Wednesday 10 December 2008

Ghastly mishap in Ghent

As you know we are here in Ghent for the winter and part of the winter ‘programme’ includes fitting a new generator brought over especially in the car from the UK.

It’s lovely, expensive, neat with its own sound proof pod and Alex has spent three days constructing the mounting plinth (3’ x 2’ in iron – good and solid), arranging the new water cooling supply and the exhaust water separator, which involved manufacturing from steel pipe of different diameters what he hopes will act as a second silencer and water separator combined.

And all this has been done, and the generator, stripped of its sound proof pod, has been lowered by chain hoist into the engine room and partially reassembled onto its plinth. But – the exhaust separator was painted with a two-pack epoxy resin to stop up any pinprick holes in the welding. (you can get them with a stick weld and a not professional welder) and because it’s so cold it’s not going off (hardening).

So we tried the fan heater to provide some heat into the engine room but the supply tripped (well, that’s what we thought at the time) so we discussed over supper what might be the best answer to provide a constant low level of heat for a decent period of time.

Well, in the old days, they used to put a candle under the lavatory cistern to stop the pipes freezing. So that’s what we decided to do – under the water separator.

One and a half hours later when Louise went to the bathroom – next to the engine room – she could smell smoke. Alex dashed into the engine room and through the thick pall of smoke to the new generator and there it wasn’t or at least some of it wasn’t, any longer! Burnt to a crisp.

Alex put his head in his hands and howled. Louise said all the usual things – “At least we are both OK.” “The boat is OK.” “It’s only money!” “It could have been a lot worse.” etc.etc

All that work, all that money and now more work, more money and no guarantee at the end. Oh God, its too awful to contemplate. The candle had managed to fall over and roll under the engine, still alight, set fire to the pod, the plastic intake and much of the wiring loom, all at the generator end.

But the clear-up has started and Alex, ever positive, has turned his attention to the practical aspects of the clear-up. We have spent the last two long days washing down the engine room and one day cleaning the rooms next to it – bathroom into bedroom into kitchen. Is it all smoke damage or is some of it age-old dust? Smoke damage all of it of course! But the acrid smell is still there!

The generator is a sad sight. One end has really suffered – the alternator. The motor itself seems OK but time will tell. When Alex gets it apart we will see how very bad it is. But whatever, it’s not good and whatever, it’s going to be expensive. It’s so new, it’s not even been added to the insurance, so no respite there, and besides we all know that the no-claims bonus would be removed and the premium would go up, etc. etc. …

We have started a list of all the bits we need and have made first contact with the supplier. Hopefully when we get back to the UK for Christmas we will be able to pick up all the new parts and bring them back when we return to Ghent in January. Then maybe we can get this baby up and running.

We know that members of the boating community and many others will be saying, ‘Naked flames in the engine room – he must be mad’. But in our defence, sometimes a problem causes one to lose sight of the bigger picture and then one is tempted to make mistakes, as happened here. We would like to think that there are few people out there who haven’t at some time made an ill-advised decision!

Incidentally, the two-pack paint had gone off (hardened) nicely! Perhaps that was due to the fire not the candle!!

Meanwhile, life goes on and we made a trip to Ternuizen the other day. Its only 20k from Gent and it’s in Holland! which means we can buy cheap fresh milk and get a good selection of Chilean and Australian wine! The Belgians tend to follow the French mould where wine is concerned. (New World wines get very little shelf space.)

So we came back with among other things 3 litres of milk for the freezer, and 3 dozen bottles of wine. We also had lunch in a superior café at the northern tip of the town overlooking the Westerschelde where we watched a continuous stream of barges and ocean going ships going to and fro about their business. Another trip there before long, we think.

We are also getting to know Ghent pretty well. Louise has made several excursions around the inner city, some on her bike and some on shank’s pony and we both have made a couple of trips by car, one to the Belgian equivalent of B & Q for some more candles!

Bit short of pics for this one: a couple more from Gent and the archive.


Saturday 6 December 2008

Ghent and UK

We set off for England about 3½ weeks ago by train but first we sussed out the station in Ghent, getting there by tram, bought all our tram and train tickets, and timed the whole operation so we knew ‘worst case scenario’ it would take about 40 minutes!

On the day, we were up in good time, allowing an hour to get to the station which in the event actually took 20 minutes! So we sat around and waited and 10 minutes before the train was due, went to the platform, where we waited and waited until well after the train should have arrived. Suddenly an unintelligible announcement and a hurried look at the monitor, had everyone on our platform (including us) rushing to another, different platform where in 2 minutes our train arrived – by then 20 minutes late.

We were arriving at Lille Flandres station and our connection with Eurostar was at Lille Europe station - a full 400 metres away and we had only had a 40 minute changeover to start with. Now we were rather running out of time, having only 20 minutes to transfer, collect our pre-paid Eurostar tickets and get on the train!

We ran out of Lille Flandres and tried to follow the totally inadequate signage to Lille Europe station. Once there we hurriedly enquired at the Information Desk where we could pick up our pre-booked tickets, and the customer adviser, realising how late we were, directed us to the Eurostar barrier instead, where a rather brisk lady attendant made a hurried phone call and produced our boarding passes – along with a little homily about being earlier next time!

Through security and passport control, we managed to find our seats and sit down almost as the train moved off. But for all that, 1½ hours later we were in London. Amazing!

Over the next three weeks we darted all over the UK, staying in six different places with family and friends and picking up the items on our list of things to bring back to Ghent, the most important (and expensive) of those being a 4Kw, water cooled, quiet-running, diesel powered, compact generator and returned to Ghent by car and ferry.

Now Alex has the unenviable task of constructing a suitable place to mount the generator, feed it with water and exhaust it, all in an engine room which, at this time of year, is a pretty chilly environment.

But work has started.

We think we have found somewhere to moor the car for free, about 1½ k from the centre of town but we are still not 100% sure, so we are checking each day to ensure no ticket! When we need to use it we cycle to the car park, lock the bikes up, use the car, park up again and return on the bikes to Riccall. So far ‘they’ have only nicked one bicycle bell, but time will tell!

The beauty of having the car is that we can drive to Aldi (!) or wherever and buy as much as you like, as there’s much more room in a car boot than in bicycle panniers, and then drop it all off at Riccall. But Oh! we hate having a car here!! It’s far too ordinary and the hassle and responsibility of having it over here adds an extra element which sort of fixes you to a place. We had planned to do one more return trip by car but we’re not so sure now!

But we also have to consider the relative costs of travel – Jet2 with minimal luggage or ferry with car and as much stuff as we like? Booked in advance, air costs about €150 return for both of us, the ferry only £56 and we need about £25 worth of fuel each way from Alex’s sister Julia’s place in Bedford, which is a good stop-over point on the way to and from. As this time we had a ‘5p off a litre’ voucher from Tesco (if you spend £50 in one shop – no problem spending that on wine!) we filled up at Tesco in Milton Keynes. We later looked up ‘best price diesel’ on the internet and it said it was currently costing 75p in France and Belgium but we never saw it for less than €1.05 – about the same as in GB with the present appalling exchange rate.

Speaking of having the car here, it’s not the car itself we don’t like, of course. It’s an N reg Citroen ZX turbo diesel and it’s now using a bit of water (always a bad sign) and the transmission is growling a bit, but Alex is determined to get it to the ¼ million mile mark – only another 5K to go! He thinks he’ll have to wear black mourning clothes for a year when it finally goes to the scrap yard – he loves it so much!

Ghent is still as alluring as ever and we are hoping to use the ice rink they are setting up here. Alex is threatening to bring his ancient skates over from UK! We are looking forward to the Christmas markets and the party atmosphere that we have been promised pervades the whole of Ghent towards Christmas but we are on our travels home again to UK in a couple of weeks so we’ll see many of you then.


Sunday 2 November 2008

Lier to Ghent

We visited the town of Lier on a Saturday which is market day in the Grote Markt, and whilst Lier is not really a mini Bruges as it was said to be, it is a very pleasant place. We did the rounds of the market stalls, and even bought a couple of things – yes, spent money, amazing!! At 12.00 it all started to pack up and by 1.30 we could see the Grote Markt in all its glory.

We had lunch in a pavement café then went to look round the town. First on the list was Mr Zimmer’s amazing timepieces. In the museum was a huge astronomical clock, which he constructed for the Brussels World Exhibition in 1935. The other multi faced clock was set in a tower which was rebuilt from the original Corneliustoren (part of the 13th century city wall) especially for the purpose of housing it. The tower has been renamed the Zimmertoren in his honour. (We did just wonder, if in old age, he turned his hand to the invention of a walking frame?!)

