Saturday 11th June 2016 Ville-sur-Haine to Pommeroeul. 26.7kms 2 locks

This floater doesn't!

13.8° C. Hazy clouds all day, sun out late afternoon, clouds rolled in late evening then we had some rain. Two boats went past, one in either direction half an hour before we set off. Left the quay at 8.45am, not long afterwards the first boat went past, a tanker called Synthese 7 (85m x 8.24m 1000T). He’d just come up Havre lock, the first of only two locks today. Just us to go down, a 10m drop attached to one floater (there were ten along each side). Strange how there always seems to be one floater that screeches its way down the wall as the deep locks empty. We were very soon on the next pound, it was 9.30am and we were heading for Obourg lock. Holcim cement works sprawled along the left bank. An empty bulk powder carrier called Wouter (46.93m x 5.10m 383T) came up the lock and winded to moor at the cement works. Beyond the cement works was a loading quay with piles of scrap and sand, etc. Four boats were moored there, two 80m boats Liberty and Ferjin, 61m Cheyenne and 80m Helena. The lock was ready for us. No floaters, just recessed bollards in the wall, easy to work as we dropped down 5m

Top end gates Havre lock

gently. No more locks until Perrones, but we’re not going that far until Monday. An empty called Fides was moored at the quay just before the lake that is called Le Grand Large at Mons. A few dinghies were sailing and one windsurfer, they hardly had any wind to play with. A canoe school had just set off through the open flood lock into the canal accompanied by an instructor in a small open power boat. They were herded safely into a corner as we went past them. I put floor mats and winter door curtains in the washer and

Bottom end gates Havre lock

made a cuppa. At the Darse Sud (south port) at Ghlin (now labelled Port Autonome de Centre et de l’Ouest) there were a few moored boats, empty 80m Sanderos, 80m Deschieter 17 (who was just leaving the quay) Natasha-N (85m x 9.5m 1719T) was waiting to unload a cargo of containers - we counted twenty seven full sized ones and the same in half sized ones. The Darse Nord on the other side of the canal was empty. On the long quay beyond the port loaded boat Cevantes was just moving off and an empty push-tow péniche pair called Noliser was moored, its crew

Below Havre lock

were washing down. A Belgian cruiser coming towards us was making enough wash to get our gunwales wet and water the banks halfway up the steeply sloping concrete, but the loaded 80m Dutch boat called Discovery following it made hardly a ripple, its holds were full of sand smoothed flat – with children’s Tonka toys left where they’d been playing. Past the blue and white painted nuclear power station at St Ghislain. An empty called Saphir (84.32m x 9.57m 1563T)

Below Obourg lock

was moored next to a busy road near Vilerot and just a bit further on an 80m called Audax (1415T) was under a covered conveyor loading some smelly powdered chemical at another Port Autonome. Beyond it was a berth with loads of pipes to load liquid chemicals, one was labelled NHO3, ammonia. On the next mooring quay an 80m empty called Ra was tied up, an old boat with very sleek lines. Just before Pommeroeul we passed a campervan and three men fishing in the canal from an open rowing boat. We moored on the mole between two British

Lock 6 on old canal de Centre - link to Mons a Conde canal (disused)

DBs, Rival and Johanna. It was around 1.30pm. Lunch, then Mike set up the TV – Wales were playing their first match today at 5pm our time. He cleaned the roof off and I got on with indoor chores.