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Category: Flevoland and The Randmeren 2016

Published: 30 April 2016

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Thursday 30th June  Ref: 2016/24

From Lemmer to Urk on a wet and windy day which continued so as the day went on, such that we were braving strong breezes gusting up to 20 knots on the eastern IJselmeer and a slight/moderate sea as we cruised down the coast from Lemmer to Urk. 

I reckoned that the breeze was going to moderate later and so I decided that we should have a slow start to the day. As midday approached, I prepared Lady Martina for an exposed trip by getting the canopy rolled back and raising the fenders before we took off eastwards along the Zijlroede towards the Zijlroeadebrug where the bridge-keeper kept us waiting a little while before opening; presumably in order to group boats together for the lift.

Then on to the Flevobrug where the bridge-keeper collected €5 in bridgegeld from us within his traditional clog on a 'fishing rod' before allowing us along the water front and towards the Oude Sluisbrug behind another yacht, which we accompanied for the 60cm rise through the Lemstersluis and out into the open IJselmeer.

That is when the fun started which proved yet again (if we ever needed it) that you should never take this huge inland lake for granted. The wind had not abated at all and I was left tussling with the presence of a huge windfarm right in my way and completely absent from the charts (both paper and electronic) and the strengthening breeze of 16-20 knots. Thankfully, the direction was from the south and on the nose of Lady Martina as she rode the sea well and allowed me the necessary time and stability to more properly lash down our boarding ladder which had been loosely tied on to the davits.

Kathleen was enjoying the sea-type experience as we cruised on and Lady Martina’s engines were getting some exercise again. I gave the windfarm and the final Vormt shallows a wide berth and then wallowed in, beam against the sea, into Urk haven before making our entrance past the harbour moles, then the old fisherhaven (sadly emptied of fishing boats since I was last here) and then we left the inviting Nieuwe Haven and Oosthaven to turn to port and tie up on the edge of Westerhaven.

This therefore gave us the shelter but also the proximity to the beach area. We had a strong breeze tussling with as we moored and then the rain returned and was torrential at times for much of the evening before it cleared up later and the sun came out

21-29 degC, 74-58%RH, 1009  mb pressure steady, mod viz, sun heavy stormy rain a F4/5   strong 15-20kn  Sly breeze

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Category: Flevoland and The Randmeren 2016

Published: 30 April 2016

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Saturday 2nd to Sunday 3rd July  Ref: 2016/25

Saturday was another wet and windy day spent mostly in Urk until, determined to move, we were firstly thwarted by an Urkersluis closure, that blocked off an inland route; then we braved the Ijsselmeer in F4/5 20kn winds to make the Randmeren only to find the Roggebotsluis also blocked with maintenance so we had to spend the night on an isolated staithe and use the tender to transport a difficult Max to shore and back!

I had decided that we should set off and so we did in the strong wind; intending not to brave the rough Ijsselmeer but to cruise inland by the Flevoland route but we found the Urkersluis exhibiting two red lights and closed. It took me several phone calls and an hour’s delay to establish that this sluis was closed until Monday with a fault after which we cleared the decks, battened down the hatches and braced Lady Martina for that sea passage.

It was a beam sea that alarmed Kathleen as the boat rocked and ejected the contents of the galley fridge and library cupboard on to the saloon floor but it was safe and bearable. We cruised on and under the huge Ketelbrug after which the sea became more settled and allowed Kathleen to go below and sort things out as I navigated and controlled the vessel. It started calmer in the Ketelmeer but there then developed a huge following sea; probably with the 20kn winds in opposition to a large outflow of water from the river after all of this recent rain.

It then appeared to become plain sailing as the sun shone and we cruised peacefully along the Randmeren until we came within site of the Roggebotsluis where I spotted the dreaded double red lights again. Workmen had closed the bridge for two days’ maintenance and the only place to wait and moor was on an isolated stieger without shore access! We were greeted by other boats moored there including on who had seen us in several places including IJlst, and we shared information which suggested that it would be Monday before we could be let through.

