.5 kms 3 locks

It's a lovely day, can't we go out to play?

Sunny and warm, cloudy after lunch and the wind picked up late afternoon.  Set off out of the weirstrean at 9.30 a.m. Mike called the keeper at Ampsin-Neuville to ask if we could use the small chamber (this lock has two chambers side-by-side) He answered saying “La Neuville, bonjour” but didn’t reply to Mike again, so maybe he wasn’t talking to him at all! We waited above the big lock (looked like they weren’t using the small chamber) while two Dutch cruisers came up, then we went down. A shaggy dog was standing with his chin on the window ledge of an open window in the lock cabin up above us, sunbathing. 

Below Ampsin-Neuville lock and weir

Bolero (formerly Mureen – embossed on the bow, but painted over) an empty Dutch boat from Terneuzen (95m x 10.5m 2,412 tonnes) was waiting below the lock. As we left the lock and ran down to the end of the high walls that form the lock entrance we looked back at the weir and were surprised to find that today it there was no water flowing over it, just the occasional wind blown splashes. Downriver the high concrete quay walls eventually gave way to sloping concrete with derelict land beyond on the left and houses of the town of Amay covered the low hills beyond, while on the right there was a busy road. 

Cement works at Engis

A cruiser was moored behind the Ile des Ponthieres on the non-navigation side next to a high quay wall. A small tug boat from Oostende came upriver to a work boat where there was a crane and a stack of metal piles lying on the bank. A boat with a series of round tanks in its hold came past, specially constructed for carrying bulk powders like cement. The port at Hemalle was busy. Another cement tanker boat called Aletta (67m 7.23m 892 tonnes) was being loaded by tanker lorries; Romania-B (105m x 9.5m 1,910 tonnes) was unloading gravel, 

18th century Chateau de Chokier

while Target (63m x 7.09m 700 tonnes) was waiting to unload his cargo of gravel. Sandpipers flew along the river, oblivious of the heavy tonnage boats. A loaded boat called Nomadis from Brussels (80m x 8.22m 1,143 tonnes) went past heading uphill with a Dutch cruiser following it as we passed the end of the port. Took photos of a little shunter engine pulling cement wagons at the cement works in Hemalle and photos of the big cement works in Engis. Up on top of a crag there was a derelict chateau at Chokier,  on the opposite side of the river to a bustling port in an offline basin at Ramet. 

German boat loading coke. Seraing

As we approached the lock at Yvoz-Ramet we were overtaken by two loaded commercials as we waited for three Dutch cruisers to leave the lock. Lots of work was going on above the lock where it looked like they were building a bigger new lock, or maybe two side by side. Filos, a big Dutch boat from Rotterdam went in first on the right, followed by Sesanda, a smaller Belgian boat, who tied on the left as there wasn’t enough room left for him to lie opposite the first boat. We went in and hung on a lock ladder with inset bollards on the right while the Snail got swept alongside Sesanda by his prop wash, 

Sunken boat by Cotterill's blast furnace. Seraing

so they tied alongside the barge. Contrary to the regulations (and big notices that state the regs – all boats must stop propellors and engines and have ropes at bow and stern) the latter had only one rope out from his bows and kept his prop turning to keep his stern against the wall all the time we were in the lock. This had the effect of creating an anticlockwise whirlpool that pushed our stern out off the right hand wall, which Mike had to attend to a couple of times by starting up the engine and powering the stern back towards the wall while I moved our centre rope down the bollards as the lock emptied. 

Clouds of dust. Seraing

We followed the big boat, Filos, and the Snail out of the lock to give Sesanda room to power his stern off the lock wall and move out of the lock chamber. Two empty péniches, Haydes and Follow Me, went into the lock we’d vacated, followed by DB Andante and a small Dutch cruiser. A Belgian boat called Faraday (110m x 11.45m 2,804 tonnes) was unloading coal at the quay immediately below the lock, while Dutch Hydra2 was waiting to unload next to piles of soil. Pan and tug Laco9 (64.67m x 8.36m 1,995 tonnes) was waiting to unload his cargo of sand. A string of empty boats went past heading uphill, A Dutchman with no name (new paint) (86m x 9.5m 1,272 tonnes), Cupidon (105m x 9.5m 2,303 tonnes) Saron-K (80m x 9m 2,213 tonnes). 

