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Category: Netherlands Cruises 2019

Published: 01 September 2014

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Saturday 29th June Ref: 2019/12

Our cruise today set off east along the Ramsdiep channel, crossed this Zwarte Meer before turning south-east at the Vogeleiland junction onto the Zwolse Diep and then up through the Meppelerdiepkeersluis and Beukerssluis locks (that latter after a long delay) and north  through the Belter Wijlde  meer to moor up at Giethoorn Haven. 

After a very hot start to the night, it then became quite cold making us equally uncomfortable and then, this morning, the boat was covered in condensation to confirm that phenomena. I updated some of my Lady Martina cruising log and then the relevant website pages, but lack the time to fully organise the photographs and cruise data before Kathleen stirred and it was time to make the morning tea.

It was comfortable sitting in bed this morning, for a while, but soon the priorities of the day took over and we got ourselves ready and out to greet our cruising colleagues and make arrangements for the day. Chris was happy for me to spend a little while at the Marina investigating a few things and so I rode my bike down the pontoons and up the ramp to the balcony of the office where first I took photographs of the nearby seaside venue and also of the boats in the marina. I then cycled out of the marina and along the road, taking note of a sign which was advertising the presence of the local museum which I had been concerned to find. Upon further discussion with the Marina office staff, I established that it was a small exhibition situated some 15 minutes away by bicycle and with the interpretation in the Dutch language but it was an interesting one, in that it details the history of the area from its origins as a separate island before the drainage schemes united it with the mainland.

Once back at the boat, we had some fruit and cereal for breakfast and then made the boat ready for today’s cruise. It had started warm again and continue to get hotter until this afternoon the temperature seem to be in the high 30s°C and was quite unbearable at times, even under our sun shelter and inside with the air conditioning fully on. It was only after putting blankets over the windows to shield the saloon from the sun we got the internal temperature down below 80°F.

Today’s cruise started off well as we set off east from the Schokkerhaven along the Ramsdeip, crossing the Zwarte Meer before turning south-east at the Vogeleiland junction onto the Zwolse Diep and then up through the Meppelerdiepkeersluis and then approaching the Beukerssluis locks. This was where our cruise became delayed, the congestion arising from it being Saturday after a very hot few days times with a public holiday and so there were many boats competing to get through the Beukerssluis lock which led to a long delay.

Once through this obstacle, we cruised north  through the Belter Wijlde meer to moor up firstly on the bank next to the entrance to the Giethoorn waterborne community area but, our companions not liking the idea of the wash from the passing boats, they investigated the nearby Giethoorn Haven, and called us across having found berths available in a much more satisfactory situation. The marina was quieter from the standpoint boat wash but all of the alongside berths had been taken, with local Dutch boat owners reluctant to shift along to allow us in, and so both Lady Martina and Ikon were moored stern-to, making the launching of our dinghies for the 'Dutch Venice Tour' impossible until our boats were moved tomorrow.

After a while where we were sheltered from the sun and in a breeze and could welcome our friends on board for drinks, continued to get hotter and hotter in the afternoon such that everybody became quite exhausted with a heat and had to seek showers and shady spots. After eventually sorting out the electricity supply, the air conditioning kept the Lady Martina cabins to approximately 80°F, and a little below, after I had shielded the windows with blankets from the sun. Kathleen walked off with Maggie to the shops for some groceries came back very hot and exhausted and, having failed to find the showers locally used our own aboard and then we both stayed inside to keep cool on a hot evening until the sun set over the bushes. 

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Category: Netherlands Cruises 2019

Published: 01 September 2014

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Tuesday 2nd July Ref: 2019/13

We leave Giethoorn and set off north up the Kanaal Beukers Steenwijk turning west at Steenwijk along the Kanaal Steenwijk to Ossenzil turning north along De Lende and then north-west again along the Jonkers of Heloma to Zevenbuurt. By this time we are in Friesland as we turn north again along De Kuunder of De Tsjonger until the Engelenfeart which we took to the unassuming but quiet town of Heerenveen. 

We made the effort to have a fairly early start this morning, casting off at 9am and cruising over to the ‘pump out’ station, where both Lady Martina and Ikon emptied their foul water tanks. I led the day’s cruise again, turning left out of the moorings and through both the Giethoorn bridges, south and north, as we cruised the Kanaal Beukers Steenwijk.

Once we arrived at Steenvijk, we turn north to Ossenzil as the cruise continued through beautiful open agricultural countryside with cows grazing and being milked in parlours. Most of the waterways had a 9 km/h speed limit, with some as low as six as our journey continues into Friesland along the De Lende Kanaal and then north-west again along the Jonkers of Heloma to Zevenbuurt.

I climbed on the pushpit to access the mast and raised the Frieze flag of heart-shaped waterlilies directly below the Dutch courtesy flag as our local adherence to etiquette whilst the cruise continued north again along De Kuunder of De Tsjonger until the Engelenfeart took us towards Heerenveen. It had been our plan to carry on to Akkrum but it was already mid-afternoon and a quick reading of my past cruising logs had reminded me that there were not very good morning facilities there for boats of more than 10 m length, apart from commercial Marina on the outskirts which would be expensive and remote.

