Wednesday 25th May 2011 Antoing - Pommeroeul. 25.4kms 2 locks

Old lime kilns at Antoing

Wandering Snail in Peronnes lock 2

Sunny and warm but the wind was chilly. After a 1500-tonner had gone past we backed out of the arm following WS and waved bye, bye to the crew of Johanna. It was just before ten as we set off upriver on the Escaut. Half an hour later we arrived at the junction with the Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes canal and turned left heading for lock 2 Peronnes. Mike had called on VHF but couldn’t hear the lock keeper’s reply, the audio was so low. An empty tanker barge called An.Ka was moored below the lock. We had a red light and waited for loaded barge Bivio (80m x 9m 3,160 tonnes) to exit the lock chamber then we went in, WS on the left and us on the right at the back of the enormous chamber. The bollards were recessed into the wall so we did fore and aft ropes, lifting the rope up on to the next bollard with a short boat hook. Piece of cake. When the lock was almost full the lock keeper came down from his cabin to ask us for papers. Mike went up the ladder taking our details with him and had a long walk round over the tail end bridge and round the new green mesh security fencing to join Olly in the lock cabin. Two large groups of school children were having guided tours of the lock. Above the lock I could see that a boat that had just come down Peronnes 1 lock was hovering in the middle waiting for the lock we were in. The men returned with new bits of paper and we set off again. There were lots of cruisers moored on the left hand side of the left arm of the wide area above the lock, (called a “Large”), and on the right an empty barge called 

Concrete wall above guillotine gate.
Peronnes lock 1 shaft lock

Via Con Dios was moored as were several more across the large by Plaquet’s boatyard. Kids were having sailing lessons in the right hand side of the large and we could see more moored péniches and the tjalk that was still on the trolley at Marjorie’s. Loaded barge Ben-Dor came out of Peronnes 1 and we went in. Just us again and this time we had floaters to tie to. In the very deep chamber we could hear voices but see no one until the lock was almost full, then we could see the group of British cyclists by the barrier who then asked Mike the usual questions. Sao-Maï, an empty barge was waiting above to go down as was a tiny British flagged Sea Otter called Wilderness Wanderer. 

Wilderness Wanderer following Sao-Mai
into Peronnes lock 1

Someone walked down from the lock cabin to tell the crew of the little cruiser to follow the big boat into the lock. It looked like a mouse next to an elephant! Next boat past heading for the lock was Celeritas, followed shortly after by a loaded péniche with a big dent in his bows – Touareg, last seen near Berry-au-Bac. Another large loaded barge, Vaya Con Dios (70m x 7.24m), went past heading for Peronnes followed by an empty 70 or 80m barge called Discovery, then Vota (80m x 8.10m 1,115 tonnes) went by shortly afterwards. Dandia was unloading sand at the Moulin de Peruweltz. At KP25 we went past the moorings at Peruweltz, where cruisers were moored in the stub end of the old canal, then a small Luxe called Nord-Holland VIII was tied to the quay which used to be a lock wall with a small low mastless tjalk behind it and then trip boat Kempenland at the end of the quay, more cruisers were moored in the former weirstream behind the quay. 

Canal above Peronnes lock 1

We were at the junction with the Nimy-Blaton-Ath canal (on the left of the crossroads) at 2.15 p.m. where a loaded barge Lucky (67m x 8.2m) went past us heading for Peronnes and another was fast catching us up. An old boat was sitting in the top chamber of the derelict old flight of locks on our right with a liftbridge spanning the lock mouth. Under the vertical flood gates, ready to descend and block the canal in case of floods or a breach. Loaded boat Agora (70m x 8.7m 902 tonnes) overtook us. Mike had to reverse hard to stop “surfing” on his stern wave (ie being dragged along) as he passed us, so did the Snail. I made a cuppa. We just had time to drink it before turning right in the large above the locks to nowhere at Pommeroeul. The changed water levels on the Escaut when they removed the lock at Antoing rendered the Pommeroeul canal useless without a dredging programme on the French side and as this has not been done the locks remain unused – luckily for us as the mole sticking out into the large makes a very useful mooring. We winded so our side doors were on the outside and tied to one high bollard and put ropes through our chains passed around the brackets holding the wooden fendering on the wall. 

Moored on the mole at Pommeroeul

WS moored a bit closer to the lock for Woody to run up and down to the grassy area by the lock. I set the TV up and terrestrial found all the French stations as France is very close here. The phone wouldn’t pick up SFR so I switched it off again. Mike got the moped off the roof and went to collect the car. He took Lucy GPS in his pocket with his earpieces taped in so they didn’t fall out. The neighbours had asked if we’d like to sit out for a beer so he when Mike returned we took chairs, beer and some crisps and went to sit out on the mole in the evening sunshine. We sat and chatted. There were fishermen scattered along the banks to the left of the lock and one solitary soul on the right before the slipway who stayed until the sun sank, the others left well before that. The sun sank low behind the trees to the far right of he lock and it felt like someone had not only wound the dimmer switch down but turned the heating off too. We packed up and all headed for home. Just us attached to the mole.