2 locks, 3 lift bridges, 1 swing bridge, 6.5 miles 2.5 hours
I jumped ahead a wee bit on the last blog because I wanted to get a post up. Here’s a few more pictures of Avalon being lifted in. The travel hoist is an impressive bit of kit. Pictures from Jill’s (Matilda Rose) camera.
Matilda Rose already in the water
Once Avalon was on the dock still on the truck we were visited by the port police. This was simply because we have arrived from a non
Schengen country and some paperwork was needed. This was simply noting details of the boat and was swiftly dealt with. Each party getting copies of the paperwork.
Onward then to Veurne. We had moored about half a mile from the previously mentioned lock gates. On the 17th we started off late morning for Veurne.
MR leaving the wild mooring
About 3 miles in at Wulpen we encountered our first lift bridge. Wulpenbrug. This was somewhat of an issue as we could get under it without being lifted but the light was on red and there was no VHF board but it was clear on the other side. After a bit of holding off I decided just to go through.
Once on the other side the scenery was delightful.
Looking back at MR and the lift bridge
The next bridge was a rail bridge that lifted. Fortunately this was already up as another boat was coming through. No photos as I was busy navigating the bridge and the hire boat.
The bridges here are all controlled by a local control room as traffic has to be stopped to allow passage. This requires a call on the VHF radio to request passage.
Once through we made our way to the town moorings for a short stay passing through the town lock which was on level water.
Short because we were led to believe these town moorings were free for 24 or 48 hours. We were informed by local Bargees this was no longer the case and the Harbour Master would be round in the morning with a bill for 1euro/m.
Local knowledge informed us that we could moor for free on the other side of the swing bridge. This again involved the radio and traffic being stopped.
The town of
Veurne is quite small centred around a town square. It has all the essential local shops, bars and restaurants.
Matilda Rose already in the water
Great to see a blog tonight, it looks wonderful there. Hope Debbie didn't bring too much back from the shops! Yummy bread and chocolates though!
ReplyDeleteDid you have to empty the red fuel out & refill with white before you went across ?
ReplyDeleteNo Alf. Seems all that has been sorted out.
DeleteDeb is a bit in withdrawal. She has so far bought one pair of cheap shorts for boat duties. Bread is good, not had any chocolate yet. HAd a few beers though.