When travelling, whether it be by boat, tent or on foot, inevitably we fall into step with someone who is travelling more or less in the same direction.
So it was that back in Tournai, on the day we decided to stay put because of the wind, we had a bit of a nod and a smile from a couple as we walked by their boat.
A few days later they were waiting for a lock with us. A few days further still we moored in front of them and we had a chat.
Then in Mons, Patrick suggested that we should visit his home port of Emblem in our travels. It is, he said smiling, the best club in Belgium, with the best harbour master (with a finger subtly pointing to himself as he said it).
So we made a date “we’ll see you on the 28th” we said, please keep a spot. Since when we woke with the sparrows (or heron more like), this morning it was the 28th, (although after last night’s ruckus in town we suspected no one else will be awake till tomorrow), a gentle ten kilometre cruise seemed to be an entirely plausible way of spending the latter part of the morning.
It seems he really had been looking out for us as promised, because when we arrived, a welcoming party of club members swooped to take our lines, welcoming us to their club and to inviting us to spend the rest of the afternoon with them on the roof of the clubhouse (a converted Pusher Tug).
We never did make it to the ad-hoc roof-top bar, as a constant stream of people stopped by to chat.
Who knows if it’s really the best club in Belgium, but we can certainly confirm it is absolutely the friendliest!
1 comment
Wow I can't believe the time has gone so quickly.
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