Day 12 Belgium Canals 9th November 2021

We experienced our chilliest morning so far this trip with outside temperatures below freezing with frost still on the grass and dock around us.9 The heater was switched on as soon as I woke up and then we all huddled in our bed until 0800.

We departed Adeps haven and made our way to Asenseur De Strepu Thieu https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strépy-Thieu_boat_lift. The sun was shining and it was turning out to be a beautiful blue sky day. Issy and Max entertained themselves on deck building cubby houses and pointing out whenever we motored past a duck.

Prior to the boat lift we passed over a canal bridge that spanned an entire valley allowing cargo ships to sail over cars and houses! https://youtu.be/ERxqjASxC48

We parked at the Strepu Thieu, reported in to authorities and took a walk to check out this amazing feat of engineering.
The Strépy-Thieu boat lift (French: L’ascenseur funiculaire de Strépy-Thieu) lies on a branch of the Canal du Centre in the municipality of Le Rœulx, Hainaut, Belgium. With a height difference of 73.15 metres (240.0 ft) between the upstream and downstream reaches, it was the tallest boat lift in the world upon its completion

The structure at Strépy-Thieu consists of two independent counterweighted caissons which travel vertically between the upstream and downstream sections. Because of Archimedes’ Principle, the caissons weigh the same whether they are laden with a boat or simply contain water. In practice, variations in the water level mean that the mass of each caisson varies between 7200 and 8400 tonnes. The caissons have useful dimensions of 112 m × 12 m (367 ft × 39 ft) and a water depth of between 3.35 and 4.15 m (11.0 and 13.6 ft).

Each caisson is supported by 112 suspension cables (for counterbalance) and 32 control cables (for lifting/lowering), each of 85 mm (3.3 in) diameter. The structure is massively reinforced to provide rigidity against torsional forces during operation and has a mass of approximately 200,000 tonnes.The vertically moving watertight gates are designed to withstand a 5 km/h (3.1 mph) impact from a 2000-tonne vessel.

It was amazing driving a 15T yacht into this elevator next to a 500T cargo ship and then dropping down 75m, the entire time the water was like a millpond. Adding to my amazement was the ride was included in our €56 one week canal pass! Here is a video of our decent https://youtu.be/j4Ptw52WlDo

After the elevator experience we motored on snd dropped a further 20m in two more very well maintained canals.

This evening we pulled into Peruwelz yacht haven for the night. Forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning has a yellow alert for snow and ice so it should be another chilly night!