Thursday 18th September 2014 Bogny-s-Meuse to Pont-à-Bar. 34.2kms 7 locks.

Below Levrezy lock

15.3°C Rain overnight, sunny start then black clouds until midday back to sunshine and hot again. Mike moved the car over to the Bogny side of the river as there were roadworks in progress by the post office. We left at 9.25 am and had a good look at the old quay further upriver as a (free) alternative to the pontoon. It had rings and bollards and road access via a path between the houses. Round the right hand bend and zapped Levrézy lock, the lock emptied and we went up 2.4m. I sorted the washing out ready for starting when we leave the next lock. 6.31kms to Joigny lock. A team of

Rock-bolting catch nets above the railway KP67

climbers were rock-bolting catch nets on the rocks above the railway at KP67. A DB called Dwaalgast (I think) went past heading downriver while I was taking photos of the climbers. The noise of a big heavy hammer reverberated up the valley as we got closer to Joigny – at one time the whole river would have had forges in each village. Into Joigny lock, which was already empty, and waited some time before the paddles opened, we thought for a while we were going to have to call the VNF roving keeper out –  just slow electric. We

DB Dwaalgast heading downriver

rose another 1.72m. Paused in the lock cut while Mike engaged the Markon drive then we set off on the 9kms reach. Along the right bank there were fences keeping a large herd of domesticated deer away from the river. More rock-bolting was going on at KP75. Two boats went past, a cruiser with Japanese tourists on board and an Eau Claire called Cheval Bayard, both heading downstream. On the outskirts of Charleville, we went into Montcy lock and lifted the bar but nothing happened. It was lunchtime, 12.50pm so I tried

More mountaineers at work doing the day job
rock-bolting nets at KP75

ringing the Mézières phone number and got no reply. Mike went up the ladder just as Madame came out from the house and shouted hello as she crossed the bridge over the bottom gates and went into the lock cabin. She operated the lock and we rose another 1.76m then motored on upriver, just 2.2kms to Mézières lock, a deep one surrounded by tall blocks of flats, that has always been operated by a keeper before. Today, the automatics were working - there were sparkling new red and blue rods (plastic, where they’ve always been metal tubes before), I lifted the blue rod and we rose (ropeless, as usual) 3.4m. Started the washing machine then switched

Below Mezieres lock

it off again as we’d realised we’d forgotten a lock. It was only 2.9kms to Romery. Big CAT diggers were at work making a new cycle path along the left bank and one was pulling a tree out by the roots as we passed. Further on upriver another digger was adding huge boulders along the river bank to support the new pathway. Up Romery, another 2.09m rise and we set off along the 9kms reach with the washing machine going. Wild hops were ripening in the tops of small trees and a fisherman

Coming up in Mezieres lock

surprised us as he was hidden by the bushes, fishing in a gap just wide enough for him. Out of the lock cut by a big needle weir and a yard full of sand and gravel - but no quay for loading or unloading barges, all must go by road. A British replica DB called Ailsa went downriver as we were passing the moorings at Lumes, where a lone French yacht called Fetiv was moored. A bit further upstream Mike took a photo of a very impressive fishing platform, a veritable living room complete with flowers and a picture of the wall. Another fisherman was fishing from a small boat using a fishfinder. Into Dom-le-Mesnil lock and rose another

An extraordinary fishing platform

1.07m. Children were playing in front of the lock house, we were through the shallow lock in no time and out of the lock cut back on to the river and then it was just a short distance upstream before we zapped Meuse lock at Pont-à-Bar. It was half full, it emptied and we went up. No signs of life at the former checkpoint lock. Only a short distance along the first pound of the canal des Ardennes before we tied up next to the rough steep grassy bank. It was 5pm. The lock gates hadn’t closed behind us so the lock went “en panne” two red lights, heaven knows why. As we were finishing tying up a VNF van went down to the lock to reset it and, a little later, the Eau Claire cruiser we’d seen earlier, Cheval Bayard, came past heading uphill on the canal.

Moored at Pont-a-Bar. Canal des Ardennes

Wednesday 17th September 2014 Bogny-sur-Meuse. Day off to get all our communications stuff sorted in Charleville.