I started getting the dinghy down as Max was desperate for a run and relief and once we started loading him onto the dinghy the fun started with us struggling to control him but we got to the nearby yacht club and checked it out but could not see anywhere suitable to moor there; but this gave Max a good run and I also walked us up to the bridge and spoke to the men. It seems that they had been progressing well and were trying to get the lockkeep to come earlier than the 4pm time they had arranged for the morning. If some test lifts went okay then they might be able to let us through

There was better news on the Sunday and a more beneficial situation as I woke up to see the guys testing out the Roggerbotsluis lift bridge that had been broken yesterday. They had obviously managed to get the lock-keeper along early this morning and I could see that that control room was manned and they were soon stopping traffic and looking like things were going to be fine.  I walked Max along the stieger and chatted to the others. Between us, we had contacted the bridge-keeper on the VHF and understood that she was going to open the bridge at 10am and then let the boats through from the other side first and then let us all into the sluis soon after that. With that news, I brought our tender around to the stern and attached it to the davit wires and then got Kathleen to help me steady it as I used our newly-renovated electric winch wires to raise it very easily and simply into its correct, secured position.

We were therefore right ready to move off and enter the lock when the lights went green on our side. The first three boats all moored up on the port side and not very near to the front of the lock at that and so I cruised past them and moored further forward on the starboard side. This meant that, when the lock opened, we were in pole position to depart first and so the German boat at the front of the other side seemed to be put out by that and stormed past us once we were in open water; leaving a huge wake which was interfering with boats moored nearby: What an idiot!!

The cruise went very smoothly, although the wind was still fresh and there was still quite a following sea by the time we got further along the Drontemeer on the Randmeren. By this time the day was sunny if still very breezy and then, once we got close to the next bridge, called the Elburger bridge, we turned left into the Elburg channel and immediately stopped on the right alongside some open space where I defied ‘no mooring’ signs and could give Max his proper morning walk. We then moved on down the channel as the rain returned but fortunately it was dry when we stopped at the pump-out and water point to service the boat.

I helped a Dutch couple to moor and they were friendly and explained the harbour to us and assured us we could moor in the Binnenhaven after all. Once we had moored, we realised that the small boat in front was occupied by that nice family that has helped us off the dinghy with Max in the Yacht cub the day before and they helped us translate some signs as well. It transpired that the signs permitting mooring activity for daytime only referred to double mooring (or rafting) during that time and so we were in the clear. 

21-30 degC, 74-40%RH, 1011-1017mb rising steadily, good viz, sun between heavy stormy rain a F4/5   strong 15-21kn  SWly breeze

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Category: Flevoland and The Randmeren 2016

Published: 30 April 2016

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Tuesday 5th July  Ref: 2016/26

Elburg to Nijkerk on another windy day after we gave up on the messy port at Hardervijk because we found it to be one huge building site. We had been sheltered from the strong winds of the Randmeren whilst we were moored up in the centre of Elburg Binnenhaven but once we left this shelter, we found that today was a very windy and unpleasant one to be on the water.

We visited the Elburg Tuesday market before leaving; sharing some kibbling between us in place of any breakfast or lunch. Whether it was because it is early in the season or not, the size of the market seemed to be very disappointing and the weather was quite blowy as we dodged the showers, but Max enjoyed the trip out before we set off on our voyage.

We needed water to replace that amount used for two cycles of our washing machine and so dropped off at the water berth on the way. Unfortunately, a German boat was taking up the space and the hose and then started washing his boat after filling and so I was rather upset with his selfishness. Eventually away and into the Veluwemeer where wind and water condition started to become an issue and that developed as a worry as we had left the ‘porch’ canopy up and the wind was stressing it. We passed a number of deserted resorts on the Flevoland side such as ‘De Klink’ and moorings islands such as ‘De Snip’ and ‘De Kwak’ and it was on one of these that we saw Broom boat ‘Rockall’ and exchanged greetings.

By this time, we were getting wind gusts of anything up to 29 knots but it was mostly on the bow and manageable. We managed the conditions until we got to Harderwijk where we arrived with 3-4 other motor cruisers all looking for moorings and competing with each other. There were very few to be found without rafting up, as the inner harbour, past the lifting bridge was blocked off and outside there was a horrendous amount of landscaping and building work taking place that had ruined the moorings. After some time reviewing the situation I turned Lady Martina in its own length and then  headed back out across the north-east end of the Wolderwijd and around the Knarland Island.

