Willemsroute

The South Willemsvaart, Friday, 27.9.- Sunday, 6.10.2013

Friday the 27^th: On a sunny day, only a few kilometers away from our home marina Boschmolenplas we go to the Oolderhuuske lake to the opposite of the Marina Oolderhuuske. There are some jetties for free use (like almost everywhere in the NL). Not far away there is a small street that we used sometimes by car when we went to the Marina. From that street the whole lake looks so beautiful that we already decided years ago to spend a few days at this lovely spot in the future in our own cabin cruiser. And future was now.

 

We had a great time with our barbecue. During the night the water was rough and the wind was strong so that it was not very calm but that was no problem.

On that day we also got our new flagpole at the bow. The actual flag is the flag of the province Limburg. At this moment, wind force 5-6.

Our next place was the lake next to the Marina De Spaanjerd in Belgium. It is situated not far away from the dutch frontier in Belgium. Again the sun is shining and – what happiness - like the rest of the next 9 days. Time for relaxing, enjoying and reading.

One day later we are again in the Wessem area. Because the weather is fine and we almost did not have any barbecues this year, it was time again. We had a great sunset.

One day trip was to Maaseik. It has a very nice market place in the centre of the town. The harbour was about 5 kilometres away.

 

Two days later we started our journey to Maastricht on the Willemsroute.

Actually we intended to have our first stop at Bree or at Bocholt. But the so called harbours in Belgium are very often just jetties in or at the rivers or canals close to industrial areas. So were these “harbours” and we did not like them at all. Finally we found a very nice harbour called ´t Eiland.

´T Eiland harbour also has a canoe club. On this weekend there should be a regatta and the members carved a wooden stick with a bell at the top next to our ship. The kids in the canoe were paddling with full enthusiasm and slammed their paddle against the bell. We had the feeling that the regatta has already begun.

On the next morning we went for a shower, and as we came back to the boat …. what was this? From the distance it looks like there was another boat next to ours.

When we were back we could see that there were some boat people who were a little nervous about that strange boat. Until this morning it was on the opposite site of the canal and opposite of our boat. A few minutes ago it swam to our side of the canal and was stopped by the wooden slat from the paddlers.

This was our first ghost ship! Maybe the owner has given up her, since her last vignette was from 2005.

The harbour master finally catched the boat and gave her a jetty.

Our next town was Maasmechelen. Maasmechelen has a famous shopping outlet center, a former coal mine. I think Simone likes it in its actual destination:

Fiona got some very nice liqueur glasses. Satisfied we went to our next stop, Rekem.

We had a walk and could see the nice houses and a castle in this small village.

Because meanwhile it was October the holiday season was finished. Only a few people were in the streets.

We were in the Netherlands again. The Zuid-Willemsvaart goes through Belgium and finally leads into the Netherlands.The highlight of our trip should be Maastricht. And no question it was!

Maastricht!

Before we could go into the harbour, we had to pass a lock. Here we are on our way after passing the bridge after the lock. We are going to the harbour “Bassin” in direct neighbourhood to the Business School.

Even the shops were open until 10 p.m. on this Thursday! Maastricht is a very vivid city with lots of shops, restaurants and bars. Back in our harbor we met some friendly guys from Roermond and had a nice evening hours with the 4 other ship crews on the left of our side.

We intended to stay for two nights in Maastricht. On the next day – Friday - we went to the famous fish market.

Not only fish was sold on this market:

All the chairs of the bars were occupied and the people took a sun bath.

Excursion ships in the river Maas.

Somehow a little bit of Italy in Maastricht.

In the evening we enjoyed the nightlife. The temperatures were almost 20 degrees so that many people were sitting outside in the bars and restaurants.

When we went back the next morning we took the direct way to Roermond, that means going through the Juliana Kanaal.

There are only two locks on our way to Roermond (plus the lock of our harbour). Each of the two has a range of about 12 metres. Because they have moving clamps all the action was very relaxing and comfortable. In Belgium we had locks where we did not have even clamps at the last metre so that we had to use the machine to avoid damages.

Back at our home base Marina Boschmolenplas we used our Son of Hibachi portable grill again at our favorite barbecue place.

During the last 9 days we had a great time, nice sunny weather.

Some impressions of our last day during that trip.

When we went into the lock Linne we had some smaller sport boats inside:

All the wild animals, bulls and horses had fantastic late summer days.

Fiona in Roermond, moored in a harbor next to the River Maas.

This is the same jetty for Fiona. The view depends on the different place of taking the picture.

- The End -

Zilvermeer

We left Lier in the morning with destination Zilvermeer. The route leads us through the Netekanaal, Albertkanaal and Kanaal Bocholt-Herentals. Seven locks are waiting for us on this tour.

The Netekanaal is a quiet waterway with nice trees at both sides. Life got busier when we arrived at the lock Viersel which connects the Netekanaal and the Albertkanaal. During our trip through Flanders we already got a good idea why long ropes are mandatory in Belgium. Viersel lock has a rise of 5 m, and when we went into the lock the lock master sent us a hook where we could fit our rope. She moored us at a bollard 5 m above us and Fiona hang in the lock like a fish at the fishing-rod.

Albertkanaal is a busy large waterway with lots of commercial boats and industry around us. Luckily we only have a short distance on Albertkanaal before we take the lock in Herentals to the Kanaal Bocholt-Herentals. This lock has a rise of 7.50 m, but with ladders for the ropes. Much better, but the dirty ladder made quite a mess on our rope...

In the course of the Kanaal Bocholt-Herentals we have to pass one lock after the other, sometimes we have to phone instead of using our VHF radio, sometimes we have to wait for some time.

