Friday 1st August 2014 Weert to above Panheel lock. 16kms 1 lock

Our mooring for a week at Weert

14.6°C Sunny and very hot again. We did some shopping at the supermarket just up the road but went by car as we needed heavy stuff like mike and spuds. I gave Mike a hand to unload the bike off the roof and he stowed it in the car to move the car on to Panheel. When he returned I gave Mike a hand to put the bike back on the roof but didn’t put the cover on as the engine was still hot. I noticed someone outside and Mike went to look. It was an elderly guy from one of the houses looking after “his” garden, the periwinkels along the edge were his and he said

Lock 15, bottom end gates - note shape of lock

he often fishes there. Told him we’d be leaving in a couple of hours. Mike gave him an Amaryllis plant. At 1.20 pm we untied, winded and set off back down the Zuid Willems Kanaal, going with the flow this time we were much quicker getting to lock 15. A short wait, hovering in the middle as a cruiser left lock 15 and we followed another cruiser into the chamber and dropped back down 5m. Mike looked after the rope while I finished setting the washing machine up. Below the lock

Lock 15, top end gates note gates are offset,
1st boat in moves over and is therefor 1st boat out, simple.

there was a loaded boat, called Myos, waiting to go up and a cruiser. We tied on the very end of the quay and Mike set the gennie up so we could do some washing. I did two short programmes en route to Panheel. Turned right at the junction on to the Kanaal Wessem-Nederweert, a long straight canal with trees both banks, reeds, a few ducks and a road along the right bank. Long, straight boring and hot. At 4.30 pm we moored above the lock on the left where one cruiser was moored before the commercials, a couple of dozen

Boats below lock 15 Zuid Willemsvaart

of which were moored on either side above the lock, all empty and at this time of year probably their crews were away on holiday. Several had their cranes in the air, so no cars on board. Had a text from the Snails to say they were at Engis and were staying there the next day for shopping before moving on to Ampsin where they would wait for us.

 

Moored at Panheel above the lock - with working boats on holiday

Sorry! I missed this posting out! Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Arkel to Den Bosch. 41.1kms 4 locks

Grote Merwedesluis at Gorinchem

18.0°C Heavy rain in the night, hazy sunshine first thing then hot later with a nice breeze. Winded and set off into Gorinchem at 8.00 am. Several cruisers went past heading towards Arkel as we arrived at the Kerkhofsluis where there were new traffic lights. We presumed that the single amber light meant no commercials were coming and we carried on through the open flood lock and down to the Grote Merwedesluis. Mike called the keeper and he opened the lock gates and lifted the bridge (one we couldn’t get under). Just us

Heading out on to the Rhine branch called the Wal,
here called Boven Merwede

in the lock and we dropped down about 15cms on to the level of the Wal, here called the Boven Merwede, (the main channel of the Rhine which has no locks in the Netherlands and runs straight out to sea via Dordrecht and Rotterdam). Mike lowered our mast to get under the other liftbridge and we set off towards the Big River. It was 8.45am as we turned left going upstream following an empty called Natal, who was blue-boarding (indicating that he was going the “wrong” side) heading for the bunkerstation on the left bank for fuel, (all the other

Traffic on the Boven Merwede

upstream traffic was on the far side of the river running closer to the right bank). River traffic was busy, as it always is, with a big tug pushing two large empty pans heading downriver overtaking several loaded boats, while a fast river taxi was going from Gorichem old haven to various places on the far bank and making quite a bit of wash. We kept to the left side of the river as no one takes much notice of where pleasure boats go as long as they keep out of the way of the commercial traffic. Mike reckoned the flow on the river

Guillotine floodgates at the end of Van Heusden's kanaal

was about 3 to 4kph. The water taxi went past again and a couple of Waterways tugs went past making the river very lumpy for a while which causes the boat to “corkscrew” - a very unpleasant sensation, fortunately it didn’t last long. Two cruisers went past hugging the left bank until they were almost opposite Woudrichem before crossing the river to the right bank. We waited for a craneboat to pass us heading downstream, then we set off across the river heading for a gap after two upriver loaded boats. More traffic was coming

Wilhelminasluis, sloping sided chamber

upriver behind them and we were soon overtaken by a 3,000 tonne load of coal. We kept close to the right bank but well away from the groynes which stick out into the river, the ends of which have water swirling from them and sloping sandy beaches between them. The big ferry boat from Woudrichem to Gorinchem was just setting off as we arrived at the junction with the Afgedamde Maas. A cruiser followed the ferry across the river. It was 9.30 am as we passed the haven full of moored masted tjalks and another full of converted Dutch barges. The

