From - Thu Jun 24 23:24:36 1999 Path: reader2.news.rcn.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!news.demon.co.uk!demon!scars.demon.co.uk!David From: David Long Newsgroups: uk.rec.waterways Subject: The Lille - La Louviere World Canals Conference Convoy Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 21:23:30 +0100 Organization: None Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: scars.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: scars.demon.co.uk:158.152.93.212 X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 929651308 nnrp-02:27319 NO-IDENT scars.demon.co.uk:158.152.93.212 X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Newsreader: Turnpike (32) Version 4.01 Lines: 138 Xref: reader2.news.rcn.net uk.rec.waterways:90263 Reports of the trip from Reims to Douai in preparation for the WCC Convoy earlier this month have already appeared in two instalments... now read on: Alan Perkins, who runs the Venture Boat Trust's PETRA out of Calais on the northern French/ Belgian Canals, had travelled over from Dover on Saturday, June 12th. Michael Clarke, Membership Secretary of Inland Waterways International (http://users.skynet.be?sky34301/iwi.html), collected him from the Ferry, and they proceeded to Lille to set up the IWI's Exhibition at the WCC on the Citadelle, before Alan was taken on to FALCON at Douai to begin bringing her up to the Conference. This he did on the Saturday evening and Sunday... and I motored down to Lille on the Sunday evening, arriving near, but not at, FALCON at 1am on Monday morning. I finally managed to locate her exactly enough to walk across to her at 2am. After a debriefing session, a couple of beers, and a night-cap, I finally got to sleep by 3am. In the morning coachloads of youngsters were being brought to the Citadelle - but not to the WCC Exhibition (the Conference itself was miles away in the University)... the kids had come to the park, and to see the small zoo, and were not going to be hijacked to view a canals exhibition... though one party gave in, and skipped away with almost the whole stock of back copies of FLUVIAL between them. Wonderful organisation. I'd slept later than usual, as you'd expect, and awoke to view the flotilla... there was ourselves, Mike and Val Cresswell's nb LADY CAMELLIA, Di Murrell's FRIESLAND, and Mike Reid's BEATRICE... but we were the only one's going to the other Conference site at La Louviere. Not only hadn't the English nb flotilla arrived, but nor had the French fleet which, we had been assured, would be so large that there would be little room for the British boats. Nevertheless, I was assured that plans would stand - the "flotilla" would leave after the reception at the exhibition site at 22.00. I had my doubts, and said we'd go as soon as we were ready. We victualled at the nearest supermarche, and returned to hear that the fluvial police had been to say there would not be a special night opening of the one big lock on the Deule Grand Gabarit between Lille and the junction with the Upper Scarpe at Douai. No surprise! We left at 14.00, and chugged down to Douai. The passing peniches gave us scant room - so a night-time passage for inexperienced narrow boat crews would have been a good idea... provided they'd stayed awake. It would have seemed endless in the dark, however - it took us until nearly 21.00 to reach the first lock on the Scarpe. There we were told that the lock would open at 8am... so they'd quickly readjusted themselves from the scheduled 05.00 start.... (Not that we were up for that... but an 07.00 start would have been better....) The Scarpe was lovely - but our progress, especially at first, was slow - no one to open the two lift bridges we arrived at. 3km took us 45 mins. to do. It quickened up a little after that, as VNF woke up to the fact that there was a boat on the canal ( we were the fourth in a week). We arrived at Marchiennes just before lunch, I went in search of fresh bread and meat for our evening meal. The town was unexpectedly pleasant (it's the middle of a former mining area), and I returned to FALCON as she reached the bottom of the lock - with three VNF officials come to see us through! We chugged on, refreshed by our beer and pate lunch. At St-Amand-les Eaux they had the flags out - but for their water-festival (jousting on boats etc.) at the weekend, not for us. Eventually we left the lovely, quiet waters of the Scarpe, and were once again out with the big boys on the commercial waters of the Escaut - a 1000-tonner was bearing down on us as we slowly crossed the junction basin. 12kph is very fast when it's bearing down on you.... It's passing was easy enough, in the end. Over the Belgian border we bunkered our empty tanks on legal red diesel at less than half the price of the Derv fuel we'd been obliged to run on in France before entering the Nimy-Blaton Canal. The light was red at the first lock, just a couple of hundred metres from the junction. We roped onto a working flat whilst awaiting developments, and I went to save time and effort by taking my papers to the Control tower to pay my dues - 35 BFr. - about 70p - for the passage from there to Dinant on the Meuse. Not a bad price. The lock-keeper, despite his cameras and high tower, had not seen us arrive... it was just luck that he was emptying the lock in our favour - presumably for a peniche which had radioed to say it was on its way. It was evidently far enough away for him to lock us through on our own through the massive lock. Above the lock is a massive basin, big enough for 25' yachts to have a good sail, at the other end of which is an even deeper lock - but this time with rising bollards to assist the ascent. A few more miles chugging and we were at the Peruwelz marina - where a bus was to collect the convoy crews for the Dinner at La Louviere aboard the trip boats which ply there. It didn't arrive... I lost two bottles of wine when the boat got hung up as a 1000-tonner drew the water out of the marina. No one on the boats moored there warned us of this... and this was to be where the flotilla was to be provided with safe mooring while the crews were off dining.... We left, and chugged on until dusk - having perhaps the most heart- stopping event of the trip in the meantime: PROGRES, a 1350-tonner, came by... as she was half-way past us, we simply stopped moving, such was the height of her bow wave. Then her stern wave picked us up, and we were surfing! We finally dropped off in her wake.... After passing the unused lock to the new, but dry Pommereul - Conde (France) cut, we finally moored up as darkness, and hunger, took over. Despite careful tying-up, I was fretting about one such coming past us in the early morning... so was up by 06.00... and we were on our way soon after! We passed the big Rond at Mons, and approached the first lock. The lights turned green as we came in sight - the ILJA, a Swiss ex-ferry-hulled boat from Holland, had got there before us. They asked us to tie up to them, saving messing with adjusting ropes as we rose in the lock. They were a lovely group of elder-folk, whom we accompanied until we'd risen through the first of the lifts at La Louviere. We arrived at the Conference site at about 10.00. Not everyone was there for the speeches, and we chatted to a few folk from the USA as we awaited the lift, and slowly made our way up in the tank. There was no tumultuous welcome from the Conference delegates - though we are on a few videos, and were invited to take our boat to the next WCC at Rochester NY... but they didn't say who'd pay! We moored above the lift, and went to say hallo to whoever we could find whom we might know. It was a bit strange, after all we'd done, to provoke so little interest.... We saw a few folk, however - Hugh Potter, of Waterways World, David Edwards-May, of Inland Waterways of France, Audrey Smith OBE (I didn't know at the time, else I'd have bowed!), Tony Hirst of Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, Mike Clarke, sometime of this Parish... and Mark Lloyd of BW... who redeemed himself for not having managed to secure all the necessary sponsorship for the nb flotilla by taking Alan and I back in his car to mine in Lille! Under the direction of a Canal du Centre official, we moored between the third and fourth lift... and left FALCON to await her next trip - whilst I began my long trip home. I arrived rather shattered at 03.00 in Wigan. -- David Long Sankey Canal Restoration Society http://www.scars.demon.co.uk/scars/