The 4 sons of Aymon rocks above Bogny

11.2°C Hot and sunny. After breakfast Mike unloaded the bike and we stowed it back on the roof, just as the cruiser Blue Steel was leaving, going the same way as us but heading ultimately to Paris. The lady in charge of moorings today came to see if we wanted to fill up our water tank, Mike said no thanks, we were OK and we were staying today and would fill up later this evening. We went into Charleville-Mézièrs by car to find the Bouygues phone shop. Parked by the port de plaisance and walked over the footbridge into the city centre. Took our place in queue and eventually spoke to a young

Moored on the pontoon with Bogny on the far bank

lady who went through all the bits and pieces necessary for getting a contract. Disaster! We hadn’t brought our Post Office chequebook with us and they needed a cancelled cheque as well as an RIB (proof of identity slips that are included in each chequebook). We did the shopping at Carrefour, bought a phone SIM for SFR Red for 4,99€ a month for the phone, then went home to unload and get some lunch. Back to Charleville. Another queue. It’s Wednesday and schools are closed in the afternoon so the place was much busier than the morning. Waited a short while in a queue then spoke to a young man who passed us on to his colleague, another young lady, and she did all the paperwork. Another thing we were

Moored at Bogny, looking upriver

short of was a justicatif, in other words proof of living in Condé (usually a utility bill, but we’d explained that we don’t have them as we live on a boat). Promised to e-mail our certificate when we got home. Paid 1€ for a little mobile 4G router as we’d taken out a one year contract for 16 gigabytes per month for 24,90€. It says you can connect up to ten items at a time, such as laptops, PCs, smart phones and tablets. That means we can both use the Internet at the same time. Whoopee. All we need now is a good signal and that might be difficult in the lovely Meuse valley. We’ll see later. The lady in charge of moorings was late - it was after seven – and it was a third lady (not had the same one twice) who attached the adaptor on the water tap so Mike could refill the tank while she did the paperwork and charged us another 5,90€. He told her we’d be leaving in the morning. After dinner we set to work getting all the new French systems up and running. The router worked well. I replied to e-mails, sent the justificatif to Bouygues, and then registered the new SFR SIM online. 4,99€ a month for a minimal amount of talk time in France (two hours a month) plus unlimited texts, etc. They’ll send a number for the phone and activate it within 48 hours (couldn’t you just guess that SFR is the nationalised phone company of France?) Mike went online to do banking, etc, (Bouygues is a private enterprise, their stuff works straight away). Nice to be reconnected!

Tuesday 16th September 2014 abv Vanne-Alcorps lock to Bogny. 35.8kms 7 locks

Fumay in the mist

10.7°C Grey, misty start but the sun burned through and it was hot. Set off at nine, reversing out of the short lock cut, through the old flood gates and on to the river to wind and head upstream through the low-hanging river mist with our headlight on (that’s a first!!). 4.75kms to the first lock. There were two Locaboats on the mooring at Fumay plus the cruiser which had passed us the previous evening, a British-flagged cruiser called Blue Steel. The latter was untying as we passed and soon overtook us with navi-lights on. The mist was pretty thick all the way around the almost complete circle that the river does around

Coming up in L'Uf lock

Fumay to L’Uf, we zapped and the lock emptied. Up 2.25m and Mike switched our headlight off as the mist was thinning out rapidly. The Cablerie Nexans just above the lock had had a new extension so the electric cable industry must be doing well at Fumay. A short reach, 2.75kms. Around the bend there were allotments along the river on the town side and a man was chatting with a very elderly couple who were tending their plot. As we went up St Joseph lock (2.62m rise) a train went over the bridge

Old quarries above St Joseph lock

over the lock deafening us for a few seconds as it passed directlyoverhead. Big sweeping bends with forested hills on the right and left. The remains of an old quarry on the right were covered with purple heather. The first downhill boat was a Belgian-flagged DB called Gliske. I baked a quiche and cooked Mike some fish for his lunch on the 6.1kms reach up to Revin. Zapped and the deep lock (4.6m) emptied. We went up ropeless as usual, although we’d marked our chart to remind us to use fore and aft ropes if a roving keeper happened to be in attendance. It was just midday as we left the lock. A British couple on

