Monday 5 June
Tuesday 6 June
Wednesday 7 June
Thursday 8 June
Friday 9 June
Saturday 10 June
Sunday 11 June
Zandmeer to Greate Griene (Sneekermeer)
Sneekermeer to Wijde of Peanster Ee (Near Grou)
Wijde of Peanster to Sneek
Sneek to Sneekermeer
Sneekermeer to Brande Meer Nature Reserve
Brande Meer Nature Reserve to Steenwijk
Steenwijk to Kleine Beulaker Wijde (near Blokzijl)
returns to top of this page
The weather reverted to cloudy and windy again today - the forecast said force 5 to 6 on the Ijsselmeer, though we were inland a few miles. We stayed put in the morning and relaxed, watching the Whitsun holiday traffic build up as the day progressed (The Dutch holiday was a week later than in the UK).
When we set off at 14:00 the through routes were very crowded with boat traffic in both directions, and the expanses of lake were packed with sailing boats and motor cruisers. Through each lake there is a buoyed fairway where normal two way traffic rules are observed, though we saw four boats abreast on numerous occasions. Outside the fairway it seemed like a complete free for all, and with the collision avoidance regs favouring all those sailboats we stayed in the fairway, where the rules of engagement seemed to offer more favourable odds!
When we got to our first bridge of the day, the Jelteslootbrug, there was a huge traffic jam of boats both sides waiting to pass under. Most were sailboats. Though we could have passed under with our mast folded down it would have been impossible to find a way through the crowd to the bridge. Anyway, there was a red over green indicating that the bridge was about to open, no doubt a great relief to those skippers who had been waiting any length of time as the cross wind here was fearsome. Some of the sailing boats were broadside across the canal pointing into the wind, to hold position. We joined the slow parade through the bridge. Once or twice the bridge keeper flashed a red light seemingly to jolly things along a bit when stragglers had opened up too much of a gap! It certainly worked!
In the meantime the queue on the road built up as far as the eye could see in both directions, with literally hundreds of cycles on one side all going the same way on a rally of some kind (hopefully not a race!)
We then wended our way up the Prinses Margriet Kanaal to the Sneekermeer and then worked our way between some islands to find our mooring on one of its "arms" - the Goingarijpster-poelen. Because of the wind we have deployed five separate mooring lines to attach ourselves to the wooden staging. There are countless wooden jetties, stagings and mooring posts to choose from, and of course no tides to worry about . As I write this, the holiday crowds have all gone and peace is once again restored to this idyllic location. Just the birds and the lapping of water.
A little "light traffic" on the Jeltesloot
Waiting for the Jelteslootbrug......
....and the corresponding bike/car queue
Blue skies, fluffy white clouds, warmth - wonderful!! Still an icy North wind but not blowing so strongly now. It has been a really lovely day and we realise what we have been missing. Mike even had his shorts on for a few hours!
We dawdled around the group of lakes where we had moored over night to and then headed in a very leisurely fashion towards Akkrum. Our route took us through some pretty rural scenery via Terkaplester-poelen, Meinesloot, and then the wiggly canal round Akkrum to the municipal mooring where we stopped. There were two bridges where bruggeld was required and then a railway bridge. We have noticed that the bruggeld tends to be a figure that is just above a round number in terms of coinage - yesterday it was €0.60, today it was €1.10. Change is never given. The tariff chosen cunningly maximises the opportunity for extra revenue from boats without the exact money, (or is it bridge keeper's pocket money?).
We shopped for our supper in Akkrum, and happened to find a little market where we were able to get fresh veg and fruit. There was also a good supermarket. After lunch we nipped through the railway bridge at one of its regular openings and headed up the canal to some more interlinked lakes near Grou. We are moored on the Wijde of Peanster Ee. Again there was a huge choice of mooring stages, though at the moment everyone is looking for a spot on the West or North banks of the lakes to avoid the wind and the more choppy water. It is quite an art finding a good spot; not enough shelter and the icy wind makes it too cold to sit outside for very long. No wind at all and there are swarms of tiny midges and flies. You need just enough of a breeze to keep the midges away, which we have succeeded in achieving.
Starry Night is very much at home here. Almost all motor cruisers are steel, built along traditional lines. There is a huge variety of sizes and styles, and numerous small boat yards making just a few boats each year. We have seen hardly any fibreglass cruisers. Some of the larger sailing boats, and especially motor-sailors are also steel, as well as aluminium. Fibreglass does seem to be the reserve of sailing boats, of which there are thousands! We have also noticed that the Dutch keep their boats in very good condition and we are impressed by how well turned out they always seem.