Wilhelminasluis, sloping sided chamber

water was quieter and had less flow. There was no sign of the two cruisers that had overtaken us or the empty boat that had come downriver and turned into the Maas just before we did. There were lots of commercials moored by the silos to the left of the lock entrance for Wilhelminasluis. An empty 47m boat called Semper-Spera had just left the lock so Mike gave the lock a call, didn’t understand the answer and it was in English, sort of. When we got there we could see the two cruisers that had overtaken us on the Wal

Couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at this picture,
it's a helicopter gunship coming up behind us at low level!!!

were waiting for the lock. The gates opened and another empty came out followed by three cruisers. Into the lock with the two cruisers and a yacht that had caught us up. Wilhelminasluis is a large sloping sided lock with wooden baulks to tie to. Its gates closed very, very slowly and we had plenty of time to look at the shell covered bottom of the lock as the water was so clear. We dropped down a mere 10cms (I was expecting the water level to rise). After leaving the lock we tied on the very end of the baulks and Mike connected the Markon drive so that I could do some washing. Set off again five

In Engelen sluis

minutes later. Mike put the brolly up to dry it out as it was still wet from yesterday’s rain. A few minutes later a helicopter took off from the riverbank behind us and came swooping slowly up the river and went directly over us about twenty feet up. The downdraft took half the cover off the brolly! Fortunately it didn’t break any of the ribs and Mike was able to put it back together, however, we’d lost the two cords with hooks that we use to hold it down to the handrails, will have

Lady making hard work of locking,
rope round lockside bollard and back round bollard on deck!

to make some new ones. The river below the lock, which was now called the Andelse Maas, was wide and deep and lined with moorings, boatyards and shipbuilders, houses and holiday homes. People were swimming in the edges or lying on the sandy beaches, walking dogs or cycling along the dyke road up above the navigation. A cable ferry was working hard taking cars and bikes across from Veen to Aalst and vice versa. The old Maas continued in a dead end arm to our left while we continued on the Heusdens Kanaal which links with the Bergse Maas. Under a guillotine floodgate and turned left with a bunch of cruisers. It was 12.30 pm. Going upstream on the Maas was slow going

Below lock 0 in Den Bosch - the keeper waited for us.

with the generator running. An empty 85m boat overtook us then blue-boarded round a left hand bend. A loaded container boat, a pusher pair, came downriver keeping as far to the outside of the bend as it could, “wrong” siding around the bend. Above Heusden there was a five kilometre ski zone and, although there were no water-skiiers, there were plenty of high speed motor boats zapping up and down, turning the water very choppy. Mike had the sunshade up and was having trouble with the

Rival in lock 0 Den Bosch.

wind dipping the front left hand corner so he wedged a short boat shaft diagonally across to hold it up. That was OK for a while until the wind gusted and flicked the shaft overboard! Because we’d still got the drive connected he couldn’t over-rev it so we went back to pick it up slowly in reverse. A Belgian boat loaded with containers, called Thiakita from Gent, overtook us just before the junction with the canalised river Dienze and we turned right to follow him up the Dienze. Came to a stop below the lock at Engelen where the Belgian had moored to wait for the lock and we joined a queue of cruisers and a small tug. Three commercials came out of the lock and

Rival leaving lock 0 Den Bosch

the Belgian went in, followed by a péniche called Rival loaded with gravel who tied alongside the Belgian. More and more cruisers arrived, we’d got the tug and two cruisers in front of us, one behind us, one hanging alongside us and three behind the commercials and there was still masses of room left in the lock for more! We rose 2m slowly then slowly we left the lock in a crocodile lead by the two commercials. Two more were waiting to come down, Mea Vota and Pia. On into Den Bosch. Past more moorings and commercial quays. Under a railway bridge decorated with woven sides. By some trip boat

Moored above lock 0 in Den Bosch

moorings next to a Gamma DIY shop stood the first Mosque we’d seen in a long time. Past the two havens for pleasure boats and Mike lowered our mast to get under the lift bridges on the narrow section of canal leading to lock 0, the first lock on the Zuid Willemsvaart. We could see the two commercials were still going into the huge odd-shaped lock so Mike increased speed to see if we could get there before the keeper closed the gates behind them. Rival seemed to be taking ages to get into the banana-shaped lock, which made it easy for us to catch up. The lock keeper was leaning out of his lock cabin and I shouted thank you to him for keeping the gates open for us (the liftbridge had gone down but we could easily get under that). Tied on the left behind the Belgian and we rose 2.6m. Mike asked the keeper if we could moor above the lock and he said OK, go on the right. The designated area for sport boats was short and filled with boats. A commercial was moored right on the end of the sport boat moorings and a cruiser beyond him, so we winded and moored beyond the cruiser. It was 4.45 pm. Gave Mike a hand to get the bike off, easy as the quay is almost cabin height, and he went to collect the car from Jutphaas.

