The Large and the Little

We've had a varied week cruising some interesting waterways. It started last Thursday when we passed through the sea lock at Wintam onto the tidal river Schelde. The timing was important as we needed the rising tide to carry us up 3 hours cruising to Dendermonde where we could join the River Dender to head south again. The Schelde is an important shipping waterway, connecting the port of Antwerp with Brussels, Gent, and a whole lot of other places. So, we needed our wits about us. The lock keeper asked us to wait and follow 4 ships into the lock. It's going to be crowded then. Ha, this is quite some lock. For a start it's 25m (81') wide which is wider than most UK locks are long. And it's an incredible 250m (812') long. You could easily fit 72 Kennet & Avon locks into this one - and that's most of 'em! It felt roomy even with 4 ships each weighing 134 times more than Taddy's 28 tonnes. (OK Rob, put the calculator down) The drop wa...