We spent the afternoon lolling on the back of the boat and took a ride up some side channels in the dinghy. Mike has started giving Starry Night her mid voyage polish ready for Pat's inspection on Saturday!
Waiting for the railway bridge at Akkrum
Windmill on Jansloot
Rural Friesland
Another glorious day greeted us when we woke up. We left our mooring at around 10:00 and gently wafted our way to Grou via the Pikmeer. We stopped off in the pretty little village of Grou to fill up with water and Maureen had a mooch about while Mike tended ship. The idea had been to wend our way round Grou on a small windy canal to avoid the waterways equivalent of a motorway called the Prinses Margriet Kanaal. Our plans were thwarted when we came upon a fixed bridge (one that doesn't open) that was too low for us. In looking at the map Mike hadn't noticed the absence of the all important "bb" in front of the marked bridge height, which signifies that it can be opened. So we turned round and did the trip to Sneek down the Prinses Margriet Kanaal.
We stopped off for lunch on an island in the Sneekermeer and watched the world go by for an hour. It was then on into Sneek (pronounced "Snake") via the Houkesloot.
We needed to pump-out the holding tank and had looked in the Wateralmanak to see which marinas in Sneek had facilities. There was one listed which was also shown on the map, and when we eventually found it , yup, the machine was broken! So we carried on into town and just after we had passed all the boat yards, we came across a municipal pump-out - free, and in full working order. And since we have been here we have discovered another one in the Waterpoort.
Sneek itself is quite a large traditional Dutch town, and a local centre of commerce. It is also a major boating centre and there are a large number of marinas and shipyards along the waterway as you come in. In town we have seen four very comprehensive watersportwinkels as well as a specialist shop for marine paint. In one of these shops we were able to find a stay for the companionway hatch, to replace the one which broke three years ago. The replacement was almost an exact replica of the original, and fitted exactly, screw hole centres and all. Well, Starry Night is a Dutch boat!
Approaching Grou
The Waterpoort at Sneek
We spent the morning in Sneek attending to various chores as well as doing a bit of shopping. More polish was applied. We also discovered a wonderful product for cleaning the non-slip deck paint. It actually does what it say on the bottle! It's the stuff's made by Starbrite - probably been around for ages but we've only just noticed it.
After lunch we left Sneek and pottered slowly over to the Sneekermeer and found a nice quiet mooring with a good vantage over the wetlands for a bit of birdwatching. There was a nice cooling breeze here (Funny how one's perspective on wind can change in just a few days!)
It was quiet until the radio in another boat some way distant impinged on our hearing - then it was hard to tune it out. Next, a hire boat pitched up nearby. With much use of bow thruster, stern thruster and engines, they eventually got alongside. Their teenage kids thrashed around in the water for an hour, with much shouting. The sounds of a computer game could be heard coming from inside. They then left, as did the radio lovers, leaving us in splendid peace and tranquility, and with a lovely mild evening too.
The griddle came out for only the second time on this trip, the first time was at Hampton Court! And we ate outside too. Things are looking up. Next thing you know, we will be complaining of the heat!
By the Sneekermeer - haven for bird life
The sausages are smaller than they look - honest!
We left our mooring on the Sneekermeer around 10:00 and it was already quite warm. The lake was like a mill pond and the few boats that were out and about were nicely reflected in the water. This marked the beginning of our return voyage as we will no longer be dawdling round the Friesland lakes but will be making a more direct line towards Dordrecht and the way home.
Our route took us along the Noorder Ouderweg and through the Langweerder Wielen lake to the Prinses Margriet Kanaal. We headed down the PMK to the turn for Sloten. Unfortunately the little town of Sloten only has a very small town quay, and when we arrived at 12:30 it was already full. There were plenty of moorings free just a bit out of town so we picked one of these to stop at for lunch.
We then retraced our steps and crossed over the PMK and headed along the South buoyed channel of the Tjeukemeer lake. The A6 motorway is built over the Western edge of the lake which rather spoils things, but it is a big lake. There is an island in the middle of the lake with lots of moorings but it was already filling up and looked rather noisy for all sort of reasons!
