Belgium 2011

July 14^th (Bastille Day) in France started with us all waking up to rain, wind and some very miserable weather and it didn’t improve but got worse and worse, we got wet, blown around and generally it can be said by all of us that it was a rotten day!!!

 It began at about 9.45 when the first bridge was opened so we could be let out of Willemdok, then the second bridge about 15 minutes later, which let us all out into the Antwerp docks where we waited for the big Sluis to open. There was no where to tie up so we had to keep the engines going and dodge the barges and other ships for two hours.

Below is a picture of us all out in the open roaming around trying to keep the boat stationery.

.

We all had to call the Sluis and tell them our ship length, FD number ( which was given to us by the harbour master before we left the haven) and where we were going and he told us what number ship to enter the Sluis.

After two hours we were finally called in after 4 barges had tied up, and we all were jammed in there, all wet and frozen.

Below is me in the Sluis feeling very sorry for my self.

You can also see Bob with two other ship holding onto his boat.


We all thought that was bad enough until we got out into the Zeeschelde (the main river which is tidal). It was very rough water and really quite scary. We passed Antwerp into the Boven Zeeschelde where the water came a little calmer, but it nether stopped raining. We all went through a few sets of clothing and at the end of the day we had loads of drying to do.


The following pictures shows Antwerp as we passed through.  It is showing Bobs boat .

About 5pm we arrived at the Dendemonde Sluis where we were let through to find that the only place to moor for the night was on the edge of the Sluis.  It wan't that inviting but we were all tired, wet and miserable so we tied off, dried off at opened a bottle of wine. We all felt we deserved a big drink !!!

Below are the boats tied up against the sluis.

The next morning we woke to a glorious sunny day, so we hauled our bikes up to the top of the Sluis and headed off to Dendemonde which was about 3klm away.

Bob and Russel hauling the bikes up.

Dendemonde was a delightful and interesting town. It was destroyed during the first world was so they rebuilt it as it had been. The second world it escaped any real damaged. We had a coffee in the Grote market.

We left at 2pm and headed to Ghent. We couldn’t leave before this as we had to wait for the tide to turn.

We arrived in Ghent just as the Sluis keeper was leaving to go home so once again we stayed at the Sluis sides waiting for the morning so we could go into the great yacht club close to the centre of Ghent.

                                          another Sluis overnight

Ghent is a very old city and even looks greyer today as once again the rain has come in and it looks like it intends to stay for a while.

                                  Our first sight of Ghent

We arrived to find they have a festival on – it lasts 10 day!!!s – we watched a parade that began the festivities but gave up as we were very wet.

The clean up the next day

We went on a trip on the canal in a boat - but it rained!!!

It wasn't raining when I took this

The next day we caught the train to Bruges and did the very touristy things there. It was Bob’s birthday so we had a special lunch. We all tried some local food. The boys had the Rabbit stew, me the beef stew and Lois the seafood stew. They were all very yummy but Lois came out on top.

                                   

                                                      The other place to stop in Ghent 

We left Ghent am slowly sailed through the side of Ghent and into the Leie River and onto to Deinze. This was the most delightful and picturesque section we have been down since we left Holland. It was gorgeous. The houses were huge and manicured lawns and gardens were great to look at.

Below are a few of the houses we saw.

This shows Arcturus travelling down the leie. Its not often we get a picture of us. Bob had been instructed to get some of us.

Deinze is an industrial town. We managed to have some luck at long last. We managed to get the last two pens in the yacht club and woke up to a sunny day which lasted long enough for us to go to the market which was huge. Clothing and food.!! We spent a fortune on local delicacies which we are now enjoying.   

                                       The Chicken Rotisseri

we are living on fabulous fruit.  The necterines are fab!!!

We left Deinze and travelled for a day and passed the border into France.

We have spent the last few days in Lille trying to organise phones and internet. Its all very different here. Very expensive to ring home and forget about internet. If anyone has suggestions or experience let us know. I am sitting in Mac Donald's for the first time in my life using the internet.!!!