CLIFHANGA'S adventures in France, Shepperton-Lille, starting July 2006

Dear All,  Update no.1, 14-7-06

 We start with an apology, there will be a number of messages in this email for various people, rather then sending emails to individuals, hope you don’t mind, but this is to save on ridiculous costs. We are still trying to find less expensive ways to keep in touch. Club members; Thank you all so much for your generosity in your kind words of ‘best wishes’ and your presents, all of it is very much appreciated. By the time you get this message, we trust that you have all arrived safely at home. We did get a message from Graham that it was a bit windy and bumpy around North Foreland; our thoughts were with you all, as we know what it could be like. We hope that you have all enjoyed your holidays, and we are looking forward to the next time we meet up. After leaving Arques on Monday, it took us 2 hours to lock through Flandres lock, but was happy to moor up in Saint Venant on the river Lys. The lifting bridge at Thienne has been repaired.  At €7 for the night including electric, water and showers, €2 per hour for the internet and €4 for a service wash in their own laundry was an excellent deal, the locals being very welcoming and friendly; this could be a definite on future Albany forays. On Tuesday 11^th, we moved on clearing Merville, past the shallow exit channel from the lock, there was sufficient water this time, there were new bollards installed either side of the lock, the Halte nautique has been spruced up and there is a new landing/mooring pontoon for 1 boat at the end of the channel on the port side, sadly no electric or water at this time. Bill We met a guy called Martin Brown skippering a brand new Pedro, single handed, on his way to Abingdon and he wants a BSS certificate, we gave him your contact details. On to Armentiers the same day, we found 2 great big barges occupying the moorings at Sally sur la Lys, so we could not stop there for lunch, but we stopped just before the next Automatic lock, on the mooring bollards by the weir. Finally arrived at Armentiers, call VHF ch 77 of your arrival, warm welcome, €18 per night including electric, water and showers. Chris, I am sure you remember the ‘Tea tray’ with 3 engines, which rammed us last year in the locks, well yes, it was there, the same nutty owner, who repainted it but spent all daylight hours pressure washing the roof of the boat. Wednesday 12^th. We also met up with a French family, who had a 14m DeGroot with a fly bridge, very similar in outline to Cadaques, but bigger all round, 1976 vintage. So the 2 DeGroots cruised in company till we reached the Doulle, they turned left to Belgium while we headed right for Wambriches. We have been warned against mooring in Lille as very unsafe, we took the advice. Since our last visit to Wambriches, changes have been afoot, much decoration and improvements. There is a new Nautical Society running the moorings, where all the electric and water are working fine, €11 per night. The tourist office receptionist Cecile, a darling girl who spoke excellent English has been very helpful. Took a bus into Lille, 35 minutes, €1.40 per person each way, interesting ride. Thursday 13^th We took bus into Lille again to send Kurt off on the Eurostar, 1hr 40min from Lille to Waterloo, almost 2 weeks to get here by boat. Kurt asked us to pass on his best wishes to all the club members; he thoroughly enjoyed his holiday with Albany. After Kurt’s departure we explored Lille on foot and by tour bus, what a fantastic and vibrant city with so much history, we did not realise the huge Belgian influence.  In September there is the ‘mussel’ festival, at the same time as the flea market in virtually every street; over 2 million people are expected to visit. Seems like a bigger event then the Poly-Poly music festival in Ghent last year, these people sure know how to host the events and how to party. Friday14th is Bastille day. All the locks are closed, all important buildings are decorated with the French tricolour, music is playing from the tourist office, so we are staying another day, we shall take the ancient tram ride on Friday and plan to continue with our adventure on Saturday. To the skippers and crew of our channel crossing novices, Harmony Row and Quixotic, we hope that you have enjoyed the experiences of this holiday; we know that you will reflect on this for long time to come as a major achievement, congratulations to you all! We still have not been able to find the most cost effective way to communicate, so our updates may be a bit sparse, but as the Albany’s foreign correspondents, we shall do our best to keep you up to date. Best wishes to you all Lou and Terri Vertessy M.Y CLIFHANGA