This morning was taken up by a fruitless hunt for red diesel after confusing negotiations with multiple fuel barges. We had waited for our Dutch neighbours to be ready to leave as they thought they could get us a good price, but in the end it was not to be and we had to make do with the standard €0,90 per litre price for the white variety. Five bridges and a lock later we had managed to travel a mile to the start of the Van Harinxma canal and could begin our passage east. Bridges on this stretch have a minimum air clearance of 5.3 metres so with a tight squeeze we could just fit under with only our VHF aerials folded down, avoiding the need for too many delays. Despite these challenges we were pleased to be returning to inland cruising and enjoying watching the Frisian countryside slide by, with its low roofed barns and eponymous cows.

We made a lunch stop at Franeker where there was time to visit the world's oldest functioning planetarium and the adjacent "Garden Room" tea house. Eise Eisinga, a wool carder by trade, built the model of the solar system in the living room of his canalside house between 1774 and 1781. Still accurately depicting the movement of the planets in real time, it is driven by a gear mechanism using hoops and disks with 10,000 hand-forged nails as teeth. Other clocks depict the day, date, the rising and setting of the sun and moon and the position of the stars above the town, all driven by a pendulum and system of nine weights.

After a stop in the market square for provisions it was time to continue on towards Leeuwarden, joining a convoy of two sailing yachts for passage through the bridges. We paid the €6 fee for the service of the city bridges, which is still collected at the Vallatsbrug in the time honoured fashion of lowering a clog on a fishing rod, and moored in the most popular spot beyond the Vrouwenpoortsbrug, where the canal runs through the Prinsentuin park. Overlooking the moorings, the leaning Oldehove tower is all that remains of a church demolished in 1595 due to subsidence. As a regional capital, Leeuwarden has plenty of things to see, including the Fries Museum with its Mata Hari exhibition, devoted to the World War One spy who grew up in the city. Also housed here is the Friesland Resistance Museum, whose central theme is entitled "Choices, then and now".

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 15 nm

Total to date: 1202 nm

Avg Speed: 5 knots

Duration: 3:00 hours

Diesel: 30 litres

Mooring: €9

Electricity: N/A

Bridges

Prins Hendrikbrug (lift)

Havenbrug (lift-twice)

Keersluisbrug (swing)

Tsjerk Hiddesluisbrug (5.8m)

Koningsbrug (5.35m)

Kiesterzijl (5.3m)

Frisiabrege (6.35m)

Franeker Stationsbrug (lift)

Dronrijp (5.3m)

Deinum (5.3m)

Ritzumazijl (5.3m)

Slauerhoffbrug (lift)

Hermesbrug (lift)

Vallatsbrug (lift)

Vrouwenpoort (lift)

Locks

Tsjerk Hiddessluizen

Charts

ANWB B "Friese Meren"