Sculpture by the Science Musuem in Liege

It was very choppy between the walls from the wash of the boats (staggering about making sandwiches for lunch was interesting as the boat bounced through the waves). As we passed the coking plant and Cockerill’s blast furnace at Seraing, a boat was loading coke and just downstream, in front of the blast furnace, there was a sunken boat surrounded by red markers. Railway wagons along the bank were loaded with steel coils. A Dutch cruiser went up river. A boat loading with coke from tipper lorries kept disappearing in clouds of thick black dust. Further down the quay they were loading something that was kicking up great clouds of white dust. The wind was starting to pick up, blowing directly in our faces, but at least it wasn’t cold. 

King Albert memorial at the start of the Albert Canal

The already high quay walls had been extended upwards by new flood defences downriver to the new suspension bridge. A square tug called Remover went past flying a skull and crossbones flag. Into Liége, under the ornate Pont de Fragnée and past the lock leading up on to the River Ourthe, we turned right by a fountain to investigate a mooring suggested by Anne and Olly's friend Dick. By the rowing club and a park the concrete edge had bollards for mooring. Unfortunately the vertical concrete was on top of an old sloping stone wall, so we couldn’t get near enough to the wall to moor. We moved to the lower quay by the canoes and Mike and Anne went to check the access. There was a fence with a gate into the park and a sign that stated opening times. Hmm, might go out and not be able to get back in if the gate was locked. Decided against mooring there as we were still bouncing about in the wash from passing traffic even though we were not in the main channel, it was 2.45 pm when we set off again and carried on downriver through the city. A police boat (an RIB with a big outboard engine) went past as we pulled out of the arm. 

Petrol barge going down Monsin lock

Took photos of the amazing metal structure next to the Palais de Congres. Seven Dutch barges and converted péniches were now moored on the outside wall of the Port-de-Plaisance, plus a big trip boat. Tall blocks of offices and flats with shops on ground floor level lined both banks. An ex-Amsterdam trip boat set off, with a roar from its big diesel engine, from the low quay at the bottom of a flight of steps leading up to the science museum. Just beyond that was a green (copper) sculpture of children playing leapfrog (we’d seen one exactly like that in East Germany) as Synthese2, an empty Dutch tanker boat went past heading upstream. There was a long line of houseboats along the right hand bank, mostly converted péniches. 

Lock filling valve at Monsin lock

An empty boat called Keale went past (about 750 tonnes) as the police boat dashed past us again heading downriver and came back again not long after. A big pan (90m x 1.45m 3,400 tonnes) being pushed by a big tug called Nada from Antwerp, went past us heading uphill as we cruised past the memorial to King Albert at the start of the Albert canal – the river flows over a weir off to the right. We paused at Neptunia's fuel barge to top up our central heating tank with 100 litres of red diesel. While Mike was filling up, Oll and I went on board into the chandlery. They had no cord suitable for fender string that I wanted, but Oll wanted a small European flag so I bought one too and I paid for the diesel and the flags by card. (Later I looked at the bill and found the flags were 15€ each and the diesel with two lots of extra tax on top, besides VAT at 21%, was 0.9754c per litre for such a small quanity) We chatted with the two guys on the barge about where we were going, as they seemed very interested, until a loaded Dutch boat called Sijtje arrived and wanted to come alongside for fuel, so we set off again down the Albert canal, past the docks to the lock that leads back on to the river at Monsin. 

Moored on the river Meuse at Vise.