By this time the wind was on our beam and we did see some boats moored on the Knarland stieger but in very exposed and unpleasant conditions. The Wolderwijd was being raked by 20-plus knot winds and we also had a large barge, ‘Neptunus’ right behind us as we headed into the very open section of this meer in conditions which we might just describe as ‘moderate’ in off-shore terms but was easily as bad as anything we had experienced on the Ijsselmeer.

We ploughed on, Lady Martina being more than capable of shrugging off such conditions and eventually the open lake narrowed and we started approaching the Nijkerksluis but were arriving a good ten minutes and one nautical mile behind the 'Neptunus', which had overtaken us rather grumpily. I was monitoring VHF channel 18 and heard his call and the response from the sluis and so I called and announced my approach ten minutes later and this led to the sluis-keeper waiting for me which was very helpful.

Once through Nijkerksluis, I was then able to turn left and enter the Arkervaart to find plenty of moorings on the right before the Arkersluis lock and then found a stretch that had some shelter from the wind. We moored up and I took the walk around the new caravan park to the Arkervaart sluis-keeper who takes the money for the moorings these days. This section of moorings had been modernised since I was last here and I found out from the lock-keeper lady that this process was only completed last year and so we were lucky to find it to be such a nice place this year, and for only €10/night!

We were fooled by the special connection method that the power sockets have here; where you have to rotate the plug clockwise 90deg after inserting it. I have come across that necessary technique before but could not understand the Dutch instructions on the pod and had inserted coins for three connections on two pods before a neighbouring lady put us straight and we were able to get power!

19-24-21 degC, 76-60%RH, 1011-1014mb rising, good viz, sun and showers between heavy stormy rain a F4/5   strong 15-21kn  SWly breeze

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Category: Flevoland and The Randmeren 2016

Published: 30 April 2016

Hits: 4400

Wednesday 6th July  Ref: 2016/27

We had a settled night in Nijkerk as the wind moderated and it was brighter this morning. Max was anxious to have his morning walk and so I took him for a long one up to the edge of the shore to see the wide expanse of the Nijkerkernauw water with its resort beaches lining the far bank. He then accompanied us as we cycled along the Arkervaart which, together with its detours, then took us into Nijkerk. 

As well as the moorings in the entrance channel being renewed a year or two ago, the town centre of Nijkerk had been modernised to a great extent with a fine shopping precinct with pavement cafes, but the old mooring basin is much the same with its toilet building still seeming to be a like a portakabin! At least there is water there and a place to moor near the town centre, but the barges still stop at a processing plant which is right opposite the municipal moorings! 

The new town square looked good on a sunny day; lots of people sitting out on the pavement cafes and we joined them after finding some water for Max to drink following his long run. We took advantage of the special offer deal of a small piece of apple cake with cream and coffee for €2.50 each and enjoyed it immensely.  I then cycled off in search of the tourist office but, unhappily, they had no sticker of the place, as it is not regarded as a tourist resort, and so we embarked upon the cycle ride back, finding it a little more difficult as we were against the breeze and also because I kept having to stop and check our route on my phone. 

Once back, I started the engines, prepared Lady Martina to move on, deflected the complaints of a neighbouring boat about our exhaust and then made way towards Spakenburg; our next port of call on the Eemeer after passing along the Nijkerkernauw.  It was a short and pleasant trip in much more benign weather conditions with the sun shining at times and our entry into Spakenburg was easy enough, but without too much success at securing a mooring on the channel.

I investigated the inner harbour, which was just for traditional wooden botters and then settled for a mooring in the WSV de Eendrecht where at least we could get water and electricity by SEP card, even if their WiFi did not reach the end of the moorings and I had to log into KPN-fon, my regular fall-back. A relaxing afternoon in the sunshine eating, drinking and catching up with writing before an evening excursion. I was able to send a message to our Dutch friend Inez about where we had ended up and she will join us on board for the night tomorrow when we will cruise to Huizen the day after. 

24-25 degC, 60-36%RH, 1030mb steady, good viz, sunny intervls and dry with a F3/4  brisk 5-15kn  WNWly breeze