We have reached Dordrecht, having fixed the steering in Spieringsluis. (For the technically minded, it turned out to be the pump whose pulley wheel was slipping on the spindle.) Our plan had been to reach Dordrecht for an overnight stay and then push on northwards towards Schipol. A suitable mooring in Dordrecht had been recommended by the skipper of ‘de Poolster’, a historic barge dedicated to taking special needs children and adults on trips, which moored alongside us briefly at Spieringsluis.
So we set off for the first lock – Ottersluis – to await the ebb tide which would carry us down to Dordrecht. We had been told by Dordrecht Control that this would be at 4.00 pm. By 4.45pm we were still waiting and at 5.00 pm we decided to go anyway though we still had 1.5 kph of flow going under us. An hour later we were on the outskirts of Dordrecht with a bridge ahead that was too low for us. Eventually, we worked out how to contact bridge control and asked to be allowed through. No answer came from the unseen bridge operator, but suddenly all the rush-hour traffic was stopped, just for little us, the bridge section was raised and we were given a green light.
A little further on and we had reached the recommended ‘haven’ which had one of those lovely little Dutch bridges across its entrance. Needless to say, it took some time to establish how to get this bridge opened, during which time we sat outside the entrance being buffeted against the mooring posts by the wash of the passing barge traffic on the main channels. This is a waterway junction so there is traffic going just everywhere, with conflicting washes to match. Eventually, Alex tracked down a boat resident who gave us a number to ring, and we managed to contact someone to open the bridge. The someone turned out to be a severe looking woman who beckoned Alex to the office to fill in the necessary paperwork. For those cinema-goers amongst you, you may remember Rosa Klebb from the film ‘From Russia with Love’. Well Alex reckons she was a pussycat compared to this woman! (We didn’t notice the spikes in the toes of her shoes but she almost certainly had them!!) (Louise says "All this is Dutch to me!!) She spoke almost no English and was outraged that Alex spoke no Dutch or even German which she could also speak. French was clearly just for wimps! Eventually she let us through the bridge with a fixed and immoveable scowl and we moored up for the day. Soon a couple from a beautiful ‘tjalk’ opposite came across to talk to us, as did several other people with an interest in barges during the evening.
Out of all this it seems possible that if we can convince ‘them’ that we are indeed a historic boat (and British Waterways have rubber stamped that for UK – oh, where is that document?!) it seems we may be allowed 4 days free and thereafter 30 Euros per week! This is wonderful news, if true, and means we will stay here until our flight home on the 8th and get to Schipol by train (1 hour) and leave the boat moored alongside other live-aboards. Problem solved.
Alex has just returned from the office where a different woman was on duty – hurrah! She was just the opposite of the one from yesterday and was most helpful. Apparently, we get three nights free, and if we were minded to go away for one night, we could then come back and get the next three nights free!! ad infinitum presumably. But we think we could easily use more fuel than this palaver is worth so we are going to stay put until we return from England.
Dordrecht remains to be explored and we now have enough time to do that in comfort. It looks just lovely from this mooring in the historic harbour area so we will see and report later.
Once again, however, internet access is not easy, so you may get several of these blogs posted at once and then a gap for some time!
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