Leaving our tranquil base on the Mookerplas, we continued our voyage north by turning off the Maas just north of Mook onto the Maas-Waalkanaal. This unpromising sounding waterway is perfectly pleasant to cruise, with landscaped banks and light commercial traffic. The lock at Heumen stands open which meant our progress was unhindered until we got to the second lock at Weurt. There is a choice of two lock-basins to use and despite our best efforts to communicate with the lock keeper in English and Dutch, via VHF and telephone we still ended up getting yelled at over the loudspeaker that we were in the wrong place! After an hour's delay we finally emerged on the north side of the lock and onto the junction with the notorious river Waal.

The stretch from here upstream past Nijmegen is regarded as being quite tricky for leisure boats, as the strong current forces the barges to take the inside of the bends on the wrong side of the channel. We did likewise and despite the 3 knot adverse current were soon safely past the worst stretch.

It is not recommended to cruise upstream on the Waal because of the strong flow but we had only planned to do the short stretch between Nijmegen and the Pannerdenskanaal, where we would turn north towards Arnhem. From here we had the benefit of the current with us, as well as less barges to contend with, as most take the more direct route along the Waal.

We made an overnight stop at Arnhem and in the morning cruised a little further downstream to Oosterbeek to review the WW2 battle sites before returning to the junction with the Gelderse IJssel, where we proceeded downstream. The IJssel was an important 15th century trade route and former Hanseatic towns are dotted all along it, making attractive, historic places to visit.

The first of these is at Doesburg, where as well as a visit to the Mustard Factory, for which the town is famous, we were in time to join the guided tower climb. Destroyed by retreating Germans just two weeks before the end of the war, the new tower provides a commanding view of the surrounding area. For our evening stop we continued on to Zutphen, another of the Hanseatic cities, where we stopped at WV De Mars, a little to the north of the town. This is not so convenient for a visit to the city, so we left the next morning, to continue our research by boat.

The next stop en-route was at Deventer, where we found the town en fete for their Op Stelten (stilt) festival, and combined with the weekly market, and one of six summer antique markets the main square was crowded with visitors. In the evening, the festivities continued with illuminated night-time performaces until midnight.

Cruising Statistics

Distance (inland): 74 nm

Total to date: 700 nm

Avg Speed: 5.7 kn

Duration: 13 hrs

Diesel: 150 ltrs

Mooring: €11 at Arnhem;
€12 at Zutphen;
€11 at Deventer

Electricity:
Included at Arnhem & Deventer; €0,50/2kWh at Zutphen

Water:
Included at Arnhem & Deventer;
€0,50/200l at Zutphen

Charts

ANWB Grote Rivieren (electronic)

ANWB D Gelderse IJssel

Locks

Sluis Heumen

Sluis Weurt

Bridges

29 fixed (min 5.7 m)