17th March 2026 We had decided to return to Bruge - via Brussels - by Eurostar this time to see how the journey would be. We nearly fell at the first hurdle, as there had been an accident on the M5 closing it, which meant all the other roads were now full with traffic. The taxi driver tried to put us off attempting the journey to Bristol train station, but we had no choice and we were fine. The journey was a bit more complicated than going with Flixbus, with luggage on and l

We have started using Flix bus, which whilst isn't always the most comfortable at times, it is convenient as it picks us up at Bristol Bus station and takes us all the way to Brugge train station, via Victoria bus station in London, which means we don't have to keep taking our luggage on and off too many times, and it is excellent value. It does take a good 12 hrs though. We arrived at the boat at 5am on 22nd December and connected the water etc.. and then went to bed for a

26th July Calais to Watten Lock (34kms, 1 lock and 5 lifting bridges in 4½hrs) Canal de Calais - AA - Aa Grand Gabarit We had agreed a time with the VNF chap to get to the first lifting bridge for 10.30am. It all went well. When we arrived at Watten lock - which was where we had planned to moor for the night - it was already quite busy with moored up commercial barges, but Ayhan found a perfect little spot, tucked in behind a commercial, it was safe and being near to a lock,

27th June Nieuwpoort VVW Westhoek Marina to Bruge Coupure (39.6km, 3 locks and 15 lifting bridges in 6hrs 5mins) River Yser - Plassendale-Nieuwport Canal - Gent-Oostende canal. We had been a bit worried about the journey, with so many moveable bridges and being potentially quite a busy route, but it all went well. I think our timing was good and we didn't meet too much commercial traffic. A Guillotine Lock One of the many circular locks - we just stayed in the middle, quite

14th June Dunkirk (Pk 21 Jeu de Mail Lock) France to Veurne in Belgium (2 locks and 3 lifting/swing bridges. 23km in 4hrs 25mins) Canal de Bourbourg - Canal du Jonction - Canal de Furness - Nieuwpoort-Dunkirk Canal. Getting through the Dunkirk canal system was quite the challenge. We were moored just before the lock and to activate the lock, there was a bit of rope hanging over the canal to be pulled, so with the aid of the boat-hook I managed to get hold of it and pull it. T

This next leg was more about heading North and getting to Belgium to explore and find a winter mooring place for Ayanna. 22nd - 24th May Epernay to Conde sur Marne. ( 20.3km, 4 locks upstream, 1 swing bridge in 3hrs 45mins). Marne to Canal Lateral a la Marne. We hadn't slept well at all, but decided to head back to Conde sur la Marne. The weather forecast wasn't great for the coming days, so we wanted to get somewhere safe for a few days and Epernay is an expensive mooring.

On 15th April 2025 we arrived back at Isle Adam. By the time we got to the boat it was quite late, but still not too late for a glass or two of bubbles to celebrate being back on Ayanna. 16th - 26th April. The next few days were spent cleaning and stocking up with supplies, stopping for lunch at a Turkish restaurant and enjoying the mille feuille from the marina patisserie, they are without doubt the best we have ever eaten and the reason I will probably put back on the 5kg

29th - 30th August. Soissons to Vic-Sur-Aisne. (18.6km, 2 locks in 2hr 20mins). River Aisne We decided to leave promptly this morning, before 9am, even though we knew it was a short journey. We had a lovely cruise, the locks were super easy, no other traffic and the river was free from debris, it was probably one of the nicest cruises we have had so far. Also, as we were approaching the next mooring spot, a boat was just moving off, giving us a nice space to moor in. There

5th - 9th August. Bassin Rond to Cambrai Marina - (12.4km, 5 locks in 4¼ hrs). Escaut - Canal St Quentin This canal is quite pretty but there was a fair bit of weed about on the Canal St Quentin. Until now we had been on the larger canals that had more traffic, so no weed issues. We were a bit concerned if the weed would give us some problems and took it carefully and I was on weed watch especially going in out of of the locks where the weed was either propelled in or prope

21st July . Calais Marina to Calais Basin. (2.2km, 2 tide locks and 2 lifting bridges in 40mins) Leaving Calais Marina was also quite complicated. Not only do you have to wait for the tide times to get out of the Marina, but you also have to time it for when the lock gates can open from the Calais harbour through to the Calais Basin to enable you to then get onto the French Canal system. Thankfully there was a very helpful young lad in the marina office that got us all sorted

21st of June 2024 on a beautiful, sunny day, with supplies onboard, full water and fuel tanks and an empty black tank - we depart from the Thames and Kennet Marina in Caversham, embarking on our exciting new adventure. It felt quite strange to be leaving the marina that had been our base/bolt hole to be able to go back to when the weather turned bad or we had appointments to get to, and now we were baseless, it was actually liberating, although sad to be leaving the friends