Chef de Canal….

After leaving the obnoxious lock guard in Namur we headed back to Maastricht.

We gave us some time, sailed a couple of hours each day and spent 3 sailing on the trip.

When we got to Liege, the harbor was completely full, mainly with boats that had been prepared for the winter. Strange contrast to the half-empty harbor we had sailed into 5 days earlier.

In the evening we went up to town and found a good brasserie where Morten offered a royal dinner.

On the way back to the boat we drove into a lighter scary neighborhood and were charged with several suspects who for one reason or another would have contact.

We left as nothing and continued unchallenged our trip back to the boat.

When a voice in English with a French accent said: "I have siin you beføre" we were just about to pretend it was nothing again, when we saw that it was the nice Harbor Officer from Namur.

… What a coincidence

When we told him about our problems with the lock guard in Namur, he exclaimed "wy didn't jy call mi" while waving his arms.

Good question. Perhaps we had, however, overestimated the locksmith's negotiating position.

Next day it was Sunday and Market Day.

Over dinner we went up to the market. Here were stalls and a throng of people on the road along the river almost as far as we could see.

Everything was sold in the stalls. Fruit, flowers, cheeses, foodstuffs, clothes, shoes, tools, electronics and toys.

One place sold live geese, pigeons, ducks, rabbits and chickens.

We chose to buy fish, squid and some vegetables. In the evening, Morten once again enchanted the Cobb grill.

Along the way, we made the preparation through the recording of a video entitled Canal de Chef.

The dinner consisted of grilled fresh squid for starters.

The main course was grilled Dorader, which served grilled squash and peppers.

For both dishes a cold cava was served

The dinner ended with Belgian waffles with coffee and cognac.

The next day we went towards the final destination Maastricht and had to sail through the lock Lanaye once again. It was here that 5 days earlier we had been deprived of the desire to communicate with the Belgian lock guards.

This time we had prepared and now called the lock in strict accordance with the manuscript prepared:

- Ecluse Lanaye, Ecluse Lanaye, Ecluse Lanaye. Here's the Heron. Can we move in the direction of Maastricht?

- Bon jour, it crackled kindly this time in the VHF, followed by what we all unanimously interpreted as that there was room for us in lock 3.

What a triumph.

In the evening, Morten bought his trip back to Copenhagen.

The next day we ate brunch in Maastricht, went for a walk around the city, sent Morten off by taxi to the station and agreed that he would board again in Namur on 2 April.

When Morten left, we made ready for departure.

Sailed out of the little harbor, filled diesel and headed towards the winter harbor.

On the way we spotted a sailboat. We sailed closer and saw that it was Swedish. We sailed all the way to it and talked to the skipper.

Like us, they were on their way to the Mediterranean, had just learned that the locks in France were closed until mid-November and planned to sail the long way around.

For a moment we felt tempted to sail, but then decided to stick to our latest plan.

We exchanged email addresses and Facebook profiles and shortly after our place in the winter harbor in Maastricht Marina.

Maastricht Marina is located 3 km south of Maastricht city. Very nice Marina in beautiful surroundings, with a very sweet and dedicated harbor guard.

An ok place to leave their boat.