Louis Zimmer was born in 1888 and trained and excelled as a clock maker, but he also had a passion for astronomy. He married these two skills by manufacturing clocks which not only portrayed the time but also gave information about many aspects of the astronomical universe.

Thus the world exhibition clock had no fewer than 93 dials, only some of which represented the 24-hour clock, time in different parts of the world etc. (even the 10 hour to the day, 100 minutes to the hour suggestion of France – firmly rejected by the people). All the others represented the movements of the planets, the solar system, the moon’s phases etc. In the case of some of the clocks, the hands would turn in a matter of months or years (e.g. 19 years for one of the moon’s phases) and in one case 25,800 years. (We did feel that the clock itself might have disintegrated by that time!) At the bottom are three scenes depicting with automatons how heavy you would be on each of the planets, and how high you could jump on each, with the same weight/force, and the 3rd depicting the four ages of man as they toll the quarters. All this happens every hour for about 5 minutes. However, the town of Lier spawned, housed, supported, revered and buried this man. And we thought he was pretty exceptional too!

We also had a look round the Beginhof (a whole area of town once used to house lay nuns) now used to house ne’er do wells, judging by the look of the people coming in and out of the houses and the area had not been turned into a set piece like the Beginhof in Amsterdam.

We finished with a guided tour of the huge Sint Gummarus Kerk for a mere €1.50 each (great these enthusiastic volunteer guides) and a bike ride in lovely weather round the footpath which follows the line of the old city walls – alongside the encirling river Great Nete.

Sunday morning was dark when we got up. We had to be at the lock at 7 am sharp to catch the ebb at just the right moment to join the Zeescheldte when the incoming tide would take us up to Ghent.

We both woke at about 2 o’clock, and tense and worried about the day ahead didn’t sleep much again until it was time to get up at 6 am. We had breakfast, then as Alex was looking at the calendar to see if the height of the tides was mentioned as well as the times, he suddenly noticed that sunrise and sunset times were included and that sunrise on that very day seemed to be earlier than on the day before. Strange! Then it dawned (sorry) on him – end of summertime and change of clocks! We were up an hour earlier than we needed to have been.

Well thank goodness for that! Another hour for some actual daylight to become apparent. We get up so much later than that normally, that we hadn’t noticed how dark the early mornings had become. There is no way we could have set off onto a completely unknown tidal river in the pitch dark. But at 7 we were off through the lock (primed and waiting with a green light for us) and down the Nete we went. The dreaded 80 m long tunnel under the autobaan and the ‘fast swirling currents’ of which we had been warned, was a pussycat compared to the Ouse at Selby! Rivers always look worse near low tide as this was, but there seemed to be an air of dereliction about the whole river – almost eerie. We both felt quite uncomfortable. We hit flood (the incoming tide) just one kilometre before the confluence with the Zeescheldte so changed up a gear and ploughed it to the meeting point. Thereafter we again had the tide with us, but now rising, and we motored on at 13 kph with the revs down to 1200 rpm. During the course of the next 4 hours we were soon overtaken by a couple of barges and at least 8 or more came in the opposite direction. This is Sunday; we thought we would be the only ones on the river! Anyway, Alex realised that if we kept going at this furious pace we would overtake the flood tide, so we backed off and cruised on up at 10 kph or so.

When at last we reached the Merelbeke Lock, there waiting for us in the lock were the two barges which had overtaken us 2½ hours before! We felt a bit guilty that they had both had to wait for the tortoise to arrive before being locked through, but we didn’t know they would have had to wait. We were just not in any hurry so were conserving fuel.

Louise had hoped to moor topside of the lock for the night (it had been a long day) but it was chock-a-block with moored barges, some two deep, as is the custom, so we just motored on for the extra hour into Ghent itself and our winter moorings, arriving 12 hours after we got up – no stops whatever – pretty whacked.

So a quiet few days here and then back and forth to the UK.



Monday 27 October 2008

Turnhout to Lier

Turnhout to Lier

We left friends Anja and Jeroen late in the morning after final coffee, tea, chat, photos, presents etc and regretful farewells, and headed for Turnhout where we stopped for lunch.

The next few bridge keepers either saw us coming or were listening on the VHF (although they made no reply to our request for bridge passage). Then suddenly, about 2 kms before the first of the locks the hitherto silent radio crackled into life, “Blah, blah, blah, Riccall, blah, blah, blah.” “Oh help, it sounds like somebody is calling US.” “Riccall receiving, over”. “I am sorry, you can’t get through the lock tonight, there is a problem. You can moor outside the shop and the lock will be OK at 8am tomorrow.” “That’s fine, but it will be a bit later than 8 o’clock for us! We are not early risers!” “OK, I will look out for you in the morning.”

So we are moored 100m from where elements of the British 146th brigade, part of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division managed to bridge the canal and drive the Germans back, despite fierce counter attack, and began the liberation of the north Belgian people, in the village of Rijkvorsel.

We have also been able to stock up at the GB store (Carrrefour) where we are moored. Regretfully, Alex is on the wagon at the moment as the only antibiotic left in the medicine chest to counter an abscess in his gum is Metronidazole (strictly no alcohol with this one). This means we can’t savour the delights of the bar 20m away!

The next day saw us merrily on our unhurried way, and when we were waiting for a bridge at about 12.15 a man suddenly appeared saying he was from the Jachthaven opposite, had a tjalk for sale and was sure we must know lots of people in the UK who might like to buy it! Why not come, have a drink and look at it. So we moored up on his moorings as suggested, had a look/tea, took on some much needed water and promised to advertise his very nice tjalk:- 23m long, 4.5m wide, well fitted out, 500 hours on a new engine. His price is €155,000 (valued at between €185K and €200K and with commercial certification to 2018, so it can run on red diesel.

When Frank came to look at Riccall, he actually said “I like yours better than mine”!! and he obviously did. We thought that was so nice. Alex tactfully said, “Not nicer, just different”. Just before we parted Frank thrust an envelope into Alex’s hand. He looked in it and saw that it contained photocopied hand-written charts. We thanked him and thought no more about them till much later when Louise remembered them and we discovered that they filled in all the information missing from our other charts – most useful.

We carried on after lunch and at 3.30 we came to a lock which obviously had problems. This was also the first lock we had seen in Belgium or Holland that was still hand operated. The lady lockkeeper couldn’t get one of the paddles in the bottom gate to shut. We watched for a while then moored up and Alex went to help. But before he could explain how to take the pressure off the paddle by emptying the lock again, one of the old stalwarts appeared and did it for her.

By this time it was 4.15pm and suddenly a new ‘Hitler’ appeared, frenetically conversing with the other two lockkeepers and then told us in no uncertain terms that this was our last lock and we would have to moor up before the next one. Alex offered, “I thought you stayed operational till 5pm”. But Adolf was adamant. We don’t care, it’s a nice mooring anyway, and we had a long chat with several boaters from the group of barges just up the canal.

The following morning, Mein Furher, who penned us through the first lock, could not have been nicer (!) and we passed from lock to lock and bridge to lift bridge with little need for speech, as the lockkeepers knew we were on our way, and we noticed that the locks are slowly being mechanised on this stretch.

That evening we moored in a Jachthaven in Schoten – at €18 the night – but with free electricity, water and wi-fi signal, shops within 100m but, Oh! the cost of fresh milk in Belgium is 3 times that of Holland. (Louise says “I said we should have frozen more, now didn’t I?!”)

After a late start we finally got through the last two locks on the Dessel-Turnhout-Schoten Kanaal and out onto the big boys’ Albert Kanaal.

The first lock on this large waterway, the Koning Albert II Sluis was a triple, and after a half hour wait, being buffeted against the quay, while we hurriedly ate a buffet lunch, we were allowed into the biggest chamber of the three with another huge barge – Somtrams 2.

It was a 5.7 metre rise, but very gentle, and soon we were out onto the wide canal above following Somtrams 2 past other moored craft, blue-flagging the two barges coming the other way as they made to enter the lock. Well!!! Somtrams 2 had a metre-square blue sign with scintillating light in the centre as per the European regulations: we just stuck our blue-cloth-covered picture frame in the window of our wheelhouse!!

