A fine morning today and we were back on our way hoping for a more relaxing day's cruising with only eight locks and 48km to cover. The locks in this stretch of the Sambre are automated and operated by remote controller, which we were given at the first lock after the summit, Bois l'Abbaye.

The well kept moorings at Pont-sur-Sambre are handy for the town amenities, and we made a lunch stop here before continuing on our way to our planned stopping place at Mauberge. There are moorings here both upstream and downstream of the lock, but they are next to well used walkways and close to the busy town centre - handy for supplies but not very scenic or secure. However, at Boussois we came upon a new halte (pk48) recently renovated with European funding and complete with flower bedecked bandstand.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 26 nm

Total to date: 1799 nm

Avg Speed: 5 knots

Duration: 5 hours

Diesel: 50 litres (est)

Mooring: Free

Electricity: N/A

Locks

Les Etoquies

Hachette

Sassegnies

Berlaimont

Pont sur Sambre

Quartes

Hautmont

Mauberge

Min headroom: 3.5m

Min draught: 1.8m

Charts

Navicarte 24