Railway track over the lock at St Joseph. NOISY!

bikes had stopped to say hello by the lock. A sharp left turn into the tunnel, with a fisherman on the apex of the bend! We’ve always wondered why the canal builders dug through the hill here and didn’t at Fumay, maybe it’s a question of the type of rock. Just a short reach of 1.6kms to the lock at Orzy. Up another 1.68m and on to a longer reach, 4.73kms, so we ate lunch with a backdrop of dramatic scenery as the hills became steeper and higher. Up Dames de Meuse lock (3.08m) which has a permanently open

Train on the bridge at Laifour

liftbridge at the top end. A long lock cut avoids the shallows at the foot of the hills on the right called the Rochers des Dames de Meuse. 4.59kms to the next lock. The first roller-blader went past on the towpath – there had been many cyclists - a young lady keeping up with a fast trotting young chocolate Labrador. In the lock cut we dodged several large semi-submerged large tree branches. Back on the river and round the long bend at Laifour, under the road and railway bridges. A group of disabled people in nine or ten wheelchairs, and their carers, were taking a gentle promenade along the towpath. A diesel passenger train

Dames de Meuse lock

went very slowly across the bridge into the railway tunnel, giving Mike plenty of time to take photos of it. The cruiser Blue Steel was moored on the quay at Laifour. Up La Commune lock (2.07m) and we were surprised to see Blue Steel arrive below the lock as we went round the first bend, we thought they’d stopped. It was only 4.24kms to our last lock at Monthermé and as they would probably be travelling at twice our speed of 6 kph, if not more, we reckoned that they would catch us up before we arrived at the next lock, which they did. Mike zapped and the lock emptied, then he called them past to

Montherme and the viewing platform above it

go in the lock first. One of their crew went up the ladder to take their ropes and asked for ours. We’re OK, we’ll just sit here quietly at the back. We rose 3.30m with no problems. The cruiser’s crew went to the lockside café for ice creams while the lock filled. I noted that the lock gate access was blocked with an old white plastic chair and a block of wood at the bottom end and at the top end with a big mowing machine – VNF keeping the roaming public away from their walnut trees? There was a very nice VNF house by the lock, the last two locks no longer had houses, not even a sign of where they were now. Another long

In Montherme lock with cruiser in front

lock cut following the S-shaped bends of the river. A new automatic weir had replaced the needle weir here quite some time ago. A large cruiser was moored on the right, about half a metre from the bank, before the road bridge in Monthermé. Upstream of the bridge there was a new concrete quay with all mod cons, a couple of electric day hire boats and a tripper called Le Roc, the rest of the quay was empty. A cruiser by some houses further on looked like it was permanently moored there. Six swans and four Canada geese were paddling around in the town, there used to be hundreds

Automatic weir at Montherme

of swans here. At the junction with the river Semois, a beautiful small tributary of the river that is only navigable by canoes and kayaks, there was a big campsite full of tents and caravans and a couple of campervans. A little further on two donkeys were having a great time rolling in the dust, taking a dust bath just like birds do. Another half a dozen swans were chasing people on the bank who were carrying bags (they were picking blackberries) by the next railway bridge. Round a couple more bends and we were at Château Regnault on the right with its statue of the Quattre Fils d’Aymon on the legendary

The four sons of Aymon and the legendary steed Bayard
CLICK HERE for more about the legend of Bayard

horse Bayard, up high on the hill. Bogny-sur-Meuse is on the left but the pontoon mooring on the right belongs to Bogny. Two electric day hire boats were moored at the end and Blue Steel and another cruiser called Liberté were moored there too. Just enough room for us between Blue Steel and the hireboats. We set the TV up and got the bike off. Mike went to get the car from Givet. A lady came for mooring fees at 6.20 pm. 5,90€ without electric. I asked about the water taps and she said that she has the adaptor for the water, we didn’t need any today, and she said her colleague would be there at ten in the morning. Mike returned before I finished the photos. He said as it was late we’d leave the bike in the car and unload it in the morning. We decided to stay the next day and get the phone and Internet sorted as well as getting groceries.

