With our fleet refreshed and stocked up with ANWB maps we were raring to go this morning for another passage of many bridges. We had prepared a list of all the opening times and VHF's and made good progress along the Oude Rijn to Alphen. We made a coffee stop at the free ANWB moorings north of the Alphensebrug which is also central for a tour of the extensive town centre shopping facilities. The morning's purchases ranged from designer sunglasses to a plastic spatula and some of the ladies of the fleet felt perhaps they done quite so well as others.

Continuing our passage we turned south into the river Gouwe and after a short hold up at the Gouwsluis rail bridge whilst a barge caught us up, we were on our way again. Although the speed limit on this stretch is 12km/h the barge was pushing on at up to 8 knots and it was all we could do to keep up with him to get through the Boskoop bridge. After that we let him go and made a more leisurely passage through Waddinxveen to Gouda. Here we turned into the Nieuwe Gouwe where we arrived just in time for one of the quarterly hour openings of the Steve Biko brug.

The elaborately named Ir.de Kock van Leeuwensluis which follows immediately on, at 9 metres wide was just wide enough for us to double up the four boats and get everyone through together, and we continued through two more town centre bridges into the Kattensingel canal moorings. Here there is electricity and limited water points within a few minutes walk of the historic town square. There was no free spaces but after shuffling a few boats we managed to find everyone a home and were pleased to remember the coinless electricity meters which serve these moorings.

More by luck than judgement we had arrived in time for the very first of the weekly cheese markets which are held every Thursday during the summer. Although these days the real deals are done over the phone before the cheese is made, the old ritual of hand-clap trading is re-enacted in the market place for the benefit of the tourists. Of course there is plenty of chance to samply and buy cheese, as well as visit the cheese making demonstration in De Waag (Weigh House). We were careful to buy our Boerenkaas - farm made cheese - from the market, as that sold in De Waag is inexplicably factory produced.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 16 nm

Total to date: 1387 nm

Avg Speed: 4.8 knots

Duration: 4:45 hours

Diesel: 48 litres

Mooring: €12/ 3 nights

Electricity: Included

Water: Included

Locks

Ir.de Kock van Leeuwen

Bridges

Schrijvers (lift)

Sumatra (lift)

Leiderdorp (lift)

Leiderdorp A4 (5.4m)

Kouderkirk (lift)

Albert Schweitzer (5.4)

Kon. Juliana (lift)

Alphen (lift)

Swaenswijk (lift)

Gouwsluis (lift)

Gouwsluis rail (swing)

Boskoop (lift)

Waddinxveen (lift)

Coenecoop (lift)

Gouda rail (6.8m)

Steve Biko (lift)

Rabat (lift)

Potters (lift)

Charts

ANWB G