L'Avenir - cruising Europe's inland waterways

For all Daves out there - and there are a lot of you.... Chateau Dave, on the River Meuse, near Namur, Wallonia, Belgium

Doesn't have quite the same ring as out of Africa but it seems to have taken us so long to make the break and voyage into another country that now we're actually in Belgium I feel we're somewhere slightly exotic. (I bet that's the first time Belgium and exotic have appeared together in the same sentence.) We spent a few days in Maastricht, the most southerly city in the Netherlands. Lovely city with many, many beautiful, old buildings. Some of the narrow, cobbled streets even have the added attraction of being on a slight slope! There was a free, summer dance party/rave on in the market square (the through route to everywhere) over the weekend with, so I am told, some famous DJs but as we had unfortunately omitted to pack our phat pants and glow sticks we felt we should stick to the outside edges. The high volume music could be enjoyed all over the city though and as with most Dutch cities the centre is entirely pedestrianised so if you felt like dancing in the streets...

The Dutch absolutely love their football. Streets are decorated, shops have whole departments full of orange merchandise. When the games are on people gather together in the bars and cafes to watch. Here are a few images. You'll have to imagine the singing.

As the River Maas winds its way through the south east Netherlands province of Limburg it passes through an area used for gravel extraction. Many of these gravel pits have now been turned into lakes popular with recreational boaters. For us they were great stopping off points as you normally can't stop for the night on the river. The lakes can be shallow though so not all are suitable. Passing the entrance to one of these lakes Rob asked, "How about that one?" "Looks a bit shallow," I replied noticing several people wading knee deep. Then I did a double take. They were all completely naked. This area is right on the border of Germany and Belgium and getting your gear off is popular. Particularly with men it seems. We stopped in a lake called Oolerplaas which we soon discovered had a Naakstrand ( you can work it out) at one end where the best moorings were. I wasn't game to stop there so we moored a little way further round but in order to cycle to the villa...

After leaving Dordrecht we spent a peaceful few days in the Biesbosch, a large, tidal wetland area of creeks, reeds and willows. It is a national park but recreational boating is permitted and there are lovely, free mooring places provided along the channels and on the islands. We had been warned that it is very shallow in places so we took great care and didn't have any problems. The weather was great and being spring there was lots of birdsong all day; cuckoos first thing in the morning and what I'm sure must have been a nightingale which sang all night.  Leaving Dordrectht  Biesboch Then it was onto the River Maas (Meuse in France and Belgium). The Maas is one of Europe's major rivers being over 900km long and running from France through Belgium and the Netherlands to the North Sea. I had viewed this part of the trip with some trepidation. Firstly it is included on the navigation chart called The Great Rivers and great rivers generally means great big ships. Secondl...

Cruising the River Maas. Mooring overnight on the river is generally not possible but at convenient locations just off the river there are large, former gravel pits which have been turned into picturesque nature/recreation reserves. There is usually a marina – can be expensive - but elsewhere you can moor either more cheaply or sometimes even free of charge (although there’s always a cost of sorts). These manmade lakes are very shallow around the edges which call for ‘Bow To Moorings’. This would be our first effort. How To Bow To 1. Select suitable mooring spot depending on proclivities – easiness of mooring, isolation, wind conditions, convenience to bar/café, cycle track etc etc 2. Prepare anchor and mooring lines 3. Deploy crew at bow 4. Head for bank 5. Drop anchor 6. Stop boat at bank 7. Crew steps off 8. Crew secures lines 9. Reboard, relaxing evening on deck with glasses of chilled wine and beer Idyllic Mooring at Leukermeer (It may not look very high from the bow...

Sorry, not what you think. Every second year Dordrecht hosts a huge steam festival; the biggest in Europe in fact. 350,000 visitors arrive by road, train and river and book out all the hotels, camp sites and importantly for us, the marinas. We had no idea it was on. The first sign of something unusual was when we were passed by this old steam tug. Finding the marina entrance in Dordrecht was our first challenge and we did a few laps up and down the river until we eventually spotted the small entrance into the Nieuwe Haven (which is, in fact, not at all new but in the heart of the historic city). We had to wait for a bridge to be lifted in order to enter and the harbour master greeted us with words you don't want to hear when there's nowhere else to stay- 'we're full' (in Dutch but it was absolutely clear what he meant). We just looked uncomprehending - not hard - and he glanced at our flag, kindly took pity on us and told us to raft up to another couple of very ex...