4th September (I think),

Last night we bbq'd the rookwors we had bought in the Zwolle market. OMG!  Yum, it was delicious and we will have to keep an eye out for more.

Rookwors braai on the stern.

Woke up to the expected blustery rain which had been predicted for days now and 16 degrees in the boat. We had been told it would last all day, and, except for a few bright spells, it has. We figured we may as well make a long day of it and we are finally in Friesland after today's 32 km and a lot of bridges. We filled up with fuel in Giethoorn before we left. There was a road running right next to the canal and a small gas station with place to fill cars one side and boats on the other. Neat. Skip could finally work out definitively what our fuel consumption is and was very happy to find we do 3.5 litres per hour, a whole lot less than he thought. Good news.

Lovely boating weather.

For most of the day we were the last of a convoy of three boats through the lifting bridges.

Our convoy for most of the day. A rare sunny spell.

The white boat in front had the WORST driver. He was constantly speeding up and then slowing down. He made numerous unintended excursions into the reed beds and managed to bump into a few moored boats waiting for one of the bridges. The last straw was when he ended up sideways in a lock and Clive said "To hell with convoy etiquette!" which decrees that you hold your place, and we overtook  and  from then on left him behind. We later found out it was a charter boat - figures.

Canal junctions are marked like the roads.

At one of the bridges, we waited patiently for the bridge to open. We could see three boats waiting the other side. As the bridge lifted the first boat on the other side made to go through. Suddenly this LOUD disembodied female voice started yelling at him and we realised that, although unmanned, the operations were being monitored from some control booth somewhere. He had been entering the bridge against a red light - naughty boy - and it was our turn to go through first. He had to back off madly, the boats behind him all scurrying to get out of his way. I noticed he was keeping his red face well down as we went past.  And then, just as the last boat on our side got through, the bridge closed sharpish in his face and they all had to wait for the next opening!

Tomorrow the rain should ease by luchtime and I'm told I'll be back in shorts by next week.

Friesland at last! We even got the flag to prove it.