BELGIUM

Now we are following the course of the River Maas to our next stop which is the Belgian border.  The efficient, friendly and welcoming dutch people are to be changed for a more relaxed and french inspired attitude.  

For example in Belgium one must always sail with a red signal flag with a white square in the middle which shows that one is ”under way” !

For example in Belgium as opposed to Holland where we just waved to the Lock Master, here we must buy a kind of form which must be stamped at every lock.  This takes apprx. Half an hour every lock and costs Dkr. 7,50  and means that every lock one must walk all the way around the the Lock Office to get the form stamped. 

For Vicki, who was the lucky member of Sunray’s crew to be landed with this job, it was a mission to find some differences in all the locks we visited.  No such luck, each lock master had the same clothes, computer and office.  It seemed to Vicki that even the Lock Masters resembled each other! 

25.06.01 / Per / Namur, Belgium / Namur, 12 points – Lock Nr. 42,  0 points ! 

Dear readers, prepare yourselves to be introduced to a living legend. 

”Lock nr. 42 in France (which is 3 days sailing ahead of us) is closed due to works”   The sign did not say when the work should start or end except that it should that a minimum of 8 days! 

It’s a good thing we still have 310 days ahead of us, so we decided to stop at Namur and relax there. 

Namur is an exciting and pretty town with an imposing 1 km long fortress overlooking the whole town, but the most exciting thing that we saw was the harbour master of Namur.  

Dressed in designer shorts and t-shirt, buzzing around the marina on his shiny little bicycle, he waved us into our pontoon with big energetic arm signals together with his whistle.  The first thing he told us was that he didn’t have much time to help us because he must go and have lunch with his wife and child.  OK , we thought that was a fine idea.  One hour, many whistles and arm signals later he was still frantically waving boats into pontoons, whilst his poor wife and baby were sitting under a tree to keep out of the hot sun.   Later in his office, whilst writing out our receipt in a real fountain pen, sitting properly at his desk with neatly crossed legs, he said to us ”I work for myself and not the Government”  ???