Monday 15th September 2014 Givet to abv Vanne-Alcorps lock. 20.5kms 6 locks

The fort on the rock, Charlemont, Givet

10.7°C Sunny and warm with nearly no wind. Wispy mist coming up off the river first thing. Mike went to Carrefour City for bread, they’d got that - but no milk or mushrooms. Set off twice, the first time we had to go back as Mike wasn’t sure if he’d locked the car, he had, we set off again at 10.05 am. They were in process of building a new piled quay, about 150m long, by the slate quarry below Trois Fontaines lock (now we know why the very wide flood gates above Quattre Cheminees – so big boats like Tatiana can load there). There was a keeper in residence at Trois Fontaines (although the lock was made

Leaving the quay at Givet

automatic years ago) he took a rope for me in the deep lock (3.28m lift) which was needed anyway as this lock pulls the boat forward hard as it fills. Through the 565m long tunnel which cuts off about a six kilometre loop of the river around the nuclear power station at Choos, and into the lock at Ham, also keeper operated, (again automated years ago but, as far as we know, never used). A DB called Klaus Companeas came down Ham and the skipper called uson VHF, he and Mike had a brief chat. He was off down the river for about 100kms he said. Mike said we were glad to be getting back to calmer waters. Nobody came to hook a rope for us in Ham, another deep one

Post to aim the telecommand at for zapping

at 3.20m, which pulls hard forward again, so I used the ladder, but with the force of the pull forward it was difficult to change rungs. A young guy came out of the lock cabin as we left. Nearly 5kms to the next. A kingfisher flew from perch to perch upriver with us for nigh on a kilometre, the first one we’d seen for ages. The river was very still, hardly a breeze and minimal flow, enclosed by beautiful hills covered in forest. Zapped the post before Mouyon lock, it emptied and we went up 1.60m. There were three VNF vans at the lock house – it was lunchtime, so to be good we threw a

Liftbridge over the end of the lock cut at Ham

rope around a bollard. Plum trees on the lockside were dropping ripe fruit all over the grass, red admiral butterflies were enjoying them. A short lock cut lead back on to the river and I took a photo of the traditional needle weir (barrage d’aiguilles) as it may not be here next time we come this way – currently there is a battle going on between the VNF and its staff as the job of barragiste (weir keeper) will disappear when all the river weirs are made automatic. Around the bends, passing through Virieux Wallerand, where the mooring

Sculpture by Georges Favaudon on the riverbank at Aubrives

quay for plaisance had been extended to both up and down stream of the road bridge, with a Capitanerie in an old house and electric day boats for hire. As we went up Montigny (2.5m rise) I made some lunch, which we ate as we travelled along the 5.3kms of winding river up to Fèpin. The lock emptied, but the gates didn’t open. We stooged about below the lock in the short lock approach channel (nowhere to moor or get off) and I called the number on the new leaflet we’d had from Quattre Cheminées, the Givet section was actually the

Garden observatory at Haybes

number for that lock. The lady who answered said she would send someone. Not long afterwards two vans arrived, one from upstream of the lock and one from downstream, four VNF men got out of their vans, three leaned on the paddle box and had a chat and one went in the cabin and worked the lock for us from the control panel in the cabin. A lady cyclist had stopped to watch the proceedings. Just a 2.12m rise and we were on our way again. On upriver into Haybes, passing the hire base for Gyropods (Segways) and a café. A two car diesel train went past, very gaily and colourfully painted.  In the garden of a

Wild mooring in the lock cut at Vanne-Alcorps

riverside house there was an observatory. Just a couple of electric hireboats were moored on the new quay at Haybes, plus a cruiser with boards on its roof advertising it as for charter with skipper, it was called Charly. At the back of the quay there was a row of parked campervans and a couple of fishermen were trying their luck downstream of the quay. On up the lock at Vanne-Alcorps and we rose another 2.14m, winded and moored next to the piled edge in the lock cut, carefully, as there are submerged rocks but we’d been here before and followed the Lat and Long from our GPS to moor exactly where we’d been last time. It was 3.15pm. Mike trimmed the herbage along the bank to limit the paths for insects and spiders to climb aboard. At 4pm a loaded Dutch péniche came past to test our mooring, Veridis Quo went past very, very slowly and Mike had a chat with the three young Dutchmen on board as they went by. They said they were going to Givet and Mike said not tonight as the locks close at six. They said for them it’s seven (and, I read from the leaflet we had from 4 Cheminées, that they can put the VNF on call out for the next hour until eight pm). About an hour later a cruiser went past, also very slowly, heading towards Fumay. 