Mike called Monsin lock and got a green light, but as we approached the light turned to red. We tied to the wall while loaded Dutch petrol tanker Velocity (125m x 11.45m 3,400 tonnes) reversed down the lock approach and into the lock chamber. The lock keeper came down from his cabin high above the tail end of the lock to tell us that he had to give priority to the commercial. That was OK, we understood and appreciated that and it was nice of him to come and tell us. He also informed us that the VHF channel had changed to 20 and was no longer 14.  The big boat went down the lock backwards as there isn’t enough room for him to wind on the river below the lock. He left the lock and then went forward a short way upriver to unload at the oil terminal in Monsin. The keeper refilled the lock for us and we dropped down 5.7m in the huge lock chamber. It was 5.25 pm as we left the lock heading downriver on the Meuse. Wind in our faces again and getting colder, fleeces back on. 9.5 kms of river to Visé. Past the remains of the old lock at Hemalle – just one lock wall and an old lockhouse among the trees - and a long sand quay above the bridge at Hemalle-Argenteau; we didn’t think they brought sand there by boat any more. The motorway runs along the right bank close to the river all the way into Visé and as we approached the town Mike spotted a great cloud of dust as a gawping lorry driver watching us almost drove off the motorway! We’re a road hazard!! It was 7 p.m. when we moored on the quay wall on the right bank, opposite the access channel to the lock at Visé, where we have always moored in the past, and decided not to stay there this time because they charge for moorings now and because the banks were full of geese, standing room only, which meant the path would be full of goose dung and would stink. Our quay was almost roof height, but beyond it was a big area of grass and trees, ideal for Woody, and the motorway had swung away from the river so it was less noisy. A bit further upstream from where we’d moored was a slipway and a small speedboat went up and down until it got dark, so we were still bouncing around – but it stopped and we had a peaceful night.

Saturday 4th May 2013 Sclayn to Ampsin. 22.4 kms 1 lock

Spoetnik's barge and bunkership - for sale

6.8° C Clear blue sky, warm when the wind wasn’t blowing. Untied at 9.15 am, winded and set off downriver. Happiness from Brugge (105m x 9.5m 2,51 tonnes) loaded with coils of steel wire went past us and we followed him into Andenne lock, he tied on the left hand side, we went on the right with the Snail behind us. The big barge just fitted into the top half chamber of the lock and the lock keeper asked him to move a metre further down the lock to clear the top end gate. 

Tope end gate rising. Andenne lock

The gate is hinged on the floor of the chamber and is swung into position with cables, the railings along its top edge emerge from the water like a surfacing submarine. Two small children were playing around the cabin and in a big playpen that was secured to the sliding hold cover nearest the cabin. The lock emptied slowly but we were soon under way again. The skipper called us to go out first. He soon overtook us. The next uphill boat was hovering below the lock and was followed by an empty called Corteo-G from Antwerp. We followed Happiness past the Ile Dosais through Andenne. High quay walls lined both banks. The chantier naval at Andenne was deserted, not a boat in sight and nothing on the slipway. 

Leaving Andennes lock

A Dutch cruiser went past heading upriver closely followed by a German-flagged mini-tjalk (they build new ones now in the Netherlands as there aren’t enough old ones to meet demand) very smart. As we passed the big silo quay by the Ile des Beguines, another Dutch barge went past heading upstream. As we went past the island two commercials went past, Keistadt, a 750 tonne Dutchman carrying sand and a 47m empty French barge called Galway. Just after the island the high quay walls came to an end and the banks were sloping earth and rocks on the left and sloping stone with steps on the right. 

These are mobile banks! Andenne

An empty French thousand tonner called Humadivi went uphill, then a Belgian cruiser. A Dutch empty called Falaise (cliff in French) 1022 tonnes went past making lots of wash at Bas-Oha where there was an unusually big group of ten swans. Past Ile Bosquel and Ile de Sucrerie and the sugar works at Wanze. A big tanker boat with an inverted blue cone at either end, called Riad from Woudrichem (110m x 1.45m, 2,791 tonnes) was moored at the sugar works quay just upstream of the big suspension bridge. The next boat past was the heaviest Anne and Olly had seen to date, Graafstroom from Ridderkerk (108m x 11.4m 3,594 tonnes). 