Soon we reached Viersel Sluis which leads off the Albert Kanaal onto the Nete Kanaal. The lockkeeper said we would have to wait outside for half an hour while his lock filled as it was set for coming the other way. Half an hour? What was he doing, filling it with a bucket? Anyway, he was quite right, it did take half an hour while we twiddled about outside, then of course once in, it took half an hour to drop us down 5 metres.

Worth it though as the Nete Kanaal is lovely – the best parts of the River Trent without the currents, and a few more places to moor. Eventually, we wound up at Lier Jachthaven – €13 per night, with the advice that we must visit the town – a small version of Bruges apparently. That means at least two nights, possibly three, depending on whether the locks ahead are observing Sunday opening times or not, and the time of the tides. The town had better be worth it!


Thursday 23 October 2008

Weert to Turnhout

We are now in Belgium having crossed the border (unmarked, on the canal at least) and bought our 7-month winter licence (E50). But just before we crossed, there was another car/boat fuel station. This time white diesel was E1.17/litre and red was E0.90/litre – the best yet, and of course free water! So both fuel tanks and the water tank are full and we have moored up above Lock 18 within a couple of kilometres of the pleasant little town of Bocholt.

At breakfast we watched as a crane unloaded from a workboat, which was sitting in the lock behind us, all the paraphernalia required to replace the lower lock gates – the new gates, of course, workmen’s cabin, generator, welding equipment, gas bottles etc. It seems we had just managed to get through this lock before a stoppage. On the roads you get contra-flows, diversions and perhaps a few hours delay. On the canals you get no-flows, no alternative route, and days or even weeks of delay so we felt lucky.

Our luck didn’t hold though. In the morning we started the engine at about 10.30 to move on, but when Alex went into the engine room to do his usual checks, there was a considerable amount of water in the engine bilge area. There shouldn’t be!

Having sucked it all out (about 4 gallons) with the aqua vac, we tried to see where it had come from: maybe the stern gland area – if the retaining baffle was leaking, or maybe where the cooling pipes go through the hull? It is always difficult to pinpoint these things, especially as the retained water first seeps into everything and then slowly seeps out again giving false sources.

The quick setting cement we always carry didn’t set at all round the pipes when we applied it (had it too long maybe), so we set off in search of a builders’ merchants. After asking twice and cycling 4 kms we did actually find one which had the essential ‘snel cement’ – sets in 2 minutes!

Although we were in a hurry to get back there was still time to pop into the next door Lidl for more gin. They sell spirits in supermarkets in Belgium whereas in Holland you have to get it from an off licence, though this is usually thoughtfully situated next door to the supermarket!

When we got back to Riccall we were relieved to find there was no extra water in the bilge anywhere but we put the new cement in round the pipes anyway.

We are currently assessing the situation, but it is uncomfortable wondering where we may have a leak, and if it may mean a dry-docking, investigation and perhaps welding. Ughhh.

In the morning all seemed dry so we set off onto the Bocholt-Herentals Canal. This had long boring straights but that tedium was offset by the glorious autumnal colours of the trees, and the regular appearance of WW II pill-boxes protecting the canal against Nazi invasion!

We scraped along the bottom at one point trying to get over far enough for a laden barge coming the other way (he didn’t even acknowledge us) then down through three locks to our night’s mooring.

At the first of these locks the friendly keeper let us in, then set the lock operation for ‘auto’ and went back to his tidying at the parallel redundant lock. The lock emptied but the gates didn’t open, so we waited and waited and Alex tooted the horn and tried the VHF channel all to no avail. Eventually, we sidled Riccall up to one of the lock ladders and Alex climbed up 4½ metres to find the keeper. ‘Oh, I thought I had set it on fully automatic – sorry – I will open the gates’!

The next two locks went without incident and just after the last one we moored up at the side of the now very wide canal on good bollards, only a bit too far apart.

We reckoned that being close to the lock the big boys would be going fairly slowly so not too disturbing. Wrong! The first one came up the canal like a bat out of hell and then slowed at the last minute for the lock. His wake followed after him and slapped us about quite badly for about 10 minutes. “Save the photo frames, Louise”! To be fair though, most of the rest did show more consideration and the lock closed at 9 pm so after that all was quiet.

The next morning, we turned onto the Dessel-Turnhout-Schoten Kanaal with the aim of mooring at Turnout for the night. This canal is very narrow in European terms and when the first unladen barge loomed up, coming towards us, named ‘Robert’! we really wondered how we were going to get past (not to mention how they passed each other) but we slowed down and got right over, and he powered past with a couple of feet to spare, ignoring us totally, and we rode over his wash like being back in the North Sea!

And then there was one in front going very slowly, and two coming the other way, so we stopped at a wide section to let them sort themselves out and get past. Unfortunately, we picked up something on the prop and no matter how much forward/reverse power we applied, we just couldn’t shift it.

So we laboured up to a wider section and tried to moor, but it was too shallow. We sat on the mud mostly off line, with a couple of ropes on, and Alex climbed down the rungs at the back to see what was there. But even tied on with bits of rope he couldn’t get enough purchase to get the offending ‘something’ off the prop. A local said there was a boatyard a bit further up the canal, so we set off again.

The ‘thing’ seemed to be getting more and more tangled round the propeller until eventually we were doing only 2kph for 800 rpm (which should give us about 7 kph). Something was clearly very wrong. We then saw a pair of low open floodgates ahead, whose supporting concrete bases stuck out into the canal, leaving a gap of about 8 metres in the middle for boats to pass through. The side pieces, sticking out from the bank by 4 metres or so, gave us something to reverse Riccall up to so we could access the back end.

This we eventually achieved by tying Riccall in place on broken bits of concrete and suchlike. While Louise went off to try and get help, Alex started to attack the triffid on the prop with the boat hook. Bit by bit, strand by strand, he managed to remove a barrowload of string which had wound itself round the prop. And suddenly the prop was free! Then a quick phone call to retrieve Louise who had by this time cycled 3 kms and found the library where 3 kind ladies were beginning to look up boatyards and engineers on the internet. Once Louise was back at the boat we saw a big barge heading our way and made a quick getaway before he reached our very inadequate moorings and slammed us backwards into the concrete.

We were pretty tired by all this so decided to stop at the first place possible. This was a haven in a wide ‘bay’ which was full, but just beyond were a couple of other big boats at the canalside and a GAP big enough for us. We asked if we could moor for one night and thus we met another lovely couple, Anya and Jeroen, and their delightful daughters, Marijne and Janne. They live on their 38m x 5m spitz in the beautiful original living quarters, and are gradually turning the rest into similarly lovely accommodation.

There was no water or electricity but it was miles from anywhere and free, and Jeroen very kindly let us plug into his generator which he ran for about 2 hours a day, so that just kept our batteries up.

We shared drinks and chat and ideas for several days, and visited nearby Turnhout, before regretfully we had to move on towards our final destination – Ghent, but we have decided Brussels is out of the picture now.

The real downer in all this is that somehow we have managed to lose our taft rail ensign. We took it out at one point as Alex climbed back and forth over the back rail then we know we put it back into its holder. But when we finally got moored up it wasn’t to be seen. We have ridden right down to the flood lock gates and way beyond hoping to spot it floating in the water; but no mobile phone story this time!

Alex has created a new makeshift flagpole and we have attached our spare, faded, tattered old flag to it. Oh dear, oh dear! Not really flying the flag at all!



Saturday 18 October 2008

Oirschot to Weert

Oirschot to Weert

Before leaving Oirschot we were able to have another quick look at our emails as we still had a signal even in the wheelhouse, unlike last night, and then we motored on. We had worries about finding a decent mooring last night, but this morning just around the corner we found free moorings just 50 yards away from where we had moored last night – just hidden from view!

The day passed without incident: bridges lifted, locks operated without any communication, then we got to Lock 5 and stopped at the free moorings just above it on the port side to have lunch.

On reflection, we decided that this spot was just so nice we would moor up for the day and cycle by the pretty route into Helmond, about ¾ hour away. Well, it took a bit longer to get there than we had anticipated, with no map and the locals not speaking English (I mean, honestly, not speaking English; where do these people come from? – only joking!!) but arrive we did eventually and had the obligatory cup of tea in a café by the old central kanaal, now sadly disused, and with fountains up the middle, which is we supposed, a reasonable way to deal with a redundant canal. Then we made our way back, this time just following the canal and that was a lot quicker!

However, the moorings were about as good as it gets for rural: no roads, no nasty niffs and quite a few slow going commercials to watch. This mooring gets 9½ out of 10.

