The unusal charging structure in Gouda persuaded us to stay a full week; you can either pay for a night, 3 days, a week or a fortnight. However, even the fortnightly rate is still good value, and what with the free electric, water and wifi thrown in for good measure, the moorings were comparatively busy, even though the cheese market season has not yet begun.

The weather had continued horrific and we had suffered persistent rain and gales for most of the days of our stay. Fortunately the car had come in very handy and we had been able to cover a lot of ground by that method. With our South Holland draft chapter completed and out for consultation, we decided to ignore the pessimistic forecast and head south for Rotterdam and the Great Rivers chapter. Unfortunately, we had managed to choose Hemelvaartsdag (Ascension Day) for the day of our departure, which is observed as a public holiday in the Netherlands, meaning that the Ir.de Kock van Leeuwensluis on the Nieuwe Gouwe was operating to its Sunday schedule, i.e. gesloten.

Help was at hand in the form of the Mallegatsluis at the other end of the Turfsingel, normally written off as having a fixed bridge of 3.3m over HW. After much scratching of heads we concluded we had only just passed low water and there was around 4.5m air draught, so it was off with the canopy and down with the radar arch so we could begin our planned voyage. Fortunately, the Rotterdam bridges operate 24/7, 365 days a year so there was no problems getting access to the Binnenhaven for City Marina Rotterdam.

We were interested to cruise through Rotterdam as it has a reputation for being busy and intimidating, but certainly the upstream portion of the Nieuwe Maas is no problem at all and there were lots of leisure boats intermingling with the barges, water buses and super-fast water taxis. At the marina, we had a slightly frosty reception from the Pilot Owners Club who seemed to think they had reserved the whole marina but we decided to overlook their unfriendliness and moored up anyway (after all they only have 20 members).

Cruising Statistics

Distance (inland): 13.6nm

Total to date: 419 nm

Avg Speed: 4.5kn

Duration: 3 hrs

Diesel: 20 ltrs

Mooring: €22/night

Electricity: €3/night

Water: Included

Charts

ANWB K Grote Rivieren Midden

1809.5

Locks

Mallegatsluis

Bridges

4 opening

4 fixed (min 4.5m)