Saturday 26th July 2014 Helmond to Weert. 33.1kms 6 locks

Lock 9 and the old canal (still used by commercials) Helmond south

14.7° C. Rain overnight, roof and bike cover wet. Misty start, light clouds, sunny and hot with a light breeze later. Four cruisers set off from the moorings on the dot of eight, the last of them had navi lights on so Mike couldn’t resist saying it – you’ve got your lights on – yes, she said, I know, it's misty; so he retorted how fast are you going to go? – she didn’t follow his English sarcasm, visibility was at least 2kms if not more. We set off after Mike got all the pins out at 8.15 am. Turned right at the crossroads on to the new ringvaart around Helmond. We were overtaken by another cruiser and a wide short fishing boat style of steel boat. An

Silos and unloading quay below lock 11

empty called Let’s Go was moored at the end of the lock waiting area, washing down. We joined the queue for the lock. It was 9.30 am. The sun came out at 9.50 am. At 10.15 the lock gates opened and we went into the deep lock with seven cruisers and the fishing boat. Rose about 6m and followed the others out of the lock at 10.40 am. Away went the queue at around twice our speed. We ambled on to the junction with the old canal then on up to lock 10. On the long straight we could see the boats we’d locked up Helmond with were just leaving the top of lock 10 -

The last remaining lock houses. Lock 11. Mike on rope duty

before we’d even got there! We arrived below lock 10 at 11.30 am and Mike called on VHF Channel 18. The lock emptied, there was just us to go up a couple of metres in the new lock. Nearly midday when we set off for lock 11. The N279 continued to follow the right bank of the canal, hidden from view by tall reed beds, but we could hear the traffic noise. Two cruisers went past heading downhill. Surprise, lock 11 was empty, gates open and we’d got a green light. Below the lock was an unloading place at a silo, it had piles of sand but they were covered in a growth of grass. Into the lock, up and out in less than ten minutes! Four downhill cruisers went past in

Waiting below lock 12 for a bunch of cruisers

two groups of two. A commercial was in lock 12, the group in front had already cleared it. A loaded French péniche called Broomstick from Dunquerque went past heading downhill and we went into lock 12. Mike held the rope while we rose another 2m and I made some lunch. We moored below lock 13, which had a liftbridge at the tail end, it was empty with the gates shut and there were more cruisers coming up in the lock behind us so we had to wait for them. Ten minutes later the first cruiser was heading for the liftbridge and it opened as he got there so we followed him in, the remaining three cruisers arrived a few minutes later and we all rose

View from lock 12 back to lock 11
 and the cruisers we had to wait for

together a further 1.5m. It was 2.30 pm when we left the top. The cruisers did their usual 12kph+ and we motored on at our most energy-efficient 6.5kph. The passantenhaven at Neederweert, a small square offline basin with end on moorings at each side, was almost full. Most of the crews were sitting out in the sunshine, they waved as we passed by. On to the crossroads with the Noordervaart to our left (a dead end), the Wessem-Nederweert straight ahead (which leads to the the Maas at Maasbracht and the Juliana kanaal – the route we’ve always taken before) and the Zuid Willemsvaart continued to the right. We turned right, on to new waters (we’d never

In lock 15, old lock with offset gates - bottom end gates

been this way before) at 3.35 pm. The boats we’d locked with were below lock 15 still waiting. Mike called the keeper on Ch 20 and got a reply. A few minutes later the gates opened, two cruisers came out and we followed three of the four we’d locked up with in lock 13 into the 5m deep old brick chamber with offset gates of lock 15. Two of the cruisers took the right hand wall, one had gone right to the front on the left wall so we took the left wall. The lock filled from halfway along the right wall and the water came across

In lock 15, old lock with offset gates - top end gates

the chamber and forced us off the wall. Glad we’d got fore and aft ropes and not the single centre line we’d used with the previous five locks! We’ll know next time! I managed to haul the bows back to the wall so I could lift the rope up the recessed bollards. That was fun. There were two men in the lock cabin but both were so engrossed they didn’t speak and we noticed the lock had many cameras so it may have been remotely operated but was having problems. The cruisers hared off into the distance. It was 4 pm as we set off after them. There was a considerable flow on the canal,

Biesterbrug closed - a good quiet mooring.

around 1.5kph, so we were going slower than normal. At Weert, in the distance, we could see the two liftbridges we had to go through to get to the mooring we intended to use to stay on over Sunday. The cruisers went through the bridges but when we arrived at the first bridge Biesterbrug, it had double reds. They’d gone home! It was 4.30 pm. Looked in our ten year old Wateralmanak and found that on Saturdays they were open 7 -17 and closed Sundays! (That was wrong the bridges open on Sundays nowadays) We knocked pegs in on a section of new piling by some houses next to the bridge and settled down for the rest of the weekend. Gave Mike a hand to get the moped off the roof and he went to get the car from Helmond.