Even the big boys get caught out - jammed rope in Gosselies lock |
15.6°
C Overcast and cool start, then sunny spells, warmer but breezy. Mike went to
the Capitainerie to say thanks and au’voir to Arthur at nine. We finally set
off at 10.30am. All the cruisers that were moored on the water point had already
gone. A loaded pusher pair had gone past
on the main canal just before we set off so the water was very disturbed for
quite some time so he couldn’t tell if the rudder adjustment had fully
corrected the pull to the left (it had, more or less done the job). A loaded
1100-
tonner called Lucky-Way went past just before Pont-à-Celles, followed a
bit later as we were almost at Luttre by an empty 50m cement carrier called
Alpha. Mike started scrubbing the white panels on the cabin side with some Ciff,
found it worked extremely well and did two panels plus the back cabin doors. He
called the first lock down, Viesville, on VHF and got no reply. There was an
empty 80m boat in the middle of the quay above the lock, its car hoist dangling
– crew away for the weekend or on holiday? We went to the end of the quay
nearest the lock and waited a short while. Two cruisers came up the lock (the
second was a Nichols hireboat) and then we dropped down 7m with our centre rope
round a floater by the centre sliding gate. Mike hung on to the string while I
made some lunch. We just about had time to eat lunch before we arrived at
Gosselies lock. A short wait for an empty called Elvis to come up. Slight
change of tactic, we did fore and aft ropes on the floaters either side of the
sliding centre gate. Down another 7m. Mike took a photo of a big rope that had
been hung up in the lock when it had caught between metal plates on the
lockside – even the big boys get caught out! An empty 80m called Gwenci went
past near Roux as we were passing under the flightpath of the Ryanair jets
taking off from Charleroi airport. Noisy. Above Marchiennes there was an empty
boat called Corma-B moored (80mx9.5m 1515 tonnes) and a loaded boat called
Nebraska (70mx7.2m). Down another 7m. Mum was amazed at the piles of stuff at the
recycling port as we passed several kilometres of piled broken glass, metal
scrap, plastic and wood and rubble and sand, the glass piles looked pretty
shimmering in the sunlight. I made a cuppa en route to Marcinelles lock.
Turned
left under the railway at the end of the Brussels-Charleroi canal and turned
left on to the river Sambre in the middle of the steel works. A tug and pan
called Infinity II was waiting to unload his cargo of scrap metal as Helena was
at the scrap berth being unloaded. We moored by the lock and Mum was fascinated
by the unloading of scrap from a boat using a peeled onion grab while Mike went
to see the lock keeper (he was miles away - reading a book) to get the lock
ready for us. I took our rubbish to deposit in the lockside bins then hopped back
on the boat as it came into the chamber and
slung our centre rope around a
bollard. Down only 3m this time so no floaters. Into the city of Charleroi in a
concrete sided chasm bordered by office blocks and houses and hotels. Nothing
moving but us as we sped through the city. Martigny was ready for us, the top
half of the chamber full with gates open and a green light on. I made another
cuppa and Mike held the rope as we descended 2.2m. An old retired péniche
called Vage was moored in the corner of a layby before Pont-de-Loup. At
Vankerkoven’s chantier
there were still lots of old boats moored, including a
very badly converted little Luxemotor in need of much TLC and a very nicely
painted Belgian péniche. We were doing well since removing all the weed and
mussels on dry-dock, with engine revs set at 1300 (which did 6.5kph before) we
were now doing 7.5kph and not assisted much by the flow of the river. Before
the new sand berth there was an empty moored boat called Monitor (85mx9.5m 1381
tonnes) and a loaded boat at the sand berth called Cutty Sark
(61mx7.24m 698
tonnes) was waiting to unload. Mike called Roselies lock and got an answer. The
lock was ready for us and we dropped down another 3.7m. Below the lock was a
new recycling plant called Sedisol which looked like it was processing
dredgings (from the smell of it!) It was - click to have a look at the Belgian firm's technology The sloping concrete banks of the river were
now colonised with lots of wildflowers, mallow and purple loosestrife. An empty
called Cursor (85mx9.5m 1607 tonnes) was moored at a silo
(Brichart) at
Farciennes. Shortly after a loaded boat called Muscari went past, loaded with
soil (more recycling?) followed by a little German yacht without masts called
Patty from Duisburg. There were lots of people sitting on the wall in the
sunshine along the high quay in Tamines by the Carrefour Market and Aldi.
Counted the EU flags on the road bridge at Tamines, there were 26 plus the
Union flag. There were lots of Canada geese swimming, they must be spreading
upriver from the Meuse. We tied up just after seven on the quay above the lock
at Auvelais. Just a few dredging pans were tied up there, plus a little pusher
tug moored in the middle of the mooring half way down towards the lock.
Steel works at Marcinelles lock |
Boat load of scrap metal waiting to be unloaded at Marcinelles lk |
Unloading scrap metal at Marcinelles |
Below Marcinelles lock - sliding gate closing |
River Sambre in concrete chasm in Charleroi |
Carrefour and Aldi at Tamines - high quay wall |
Moored above Auvelais lock |
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