So we pressed on through the little town of Echtenerbrug, which has lots of boating establishments as well as a big hire fleet of steel motor cruisers. They looked very well turned out indeed and the service crews were busy polishing and cleaning. But not a place you would want to spend the night. About two miles from Echtenerbrug there is a staggered cross roads in the canal system. Our objective tomorrow (Steenwijk) was effectively straight on, but we decided to detour off to the left to look at some moorings shown on the map next to a nature reserve. We were not disappointed. The mooring (complete with official sign) was exactly where it was shown on the map, and it was empty, and it was just the right size for Starry Night and not much bigger (no room for annoying neighbours) and we can look over the nature reserve.
We have already seen a stork flying around. There are various birds of prey making sorties over the wet lands; they obviously don't to feel the need to look exactly like any of the birds in the RSPB's Birds of Britain and Europe. We think that they are some type of harrier, possibly male and female hen harriers, but the other possibility is that we have discovered a new species!
Since Makkum we have only seen one other British flagged vessel and that was in Sneek. There are, however, masses of German flagged vessels: the owner of a German boat we moored next to in Hindeloopen told us that he keeps it at Lemmer and lives in Hambourg which is a 250km drive. And I thought 75 minutes from home to Abingdon could be improved on!
Sloten town quay (room for 5 boats!)
A nest of steel hire boats
View from our mooring
Today we left our mooring just after 09:00 as we wanted to be in Steenwijk by early afternoon to do a major stocking up on provisions. We also needed time to configure Starry Night into visitor mode, as we tend to sprawl into the visitor accommodation when there are just the two of us. This evening we will be meeting up with our friends Pat and John who will be joining us for a few days on the way to Zwolle.
Our route took us along some lovely rural canals, the Jonkers of Helomavaartr, Linde, Ossenzijleer-sloot, and Kanaal Steenwijk-Ossenzijl. Along the latter there are four automatic lift bridges which miraculously open and close for you without any intervention. There is no bridge keeper, no visible CCTV, but what may be some PIRs though not obviously so. We couldn't figure out how they knew we were there and how they avoided squishing any boats when they closed the bridge.
We arrived in Steenwijk just after 14:00. We were rather disappointed by the municipal harbour which is a big building site at the moment. It will be very nice when the redevelopment is finished, which includes a new shower and toilet block. The harbour is very convenient for two big supermarkets. We were able to wheel our trolley to the side of the boat for loading on supplies of beer and other essentials. The centre of town is fully pedestrianised and there was a modest market where we bought some olives and cheese.
Pat and John arrived by train from Schiphol airport just after 19:00 and we have been eating, drinking and chatting since.
Last night's mooring
Passing through Ossenzijl
Another glorious day greeted us. By the time we were ready to roll it was already quite warm. We topped up the water tanks on the way out of the Marina for the grand sum of €0.50. The outskirts of Steenwijk are rather industrial even if on a small town scale, but once we had gone no more than a mile we were into rural Friesland. We have got used to the flatness stretching away into the distance and it seems quite normal now. We do like it, because the level of the land is just above water level and so you have a really good view from the boat.
At the canal "cross roads" just outside Steenwijk we took the Steenwijker diep to Giethoornse, which ranks a mention in the Rough Guide. Giethoornse was a very pretty little enclave at another canal junction - just a few houses. It makes you wonder how they decide what to put in the guide.
We headed on to the Giethoornse Meer and took the turn to Blokzijl. We arrived just as the lock closed for lunch and though we hadn't intended to pass through, we were nevertheless lucky to find a mooring within walking distance of the village. Most of the moorings are in a very pretty harbour on the other (South) side of the lock. Here we were serenaded to the tune of Starry, Starry, Night by a crew member of another boat waiting for the lock, who seemed to know most of the lyrics as well as the tune. The queue for the lock built up quickly while we wandered round the village and had lunch.
Blokzijl is very pretty with a number of restaurants, an old church, and some very pleasant narrow streets with typical Dutch houses of the 17th century. The harbour itself is also very charming and quite large with lots of moorings for visiting boats.
We turned round and headed for Beulaker Wijde, and had found our mooring by 15:00. The gazebo was erected for the first time this year, to shelter us from what was becoming a very hot sun. Luckily we remembered how to put it up and didn't drop any of the bits in the water. It's definitely much easier to put up with four people compared to two!
By 18:00 almost everyone else had gone home, apart from one other boat near us, a 50 year old life boat we discovered from talking to its mandolin playing owner. He had kindly moved his boat as far away from us as possible before playing his mandolin, and then came over to talk to us to make sure we didn't mind. He was a super guy and his music wasn't bad either.
Blokzijl draw bridge
Weekend bedlam at Blokzijl lock
Our mooring for tonight
Copyright © 2006-2009 Mike Hawkridge