That evening things were fairly quiet until about 7 o’clock when Alex suddenly heard a lot of engine noise. On looking up there was a 60m cargo barge turning round in the 70m space in front of Riccall, which unusually had no bow thruster. Alex watched for a few minutes then went forward and gesticulated, ‘Sorry for being here and making it difficult for you’.

‘Not at all’ came the gesticulated reply, ‘You have a perfect right to be there’ and a thumbs up! Maybe he has been reading the blog as well! Interesting how much you can communicate with gesticulations!

We left hoping to get to a place called Weert where George and Suzanna had said there were the much sought-after free moorings, but when Alex started the engine he noticed the stern gland pump warning light flashing and on investigation found the level switch had failed! So by the time he had replaced it we were an hour later leaving than planned.

Quietly moving down the canal through the autumnal mist we were a little surprised to see a barge on our side of the canal. Fortunately, Louise quickly noticed that he was displaying his blue flag. This is a device which indicates to anyone around that the boat in question is going to take to the ‘wrong’ side of the canal or river for some reason. In this case, the barge ahead of us was signalling his intention of mooring up on ‘our’ side of the canal to load. We duly moved across to the ‘wrong’ side of the canal and got an enthusiastic wave from him in answer as we passed. We felt we had joined the big boys’ club!!

However, it seemed we were just never going to get to Weert before the locks all closed at 4.00 pm (it's Saturday) but never mind, we are moored just above Lock 12 and Alex is able to sit out and enjoy the sun while Louise, bless her cotton socks, does a bit of painting behind the rear gunwales. Louise says, ‘It doesn’t get done if you don’t do it’!

Alas no unlocked wi-fi!

The following morning we woke up to a thick mist. After breakfast we heard the warning siren go in the lock behind us and realised that there was a barge on the move. We fired up the engine and set off before it emerged fro, the lock. At the next lock the keeper checked our length and asked us to go right to the front as there was a commercial barge behind – a bit daunting as he was unladen and thus much higher out of the water. When we got through we pulled over and let him past hoping to follow him in the poor visibility. As it turned out he was travelling much faster than us despite the weather so we had to let him go and feel our way ion the fog.

At the ninety degree bend a few miles ahead where the canal divided; we had to rely upon GPS and Noordersoft to tell us where we had to turn and keeping close in to the bank to see where we were going. Too close for the fishermen and as it turned out too close for us as we scraped across the bottom.

When we reached the next lock and got through we decided that creeping about in the mist was no fun and probably dangerous so we would stop till it lifted.

Alex is not sure whether keeping an eye on the wi-fi signal strength on the computer caused it, but he made a monumental cock-up of mooring in full view of the lock keeper! In the end he threw off the ropes, roared backwards to try again, just missing the patrol boat by about 6 inches and then went on to do a perfect parallel park. (More lessons needed!)

The plus side to a very early stop was a good wi-fi signal. We decided to stop for the night and post a blog, and later in the unexpected sunshine we cycled to the town of Weert for tea and a beer and general chill-out. No shopping on a Sunday here.

Next day we set off in better weather but stopped again at Weert to do the shopping.







Sunday 12 October 2008

Dordrecht to Tilburg via Waspik

We left Dordrecht (having consulted Theo – long term moorer in Dordrecht and knowledgeable about all things to do with the rivers, for the optimum time viz a viz the tides) at 9.30 am. ‘Rosa Klebb’ (the nasty one) was on duty so we had to wait 10 minutes (while she stuck a spiked shoe into 007 no doubt) before she deigned to open the bridge for us. But we did manage to get a grimace of a smile out of her as we left. We missed the turn off for the scenic route up the Wantji through confusion so decided to continue and do the ‘big boys’ route on the Merewede. We had already done the other route on the way into Dordrecht months ago.

Everything passed without incident (this being a Sunday it was very quiet) until we turned east onto the Waal. Not only were there three large vessels bearing down on us but the tide had turned and it was now wind against tide. So we had waves breaking into spray over the bow and breaking all the way back to the wheelhouse. Alex loved it! Then we turned into the dreaded Biesbosch, but this route was so different from the previous one which caused us to go aground. Here there was plenty of depth and apart from almost going round the ‘wrong’ side of an island, all was well.

We stopped for lunch at a flood lock about 2 ks from our day’s destination – Waspik, the mooring of our friends George and Susanna on ‘Aeolus’ where we were going to stay for a couple of days. Over lunchtime the heavens opened again and for the rest of the day we were submerged in cloud, torrential rain and mist and we decided to stay put and go on tomorrow.

The following morning we arrived at the yacht haven of G & S, whom we had first met at Dordrecht in July, and what a lovely spot – quiet, out in the country, no major roads. Yes, big boats loading up in a canal arm not quite opposite and so no disturbance but great to watch, and the town of Waspilk only 10 minutes by bike with an Aldi and a second supermarket.

It had been admitted that it was Louise’s birthday (reluctantly!) and when we returned from our shopping trip we discovered that the entire boat had been decorated with bunting and a birthday card posted through our letterbox. How lovely.

John the Havenmeester let us moor for E10 per night with electricity at a cost and water freely available. John not only runs the harbour but also builds 15m luxury cruisers in steel, which looks as perfect as GRP (plastic). He is a perfectionist and the quality of his craftsmanship puts us all to shame. He takes about 18 months to complete each project and it is all bespoke to the customer’s requirements, providing that John agreed with it! He does it all, except the paint finish.

When we first met George and Susannah in July they invited us to dinner, where they gave us a traditional Dutch meal, so this time when we were at Waspik we decided to return the flavour! So we had a starter of Yorkshire pudding with gravy followed by shepherd’s pie with sprouts, and apple crumble and custard for pudding. (We couldn’t do roast beef and Yorkshire puddings because you can’t buy a joint of beef in Holland without ordering days in advance from a proper butcher).

We thought it was a good joke and hoped they did too! The following day they took us to s’Hertogenbosch (yes, s’Hertogenbosch!!! but the Dutch wisely refer to it as Den Boss) in their car and gave us coffee and giant chocolate profiteroles (no less than 3 inches across!) as a birthday present for Louise. We cannot remember the official name for the cakes but they were wonderful – yummy, wow, wow!

G & S went off to the exhibition they wanted to visit and we agreed to meet up after lunch. Louise and Alex went for a boat trip on the canal, which now runs under the city, literally under. When the city ran out of space for more dwellings within the city walls, they had nowhere else to build but over the existing canals. The obligatory visit to one of the most magnificent churches in Holland followed and then lunch in the main square (warm enough to be outside to watch the world go by).

We spent two nights at the moorings at Waspik, then set off for the next stop – Tilburg. We caught up with a 65m container vessel ‘The Willem Alexander’ which was great, because he was expected by the lock and bridge keepers and we went with him through the locks and lift bridges – lots of them.

However, the second lock was a bit of a surprise, because our program said it was 65m long and 8.5m wide – only just big enough for the Willem Alexander alone. However, we were assured by lock control that we could go in too! In a moment we discovered why, as the Willem A shimmied over to the second, hidden half of the lock. The gate was only 7.5m wide but the lock itself was twice as wide with the exit gate in the 2nd (hidden) half.

Tilburg was our first stopping place and George and Susannah had given us a couple of places we might moor. At the first (alongside a new business park) an officious little ‘Hitler’, the security guard, told us to move on before we had even got our ropes on! The long stop was to moor on some friends of G and S’s who would let us do so on their tjalk but they were not at home when we tried to phone them and the other suggestion turned out to be fine.

When we left Tilburg the following morning we asked the friendly Dutch boater who was moored behind us if he knew of any moorings before Eindhoven, our next destination. He suggested that at the Beatrixbrug – in the turning off the main canal towards Eindhoven – moorings might be possible. And then he announced that he had been reading our blog!! How nice, but how on earth did he know about that? (Answers in the comments section please!)

Anyway, as it happened, we found a brand new mooring site a bit before the suggested place at Oirschot and stopped there. There was a machine for buying tickets but Alex couldn’t make head nor tail of it, so that’s OK, and an added bonus – a weak wi-fi signal. Best position for that was right at the front of the boat, so an extension lead and picnic table and chairs were set up at the bow and as the evening cooled, more layers put on as we posted our blog and read our emails!! Autumn has definitely arrived and with it the lovely colouring of the trees.

Oh, and only one commercial and two tiny sport boats seen today.