Sunday 14th September 2014 abv Houx to Givet FRANCE. 27.7kms 5 locks

Spot the Brent geese!

9.1°C Grey, overcast and chilly. Misty start. Boats coming downriver arrived at 10.20 am so we got ready and left ten minutes later. No signs of life on the big cruiser. Four cruisers and two DBs went down Houx lock, followed by two more cruisers and two DBs, one of which was Iron Lady from London, who went past us heading downriver as we went past the Ile d’Al Galette. The campsite downriver of Dinant seemed full of tents and caravans. Lady Night with its attached DB (came up Houx yesterday) was now moored on

Wavy rock strata

the weir side of the lock approach wall at Dinant. Two more DBs, Anthonie and Vrijheid, both Dutch flagged, came down the lock and we went up. Couldn’t see any signs of the work they’d been doing the past couple of days on the lock and no signs of a keeper up in his high cabin. We rose 1.8m. Three loaded péniches were moored on the lock guide wall on the left above the lock, Ch’ti, VD and Euro. A 67m long former commercial had been turned into a houseboat and was moored on the right as we

Loaded peniches waiting above Dinant lock

went into the town. At Mike’s suggestion, I took the laptop out on the stern and connected to the Internet to try chatting with Yvonne on Skype, expecting to get 3G as we went through the town, but we only got EDGE, ie 2G. We spoke briefly before the connection dropped out, it reconnected several times but we weren’t able to have a conversation as it was too noisy – and there was a constant stream of motorbikes going past on the road on our right. I transferred to the bows and it was just as bad, so we

Climbers on Freyr rocks

called it a day and I said we’d e-mail as soon as we get set up in France. DBs Aurigny and Cinclus plus a couple of cruisers were moored in town by the Casino. 3.8kms to the next lock at Anseremme, which was ready for us. Up another 2.23m. On the left bank the cruising club moorings stretched out some distance through the town of Anseremme. A longer reach of 7.2kms to the next lock. A small open speedboat went past heading downriver at a very sedate speed. The air started

Climbers on Freyr rocks

feeling damp, not quite raining. As we came up to the Château de Freyr with its amazing gardens, there were literally hundreds of Canada geese on the bank and swimming in the river – with them were two Brent geese. Opposite the Château are the rochers de Freyr and today the climbers were out in force. We took loads of photos, pity the sun wasn’t out. A trip boat from Dinant, Le Sax, overtook us by the Hastière Boat Club moorings. It was milling about below Waulsort lock, presumably we’d caught up

Climbers on Freyr rocks

with other uphill traffic and it was having to wait for the lock to empty. We followed it into the lock, it took the right hand wall (we went on the left as it didn’t leave enough room behind it for us) and it sat with one fore end line on and its prop turning, which caused a swirling of the water that kept our stern end well off the wall. Mike shouted across to the keeper (who was leaning out of his cabin window) to ask the skipper of the trip boat to stop his prop turning. He did, and the steerer came down to the stern and added a rope then

Tripper Le Sax

stopped his prop turning. Up another 2.23m. The lock keeper indicated that we should go out first as the tripper would wind above and come back down the lock. OK. We wondered why he bothered coming up the lock if he was going to turn round right above it. Almost 5kms to the next. Above the lock they’d converted an old mill building into houses and now 28 new “lofts” and 4 houses were up for sale. Passing motorbikes on the right were very noisy, on a Sunday outing no doubt. Up Hastière, deeper at 2.9m, with

