We had not sailed long before we came to a lock.
On the card it was named Lanaye. When we got closer we saw that it consisted of 4 parallel lock chambers.
- Lock Lanaye, Lock Lanaye, Lock Lanaye. Hier ist Sportboote Heron, I called on VHF's channel 18.
- Lanaye, it crackled in the VHF, followed by a few sentences none of us concept a word of.
My slightly feverish response to a wonderful mix of English, German and French deprived the lock guard of the desire to continue the conversation.
I called again, but was now met with total radio silence.
We sailed over to the long waiting quay, moored and once again called the lock – this time in English. Still radio silence.
I found a phone number for the lock, dialed it on the phone and was told in Flemish, French, German and English that the number was without a subscriber.
After 1 hour of waiting, a river bed came into view further up the river.
It slowed as it approached the lock and continued straight towards the lock gate as the light changed from red to green.
Yes
We started the engine, loosened the moorings and came in a hurry behind the riverbank.
When the floodlight was half inside the locker room, the light shifted to red.
What the f ..?
The river lath turned out to fill the entire lock chamber.
We turned the Heron around and sailed back.
3 men in work clothes came out on one bridge. The one worker looked at us. We shrugged our shoulders in resignation and made it clear with gestures that we had no idea what to do.
He waved us over towards the 4th lock, and almost at the same time we heard the roar of water from there.
We circled around in front of the lock gate for a long time. After another long wait, the gate was opened and 3 large river bars came into view inside the lock chamber.
When the last river barge had sailed out, the light changed to green.
We gave the engine gas and sailed into the middle of the 18m high and very long sluice chamber.
When we had moored, the sluice gate closed. Gave some big thumps along the way and remained stuck for a long time. Finally the gate closed completely and the sluice began.
When we had been lifted 18m, opened the lock gate and we sailed into Belgium.
Arriving in Belgium is so slowly inside the French-speaking / French-speaking area - remember the old joke that defines "a real man" as one who dares argue with a French overtime!
Perhaps the same applies to slot breaks as for overtime?