Deserted chantier naval at Andenne

Wanze basin was now filled with boats and called Statte Yacht Club. Round the next bend and we were cruising through the historic city of Huy. Its cable car to the citadel was not in use, the gondolas were missing. Shops and houses lined the right bank and a line of five converted péniches lived on the left bank and 1000 tonner called Aladin was moored with them. Nowhere for visiting boats to tie up, there were “No Mooring” signs all the way through the town. A sand quay stretched along the right bank as far as the nuclear power station at Ampsin. 

The sucrerie quay at Wanze.

A sign at the end of the sand quay stated that the depth was 2.5m for 469m (the length of the quay) in the middle of the river it was six to seven metres deep. We noted that the power station now had enormous double layer security fencing with razor wire, cameras and lights. We motored on down the weir stream to the left of the lock at Ampsin and found a convenient place to stop right next to the car. In front of us was a péniche called Neptunia, which was for sale. It was 12.40 p.m. 

Ampsin power station

We had sandwiches for lunch then Anne came with us to do some shopping at Carrefour in Flémalle, 20 kms down the road towards Liége. Prices seemed more expensive than France. Called at a Brico on the same site. I bought some flowers for the pot on the roof, Anne didn’t see any she liked – they didn’t have much choice. Mike wanted a lump hammer (not at 26€) and a spanner (got none) but he found some gloves to use in the car for keeping the seats clean when he has to move them to get the moped in the back.

Moored in the weir stream at Ampsin.

Friday 3rd May 2013 Anhée to Sclayn. 35.3 kms 5 locks

Weir at Hun lock

10.7°C Grey and raining first thing. Rain had stopped by the time I’d finished the blog and we moved off at 10.15 a.m. We passed the first cruiser heading upriver ten minutes later. The lock at Hun was ready with gates open and a green light, so we were in, down and out in no time. Took photos of the weir from below, surprising how much water was being let through. There were more climbers on the rocks below the weir. We went past Allonso (857 tonnes 67m x 8.2m) who had been unloading in the port of Givet and who was now being loaded at a quay from a succession of tipper lorries. Below Hun the reach to Riviere was bordered by some very fine properties, elegant detached houses in beautifully manicured gardens.

Sharing Riviere lock

At Riviere we had to wait for an empty commercial to come up, waited until an empty commercial called Inattendu arrived and went into the lock, then we followed him in. I made bacon sandwiches for lunch with bubble and squeak, which we had plenty of time to eat on the 5.4 kms run down to Tailfer. About a kilometre before the lock Mike stood on the roof of the boat to take a photo of a swimming pool fashioned to look like a ship. We had to wait at Tailfer while Inattendu cleared the lock, the keeper refilled the it and we went down on our own. Lock houses for the keepers on this river come in pairs as the locks are open long hours so there are two keepers to a lock, but the one at Tailfer was a large single white building that had had many extensions added to it over the years. 

This is a swimming pool

The keeper on duty was keeping watch over his bottom end gates while we locked down. As we left we saw the reason why, a huge log - bigger than a canoe, was sat right outside the gates and looked as if it would drift into the chamber as we left. There were many more expensive properties along the river and several beautiful Châteaux around the Ile de Dave. We passed an empty commercial called Pegase heading upriver. Had a text from the Snails to say that they were moored in Namur on the Sambre close to the junction with the Meuse and asked if we’d check the mooring by the Casino, which is just below La Plante lock. Not long after, we locked down La Plante and asked the keeper where the best place for us to moor was and he said by the Casino. 

