Low Countries

To Nijmegen, Netherlands

The low level of the Elbe on the return journey from Prague meant that Ruda bumped along the bottom at times, but the speed of the current was still high and her welcoming Czech home of five months was very quickly left far behind

The fierce currents of the Elbe gave way to the efficient waterway route of the Mittelland Kanal, busy with commercial traffic before connecting, by way of several canal junctions, with the Nederrijn river in the Netherlands along which Ruda hurried to Belgium, and so to Brussels. Here in Ruda’s tenth capital city the crew thoroughly enjoyed good beer, waffles, chocolate and what must surely be the best chips in the world.

Along the remainder of the route to the sea lay some truly astounding canal engineering in the form of the 1.5km long Ronquiere inclined plane which lifted Ruda 70m, and the highest ship lift in the world at Strepy, which lowered her 73m back down again. And so into France, and the fast, efficient Escaut-Dunkerque canal.  Foggy mornings and limited daylight made for relatively short days of navigation, but she pressed on and soon she was back in real, salty seawater for the first time since 2005.

A short wait for some agreeable channel crossing weather allowed time for the crew to stock Ruda’s lockers, and to walk Dunkirk’s historic beaches before motoring across the world’s busiest shipping lane until land came into view, and for the first time in a decade it was not necessary to run up a courtesy ensign.