Bergum was open for business this morning, with a very relaxed attitude to cycling in the main shopping street. Being a holiday area, Friesland is very receptive to visitors especially of the water-borne variety and the proprietor of 't Somerhuys where we stopped for coffee reported he had received foreign visitors from all over the world in his five years in business.

We set off from Bergumerdam late morning to continue our passage on the Prinses Margriet canal, a much used commercial waterway which crosses the network of meers and dykes. It was a straightforward passage with bridges high enough for us to pass under without difficulty and only the Teherne lock, which stands open except in SW gales, to negotiate. The only hazard to watch out for were the ever present barges, which either wanted to go faster or slower than us, involving hair-raising overtaking manouvres in the narrow channels.

We stopped at the yacht harbour 't Starteiland on the Sneekermeer thinking that the abundance of Volvo merchandising would herald the presence of a Volvo engineer who might be able to advise on a problem we had been having with our oil pressure warning light. We tracked down the harbour master in animated conversation with the restaurant manager, but on hearing our enquiry he scratched his head and said there was a Volvo engineer - in Harlingen. Did we know Harlingen? We did, but we had no intention of going there, so we thanked him for his help and continued on our way, noting as we went the range of capsized yachts on the meer in the 15 knot winds.

By evening we had reached our destination of Lemmer, ready to make our IJsselmeer crossing back to Amsterdam. Lemmer's strategic position between the IJsselmeer and the Friesland lakes makes it a popular base for boating and it boasts some ten yachthavens as well as the town centre municipal moorings. This time we stopped on the outskirts of the town which would mean we could take the simpler route out to the IJsselmeer via the Prinses Margriet lock in the morning rather than negotiate the multiple bridges of the picturesque town centre.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 26 nm

Total to date: 1297 nm

Avg Speed: 6.5 knots

Duration: 5:15 hours

Diesel: 26 litres

Mooring: €15

Electricity: Included (4A)

Water: Included

Locks

Teherne (open)

Bridges

Burgumerdam (7.3m)

Fonejacht (7.15m)

Grouw rail (7.15m)

Oude Schouw (7.15m)

Uitwellingerga (7.15m)

Spannenburg (7m)

Charts

ANWB B