Chateau by Ile Dave

What he didn’t mention, of course, was that the charge for tying up to the bollards on the old stone quay opposite the port-de-plaisance would be 8€ per night with no facilities. No thanks. We went to have a look at the moorings where the Snail had tied up. No other boats were moored along the Sambre in Namur, ominous. We winded to moor in front of the Snail and said hello to Anne and Olly. There were no “No Mooring” signs but it didn’t look very good, so we decided to move on downriver to see what Dick’s mooring looked like. Anne said Dick was still on holiday in Portugal and anyway  his boat was not in its usual mooring due to work being done there, so no chance of mooring alongside him.  It was 3.40 pm as we untied again and a big boat loaded with scrap called Play Boy (1,416 tonnes and 85m long) came up the Sambre as we were heading down it to the junction. 

Dick's boat is the white tjalk with mast

We continued down to Grands Malades, passing Amateur (another 85m boat) tied up and looking abandoned among the houseboats. Natacha had just come down the Sambre and was now moored above Grands Malades and unloading their car off the deck with their crane. The lock lights were red. We waited while an empty locked up then followed another empty, called Benita from Brugges, into the chamber and tied on the opposite wall. The keeper called Mike on VHF and asked us to move right down into the half lock – we hadn’t noticed that Benita was in the lower end of the lock. 

Waiting above Grands Malades

On down the river. Another empty, called Lady Night, went past heading upriver making a lot of wash, we bounced about for half an hour afterwards. A loaded Dutch boat painted yellow and purple called Tesco3 went past heading upriver. We moored on the wall where Spoetnik used to be at 6.15 pm. Spoetnik was a fuel depot and had a chandlery shop in a moored boat. Tragically, some years ago, it set on fire and all was destroyed, not to be replaced. Olly gave Mike a hand to unload the moped up the wall onto the quay and Mike went to move the car on to Ampsin, so we could all go shopping from there the following day.

Thursday 2nd May 2013 Givet to Anhée. 28.6 kms. 6 locks

New floodgates at start of lock cut. Givet

Grey overcast start, but no wind, sun coming out later. Mike fetched some bread while I used the Internet on Bouygues for the last time and finished off the blog. Then I rang the customer services line of SFR to cancel the phone, which isn’t on a contract. Easy but the woman wanted to speak to Mike as it was his account so I had to take the phone out on the stern for him to answer security questions, as he was steering and we’d just passed the weir and entered the lock cut through some impressive new flood gates and after passing a Dutch cruiser heading upriver. We could hear commercials calling on Channel 10 VHF as we ran down through the port. There were heaps of scrap metal, coal and pig iron around the docks. 

Smart new lock cabin at Quatre Cheminees

One large boat was unloading in the middle arm of the three, the third one had cruisers moored and out on the hard on one side of the arm, the other side was used for loading and unloading boats. It’s good to see the port being used, never seen much in there before. A Dutch boat called Battello, 46m x 6.3m 378 tonnes, was waiting to be loaded at the silo as Renata, a 1000 tonne Dutch boat was completing its loading with grain. The skipper shouted “Nice narrowboat!” in English as we passed. Beyond the silo there were several more boats out on the hard including two catamarans, one was having its bottom anti-fouled. The noise of military jets taking off nearby was very loud. Lock 59, Quatres Cheminées, was our last lock in France, now with a new cabin for the staff. 

Belgium's weirs are modern. Hastiere. River Meuse

An empty 750 tonne commercial called Inattendu was coming up in the lock chamber (100m long x 11.40m wide to conform with the Belgian locks as far as Namur) with a cruiser tucked in behind it. I took our vignette down to the lock keeper. The young man in charge was very pleasant and surprised when he asked where we were going and I said Berlin. I’d forgotten the telecommand, but he said he’d collect it when we were in the lock. The commercial left, followed by a Belgian cruiser from Waulsort (the boat club below the next lock), then we went in. Gave the keeper the zapper and we said au’voir France. Mike held the “string” while I made a cuppa. 