I judged that it is best used (as I had done in the past) as a lunchtime shopping stop. As an alternative, I spotted two good morning spaces in the Herenveen visitors moorings and turned Lady Martina into there and moored up, inviting Ikon to do likewise. Although a quiet and comfortable mooring, it is situated within a modern housing estate and so this choice was not universally acclaimed but it was accepted as we had been cruising for a long time and it was uncertain what we could accomplish by carrying on.

We gathered on Ikon for some refreshment and a chat, after which I offered to cycle into the centre of Herenveen to buy some meat and other food in order that Kathleen and I could host a barbecue on board Lady Martina, utilising our all-electric George Foreman Grill. We undertook our cycle ride, myself using our Blackberry Priv phones to take some photos of the more central moorings for future reference and using Google Maps on them in order to find a very good butchers and bakers from which we bought some healthy and fresh pre-prepared barbecue specialities.  We then visited the neighbouring Jumbo Supermarket to get some other plain burgers, milk and other groceries before cycling back.

After some slight choreographic challenges assembling our party, we then started cooking the food and serving it with salad and bread at the start of what proved to be very enjoyable and successful social evening aboard Lady Martina. We sat, drank, and talked until the evening became cool and then Kathleen and I stayed up late cleaning utensils and tidying the boat until, tired but happy, we hit our comfortable bed

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Category: Netherlands Cruises 2019

Published: 01 September 2014

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Wednesday 3rd July Ref: 2019/14

We left Heeronveen Passanton-Haven quite early and was soon upon Jousterbrug where the same remote bridge-keeper from the day before wished us cheerily on our way and then the following  fixed Heerenbrug A7 dual carriageway bridge was tight at 5.5 m as we cruised along the Hearronveense Kanaal noting the rooftop stalk and the Vegelinsoord moorings. We carefully navigated the shallow Terkaplestor Puollen to take the Nijesonsleatbrige and then took a sharp left turn into the Schiffart Waterspoort Marina to be greeted by a familiar face.  We later cycled around Terherne, getting my bike fixed and visiting the church and shops before following local advice to eat at De Gouden Leeuw (Golden Lion) restaurant for a great meal by the navigation until we cycled back, when I carried on updating my log and journal 

Our friends not want to stay long in Heeronveen and so we soon moved off. Unfortunately, i was unclear with my suggestion for a trial engine start and they un-moored immediately and I had to leave them waiting in midstream until I prepared all of our systems documentation ready to join them. The first bridge Jousterbrug was very close by and, upon calling the bridge keeper on VHF channel 18 we were greeted by a familiar voice from yesterday as it was the same operative that had unintentionally separated Ikon from us then! He was especially friendly on the VHF today and wished us a very good stay for the rest of our time in the Netherlands.

The next bridge, the fixed dual carriageway crossing for the busy A7, was tight with 5.5 m advertised clearance, but we still cleared it by about 30 cm with our aerials dipped. We then cruised along the Hearronveense Kanaal, noting the nesting rooftop stork on a farm house building and the inviting-looking Vegelinsoord moorings in their village on the port side.

Our friends aboard Ikon were becoming impatient that the slow speed of progress and I had to explain that we were subjected to a 9 km/h speed limit but I held out hope that this would change to 12 ½ km/h after the Deelsbrug access to the Muntsjerek back channel to Heeronveen. Unfortunately, that optimism was not fulfilled as we chanced upon some complex riverbank works and a temporary speed limit of 7 km/h! Trying to compensate, I decided to take the very pleasant but shallow crossing of the Terkaplestor Puollen which our friends queried it first as it shallow to 0.7 of a metre on their electronic chart plotter. Given my access to more detailed information, I was able to reassure them that this related to sandbanks that we could avoid and I steered them safely to the main channel on the exit to this open water by use of our charts and forward looking sonar.

We then took the Nijesonsleatbrige in common with other craft and soon spotted the immediate left turn into the Schiffart Waatersoport Yacht Haven. Chris went ashore from his boat and paid for what he thought was two days in the marina before I got there and he reported back that the marina owner knew me from my previous research for my book, 'The Inland Waterways of the Netherlands'. I was obliged to attend his office with a copy as he was interested in what had resulted from our conversations all those years ago. In the meantime, he had developed his hire fleet of motor boats extensively and taken over a boat builder with its stock of boats to become a major hire base.

I went back a couple of times and chatted to him about the state of his industry and comparisons with the UK and it transpired that he is doing very well with most of his clientele being Germans but it has  the odd British visitor. He was able to introduce me to a four language publication on Friesland by Albert Hendricks, who is the director of tourism for Friesland and felt such a publication was necessary. I purchased a copy and showed it to others who did not seem very impressed but I will use it for some of the textual comparisons should we ever do a third edition of our book and I will make more UK boating visitors aware that this exists.

