Pommeroeul and Mons 30/6 - 4/7 After we left the Blaton Ath canal, the plan was to get a few jobs done before my brother and his wife arrive in Mons on Thursday afternoon. We stayed on the lock waiting wharf for the Pommerœul-Condé canal. There was already another boat moored at the end, a pleasant and friendly Dutch couple, Dorethea and Juka on ZK-31. And there was another boat which looked like a deserted live-aboard. We had been monitoring the Meuse canal so we had pre-warning that it was going to close due to lack of water (which we knew maybe a problem as it had done the same the last 2 years). So after some discussions amongst ourselves, we decided to abandon our plans and look for a new mooring in Flanders or France. We were able to secure a place in Ieper (Ypres in Flanders), where we have friends with permanent moorings. So Tuesday I spent most of the day just working out a new route for us to get to Ieper, with plenty of interest as well as places to meet up with expected guests. So our new plan is to spend some time on the Haute Sambre, which is supposed to be lovely but which is closed about 120km south of Charleroi, so isn't a route to anywhere and we'll have to come back. After that we commence heading towards Ieper via Lille, Robaix and Dunkirk in France, and Kortrijk in Belgium. It took me most of Monday to work this out. While I was doing this Howard was painting the back deck. By late afternoon we had both had enough, so we headed off on our bikes for an explore. Sunset on Sunday The Pommerœul-Condé Canal was constructed in the 1980s as a short cut between Belgium and France. Unfortunately it was closed again in 1992, because it silted up and "Due to the absence of an agreement between Belgium (Walloon Region) and France to dredge the canal, the canal is no longer used by inland vessels." (binnenvaartinbeeld.com). This canal is huge with 2 locks that we cycled past. One 13.5m tall and the other similar. They were designed for large ships. But after the second lock the canal just stops. We nick-named it the canal to no-where. It seemed amazing to us that this huge and expensive piece of infrastructure was just sitting idle. Nice for us to be able to moor there though. On Monday evening we got an email from our Flemish mechanic Davy, they were now ready to come to the boat on Wednesday to do the work we had requested. So we decided to move to Mons on Tuesday. We set off, after saying goodbye to Juka and Dorothea. After the short trip to Mons, Howard got stuck into painting the railings of the back deck. And we did a couple of shopping runs to get supplies for when Sue and Richard (Poo) arrive on Thursday. We were moored in a disused harbour on the Grand Large in Mons. A free mooring not far from the Port de Plaisance where we stayed last time we were in Mons. On Wednesday Davy arrived, with Claudio and Willem. They worked hard on the boat for most of the day. They completed the CVB jobs we had asked them to do including replacing fuel lines, putting in shut-off valves, setting up our horn light and light for the blue board. Also they installed a timer to our shore power connection so we can set it up to only accept power during the night, and so get maximum value from our solar panels. I went to Ikea which is nearby to look at kitchens as we've decided to replace our kitchen over the winter. By the end of the day Davy had agreed to install the kitchen and suggested we use an Ikea kitchen which he will measure up and install for us. Howard did some jobs around the boat too. In the evening we were able to submit the photos of 7 more things from our CVB list to our surveyor, so now only 5 to go. Our new blue board and our new lights for the horn and the blue board. On Thursday our first job was to go to the hardware store to look at loungers. We ended up buying a couple which are very comfortable. Howard tied them with string and carried them over his shoulder as he biked home. After that we went into town for the first time for some shopping, to pick up some tourist information, and have a pleasant lunch on the main square. Sue and Poo arrive unexpectedly early at around 3:30pm, so the jobs had to stop (for a while at least).
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
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