Leaving Oostende at low tide we were accompanied through the sea lock by a very cheeky seal. I had seen him at the lock gate and was concerned that he might be sick and had lost his way. As we exited the lock I informed a waterways employee, who was standing on the side of the lock, by the gate, that I had just seen a seal. “Oh yes,” he informed me, “he’s just a real nuisance. He busies himself coming through the lock into the canals to feed on the fish and returns to the sea with a full tummy.” No need to worry about that one!Three stops along the way at Oudenburg, Nieuwpoort and Verne brought us to Diksmuide and our appointment at the boatyard.Over five years since she was launched, the bottom looked in pretty good shape. Yes we had a lot of barnacles that took a day to be sanded off, but the anodes looked like new and there was no physical damage to the rudder, propeller or the bow thruster.5 years worth of barnaclesLeaving our Joie de Vivre in the safe hands of the experts, Peter and I travelled Lille for a little R&R. A wander around the town and a visit to the Museum of Beau Arts was included in our itinerary Include as part of the displays in the museum were a collection of plan reliefs of. Vaubans fortified towns. The image above is Namur. The size is776cms x 650cms, built to to 1/600 scale and dates from 1747.Of course there was a little shopping. After all Lille is the fourth most populous city in France, after Paris, Lyon and Marseille. The cathedral in Lille is a rather recent construction, started in 1857 and completed in 1975. It was primarily built to house the small statue 12th century of Our Lady de Treille to which a number of miracles have been attributed.
We fled Lille on the Saturday when the rugby came to town, inflating our hotel price from €180 per night to €700. Our boat was still not ready so we stayed a few days a hotel in Diksmuide until she could return to the water.
The job is finished and she looks bright and shiny againThanks to Theis and the team for a job well doneBack to Brugge, returning on the 10th of October to our winter mooring
It is now time to tally up our European adventure for 2023
We travelled for 275 engine hours which equates to about 2,481 kms
We traversed through 278 locks, under 70 lifting bridges and through 8 tunnels.
We used 1782 litre of fuel, about 6.5 litres per hour.
On the technical side we replaced the element in the boiler, installed new house batteries and bow thruster batteries and repainted our bottom and sides.
On the personal side we celebrated Peters 80th birthday, welcomed 6 guests and 1 dog to stay on board (1 guest twice).
Medically,I broke my wrist.
All in all a fabulous summer, visiting the champagne region, attending the DBA rally, staying 2 weeks in Paris, visiting 4 remarkable chateaus and countless cathedrals and churches.
Life is exciting when you have the time and the energy to pack in so many adventures
Celebrating Peters 80th birthday along with our barging friends Janos and Andy.
Karen’s Travel Blog 
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