Lofts for sale

again no signs of a keeper in the cabin up on high. Passing another long wooded island, Ile de Androssart, we could hear radio traffic of downhill boats calling the French lock Quattre Cheminées and them replying that they were waiting for a “yacht” to come uphill – that must be us! Over the border into France, noting that the supermarket and diesel pumps (where we used to stock up when red diesel was allowed) of M. Léonard had now gone completely. A young man and a young lady came out on the lockside at Quattre Cheminées

Port of Givet

and passed a hook down for our rope, the lock is 2.7m deep and we rose slowly. When the lock was almost full I went to the office with our newly printed vignette and spoke to the young man who was now at his computer. He checked, yes we normally have a full year’s licence, no, only a month this time. He gave me a wallet for the licence and a couple of maps plus a zapper for the locks. I asked if he had any small VNF flags. No, they give them out at the beginning of the year and they’d all gone now. Never mind, I told him we would probably be back in April to dry dock in Belgium and we’d get one then. On the cana

Piles of scrap Givet Port

l section above the lock there were two boats waiting, a DB called Fregate from Antwerp and a Belgian cruiser called Henrijk. Givet had added a new length of concrete quay to their expanding commercial port. The only boat moored there was an empty called Tatiana (86m x 10m 1826T) waiting to load by the piles of coal, pig iron and scrap metal. At the end of the long lock cut there were new flood gates that were wide enough for Tatiana! On into town. The pontoons were in use, a few cruisers were tied up there and more by the

Flood gates at the end of the lock cut above Givet Port 

bridge on the section marked Port de Plaisance. We carried on to the upstream end of the long, and otherwise empty, commercial quay and winded to moor at the far end, our usual spot. It was 4.25 pm. Straight away people stopped to ask Mike the usual questions as he was tying the fore end lines round the lower timber baulks (youths here have been known to lift ropes off bollards, not nice on a flowing river just above a weir). He went to the tourist information office (open on a Sunday!) and asked where there was a bakery that would

Moored in Givet

be open tomorrow (French bakeries are often shut on Mondays) he came back with a town plan with three dots marked right by the quay. Later he went to look for the boulangeries – surprise, surprise, no signs of any bakeries, but he found a Carrefour City and that will have bread. We went out for a short drive in the car around 9.30 pm, back for 10.30 pm just for tootle up and down a few hills as it’s nice to be out of the flatlands.

Saturday 13th September 2014 Anhée to abv Houx. 1.05kms 1 lock

Moored above the lock at Houx

10.5°C Grey and overcast until mid-afternoon. We set off at 9.15 am after Mike had called the lock keeper at Houx, which was just around the corner. Winded and continued upriver, passing the long wooded island in the river leading up to the lock. When the lock was full, another 2m lift, the keeper leaned out of his cabin window and said that the next lock, Dinant, was still “en panne” after the repair gang had been working on it all night. I asked what had happed and he said the gate was broken. Could we

Moored above the lock at Houx

stay on his waiting quay, yes, no problem. The big Dutch cruiser Marinus was moored at the lock end of the concrete lock approach wall. We moored in front of it, dodging the goose crap to tie up. The keeper had told us there was an Intermarché supermarket about ten minutes’ walk away, so Mike went to get some fresh bread. He said there was a big notice on the lock cabin forbidding the feeding of foreign birds such as Canada geese and Egyptian geese which are alien to Belgium and are

Commercial towing a Dutch Barge alongside in Houx lock

taking over to the detriment of the indigenous wild life. The Dutch cruiser set off upriver, so we moved the boat back down the quay to the corner as there was a shadow of one of the tall lamp posts cast across the solar panel. I finished the chores and tried the Internet - it was blue, we got 3G. I got up to date with the blog. Lunch. An empty 67m boat called Lady Night came up the lock towing a DB tjalk, with no name on it, strapped on its port side. A small Swedish yacht was behind it. They went on upriver. Around 3 pm the big cruiser came back (probably

Lady Night towing a Dutch Barge alongside 

nowhere to moor up by Dinant lock). It moored behind us on the angled bit of the quay. Not long after the skipper went off on his bike, he was back again ten minutes later. They moved the boat again, in front of us this time. 