Thursday 9 October 2008

Delft to Dordrecht

Delft to Dordrecht

On Thursday we had a pleasant run south from Delft to Rotterdam – after the usual lack of interest at the first bridge, waiting about, no answer on the radio, eventually ringing up on the mobile at vast expense. And then - ‘Oh I see you, I will let you through’!

(Before we left wet and windy Delft where we had again been confined to quarters for a whole day due to the appalling weather, we did discover part of the secret as to the number of bicycles here in Holland; they actually grow them in their front gardens and we present the picture to prove it!!)

On leaving Delft we were heading for a place called the Cool Haven at the meeting point between the commercial and port areas of Rotterdam, and as we came to the only bridge that we couldn’t fit under without removing the roof (no way in those downpours), we caught up with a 65-metre carrier in front, also waiting. The bridge was undergoing repairs and as we waited, another 65-metre barge came up behind. And after about 10 more minutes another behind him. So there we were, all sandwiched and all jostling about in the breeze waiting and waiting. Then, after about half an hour, the bridge opened and we all started to surge forwards. The guy behind was very close so we beckoned him past, then snuck in behind him and in front of the last barge in the queue as he was somewhat further off. Through we all went, though Riccall had to pull up sharpish as we spotted a mooring. After a quick reccy on the bike and a leisurely lunch we decided to move on a couple of hundred metres to a place designated for ‘sport’ boats (usually means boats of 15 metres or less). The bollards were still too far apart for a boat of our size but there was a rubber strake on the quay and the position was right beside the lock where it all happens.

And does it not! At one point we had seven 60-70 metre barges all jostling about at the lock entrance – 3 coming out, 3 waiting to go in on the next lock-through, and one which would have to tread water and wait even longer. They were all powering about missing each other by a whisker. Amazing! The pictures do no justice to the scene. You just can’t capture a wide enough view to take it all in. And for these guys, they don’t panic; it’s all in a day’s work.

Our mooring was next to the University and only a 100m walk to the Euromast for the best view in Holland – 185 metres high. We paid our E8.30 each for a journey to the top of the Netherlands. By London Eye standards it represents pretty good value (by our standards it represents the fuel for 2 hours of cruising, but we couldn’t miss this experience). We had managed to miss it on our first visit to Rotterdam in July as we didn’t realise the mast was open to the public. The original was built in the 60s at 104 metres high – the tallest building in Holland. But then it was overtaken by taller buildings and the decision was taken to extend it. Thus the top stiletto was added, ringed by an external glass elevator, called the space cabin, which not only goes up and down the outside of the tower, but rotates at the same time! The trip up and down the top half was in fairly fine weather, as was our tea/beer in the mid level café but our walk round the outside balcony of said café ended in a torrential downpour, and the changeable weather certainly added an extra dimension to the experience. Most of Rotterdam disappeared into a cloak of unbelievable rain and darkness!

The commentary in the lift on the Euromast gave the usual history and statistics, population, nationalities etc, and made the point that 125 languages are spoken in Rotterdam, which underlines its position as one the world’s greatest ports, if not the greatest.

While waiting for our departure time from Rotterdam, which had to take account of the tide on the Nieuwe Mass, we biked out to a suburb shopping street for more supplies. In great contrast to many of the places we have seen in Holland, this was clearly an impoverished area with much council housing, added to which we noticed the evidence of the many different cultures both in the languages spoken and the dress of the people.

However, back to boating. Something went adrift with Alex’s calculations regarding the optimum time to set off! He assumed that as Rotterdam is on a river and Dordrecht is further inland, if we set off at low water in Rotterdam or just after, we would be carried by the tide to Dordrecht. No! It would appear not, as we plugged against the flow all the way, but as there was only around one knot against us, it wasn’t too bad.

But, boy! Were we out with the big stuff! At one point, we were overtaken by no less than five big barges, almost simultaneously: one on the inside, two side by side on the outside followed closely by another two. Well, good luck to them! We just plugged along at our own speed to the clear amusement of one of the crews. But, so long as they don’t actually plough into us, we don’t care!

When we got into Dordrecht and to the Damiatebrug where we had had our confrontation with the dreaded and dreadful waterways woman last time, a couple of calls on the VHF (one on the wrong channel) and the other (nice) lady opened the bridge without delay and let us in.

Ooooh, back to our lovely Dordrecht mooring, but not for long this time.



Monday 29 September 2008

29.09.08 Leiden to Delft

Moored in Leiden on the finger jetty behind us was a large cruiser bearing a British ensign. This is only the second British boat we have been within hailing distance of since we entered Holland.

Vivian and Pauline, of Aqua Lady, had tea and a long chat with us in the early evening, and before they left the following day, Alex had another gas and swapped more useful information, mostly from them to us as they have been summer cruising in Holland for 5 years or more and know most of the ropes.

We are now in Delft and have packed a lot into the last three days, as you do when you have a visitor, but it has been lovely having Alice to stay and it has given us a different focus for a while.

We picked her up from the station in Leiden on our trusty bikes. The suitcase went on Louise’s bike while Alice went side-saddle (Dutch style) on the back of Alex’s bike. We wobbled back to the boat.

We took Alice on a walking tour of the best bits of Leiden during the remainder of the day and still the sun shone and we had drinks on the deck in the evening.

We set off the next day having spent 3 nights in total in Leiden but only paid for two! One of the bridge-keepers was outside his door as we approached so Louise went forward to see if she could distract him with her charm into not charging for the extra night.

Success! But we did wonder as we went through the next few bridges if they would suddenly remember and keep us locked in!

We had a lovely journey as far as the sluis at Leidschendam where the lock/bridge-keeper told us that the next bridge was broken down (due to drunken vandal damage). Is nowhere safe? We could go no further until it was repaired. It was a lovely day and lunchtime, so we happily moored up (good moorings and free). The next day the bridge was reopened, we moved on to Voorbrug and caught the train for a quick 5 minute journey into Den Haag.

Den Haag, the seat of Dutch government and home of the royal family, is so totally different from the other towns and cities we have been to in Holland. It has much bigger squares, wider streets and larger, more imposing buildings and a more ‘planned’ feel to it. Our principal aim, of course, was the Mauritshuis Museum and, of course, the works of Vermeer, Rembrandt and other great Dutch artists. Fortunately (!) half the displays were closed and thus the price was much reduced, so we saw just exactly the right amount of Dutch art - any more and it would have been too much to take in. Of course we saw the purpose of the excursion, ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ and debated, again, that the earring was definitely not a pearl at all, much too large, wrong shape and colour, and discovered from the audio tour that the picture was almost certainly not of a real girl, but was painted more as a display of an art style. This was disappointing, but the picture was lovely.

Alice was keen to do a bit more boating so we trained it straight back to the very pretty Voorburg and motored on to Delft.

The moorings in Delft were said to be lovely, but they are right on a very main road with a T-junction and traffic lights and everything - all very busy. The harbour is overlooked mostly by fairly modern undistinguished office blocks. In fact, the burghers of Delft have destroyed the beautiful view of Delft made famous by Vermeer, and which we had seen ‘in the flesh’ the day before. We have been generally disappointed by Delft. The very centre has been largely retained and is pretty but all around seems to have been unsympathetically built and rebuilt.

We looked round the Oude Kerk and the Nieuwe Kerk and climbed the latter’s tower. The tower was great with two outside ‘balconies’ to walk round on the way up to the highest one allowed. Fantastic views but rather dull weather. Then it was back to Riccall for a quick lunch before seeing Alice onto the train to Schipol for her flight home.

We hope Alice enjoyed her weekend as much as we enjoyed having her.


Friday 26 September 2008

Amsterdam to Leiden

26.08.08 Amsterdam to Leiden

We left Amsterdam with the usual confusion over how to attract the bridgkeeper’s attention. We tried both radio channels – no reply. We were sure that there was a body behind the smoked glass of the control tower (so friendly, smoked glass!) but no reaction whatsoever.

Eventually we moored up again and rang the phone number usefully given by our software program PC Navigo. Then ensued the 20 questions – Where are you? Who are you? Where are you going? Have you paid the harbour dues? etc and then at last ‘OK, I will open the bridges’.

We are now heading south on the Amstel river which meanders through the countryside, but nearly always with a busy road on one or both sides. We have passed three or four moorings with proper bollards and signs saying ‘OK to moor’ – and free! No other boats on any of them. This is amazing. Something must be wrong, or is it just that it is now September and the season is well and truly over?

So we moored on the last one of these free and empty moorings and very pleasant it was too (if a bit road-noisy). We were even able to crouch in front of the wheelhouse, out of the cold north wind and enjoy the last rays of the warm sun.

