Thursday 26th May 2011 Pommeroeul.

Grey skies, much cooler and windy, heavy rain showers later. Mike and Olly went to Marjorie’s to measure the trolley. They spoke to Marjorie who said it would be Saturday when the tjalk goes back in the water. So that put paid to our plans of hiring a pressure washer on Friday (the hire shop is closed all weekend) as we don’t know if the trolley will definitely be ours on Monday 30th. Olly wanted some paraffin for their oil lamps so they went into Antoing to get some. He paid 5€ for a litre bottle, ouch! While Mike was out I got on with the chores then set up the laptop on the Internet. Bouygues would only get GPRS without the outdoor antenna; on the roof if was 5 bars on EDGE but wouldn’t load Yahoo e-mails until I moved the antenna to the edge of the roof. I checked my e-mails. Mike put the whip aerial on top of the chimney where it just got 3G. Not long after it started to rain so Mike fetched in the WiFi antenna and also the whip aerial, neither of which are waterproof.

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.

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Antoing.

Sunny and warm, but a strong wind made it feel chilly. Woken at six by a barking dog at the house alongside the boat. Then the slosh of passing boats kept waking us. Mike got up at nine. After lunch we went shopping at Carrefour in Tournai. We went just after two and were back before four having refilled the car’s tank at the Shell 24/7 fuel place at Carrefour with diesel at 1,28.8€/litre. The Dutch boats that moored overnight left and were replaced later by others. Olly told us that one of them that left early backed out into the path of a big commercial, which was hooting loudly, the cruiser stopped directly in its path then continued to reverse across the navigation! 

Monday 23rd May 2011 Antoing.

Sunny and hot. Woken early by passing traffic causing ropes to squeak. Sepp off Johanna said the same, so Olly tied directly on to Johanna and took the loop off our back dolly so he was tied direct to the bank. I rang the French scrap dealer by the border for Olly to see if they bought scrap batteries, yes they did, so Mike took Olly and his batteries to the scrap dealer’s just over the border in France, Sepp off Johanna went too as he wanted some steel. Olly got paid for his scrap batteries, but Sepp couldn’t buy the steel he wanted. They called in a large Belgian “off licnce” where Olly and Sepp bought some beer. A police car followed them back into Antoing and pulled up behind the car. The policeman got out to tell Mike that he shouldn’t have turned directly left into the car park, he should have gone round the island first and come back to it as he had passed the sign for the island – he could have given him a 100€ on the spot fine, luckily for him he had a telling off instead! (It was almost a normal left turn with the offset island well displaced on the far side of a six way junction, an enormous area. Ed)

Sunday 22nd May 2011 Antoing-Tournai-Antoing. 11kms 0 locks

Wandering Snail setting off to Tournai

Warm and sunny but a strong wind picked up in the afternoon which made it feel chilly. We left at 8.55 a.m. reversing out of the arm quietly as there was no sign of life on the rest of the boats. After seeing nothing else moving, fifty minutes later we arrived at Tournai. No boats were moored on the pontoon so we moored next to the working electricity post and plugged in. A thousand-tonner running empty upriver went past to check our ropes were OK. Set the washer running and Mike found a strong WiFi station. I put the laptop on and had the WiFi to do emails and sent a reply to Helen as she’d sent one to say they were in for a rough night at Merelbeke as the tides were wrong so they couldn’t get under the bridges at Boom and therefore wouldn’t get through the lock before it closed. The day before they’d had to take to the Albert canal when the Bocholt-Herentals closed at 3.00 p.m. Saturdays, but we were pleased to hear that they had a pleasant trip as it was very quiet. Mike ran the hose out and chatted with a guy called Barry off a cruiser called Fiona that had just tied up behind us. He wanted to know what it was like moored on the pontoon, Mike told him it would get rough around 6.00 a.m. but Sundays were usually quiet-ish for the Escaut. 