Friday 12th September 2014 Namur to Anhée. 21.1kms 4 locks

Flood markers (brass plates) on La Plante lock cabin

8.1°C Foggy first thing, sun out around 9.45am. While we were waiting for the mist to clear Mike went online and bought a month’s vignette online from VNF to start tomorrow, but had problems with the e-mail they sent that was supposed to have an attachment with a PDF file to download and print the vignette, there was no attachment so he tried e-mailing to request one. It came back with a change to the e-mail address he’d sent it to, so he sent it again. We’ll have to see later if it has sent one later. We set off at 10.10am, winded

First of the Meuse rocky cliffs

and headed upriver to La Plante lock, which was ready with gates open and green lights. I threaded our centre rope through a recessed vertical bar in the wall (new ones set just above the water line) and we rose about 1.5m. Mike did rope duty while I made a cuppa. Once we’d past the Ile Va t’y Frotte the river became wider and very deep (5m) with houses on both banks as we wound through Jambes and Wépion, with forested hills

View back downriver of Wepion

beyond. There were some modern blocks of flats among smart houses and small chateaux. The rock cliffs started on the left and I took some photos of the views back downriver towards Wépion as we reached the Ile de Dave. Mike called the next lock (so he thought) the keeper replied to say that he was waiting for a loaded boat to come down then we could go up. When we arrived at Tailfer the lock was empty with gates open and green lights. Hmm. Maybe we heard him wrong (we thought we’d spoken to Tailfer lock and

Marga loading near Lustin

had a reply from him) so we waited thinking there must be something coming upriver. Nothing appeared so after about half an hour we went into the lock. The keeper called us forward as two more boats were coming, a hotel boat called Hippoptamo and the big Dutch cruiser, called Marinus, that was behind us on the quay in Namur overnight. The lock filled gently rising another 2.22m; we’d put fore and aft ropes on as we were about 4m from the top end gates and these river locks fill with gate paddles. It was 12.10 pm when

Quarry near Lustin

the gates opened; we went out first but the other two overtook and were soon out of sight. Then we saw a loaded boat coming downstream, Aly-son (67m 8.20m 610T) plus Mike had spotted that the VNF channel number for Tailfer had been 18 and we’d got 22 in our book and realised we’d called 22 and Riviére had answered us not Tailfer! Not having a good day so far. Above the lock another 67m boat, Marga from Zwijndrecht, was loading fine aggregate at the quarry near Lustin. I took photos looking back downriver of the rocks and quarry. On along the 5.4kms winding river reach to Riviére. The other two boats were

Ile d'Yvoir and its chain ferry (red boat by the white house)

through the lock by the time we arrived. The keeper dropped the lock off and we rose another 2m. Above the lock empty péniche Noumea was moored next to the sloping concrete bank having a washing day with a rotary drier on the bows spinning round in the strong breeze. At the big bend near Grand Godine we passed another loaded boat heading downriver, DC Mosa 1 (86m x 8.2m 1174T) a Dutchman from Breskens carrying more aggregates. Mike called Hun, the keeper said he would prepare the lock for us and it

Moored at Anhee

was ready when we arrived. The deepest yet at 2.8m and I couldn’t reach the new inset bars they were up too high for me, so the keeper took my rope and put the loop round a bollard on the lockside for me. He told us that the lock at Dinant was out of action until 6 am tomorrow. That’s OK we’re not going that far. He told us there was a stopping place for us at Yvoir. OK but we’re not going there! As we passed the Ile d’Yvoir a speedboat set off from a house on the island and went upstream a bit then turned and ran downriver at

Opposite the mooring at Anhee, rocks and castle at Houx

high speed (we were in a ski zone) passing us on the wrong side. Shortly after a jet-ski came past heading downriver turned around us to go back upstream then set off again back downriver at high speed, making less wash than when he was going slower. A solitary house martin was chasing flies up and down the river. Under the railway bridge at Anhée and we winded and moored next to a quay that is just a little higher than our roof. There was a ladder by our bows so we could get on and off easily. It was 3.00 pm. Set the TV up and I gave Mike a hand to get all his stuff ready and, at 4.00 pm, he went to move the car from Namur to Givet and come back on the moped. He was back at 6.45pm having a much easier route along the Meuse than the Sambre.