Mooring in the lock

Locks, and locks, ...

In one lock construction works were ahead so that one side of the lock disappeared below the waterline. Unfortunately, also all the bollards disappeared with rising water level so that the rope got loose. In the end, Frank had to keep Fiona still by motor until the lock opened.

Not enough of adventure, we had to share our last lock for the day with a passenger boat. The lock master took our rope and moored us some distance behind the passenger boat, but under an open bridge he then went to close. We needed some good ideas and fast reaction to bring the boat away from the bridge so that our canopy was safe. The passengers had an interesting show, though. 

and locks...

Sharing the lock with a passenger ship

We found that seven locks, some of them quite delicate, were enough for this day, and turned into the lake Zilvermeer where we moored in Zilvermeerhaven Port Aventura. This is a great place to stay! A modern yacht harbour with all facilities and a nice restaurant, and a fantastic lake around us! The weather was wonderful, so that we decided to stay here for two nights.

Relaxing at Zilvermeer

The rest of our trip through Flanders lead us through another 8 locks. We went from the Kanaal Bocholt-Herentals into the Zuid-Willemsvaart and finally into the Kanaal Wessem-Nederweert.

Due to the warm and sunny weather during these days the water level in the waterways was low. The first lock on this last day took us more than one hour because a commercial boat got stuck between two locks. The water level was raised with the help of the locks, but this took some time. 

Waiting for lock 18

Panheel lock with a commercial ship

The lock 18 to the Zuid-Willemsvaart gave us even more delay due to low water level. So we ended up at the lock in Panheel, our last lock for these trip, shortly before sunset. This lock again took us more than the usual time because we had to wait for a commercial ship. So we left the lock almost in darkness, but luckily we were not far away from Fionas new home berth, and we had been there before several times so that we knew the way. Finally, we brought Fiona to her new home, after having a lot of fun and adventure with her on our trip through Flanders.

View from our berth at the Marina Boschmolenplas at our arrival. For the next day we had reserved a table in the restaurant.

Mechelen and Lier

Mechelen welcomed us with a couple of surprises. After a 90 km tour we arrived in Mechelen in the early evening. We decided to moor at the Jachthaven Dijlestreek. This little harbour offers not more than fresh water and electricity, but is nicely located and very close to the center.
The part of the Dijle which can be navigated by sportsboats ends in the center of Mechelen, and the moorings are just in front of a low bridge. We could see the bridge in a distance of about 150 m and decided to take one of the moorings directly at the head of the little harbour. We were just sitting for dinner when another boat crew came and one of them fussed at us that we would moor in the wrong place - our place would be for members of the yacht club. He even called us criminal since we took electricity! 
We went along the moorings to check the situation, and indeed, a couple of meters away from the bridge, well hidden behind another ship mooring there, we found a litlle sign which explained for visitors how and where to moor. No chance to see it from the water... Obviously the harbour master expects new visitors to have second sight.

Restrictive orders for Mechelen visitors

We wondered about the strict orders, but decided not to be annoyed about that too much but rather to go and enjoy the city.
And Mechelen indeed is well worth to be seen. Although much smaller than Bruges or Ghent, it has several wonderful places with over 300 historic buildings which are nicely illuminated at night, and wonderful bars and restaurants.

Center of Mechelen

Vismarkt

Bars and restaurants at Vismarkt

Historical buildings in Mechelen

We had to pass the tidal lock again to leave Mechelen, and so we left Mechelen in the afternoon for a short trip to Lier where we had our next overnight stop. Close to Lier there were some new moorings at the Netekanaal, but we were afraid of swell from the commercial barges, and so we decided to moor at Jachtclub Emblem were we were nicely welcomed. We had electricity and fresh water there, and also some funny sanitary equipment in an old ship. The WC room was smaller than ours in Fiona!

Entrance of Jachtclub Emblem close to Lier

Center of Lier

Night Life in Lier

We did not really plan to visit Lier, since Emblem is some kilometers apart from the center, but then we decided to make a nice evening walk and ended up in Lier for some icecream. Again, we were surprised about all the pretty buildings which can be found in almost every city that we visited.

A bath in the morning

We planned to go through the tidal river Boven-Zeeschelde non-stop because the jetties there were not the way we like it - right in the middle of tidal current and with commercial barges around us. This meant an almost 90 km tour on one day.
The evening before, Harbourmaster Rocco checked the tidal table for us and advised us to start before 6 in the morning with the falling tide. So we had to stand up pretty early and started in darkness - a luck that the marina was lighted. Next to the marina we had to pass a tidal lock which was also nicely illuminated.

Merelbeke lock, Ringvaart to Boven-Zeeschelde

Locks always take time, and when we passed it morning had come.
What shall I say - shit happens... When we left the lock Frank found that the boat went much slower than before, and the machine began to stop when cruising slowly. Of course we decided not to start the trip, but moored next to the lock to check the propeller. We had the slight hope to reach it from the bathing platform, but in the end Frank had to take a bath in the Schelde and removed a large piece of plastic from the propeller! He was the hero of the day for the rest of the crew!

Trouble for our duoprop

Boven-Zeeschelde at low tide

At low tide the river had a very special atmoshpere, kind of awesome and surreal. We were not unhappy when tide began to be high again.
At Temse we stopped for Diesel the first time with Fiona and were happy about her low consumption of about 3 liters per hour! In Temse we also found one of the most beautiful marina building.

Finally we reached the tidal lock in Mechelen on time and could enjoy comfortable locking with swimming bollards.

Mechelen lock