Travelling on towards Leiden we passed through a lock (as with most locks, a 20cm drop only!) and continued on down the Aarkanal. The next half dozen bridges or more were all opened just as or before we arrived with no communication necessary. We then turned right into the Oude Rijn and the first few bridges opened as before with no problems. But then we arrived at Oudekerkbrug. No reply to the VHF, but we could see the operator in his cabin, so when we got right to the bridge we gave a friendly little toot on the horn. He gave an acknowledging wave and we sat and waited for him to open the bridge. And we waited and waited, together with the cruiser behind. After 20 minutes we put a rope on to make it easier against the wind and still we waited. After half an hour he got to his feet and let us through. So what was all that about? No other boats coming or going, not closed for lunch or teatime. We still just can’t fathom it. (Was it perhaps that little ‘toot’ he didn’t like?) The next few bridges all opened like clockwork. No problem.

We moored for the night on some brand new moorings where another pleasure boat was already moored, though they looked to us like bridge-op moorings. We took our chance as we were a few kilometres from Leiden itself and it was mooring up time. We later discovered that pleasure boats can moor here free for two days but you can usually push it to longer – but how were we to know with no signage?

We cycled to Leiden itself to sus the scene. Alex spoke to the bridge-keepers, also in charge of the municipal moorings, who told us if we moored on the most suitable spot - where the hotel boats were moored – and another hotel boat came in we would have to move, and we should use the central moorings instead. So we rode along, had a look and although tight, we thought we could just squeeze in.

We returned to Riccall and motored into Leiden and through the bridge into the moorings area. The bridge-keeper took one look at us and directed us to the hotel boat area despite what he had previously said. Alex went off to parlez with the bridge-keepers (three!!) and pay for a couple of nights. He asked ‘Won’t we have to move if a hotel boat comes in?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, wouldn’t it be better if we just went straight to the central haven?’ ‘OK if you think you can get in.’

So – ropes away, reverse out and 100 metres to the central moorings, where we found we were indeed too big! We might have got in but if anything else moored we would never have got out. So we tried opposite on the low quay wall where there was a gap. We got the ropes on but could only get to within 2 feet of the quay as it was too shallow for us.

We noticed a small cruiser moored on the outside of the finger moorings opposite – the only place where we could moor easily and safely. So we watched, and at last we spotted the owners returning to their boat.

Alex girded up his loins and went into battle. ‘Excuse me, we are aground where we are moored. Would it be possible for you to move inside the finger and let us moor out here with our big ugly boat, as this is the only possible mooring place for us?’ They spoke no English – or weren’t admitting to it – but wifie understood our predicament. Husband wasn’t having any of it. The body language was all, ‘Go away! I don’t want to know! I am too busy securing my bicycles.’ So Alex said, ‘Never mind. Doesn’t matter,’ and left while wifie talked to her husband. From 50 yds away, Alex heard a shout and went back. He has agreed to move – all smiles. Alex thanked him profusely. They shook hands. He slapped Alex on the back. The deal was done.

So we have a decent mooring near the centre of Leiden with electricity and water available (at a price) and the mooring charge? - a hefty E17 a night. But Leiden is worth it and it is not too far to the railway station where Alex’s daughter Alice is arriving for a long weekend with us. We have passed though Leiden station en route from Dordrecht to Schipol and Leiden looks like an industrial wasteland from the train, all huge impersonal factories and warehouses, then closer in to the city skyscrapers crowding in but the town centre itself is charming: tiny cobbled streets down either side of a myriad of different sized canals, some so small you could barely get a rowing boat down them. A pleasant feel to the place too, even before the sun came out, and it has shone for the last two days: blue skies, warm in the sun, an autumnal chill to the wind but lovely.


Saturday 20 September 2008

15.09.08 A bit more hogwash!

Before we left for the UK our ‘mooring hosts’ had coffee with us and looked round Riccall and we made a return visit to their home.

Harma gave us a couple of slices of delicious homemade cheesecake with cherries and Arie fried us some freshly caught cod (too small to sell and not really supposed to be landed!) but delicious for all that.

Krommenie Dijk, the original village, was having its annual artists’ showcase day. We visited about 20 different ‘bottom-of-the-garden studios’ to look at the work they were producing and selling.

Prices ranged from E35 for a mediocre painting to E1000 for an 8" x 6" stylised painting of a Dutch peasant girl. Louise did like a couple of watercolours by one artist and Alex was very taken by a small surrealist picture produced using coloured wax and a hot iron, a system called encaustic. He didn’t dare, however, ask the price!

As we were riding along, we overheard an English voice commenting on how nice Dutch bikes were (ours!) so we just had to stop and chat to the two women, one English, one Dutch, until her sister arrived in a huge 4x4 and we caused a traffic jam on the narrow road and had to move on.

We also rode into Zaandam to look for the elusive wi-fi at the library. It did not exist! However, not to be outdone in the accident stakes, Louise managed to fall off her bike and become totally tangled up in it. Not hurt – well not much, but Alex had to lift the bike off for her to escape.

And then, on the day of our return to the UK, Arie very kindly gave us a lift to the station, which was great as it was pouring with rain and we made an uneventful trip back home.

Angela (living up to her name) was waiting at the airport to give us a lift to our car at Methley Bridge. She asked Alex to drive as she had pulled her Achilles tendon. He was more than happy to oblige but on reaching the first mini roundabout out of the airport, managed to go round it the wrong way! Fortunately there was only one other (bemused) car driver some way off, so we all had a good laugh, and Alex managed the rest of the UK break without putting a wheel out of place, which was lucky as we have been haring up and down the country, London, Bedford, Birmingham and Newcastle seeing everybody and getting things like dentists, doctors, spectacles, haircuts, accountants (tax returns) done.

Now we are back in Holland, but before we set sail Harma took us on a half-day trip to Alkmaar, which was great as we had had to pass straight through on Riccall and never got a glimpse of the city which is really lovely.

We have said a fond farewell to our kind mooring hosts and are back in amazing Amsterdam. We have spent the whole day (well nearly) in the library on the internet managing our changed blog which Robert and Alex have been working hard to improve. We have also got our good camera back (replaced) so no more under-exposed phone pics.

The photos are now in slideshow format at the bottom of the text to which they relate. With the click of a mouse you can watch the slideshow, enlarge the images to full screen and by clicking on ‘Info’ reveal the title (and caption if any). We hope this will prove less confusing but would appreciate comments, as ever.


Friday 5 September 2008

29.8.08 Round Trip to Schagen

Take a deep breath – Alex is on a roll for this one!

We decided before we came back for our few days in GB that we would do one last round trip into the northern area ‘above’ Krommenie.

We set off with a light breeze and the usual overcast skies and headed off into the Omval-Kolhorn Kanal. Our Noodersoft program told us that we could not do this stretch without removing our roof. However, at the first lock we just squeezed under the hanging height marker (said to be at 3.6m) with 15mm (half an inch) to spare. Thereafter, the lockkeeper assured us, all bridges were 100mm (4 inches) higher. And he was correct!

We spent the first night on some lovely rural moorings quite close to a hamlet set amongst the little canals that always surround everything here. Alex took several pictures but they just didn’t quite manage to convey how idyllic it appeared to the observer.

The next day we continued northwards, eventually arriving at the lock at the north end of the stretch at about 1 o’clock, which we knew would be closed for lunch until 2pm. Great time for our lunch too – so let’s relax and have a breather.

At 1.20pm, confusion: the lights turn green, the lock gate opens! Do we drop everything and go in? Fire up the computer again; find the phone number of the lockkeeper, and ring the number; pigeon English conversation with ‘the wife’, the lock is closed till 2pm. Fine, back to our lunch. 15 minutes later, two boats appear and go through the lock. Another boat comes the other way. It is now 1.50pm. Another green light beckons - oh well, alright, off we go. The usual story – if you want the bridges/locks to open, there is no response. If you want to stop for a quiet meal or whatever, they’re all over you to come through!

The early afternoon moorings were in De Strook and a quick, 8 mile bicycle trip to Schagen followed for a few provisions and to see it again, when it’s not on show like last Thursday. We get stung for mooring fees (E11.20) when we got back to Kolhorn, but it could have been worse.

The next day, the Schagen-Kolhorn Kanal. Noodersoft tells us that we cannot do this canal at all, even with our roof down, but we have done our research and we don’t believe it! (For we read Alex.)

