28th April 2016
Somewhere on the Flevoland Polder to Durgedam

What a glorious morning! No wind, sunny, warm - wonderful. We pulled up stakes just before 9 am and set off down the mirror-like canal. 10 minutes later we passed the first of many public mooring docks, spaced at every couple of kilometers along the canal all the way to the exit to the Ijsselmeer. Dunno why there were none in the 16km stretch up to Hardersluis. 

Tulip fields alongside the canal

Everyone was enjoying the lovely morning, wildfowl, rowers, dog walkers etc. Very few boats, though. At one point we had to make an emergency stop to allow a red setter to swim across the canal with a float in his mouth. We think he was in gun-dog training. His owner was very grateful that we had stopped and yelled thank you´s as we went past. As we approached Almere, the dormitory town at the south end of the polder, the area became increasingly built up with houses and low-rise apartments. It looks like a nice area to live - very leafy with lots of gardens and just a 20 minute train ride to downtown Amsterdam.

Suddenly the clouds came over and a few minutes later we were in the middle of a dump of hail/sleet which so built up on the windshield we could´nt see out.The temperature also plummeted, so Skip quickly lit the heater. Luckily it stopped just before we approached the Suidersluis lock and by the time I had to go out on deck to handle lines, the sun was out again.

Hail/sleet one minute ...

... sunny the next.

At the lock, we let a commercial barge through in front of us. We are, after all, on holiday, and he has no doubt a schedule to keep up. He only just fit into the lock with just a couple of inches to spare. 

Just inches to spare.

The crossing over the Ijsselmeer was dull, as expected. There were a few sailboats out and a steady stream of barges in the shipping lane which we avoided other than to hop across at one point. 

Durgedam consists of a row of very pretty gabled houses and a chapel. Nothing else, except for the sailing club where we spent the night. The club is exclusively for sailboats and it is nice to be in a marina full of yachts again. It is really pretty and quiet and a short hop into the city. A bus runs every half hour to the ferry across from Amsterdam Central station, so one could go into town easily from here. The mooring fee is 15 euros, which includes electricity and wifi and there is a washer and dryer in the ladies, which I made use of. 

Durgedam

Last week, when we were in Lisbon, on a whim we went to eat at a seafood restaurant we had not been to for about 8 years. At some point during the evening we got chatting to the couple at the table next to us, who eventually joined us. Gerrit & Sandra are a Dutch couple with a boat here at this yacht club and we came here on their recommendation. I emailed them to say we were here and they turned up an hour later to say hi. They have their boat out on the hard in Monnickhendam, the next door town, and we have arranged to meet them there for dinner in a couple of weeks time.

Zoe tied up at the Durgedam Sailing Club.

Disappointingly last night´s low temperature was back down in the minuses again -0,08. We have since learned that this is the coldest April since 1984......