Wandering Snail passing the chandlery & fuel
barge Neptunia at Antoing

We set off back upriver to Antoing at 12.55 p.m. Minutes after we set off we were overtaken by a fast speedboat cruiser with four men on board; admittedly they slowed right down to go past us but went back on the plane immediately afterwards. Most of the moored boats, péniches and thousand-tonners plus, along the quay from Vaulx to Antoing were uninhabited as the crews had either gone home or visiting as none had their cars on board. Tied alongside the Snail at 12.55 p.m. and Anne came out to put our bow rope round their side dolly. Mike asked me to help to get the TV set up smartish as the Spanish F1 GP was about to start. Then the stupid thing said it was connected but the planner wouldn’t come on and a message said the satellite wasn’t available. Unplugged and fiddled three times before it tuned in properly, which meant he missed the start and the first two laps. The fast speedboat turned up and went in the corner of the arm behind the two Dutch cruisers (noticed there was still one of them left behind Johanna) Cruiser Fiona arrived and went towards the end of the arm until Mike told them to watch out as it was shallow. They backed out and went in the gap behind Johanna. After the race Wandering Snail went to Tournai to water up. Mike started our engine and backed out, then Olly backed the Snail out, winded and headed downriver to Tournai. We went back in against the wall. When they returned they moored on the outside of us. 

Saturday 21st May 2011 Antoing. Concert in Anzin

Paul and Anne

Mild and sunny. Anne’s musician colleague Paul called for her in his car, and they went to Anzin (opposite Valenciennes) where they were doing a day-long Master Class - then there would be a concert in the evening, to which we were invited. I tried the WiFi and couldn’t get it to work. Mike was busy in the engine room checking the injectors. (Number 1 injector had a different soot pattern to the other three and number 1 combustion chamber was much sootier than the other three. I think we’ve found the culprit that produced yesterday’s soot. Replaced the faulty injector with the spare and all ran perfectly OK. Ed) He paused to turn the antenna for me while I checked the signal strength. It was no better so I gave up. Mike carried on re-fitting the injectors. Set off in the car at 5.30 p.m. to Anzin to the concert taking Olly with us. 

Paul and Anne with singers

We arrived fifteen minutes early (due to start at 6.30 p.m.) and went into the Conservatoire de la Musique to hang about until they let us in. Several other people and a couple of students were also wandering around. Anne came out and said she’d had a wonderful but exhausting day. We were ushered in (two dozen of us all told including musicians) and sat in a semicircle in a large room with all sorts of musical instruments around the walls (vibraphone and a set of drums plus several pianos under covers). A young man introduced us to the concert and explained what Baroque music they would perform; the first was an ancient folk song about a shepherd and a shepherdess. This was played by two men (one was Anne’s friend and chauffeur Paul) on transverse recorders and a young man playing harpsichord. Anne joined the young men for the next piece, then Paul played an unusual curved wind instrument, which looked very hard to play; and then a choir of three women and two men joined the harpsicordist and the two recorder players while Anne sat that one out as they sang two pieces. 

The dance commences

Then our master of ceremonies said they would all dance and all the musicians and singers did a mediaeval “danse en ronde” where the couples walked round and back (not enough of them to form a complete circle!) Then came the shock! He wanted us all to join in! No use Mike complaining he had three left feet – up and dance - it’s simple! Oh yes! Holding hands in a big circle we all side stepped two steps left, then right, then left, etc, while the young man played the harpsicord. Next we had to do two left and one right, while the experts stomped to the tune we had trouble remembering our rights and lefts! When we finished and sat down Mike had a wringing wet shirt! Nervousness rather than hot I think. 

The rapt audience

Apart from the surprise dancing lesson we thoroughly enjoyed the music which was exquisite. While Anne packed up her violin, Mike asked Paul about the last instrument he played, which he told us was an early form of cornet that he had made himself but wasn’t finished yet as it is supposed to be covered with leather. Anne didn’t have chance to play her rebec (early violin that Olly had made for her) she said there was to be another concert on the 6th June when she would play it. Anne and Olly came back with us in our car to Antoing. We were back around 9.00 p.m.

Friday 20th May 2011 Antoing.

Moored at Antoing

9.5°C Sunny and warm after a grey start. Mike took a walk to the boulangerie and tried a square loaf this time, still 2,10€. Later our surveyor, M. Lemaire, arrived and came on board for a chat. We organised a visit for the 30th at the boatyard, he said he would be free then but was visiting London soon after. Two Dutch cruisers arrived and moored in front of us, then a Humber Keel moored behind Johanna where Alberdina had been moored. After finding a large patch of soot in the canal below the exhaust after running the engine earlier in the day, Mike checked the air cleaner on our Perkins engine - it was OK – he said he would check the injectors next day.