The weather was better that day – we even caught a glimpse of the sun and before we left, we took the roof off. This procedure usually causes a bit of interest with onlookers and even with us, as each time we are never quite sure if it really will work! And off towards the Noords Hollandsche Kanal. Plenty of headroom!! The lockkeeper said the bridge out of the lock was the lowest – all the others were 100mm (4 inches) higher. Wrong!! The flagstaff, which we had forgotten about, just scraped through his bridge then got broken off by the next one! Fortunately, we saw it coming, and Louise grabbed it before it dropped into the canal. Then onto and south down the Noords Hollandsche Kanal stopping for the obligatory (for us) short ride to the beach and an ice cream and then onwards to our third night’s moorings at Schoolerdam.

But suddenly Alex realised his phone was missing!

After much deliberation and searching, we thought it may have fallen from his pocket when he tripped (!!!!) at the mooring at Kolhorn, 25 miles away. It rang when we used Louise’s phone to call it, but no answer, so no-one had found it yet. Looked like a long bike ride the next day on a wild goose chase. Everyone knows it’s not the value of the phone (it was free) it’s all the numbers on the sim card that you forgot to note somewhere else that’s priceless!

The next day dawns bright and early for us at 7.30 – well, early, but not so bright. At least the wind is light and the clouds don’t look too threatening. A quick breakfast and by 8.50 we are off on the said wild goose chase.

We have the waterways map of this area (courtesy of a photocopy of our mooring host’s rather old map) so we cross the network of roads and canals between us and our quarry. We had drawn in what we thought was the most direct route, but following it was easier planned than executed: left and right at junction after junction, with very few signs to help us. However, in amazingly good time we are crossing the bridge at the lock where Alex knows he last used his phone, and we give a wave and a shout to a rather bemused lockkeeper (with whom we had a long chat the previous day, but from the deck of Riccall as we headed away!). 5 minutes later he drove past with a toot on his horn and a wave back! And 10 minutes after that Alex was accelerating off to scour the area where we had moored the previous night.

Out with Louise’s phone and ring Alex’s number. Listen! Hark! Is that a ‘ring ring’ coming from the grass? Yes, but where? It’s getting louder as he homes in and - careful now, it’s close to the water’s edge - there deep in the grass is THE PHONE – EUREKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! – a few drops of morning dew but it’s OK.

Seven ‘missed calls’ all from us of course, and one text message to ‘ring the sender if found’ (also from us)!

We did a little dance of success and gabbled off what had happened to a bemused couple of boat people close by, but being German they didn’t understand a word! then we set off back for a more relaxed ride home. We stopped at the friendly lockkeeper’s lock to explain - we still felt so exhilarated. He was much amazed, and we left him explaining our luck to the next boater going through his lock!

After a leisurely cycle back and a quick shop on the way, we were back at Riccall by 12 o’clock.

We just had to tell the boat next door, who had helped us moor the previous day, and of course one thing led to another and we had coffee with them and looked at their boat and they looked at ours! And such a nice couple: as they left for their afternoon at the seaside ‘Rob’ suggested we stay another night rather than leaving after lunch. Tempting, very tempting, but we have an agenda, so we had to decline and move on, through the bridges of Alkmaar, and to Krommenie by 6.30.

We do meet some really nice people on this jaunt. It’s surely not just boats that bring out the best in people, but any common interest – even fishing (no perhaps not on second thoughts)! When Alex was in electronics he used to think all people in electronics were really nice guys – and they were. Perhaps all the lags in HM Prisons think that the really nice guys are their colleagues (co-lags) in HMPs!

Back to UK next week for 2 weeks so you all get a break from this hogwash.

Thursday 28 August 2008

24.08.08 A Sociable Evening

Our good friends Mike and Sylvia (Harrogate) have a nephew, James, who lives in Amsterdam with his Dutch partner Brenda. We had tried in vain to contact them on both occasions when we passed through Amsterdam but our latest effort met with success. As it turns out James’ parents, Richard and Jean have been holidaying here for a week so they all drove up to Krommenie and we had a jolly time and went out for dinner together.

It really was an excellent evening (so good in fact that we completely forgot to take any pictures for you all) and at 11 o’clock we said goodbye outside the restaurant as they got into their car to head off to Amsterdam in one direction, and we got onto our bikes to head off back ‘home’ in the other.

Louise suggested we ought to switch our bike lights on which we tried to do. Hers worked OK but Alex’s seemed not to be operational. Whilst riding, he looked over his shoulder to see if the back light was working but he failed to observe a stumpy bollard in his path! By the time he looked forward again it was too late. Crash! Over the handlebars he went. On picking himself up he noticed the middle finger of his left hand was at 45 degrees to normal. Broken, he thought at first, but in fact a quick realignment with the other hand showed it had only been dislocated as it popped back into place.

So the next day a few scrapes, bruises and a very sore finger or two, but most important of all, the beloved BIKE IS OK!

For an easy day of rest and recuperation (!) we decided to cycle the 13 km to Purmerend (near which we had moored a few weeks ago) because we knew the library offered free wi-fi and also because we happened to like very much what we had seen so far, even in the pouring rain!

As it turns out, the central square, which we had missed last time, was the jewel in its crown. We had a relaxed lunch at a café in the SUN (thought we would never see that again this year) then we made our way to the library and sure enough the wi-fi worked, so we were able to spend a couple of hours catching up on emails and posting the blog using our own English ‘speaking’ lap top.

The only downside was that on our return the wind which had blown us all the way there was now against us and strengthened for the return journey. But a super little tea and cakes ‘café’ run by an elderly lady in her side garden half way home almost made up for that. (The house dates from 1670!)

Of course, to cap it all, Alex’s front brake cable (right) had to break as we set off from the little café, and as the right one is the only brake he can use at the moment because the other hand is too tender, we had to swap bikes. Louise is convinced this was all a ploy. After a very long day in the saddle, Alex just wanted to finish the journey on her bike because the saddle is far more comfortable!

The finger is looking very swollen now so it’s out with the ibuprofens, but he’s being very brave.

22.08.08 Zaanse Schaans

When we were at school, many years ago, we were taught all about the Industrial Revolution in the ealry 1800s and how Great Britain led the world in all things mechanical etc.

What we were not taught, was that some 200 years earlier one Cornelis Cornelisz fitted a crank shaft to the rotating shaft of a windmill, a saw blade to the crank journal, and thus invented the first reciprocating saw mill. On the bigger mills, several sets of blades could be operated simultaneously and at its best 80 logs of 300mm diameter and about 10m in length could be sawn into planks in one day!

He tried to sell his idea to the burgers of Amsterdam but had problems with the unions who feared for the men’s livelihoods (yes even then) so he set up north of Amsterdam in the Zaan region instead.

Within a few decades there were more than 1000 windmills in this area alone supplying the ship building industry. They were building the ships so fast that they had a stockpile of finished ones for sale. About 200 of these mills were sawmills, whilst the rest ranged from mills for grinding corn, mustard, pounding linseeds into oil, de-husking maize and coffee, peeling barley, producing dyes and so on.

So this industrial revolution led the world way before ours did, but when ours did take off the Dutch windmills began to be replaced by steam and eventually diesel and electric power.

We rode our bikes to this area where there are about a dozen mills left and some beautiful old streets of houses. We looked round the re-built sawmill and the linseed oil mill – both quite fascinating. When the centuries-old sawmill, Het Jong Scheap, looked as if it would have to be demolished in the early 1940s, a teacher, clearly a man with an abiding passion for windmills, measured and made detailed notes of every possible item in the mill. From these notes, architects’ drawings were produced so that eventually, much later in 2005, The Windmill Society of the Zaan region was able to re-build the entire mill exactly as it had been and now runs it on a daily basis with the help of volunteers. (Sadly, the man with the foresight to note the dimensions of the mill died in the 80s and never saw the result of his extraordinary feat.)

Within the complex there were workshops showcasing many of the old skills, and though it may sound a bit naff, we watched clogs being made using 100 year old machinery. A video showed how they had been made using the old hand tools. We were fascinated, although we did draw the line at buying 2 pairs of clogs! Memories of those truly dreadful Scholl sandals we both owned years ago come flooding back, though people do say that clogs are comfortable.

Anyway, it made a truly wonderful day out and has re-inspired Alex regarding owning a windmill! In fact, in view of the detailed plans which the schoolteacher drew up, he asked if the Het Jong Scheap project sold a DIY build-your-own windmill kit , but sadly, no. A missed opportunity without a doubt!

