(15’ self-righting dinghy)

I left the Hostellers Sailing Club moorings at Paglesham in Essex two hours before dawn on a foggy summer morning. My object was to explore some of the Continental inland waterways. It was flat calm but I was reluctant to use the engine so early in the cruise so I rowed down the Roach and Crouch to Shore Ends before realising that without the engine I would not have enough ebb tide to clear the Whittaker channel and probably I would have to wait until next day. Since I hoped to be back again within little over a week I unpacked the outboard and motored from buoy to buoy through the fog to the North Edinburgh Channel. From here a light breeze took me the rest of the way to Ramsgate. The next morning I tracked to and from the shops loading provisions, Camping Gaz and petrol then at midday I set off to Gravelines but later altered course to Dunkirk to make use of the tide which was then running north. I arrived in Dunkirk yacht harbour just after midnight.

At Dunkirk there is a large and expanding port complex much of which is visible to the public so one can watch the movement of the ships and the activity in the dockyards. I noticed an elderly Broads style motor cruiser. The retired British owner had spent years cruising on the waterway system and had still not covered the whole network. I asked him for advice and he said that I would need ‘ships papers’ to go through the locks. I had no time to get these, so the next morning I decided to see if they would let me through the big sea lock without. They did, but only after I had argued that it was ridiculous to expect a 15 foot boat to have ship’s papers. This argument had to be repeated at nearly every lock, so if you plan to cruise inland in France it is best to get the correct documents beforehand. I think that the RYA could advise on this. My trip for the next week took me from Dunkirk to Calais via Bergues and Arques which is about 35 miles inland. This is only scratching the surface of the system, so my comments may not be entirely general. As I had expected, the engine was the easiest method of propulsion, but I soon found that the patches of water weed were a real problem to the Seagull outboard, so I spent much of the time rowing through the weed-covered stretches. A shred of weed is sufficient to greatly reduce the efficiency of the straight bladed Seagull propeller. Later models of this outboard may not be so badly affected by weed. Sailing would have been possible but tedious because of the need to lower the mast at bridges, and because the banks are often lined with trees or bushes.

The waterways are mainly used by cargo carrying barges and anglers rather than by pleasure craft. Apart from a couple of toy inflatables and the motor cruiser at Dunkirk, the only pleasure boats that I saw in use were two smart British gin palaces. There were anglers stationed every few yards along much of the towpath, but in a week I only once saw one catch a fish and that was rather a small fish. The anglers were mostly indifferent to the passage of boats, and preferred to concentrate solely on their fishing. The barge traffic in this area was never heavy enough to be a worry, and passing through locks would be straightforward if one had ship’s papers. The locks are all operated by lockkeepers and they are usually so wide that one can row about in the middle which seemed easier than trying to hold onto the sides.

Even in this flat and industrialised part of France there are many very pretty stretches of waterway and near Arques I found pleasant side channels leading into an area of lakes and market gardens. At Arques there is an interacting boat lift, now disused, which used to lift or lower barges from one canal level to another. There are two metal chambers into which boats were floated and which were raised by hydraulic rams. The four reciprocating hydraulic pumps were powered by a water turbine which drew water from the higher canal level and discharged to the lower. This complicated structure has now been replaced by a single lock with 45 feet rise. When I saw this lock I decided to head back towards the sea!

On approaching Calais I came to a lifting bridge which is supposed to detect boats by radar and lift automatically. Unfortunately my boat being mainly of wood and fibreglass was not detected and the bridge failed to open. I eventually squeezed underneath by filling the boat to the top of the centreboard case with canal water then climbing overboard and pulling down on the bows to adjust the trim.

It might have been better to hold the frying pan in front of the radar scanner. After this effort I arrived at Calais too late for the opening of the sea lock and had to wait until the next afternoon to get back into seawater.

From Calais I had a splendid sail back to Ramsgate passing over the southern tip of the Goodwins then anchoring off the beach near Deal to have lunch and to reef since the wind was freshening. It continued to freshen overnight and in the morning most cruising yachts moved from the outer harbour into the marina. Meanwhile a dredger started to drag its moorings towards the harbour wall and was pulled clear by tugs and a fleet of half tonners and the like put to sea for a race. From the cafe at the end of the harbour wall I admired their ability to sail to windward but one was rolled over and dismasted. The next day the wind had dropped again and I had a quiet sail back to Paglesham. This time I arrived towards high water and was able to use the Havensgore route which saves several miles.

I would like to see more of the Continental waterways and to visit Holland, but one does need time for this type of cruising. Progress tends to be slower than when coastal cruising, partly because of the locks and the less direct courses, and also because there are more opportunities for going ashore shopping or sightseeing.