The graphic in the video shows the dikes being undermined at the front, but a newer graphic on the news showed that the water flowed over the top and did the damage from behind...(plus the fact that the dykes hadn't been maintained properly).
Janny's Mum had coffee with us in the Day Activity rooms on Wednesday - and talk inevitably began about the flood. Renny was 20 at the time and working as a nurse - with a workmate who came from Zeeland - communication was slow in coming, but eventually they heard that her family was OK.
Renny also remembered a slogan from the time - "Purse open - dikes closed" as they tried to collect money and goods for the victims.
(NB "Beurzen open, dijken dicht" - beurs = purse and Beurs = Stock Market - so Google wrongly translates to "Stock Market open - dikes closed").
It took 9 months before the last dike was closed...
Drought (or at least low water levels)
(Doing all this reading and research feels like I'm "studying" again - much nicer to do in one's Old Age! I also re-opened my Royal Yachting Association study pages for my VHF Radio Licence - which I have, but I don't feel at all confident about using it - correctly, at least. - so more practise at that as well!).
This one gave me pause for thought - to consider what might happen if the water levels get too low for our boat trip. The story is from 2017 - I remember that 2018 was extremely dry, up here in the Netherlands at least.
And who knows what to expect now that things seem to be changing so noticeably?
The difference between plans and dreams is that plans acknowledge the existence of inconvenient facts...
More adventures of Wolter and Connie (Google Translate - a bit unwieldy at times).
We found no sailing day today. Huge buckets of rain predicted so no weather for sailing.
A day to gather information about alternative routes than the Maas. Searching the Internet websites of the Rijkswaterstaat, ELV transport and VNF. It looks very much as if the Meuse is going to cause a lot of problems after Charleville Mézières. Locks are out of action because of the low water level. Sailing is then an option. That takes more than 5 days, but even then you will return to the area where the water level is low and there is limited artillery. The draft is then limited to 1.40, which is too little given the amount of aquatic plants. Locking then takes place with several boats and that means waiting until there are enough boats. Don't shoot (go into the lock) at all!
Last night we came up with a few alternatives: circumnavigate to avoid the Meuse and then end up on the Moselle and Rhine. Turn west and then sail on to Paris, via the canals of the Marne, but the water level is also low there turning west, by canal Des Ardennes, through Picardy, via Canal du Nord to Lille, Antwerp, Zeeland
That required new calculations. How much time do the routes take, how much margin do we have? It's hard work, such a holiday!
This morning Wolter called ELV transport (Dutch organization that organizes transport for cargo boats for France, among others). The man, Mr. Schipper (haha: this looks like Donald Duck!) informed us about the state of affairs on the Maas. Indeed: curdling! And at the Marne Canals it is also limited.
So...... our route will be changed from Rondje Maas, Moselle, Rhine in..... Noardersinne in la dry ehh.... Douce France? What is wrong with that? How and where to: in any case, first sail into France tomorrow. Maybe make a stopover in Dinant first.
Today we visited the old city center of Namur. We succeeded exactly in between 2 rain showers. Had a coffee on a terrace, where people were already drinking a lot at half past 12. Joie de vivre in Namur! Many beggars here, but we also saw that in Liège. You don't see that with us (In the Netherlands).
This morning it was time to cast off the mooring lines again. We left at half past eleven. Today we had 6 locks to do and about 25 km to get to Dinant. The weather was reasonable: rain showers outside the locks and sun and wind.
The first lock after Namur goes smoothly. Wait a minute. The drop is not that great today: all around 2.10 m. We are sailing nicely. This is a beautiful area to sail through.
At the third lock (we are the only boat) things are going well until the doors have to be opened again. That takes quite a long time: 1.5 hours. The lockkeeper opens his window and says dryly: "J'ai telephoné le repairateur" . It does indeed come and then after 1.5 hours we sail on again. In the meantime we had lunch. Who has that now: lunch in a lock? When we get to the next lock, we can enter right away. How friendly to serve so quickly. But when we lie in it, nothing happens. No! Not again! The lock is not 'breaking down', but we are waiting for another boat to come along. All in all we are another hour further.
Finally we sail into Dinant at half past six. We looked forward to the renewed moorings on the right bank. They were working on it in May 2016, we had seen when we were on our way, via the tourist convertible route to Annelies and Ernest. Now, more than 14 months later, it is still far from finished. Fortunately, there is a nice place for us across the street.
So all in all a long sailing day with few kms and a lot of delays.
Still, none of this was so special today, a bit of waiting and all. That's just part of it.
What is special is that we cannot enter France!! Today we spoke to a Dane, (that's not unusual) at that lock that didn't work. He said he had waited 1.5 weeks just across the border from France because there was a blockage! It would be solved within 5 days and later another 5 days and then they said: it will take until the end of 2017! Help! There goes our sailing plan B. We check the internet and the known disruptions. Indeed we find a message about this blockage. That means no France! We no longer have to think about circumnavigating and then to the Moselle, or to Paris! So it is sailing back. We are now going through Belgium. We cross a river: the Sambre. Some of that we've never done before. That holds, viz. also on the border of Belgium-France because the 2 countries have been arguing for more than 10 years about who will fix it now. The river itself seems to be very worthwhile. Then we go down the inclined plane to sail to Brussels. At least that is now plan C, but that can of course also change tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will first explore Dinant. Passed by so often. After all, now we have enough time.