21.08.08 Day Trip to Schagen

We were just finishing breakfast at about 9 o’clock when our ‘mooring host’ Mrs Aari (Harma) appeared at the side of the boat to ask if we would like to accompany them to Schagen, a town about 15 miles north of here, where a traditional historical display was to be performed. They would be leaving in about 15 minutes. (Harma had knocked on the boat earlier but got no reply – we had thought we heard something but at that moment felt disinclined to investigate.)

So we all piled into their little Yaris and were in Schagen for about 10.30 – time for a coffee and cake supplied by the good ladies of the church and a quick look at the setting up of the whole affair – stands, crowd barriers, horse course (see later) etc. It was all very jolly as we hope you can see from the photos though we had little luck managing to get good pictures of the more active parts of the day. We separated from our hosts agreeing to meet up later, which meant we could do our own thing – go up the church tower of course, wander round the extensive street market, buy more cheese (!) buy saddlebags for the second bike and then watch the parade.

The townsfolk put on this display (unpaid) every Thursday for ten weeks in the summer, and they have a range of topics apparently which they cover in alternate weeks. This week it happened to be ‘horses’, so the parade was wonderful, horses and carts, horses pulling splendid carriages, tiny Shetland ponies pulling children’s carts, a fire engine horse-pulled and so on. In between were whole families pushing babies in 19th century prams and everyone, babies included, dressed in traditional clothes. The men all wore black suits and hats, the women wore wonderful floor length, up to the neck dresses or suits and their very particular caps, white lace with what looked like a sort of solid plastic (!?) half moon round the back and all clipped together with gold or brass bulldog clips, for want of a better description! It was wonderful.

After the parade came the ‘spiking of the rings’ contest. At four points on the edge of the ‘course’ (which was the road all round the church) a pole was set up with a 2 foot long horizontal arm on the top. On this outstretched arm, which overhung the course, hung a 50mm (2") ring held by a magnet. The horses trotted round pulling the carts and carriages while a passenger in each one attempted to spike the 4 metal rings and remove them from their holdings. All this was greeted with much merriment as most of the crowd seemed to know the participants really well. We had managed to secure pole position, literally, at a café table where we had lunch while we watched.

It seems from what we have seen that the Dutch are determined to maintain the old crafts and way of life so that they are never forgotten. We do have such events in England of course, but here, they seem to be much more a part of everyday life.

It was a lovely day and many thanks must go to Aari and Harma for their kindness in including us in their own day out.

Monday 25 August 2008

20.08.08 Amsterdam Again

We left our mooring on the Riekerplas in good time (9.30ish) partly to avoid the harbourmaster and partly because we were up anyway, and set off towards Amsterdam to go through on the other route this time (i.e. not via the Amstel which we had done on our first visit three weeks ago).

The first thing you come to having gone under the rail and motorway bridges (high enough for us to pass under) is the lock with sideways sliding gates. Here we paid our E16.25 which gave us passage through the fourteen bridges on this route plus three days’ moorings. We thought it worth asking the lockkeeper where he thought a boat of our size might be able to moor but his answer ‘The Six Haven’ which you’ll remember we had ruled out as just impossible for us, showed he clearly hadn’t a clue about the wider aspects of his job! But we knew that we could return to the museum harbour and hopefully, it being a Monday, we reckoned on it not being full.

So we made it without incident to the ‘other side’ of Amsterdam through about 10 lift bridges and 4 fixed but high enough bridges, and headed out onto the Nooordzee Kanal, turning right towards the museum harbour. We noticed, among hoards of other big barges what looked like a police launch, sort of on our tail! So Louise went abaft to see if they really were heading for us, and to talk to them if they were. They said they wanted to come aboard, donned their life jackets and asked us to slow down a bit. So we obliged and with their boat nudging Riccall’s starboard rear deck two of them (one middle-aged, one younger) then clambered over our rail onto the back deck!

They were polite and pleasant and introduced themselves as immigration officers – complete with guns (in holsters). We shook hands all round and they said they didn’t see many barges of our type flying a British flag in Holland. We said, nor did we! They asked a few questions, looked at the passports then left. Cor! What a palaver. But I suppose they’re only doing their job and to be fair they couldn’t have been nicer, but you really wouldn’t consider gunrunning or drug importing in a Sheffield barge as distinctive as ours, now would you? But then of course, they didn’t check below, so perhaps we were! But what excitement. Watching them clumsily transfer themselves back onto their own launch we did wonder how many times they fall in, in the pursuit of their objectives!

So we continued on our way and are now back in the museum harbour and we have been to a museum! Yes, a museum! We decided the only way to put in an atrocious afternoon of weather was to find somewhere interesting and inside. It was much the same as every other museum (as ever) but the guidebook sold it to us on the basis that it provided a very good insight into the history and development of Amsterdam which it did and we spent two hours on it.

//

Today we went to the market on Albert Cuypstraat – an ordinary everyday market where apparently bargains are to be had. As with all markets, the truth is that the punters are the ones being had! However we bought some strawberries – lovely on top, all going rotten underneath – and various other bits and pieces as you do.

In the afternoon, on the pretext of visiting the area where independent shops, cafes and galleries abound, Louise suddenly remembered reading that there was a Dutch barge which had been converted for living aboard, which was open to the public and which had been closed on our other visits. And look! There it is right on the other side of the canal, right here. (Louise protests – it was entirely coincidental.)

So Alex negotiated a discount on the basis that the owner could look round Riccall for free later in the evening if he’d like to (!!!!!) and an interesting couple of hours was spent talking to the owner and looking at pictures of other conversions and at the barge itself. (The owner didn’t take up the offer to look at Riccall but he did charge us only half price – and complimented Alex by saying he must be a Dutchman!! Alex was most gratified.

Here is another point. There are virtually no public loos in Amsterdam or indeed Holland, as those of you who have visited will no doubt have noticed. So when you need one, you say, ‘OK, we’ll go to a café and have a cup of coffee/tea and use theirs’. Fine. One hour later, it’s the same all over again. It’s a set-up! The locals all go home or to their place of work. We visitors are on a treadmill – café, pee, café, pee all day! And if you do find a public convenience it’s 50 cents. Spend a penny? Inflation or what! We can now get back to Riccall from almost anywhere in Amsterdam in 20 mins flat!

So here for a few days and then ‘home’ to Krommenie.

18.08.08 West and South of Amsterdam

There have been many aspects of this country during the last few months which have seemed totally alien to us although we are beginning to come to terms with many of them, but the way in which the bridges and locks are operated is one example – absolutely no standardisation whatsoever. In some cases the opening happens totally without any discourse at all, in others you have to radio ahead, in some you have to telephone! And the fishermen actually wave to us! This is a most welcome first! Until today!

We set off at 11.00 am from our moorings south of Haarlem heading towards Amsterdam West. Within half a kilometre there is a section where the canal opens out into a wide stretch of water, but our map said the wide area was only 1 metre deep, so we made sure we stuck to the edge where the deeper line of the canal was.

The first fisherman gesticulated for us to move away. Alex replied with ‘lack of depth’ signals which were accepted. The third fisherman got very agitated indeed making similar gesticulations, and ending up by hurling a cricket-ball-sized ‘rock’ at us. Well, it was a damned good shot – hit the middle window of the wheelhouse, but did not break it. It turned out to have been a lump of his bread and grubs bait! But a nasty experience nonetheless. The only consolation is that fishermen are in the main the same throughout the E.U. – surly bastards! Quite like being at home in the UK really! Louise got the binos out quickly to make a note of his car registration number. He didn’t like that, and tried to stand in front of the car – but too late, we have it. Whether we do anything about it is doubtful, I guess. After all, we can only move at 6mph and retribution may follow.

When we consulted our navigation programme we discovered that although we might get through the first bridge by 12 o’clock, the rest would be non-operational until 4pm (short hours on Sundays). OK – so at the next bridge we moored up for a long lunch at 12.30pm. But hey! – we have unlocked wi-fi available What luck! So after lunch Alex can reply to emails and post our latest blog, while Louise undercoats the external toolboxes. Three and a half hours pass in a flash!

The possible mooring we were aiming for in the Riekerplas, south of Amsterdam, sadly doesn’t exist, but we have moored on the edge of a yachthaven where, we are assured, the usual ‘mooree’ has been away for a while and probably won’t be back tonight. If we get off in good time tomorrow morning, the harbourmaster might not get to us in time to charge us for the water we have used and the night’s stay. Get that alarm on Louise!