Torrential rain in Gent on Sunday night led to an unseasonal closure of the stop locks which protect the city from floods and delayed our departure from the city by two days. It was Wednesday before the K2 Keersluis could be opened and the water level in Brugge subsided sufficiently for the navigation to be reopened. We had made various contingency plans including going back out via Terneuzen or leaving boats in Gent, but in the end were able to proceed as planned. It was quite a relief to see the stop lock open so that we could make our way round the Ringvaart and along the Gent-Oostende canal.

As TimChris were short of fuel they decided to make a detour to the Bunkerboot on the Gent-Terneuzen canal to fill up, which gave the rest of the fleet time to stop for lunch en route at the Beernem Yacht Club whilst they caught up. This turned out to be quite a leisurely lunch for us as the fuel barge had moved to a new location and TimChris had to make quite a detour to catch up with it.

We were eventually reunited and continued on our way, relieved again to see the Beernem stop lock still open after even more torrential rain during our trip. The last two bridges before Brugge are lifting bridges and although the first one opened promptly on request, at the Steenbrugge bridge we fell foul of the rush hour closing time. After a 5.30pm opening we were clear of further obstacles and were all relieved to pull into the Flandria yacht haven on the south side of Brugge, even though it was again pouring with rain. We were welcomed heartily by the volunteers at the club, who were hosting a collectors market for champagne bottle caps. They willingly helped us with our diverse requests for diesel and a vet and we presented them with a BOC flag to add to their collection to show our gratitude.

This was our last night together as a fleet, as we had planned to stay in Brugge for two days before flying back to England on shore leave. The next day Virginia Lady, TimChris and Precious Time headed for Oostende, in order to make their channel crossing back to the UK.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 24 nm

Total to date: 1532 nm

Avg Speed: 4 knots

Duration: 6:00 hours

Diesel: 30 litres, €0,59/l

Mooring: €14/night

Electricity: €2/night

Water: Included

Locks

K2 Keersluis (open)

Beernem Keersluis (open)

Bridges

Verlorenkost (4.7m)
Jan Palfijn (4.4m)
Albert (5.9m)
Europa (4m)
Sneppe (6.5m)
Leie rail (6.5m)
Snepdijk (6.5m)
Blaarmeersen rail (7m)
Drongen (6.5m)
Beekstraat (6.5m)
R4 (6.5m)
Spey (6.5m)
Bierstal (7.5m)
Lovendegem (7.5m)
Durmen (8.2m)
Hansbeke (7.2m)
Bellem (7.5m)
Aalter (7.03m)
Knesselare (7.22m)
Leopolds (7m)
Beernem (7m)
Moerbrugge (lift)
Steenbrugge (lift)
La Brugeoise foot (7.5m)

Charts

Toeristische Vaargids West & Oost Vlaanderen

Navicarte 23

Geocart 1 & 4