Monday 15th July Ref: 2019/22
We left Sixhaven around noon, after doing some chores and preparations this morning and then cruised steadily along a Noordzeekanaal busy with ferries, barges, leisure craft and the odd ocean-going liner! Ikon had got out of the marina first and then led the way into Zijkanaal G, where they moored up at The Voorzaan bunker boat and I came alongside. We both topped up with diesel, Lady Martina having used 388 litres, at a cost of €1.15c per litre and then they stayed in Zaandam and I cruised along to Zijkanaal A and moored at Beverwijk. We both ate at the fish kiosk and then Kathleen went food shopping as I wrote up this log, prepared Lady Martina for her sea passage tomorrow and kept a close eye on the weather.
After a slow start to the day, Kathleen and I layed in until after 9:30am, indeed until Chris of Ikon came by to discuss our future plans. He revealed to Kathleen that he had booked both boats into Zandaam for this evening but she queried this as we wanted to move to Beverdijk ready for our sea trip tomorrow from Ijmuiden to Lowestoft.
We therefore discussed our options and understood that, following our joint cruise today to Zijkanaal G and the fuel berth, Lady Martina would cruise on to Beverdijk and Icon would stay in Zanndam. In all probability, they will not make the North Sea passage until Wednesday the 16th with us going a day earlier.
I was closely monitoring the weather today and it would be much the same tomorrow and Wednesday. After making that passage to Lowestoft, it was our intention to cruise on through Great Yarmouth and home the following day. I always believe it’s best to take the first possible window of good weather as forecasts can always change.
This morning I checked Lady Martina’s engines, the oil and water levels, and then disassembled the inlet filters and made sure there was no level of weed which would interfere with our passage. During the day, I made everything ready, gathering together the necessary charts, setting up the boat computer and bridge ready for tomorrow.
It was just after midday when we made a start to our cruise along the North Sea Canal and a very warm and busy waterway it was too with ferries, barges, leisure craft and the occasional ocean-going cruise liner! By arrangement, Ikon arrived first at the Voorzaan fuel terminal and moored up port-side-to so that we could more alongside in the same sense with both of our fuel filling inlets within reach. Chris negotiated a €1.15 price per litre, as before, and Lady Martina took 388 L at the cost of €446.20; which was just about the amount I had calculated based upon our theoretical consumption.
After we parted company, it took us an hour or so to cruise on to Beverwijk, where we found enough space to moor for the evening as the weather calmed down ready for tomorrow. For the first time, I noticed that Beverwijk has now joined the 50-strong network of locations for water and electricity supply, both activated by a an Internet connection using the app aaUIt.net on address www.aanuit.net which is another improvement for these moorings, which has also enjoyed some planting of espalier screening trees.
Kathleen and I had a lunch at the fish kiosk; a paling broodje (small smoked eel sandwich) for me and some scampi for Kathleen. Later on, we had a mackerel salad for an early dinner and some apple crumble and ice cream after. By dusk, we had removed the ‘porch’ canopy and irons and safely stored them. We had also disassembled the folding chairs and stored them too. Next came the bicycles to be folded and stored away in their bags so we were all clear for tomorrow’s very early start.