A climber on the Roches de Freyr

The border was just a couple of hundred metres below the lock and our favoured place for collecting a tankful of red diesel (before they changed the law and Belgium, like the UK, lost its derogation) Monsieur Léonard’s shop and fuel supplier. The place looked quiet, no boats stopping to fill up now. Another Belgian cruiser went past heading for France as we arrived at our first Belgian lock, Hastière, and noted that the weir above the lock was a modern, automatically operated affair with three big radial gates. An empty péniche called Ares was moored above the lock and a German cruiser with navigation lights on was coming up in the chamber. The red light changed to green and we entered the big chamber, just us. The keeper came over with a piece of paper. No more quittances we said and he said no, not any more and I looked at the paperwork – he already had all our details and the route down to Lanaye! Belgian efficiency, wonderful. All done from just the boat name, which brings up our Belgian MET number (because we’re on the computer, having been there before). 

Roche a Bayard. Dinant

Yippee, no more getting bits of paper stamped and having to climb back down mucky lock ladders to get back on the boat as the lock was emptying because there were commercials waiting. It was just midday as we left the lock heading downriver. 4.9 ms to the next. Took photos of the château and church at Hastière-par-dèla about a kilometre below the lock. Some very smart houses lined the right bank while a busy road and a disused railway followed the left bank. The low forested hills started to close in again as we approached the lock at Waulsort. An invisible keeper this time, the lock was ready and we were in and down in no time. I made sandwiches for lunch on the long reach (7.2 kms) while Mike took pictures of the boats moored at Waulsort boat club and then climbers on the Freyr rocks. A couple of Army trucks and an inflatable boat were parked on the left, opposite the rocks and just before the Château Freyr with its beautifully laid out gardens. The sun came out and suddenly it was much warmer but a bit breezy. A canoeist caught us up as we finished eating lunch. He paddled alongside asking questions, in French, then realised we were English – he thought we were Flemish from our accents! A line of eleven cruisers were moored at the boat club in Anseremme. The lock at Anseremme was ready for us and the keeper leaned out of his window to wish us au’voir as we left. Below the lock was a long line of green and red marker buoys indicating the old wall between the end of the old lock and the island. 

Dinant

A boater we met in Fumay when we were stuck there during the floods had sunk his boat by grounding on the submerged wall, he didn’t realise his boat was on a wall and thought he had stuff on his prop, removed the weed hatch and a passing commercial sank him by flooding the boat through its weed hatch, traumatic to say the least, but he’s still boating. Mike took loads of photos as we went through Dinant. The little blue electric hire boats were doing a good trade, as was the former Amsterdam tripper. The town was busy, as always, with tourists. The tariff boards told us we would pay 18€ per night to moor there, (that's £15.25 per night!!) so no thanks – the first lot of pontoons were empty. A lone retired péniche, called Remacum, was moored at the quay upstream of the trip boats. A brand new Ibis hotel and Casino had been built next to the main bridge since we were there last. On beyond the bridge there were two large Dutch cruisers moored on the pontoons. The lock at Dinant was full with a red light on. We waited above for Renata to arrive (he was the boat loading at the silo in Givet) as he went into the lock the skipper called us to follow him into the chamber and we went down together. 3.4 kms to the next - we had no hope of keeping up with him as he was doing twice our speed. 

The quay at Anhee

It was very noisy with the sounds of military jets again, but this time we could see them flying over. Below Dinant lock there were houses crammed into the limited space between the rocks and the river, then the space opened up and there was a campsite on the long right hand bend. We went to the left of the island as indicated on our guide book, but we think the commercial went down the right hand side – there were no notices any more to say which side to take. Renata was going down in Houx lock when we arrived so we tied up and waited for the keeper to refill the lock. A small dayboat with a large outboard arrived and came into the lock with us, it was a bateau ecole – a school boat – in other words someone was having a “driving” lesson. It sped off into the distance as we rounded the next bend and moored on the quay at Anhee at 4 pm.