More importantly, he is the big distributor of Yamaha outboard motors and I was able to get from him the normal specification for propellers for the 4 hp four stroke version which compared unfavourably with the large pitch example we have installed and so I bought a replacement from his son the next day. The marina had very good Wi-Fi and electricity included for additional €2.50, which I took advantage of as my batteries were deeply discharged, even after today’s cruise, due to the use of my George Foreman electric barbecue last night. It is still the Schiffert couple we met years ago that own the place and have their son and daughter working there too and so it is a fine and friendly family-run base for touring boats.

Once settled, the whole company took to our bikes and toured Terherne, taking in the churchyard and accompanying church building which no longer takes services but remains a licensed wedding venue with its river mooring providing the picturesque option of the bridal party arriving by boat. There is also a watersports centre where small boats and sailing craft can be hired in amongst lots of holiday accommodation for terrestrial stays.

Whilst the girls were in the local supermarket, I took my bike to the bicycle shop opposite the supermarket and the very effective and competent owner not only replaced and tensioned a rear spoke for me that I had broken and lost cycling around Marken Island, but also provided me with four more of the same size (together with their fixings) which will be invaluable once the same problem re-occurs, as it always seems to. The problem I have is that other cycle repairers do not always have the right sized spokes and so this will provide fully for this eventuality once it happens again.

During the cycle ride, I had a chat with one of the young attractive ladies very proficiently operating the hire boats in the Waaterspoorts centre who advised me that the best restaurant in Terherne (that she would like to be taken to if invited) was De Gouden Leeuw or (in the English translation) the Golden Lion which serves fine food and is situated alongside the bridge and waterway. As our party had not eaten since breakfast, we opted for an early meal late afternoon which we all enjoyed thoroughly and its popularity was assured by it gradually filling to capacity as the evening progressed whilst the restaurant opposite remained almost empty.

Once we came back to the boats, Kathleen started cleaning off the outside of Lady Martina, whilst I first wrote up the last two days cruises into my logbook and then updated my Journal with the corresponding stories, ready for updating my websites. It had been a fascinating day’s cruising through picturesque Friesland pastoral countryside on a beautifully sunny and pleasant day but I was concerned that the small, intimate nature of our destination might not sufficient to attract our party for a second day as I was struggling to keep up with my records due to the prospect of three successive days cruising. 

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Category: Netherlands Cruises 2019

Published: 01 September 2014

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Friday 5th July Ref: 2019/15

Our departure from Terhern today was marred by an unnecessary and unseemly difficulty in getting water supplies which left us all feeling rather agitated but this was soon forgotten as our cruise included a good visit to Sneek chandleries and hostelries and then we cruised on to find some nice bank-side moorings in the special village of IJLst with its bakery, shops, Saturday market , timber-sawing windmill and friendly Friesland culture and we arrived on the eve of their very special Fierljeppen dyke-vaulting contest!

We were always going to leave early today, as the marina we were staying at, lovely as it was and run by a nice family, was expecting many of their hire cruiser customers to return this morning on the first of three turn-round days. We were pledged to leave by 9am and were ready to go but we then ran into trouble over refilling our water tanks.

Firstly, it appeared that the only water pipes were at the far end of the Marina, close to the entrance, and then when we got there, we found that the most convenient of them had stopped functioning and was accepting our coins without dispensing any water. We eventually moved to use another, but it was taking ages, probably because other hire boats in the marina were being refilled from the same supply. Ikon got filled but I gave up waiting and so we both cruised off on our days’ voyage.

It had been the preference of Ikon and their crew not to stay at Sneek tonight, as they had not enjoyed their previous visit, and so I had arranged for us to cruise to the small but attractive venue of IJLst. Sneek was still on our route anyway and we were crossing the Sneekermeer towards it. I was concerned that we might not find suitable moorings in IJLst and that their marina might be busy as a hire craft depot at the weekend and would not have capacity for us until later.

With this in mind, we delayed our arrival by making a daytime visit to Sneek, firstly to visit a good riverside chandlery, where I did manage to fill up with water, from a fast tap at no charge. Then we cruised on into the centre of Sneek, moored up, and spent 2 to 3 hours walking around the centre, enjoying an excellent chandlery, some coffee and (for Kathleen and I) a lunch-time meal before shopping and then making our way back to our boats.

We wondered about staying but Kathleen persuaded us  that we still carry on cruising to  IJlst after all, as I had planned, and this decision was vindicated when we found two nice moorings in the town centre and enjoyed the relaxed and provisional atmosphere of this small but endearing town. Kathleen and I walked to the local supermarket, to post her card, and to buy some kibling from the very popular and busy fish and chip van outside a very capacious supermarket, which was delicious.

We also walked over to ‘The Rat’ windmill, which is a working timber mill, but found it closing when we arrived at 5pm, but were pleased to hear that it will be opening again the next day at 9am, when we would visit it and the nearby museum. Upon returning to our boat, we were invited onto Ikon for some drinks and a chat and then the lady attendant visited our boat to collect our money and assured us that despite the apparent ‘18 hour’ morning sign, that was worrying us, we will be welcome to stay for another day should we wish to do so and we probably will. The sign was meant to mean that it was free until 18.00 and then chargeable after that!