One week and two garage bills later we were ready to leave Deventer, with our research on the Twentekanalen and the Overijsselse Vecht complete. We continued north on the IJssel making a short stop at the pretty Hanseatic town of Hattem, where we visited the old mill where they still grind corn into flour, and the old bakery museum where they use the flour to give bread-baking demonstrations. The old centre is very picturesque and the convenience of the nearby harbour makes this is a must-visit location. In late afternoon we made our way past Zwolle, turning onto the Zwolle-IJsselkanaal and then the Zwarte Water to reach the last of the Hanseatic towns of this region, at Hasselt. Here we made an overnight stop on the "VVV steiger", a town centre quayside mooring, for which a volunteer harbour master collects a modest fee.

Although still blessed with many historic old buildings, Hasselt is much less touristy than Hattem, which is either good or bad depending on your point of view. The few restaurants were mainly empty except for the one where the locals congregate, erupting into community singing by the end of the evening. The most popular venue was the St Stephanus church which attracted a joyous congregation on Sunday morning, whilst the rest of the town fell quiet.

After a visit to the restored lime kilns we continued our voyage north, stopping briefly for a look round the old barge village of Zwartsluis, and then making our way via the Meppelerdiep to the Kanaal Beukers-Steenwijk. This small waterway was dug in the 1920's in connection with the peat extraction that took place in the area, and now these lakes and waterways are a leisure boating mecca.

The village of Giethoorn, also called the "Green Venice of the North" on account of its numerous canals and gondola shaped boats, is the focal point of the area, and on a sunny Sunday afternoon is teeming with small boats. The main canal gets very busy, but small boats can venture into the central canals of the village, where centuries old thatched farmhouses have been converted for recreational and residential use. By evening the majority of visitors had departed and we could make a more comfortable tour of the waterways, stopping at the canalside Italian restaurant, Fratelli, for a high class repast of pizza and ice-cream.

The Kanaal Beukers-Steenwijk links together with a series of small waterways in the region called the Kop van Overijssel, which form a mast-up route between Friesland and the Randmeren, or a circular route from the Ketelmeer. The route passes through a National Park and then takes in the old seaports of Blokzijl and Vollenhove, which lay on the east side of the IJsselmeer until the draining of the Noordoostpolder in 1942. The visitors harbour at Blokzijl is still in the old pool where the cargo ships unloaded their wares in the 17th century.

From Vollenhove we locked down several metres into the Noordoostpolder and followed the canal across the polder to arrive at Urk, by the back door. Unfortunately, although the lock was due to close at 7pm, our 6.30pm arrival proved too late as a large houseboat was locking through in front of us and by the time that had cleared the time was up.

Cruising Statistics

Distance (inland): 72 nm

Total to date: 772 nm

Avg Speed: 4.6 kn

Duration: 15:30 hrs

Diesel: 83 ltrs

Mooring: €8 at Hasselt;
€13 at Giethoorn;
Free at Ossenzijl;
€13 at Vollenhove;
Free at Urkersluis waiting pontoon; €15 at Urk harbour

Electricity:
N/A at Hasselt, Ossenzijl & Urk; €1/2kWh at Giethoorn & Vollenhove; Included at Urk harbour (10A)

Water:
€0,50/100l at Hasselt, Giethoorn & Vollenhove; N/A at Urk

Charts

ANWB Noord-Nederland (electronic folio)

ANWB D Gelderse IJssel

Locks

Spooldersluis

Beukersluis

Blokzijl

Voorstersluis

Marknessersluis

Urkersluis

Bridges

19 opening

13 fixed (min 5.3m)