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Category: North Holland 2016

Published: 30 April 2016

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Friday 3rd June  Ref: 2016/9

After three great days in Edam, it was time to move on and our next port of call was to be Hoorn. Famous from its colonial past (with Cape Horn named after it), it is another of the former ports enclosed by the sea barriers in more recent times. 

We stayed a day longer in Edam, mainly because we liked it a lot, but also because it was very windy and wild the day before and so it made more sense to move today, as we did not want to batten everything down. In fact, it was so still that the sea was like a millpond and the visibility was a problem, necessitating the use of radar, which was unexpected.

For some of the trip, I let Kathleen take the helm but I soon had to help her by cutting in the autopilot as I started playing my ukulele and getting some practice in at long last. As we approached Hoorn, a Dutch motor boat approached us on a coincident course and then insisted on undertaking us on the wrong side for good measure! He has a lot to learn about international collision regulations and boating etiquette..

We stopped for water on entry and then found moorings against the wooded and lawned section. We tied up in a good spot against the green area and in plenty of shade and had free electricity and a water tap nearby as well. I took Max for a good walk around;  but it had by now become a very warm and sunny day such that there were lots of people about. Even so, he was sociable and behaved well with other dogs.

Next, after a meal, Kathleen joined me for a walk around the waterfront in this old harbour and we bought and ate some nieuwe haring and also some kibbling as well as taking away good fish for our meal later. At the fish shop, the owner had a relationship with a tame heron, who was eating the fish heads and tails whole when she fed them to him (or her)

21-24degF, 82-74%RH, 1012mb pressure steady, misty (1nm viz max) , dry, calm with a light 1-4kn N/NEasterly breeze

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Category: North Holland 2016

Published: 30 April 2016

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Tuesday 7th June  Ref: 2016/10

A very enjoyable, calm and steady cruise out of Hoorn, east along the Markermeer coast and then north to Enkhuisen where we locked through the Krabbersgat and then cruised into the Buitenhaven. for a berth.

We had been thinking of getting the Dromedaris bridge raised and mooring on the Olde Haven but there was a nice grassy bank on the south side of the Buienhaven and that looked cooler and more inviting for Max. I took him ashore for a walk,  optimised our mooring and then walked to the harbour office opposite where we registered and got the information we needed to take full advantage of the place.

The system is now that you get a SEP card (rather than the SEP key) and that the relatively modest electric and water charges are debited from an initial allowance of €5. It is normal to use the automatic machine for paying mooring fees, but I preferred to visit the harbour master's office and take further advice and they were very helpful. We paid for two nights and then took a look around the place. The railway station had free parking for our car and the nearby VVV office had plenty of information but English was a bit scarce amongst it. The market day is tomorrow, Wednesday, dogs are unfortunately not allowed in the open-air museum but can be taken on to the steam train excursion. and we also bought a sticker of Enkhuizen and the local courtesy flag as well! 

Then a visit to the excellent chandlers at the Compagnieshaven for a very good look round before coffee,  apple-cake and some ice creams in the Olde Haven, where I had moored before. This is an excellent sheltered mooring in poor or windy weather but is quite uncomfortable without a breeze in hot weather 

21-24degC, 70-40%RH, 1021-1022mb pressure steady, good viz, dry, calm and sunny with a 6-10kn N/NEasterly breeze

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Category: North Holland 2016

Published: 30 April 2016

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Thursday 9th June  Ref: 2016/11

A slightly choppy journey up the IJselmeer to Medemblik and the rest of the day taking a look around this small place and visiting the baking museum 

We managed Lady Martina’s cruise into the exposed part of the Ijsselmeer and round the coast from Enkhuizen to Medemblik in a Force 4 with wind speeds up to 15 knots in a beam sea.  I had checked the weather in the harbour office and also on-line and we were expecting Force 4 winds of 10-15knots from the north-east and so I was going to treat this trip across the Ijsselmeer as a sea trip and make the necessary precautions accordingly. This meant dropping the folded bikes through the forward hatch on to the bed for safety and rolling up the sun ‘porch’ canopy as well as stowing all fenders and ropes, securing windows and removing everything from surfaces.

In the end, the passage was not too bad and the seas state was mostly slight but the precautions were proved necessary by the gusting of the breeze up to 16 knots over this shallow fresh water mere where the sea is often short and steep. Also you can never tell when they are going to release a 1-2 knot outflow which would have been against this wind. The entrance to Medemblik was very straightforward but I did take the precausion of calling on VHF 9 and got a good response in English. The Kwikkelsbrug closed on us but soon opened again as they no longer appear to be grouping boats together any more.

I spend time reviewing the mooring pontoons, trying to work out which would be best for keeping our dog Max out of the sun, when the harbourmaster came over and suggested we moor against the quay at the far Western end and we were very pleased to do so as we could moor bows to the South and alongside a grassy area for Max.

We unloaded our bikes and cycled to the harbour office where we found out that the harbour-master had been there for fourteen years; having started two years prior to my last visit in 2004, and that he had taken over from his father before him. I then took a cycle around Medemblik, bought a sticker and worked out where everything was and then. later on, I took Kathleen back to the town to visit the Bakers Museum; which visit we thoroughly enjoyed; the more so for her as she bought a dress from the shop next door!

 19-21degC, 65-44%RH, 1020-1019mb pressure steady, good viz, dry, and sunny, F4, slight sea  with a 10-15kn N/NEasterly breeze