Sailing is a test of your flexibility. For us it's a switch. Instead of making a sailing route, it is now more about traveling from one nice place to another. Everything is possible
Distance: 26 km Travel time: 7 hours, Engine hours: 4.5 hours Number of locks today: 6 Total number of locks: 26 Wind force NW 3 , temp. 20 Number of kms: 485 Harbor dues: €11 electricity €1 water €1 for 75 litres. Showers and washing machine (which does not work!) Location: in the Maas (!) on the banks of the center.
Robin got this from The Dutch Barge Association.
The Saone is a lot further south than where we want to be - but it does give food for thought and another line of research
Copied from DBA forums. Posted January 2023.
Hello all expecting to cruise in France this year.
November is historically the wettest month in Burgundy. Last November was very dry and warm. December followed that trend. January has been warm, a few days I've been able to stay outside for a reasonable time in a Tee shirt , Rainfall has been a little better, but nothing to write home about. Nothing forecast for the next 10 days.
Early snowfall in The Jura Mountains was good, but short lived.
VNF reservoir levels can be checked at the link below, but don't expect to get excited.
I suggest that you keep checking regularly before planning any long trips, especially "rings" where you expect to return to the start place.
Also expect to share locks and have restricted canal opening times.
Sorry I sound like the voice of doom, but this comes on the back of the driest and hottest year on record with many reservoirs running dry.
Living on The Saone, we have seen the lowest winter level and flow rates in 14 winters.
Paul Hayes
So, one option may well be...
The Sambre River
Navigation
The canal was reopened to through navigation in July 2021, and dredging has restored a navigable depth of 1.60m. The local authorities have made great efforts to meet the needs of tourists (re)discovering this itinerary.
Draught – The maximum authorised draught is 2.00m from the Belgian border to Landrecies, and from lock 25 Originy-Sainte-Benoîte to the junction with the Canal de Saint-Quentin. This is reduced to 1.60m throughout the recently-restored central section.
Headroom – The fixed bridges on the canalised river Sambre leave a minimum headroom of 3.95m, reduced to as little as 3:00m when the river is in flood. The canal offers a slightly reduced headroom of 3.60m, reduced to 3.40m when the rivers supplying the canal are in flood.
Towpath – There is a good towpath throughout, developed as a cycle itinerary.
Authority – VNF – Unité territoriale Escaut-Saint-Quentin – Écluse de Berlaimont, 2 chemin du Halage, 59620 Aulnoye-Aymeries (Sambre and canal PK 0-19, including the summit level)
VNF – Unité territoriale Bassin de la Seine – 44 rue du Gouvernement, BP 616, 02321 Saint-Quentin (PK 19-67)
Books
2 more in the Robert Gott Australian series
.
The first book was set in Maryborough in Queensland. The 2nd in Melbourne, and the 3rd in Darwin and other places in the Northern Territory.
All the books are about WWII around 1942.
Pretty light reading, but interesting because of my own knowledge of the settings. Hearing all the references to familiar places in the Northern Territory made me look up a part of the story - it turns out to be true, so he must have researched it all pretty well...(and I found myself laughing a lot as I was walking through the forest..and noting that manicured Netherlands is a far cry from outback NT.).
The 2/1st North Australia Observer Unit (2/1 NAOU) was an Australian Army reconnaissance unit of World War II. Formed in early 1942 in the Northern Territory, the unit was a light horse mounted unit that was tasked with providing early warning of Japanese activity in northern Australia at a time when an invasion of the country was expected. As the threat of Japanese invasion dissipated the unit's operations were curtailed in 1943 and it was eventually disbanded in the early months of 1945. The unit is considered to be a predecessor of several reconnaissance units that currently exist within the Australian Army.
I had a chat with Maarten last night - he and Joke lived in the Northern Territory for 18 months - their first daughter was born there - a real Aussie! I told Maarten about the Aussie books and he reminded me of a book that I only skimmed about 15 or 20 years ago - he's going to lend it to me again and I also found it on Amazon- shipping from the UK
Hell West and Crooked by Tom Cole
The horses are hell west and crooked - it'll take a week to muster them. In this remarkable autobiographical account Tom Cole tells the stories of his life in the outback during the 1920s and 1930s. With great humour and drama he recounts his adventures as a drover and stationhand in the toughest country in Australia and later on as a buffalo shooter and crocodile hunter in the Northern Territory before the war.
Around the Farm
On Tuesday, we finally had a lunch with almost everyone - we have had a few milestones lately, but couldn't celebrate them during the Covid Years.
Uilke had to stop coming due to poor health, but he was able to come for the lunch and gave an impressive speech (He is 75 and autistic and has been in the "care" system for his whole life). I think the best compliment I can give him is that he has always been a "gentleman" in his time with us.
20 of us altogether - with 3 missing.
They knew it was Janny's birthday the next day....so...
...and last night we had a small "circle party" - a Dutch thing - with her brothers and sisters and a few friends.
I felt like I had been shopping and cooking for 2 days - I tried something new for my "traditional" sausage rolls - adding bacon and celery after looking at an Australian recipe. My also "traditional" cheesecake didn't set properly - must be out of practise.
Ben is in Mexico
We expect him home by the end of April - just in time for his birthday!
A couple of things of note...
- A cup of coffee was again €1,70 - instead of $7.00 in USA!
- and he said that he couldn't run his normal 5K - because of the altitude - he will have to build up to it.
, Rainfall has been a little better, but nothing to write home about. Nothing forecast for the next 10 days.
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