16th May 2016
Strandhorst

We´ve had a couple of busy days getting the boat ready to leave for a few of months. We´ll be back on the 6th August and hopefully the weather will be warmer by then. It was 6C this morning, although it has risen, now, to 13C. Actually, the chilly makes it easier to leave and head home to hopefully warmer climes. 

So .... some stats from skip. We did 357 kilometres in 26 days. We motored for 42 hours and used 160 litres of diesel (I shan´t divulge how many litres of wine :) ), and we did 287kms on our bikes.

We have the family arriving for a couple of hours this afternoon, including Cindi and Genna who are visiting from Cape Town and dinner at our favourite restaurant - the all-u-can-eat asian buffet Wok Inn. Yum. 

Tomorrow morning we are heading down to Eindhoven on the train from Ermelo to get the Ryanair flight to Lisbon. It will, believe it or not, be my first experience of a low-cost airline. Hope it does´nt live up to the billing.

Bye for now. See you in August.

And ´cos the boat is nice and tidy for the visitors, here are some pics .....

14th May 2016
Flevoland Polder to Strandhorst

Brrrr. Chilly and drizzly again. 10C outside this morning. Oh well, it´s almost time to head home although I hear the weather there is not a lot better.

We only had an uneventful 12km to do today. We had a longish wait at the Lovenik lock out of the polder - sometimes it´s hard to know if they realise one is there at these unmanned locks. There is a button you press for service, but no indication if it is working or not. You just sit patiently (or impatiently, as the case may be) and wait for the red light to turn red/green at which point you jump around getting ready to go in the lock when the door eventually opens. And the wait could be anything from 30 seconds to 20 minutes, although the latter is rare. There are cctv cameras monitoring the locks and their approaches, and presumably humans somewhere watching them..... or so you hope.

Last lock. The shorts have been replaced with longs and we have had to dig the rain jackets out again. Pity.

Anyhow, we are now back at home port, fuel tanks filled, bilges pumped and the first load of laundry spinning. Skip is taking the fresh-water pump apart as it has been making funny noises the last couple of days. There is a feest up the meer a little ways at Strandnulde, with bbqs, eel smokeries, beer etc but we would have to cycle and it´s too chilly with the odd shower so we´ll give it a miss. According to Dick, this is usually one of the busiest weekends of the year (it is another long weekend), but the weather has put most people off as there is hardly anyone around.


WARNING: This next bit could get boring.


Sooooo .... Skip has suggested I tell you what the polder is I have been mentioning the last couple of days. If you already know, or don´t wanna know, then I suggest you run away now.

OK - prior to 1939 there was a huge estuary/inland sea in the North Sea called the Zuiderzee. Although referred to as an inland sea, it was actually open to the north sea, protected only by a row of outer islands. 

The whole area was prone to flooding and boy could it flood. After a devastating one in 1919, it was decided to finally do something about it and a 32km dike called the Afsuitduijk was completed in 1932. This turned the Zuiderzee into a huge lake, called the Ijsselmeer, which eventually turned into fresh water as it is fed by a number of rivers, in particular the Rhine.

Huge parts of the lake were then reclaimed and the resulting land is called a polder. The first polder, called the Noordoostpolder was completed in 1959 and joined a couple of islands in the Ijsselmeer to the mainland. Further south a 1,419 sq.km rectangular island was created and completed in 1968 - the Flevoland Polder. 

Another dijk was then built splitting the Ijsselmeer into two parts. The southern part, in which we have been bouncing the last couple of weeks, is called the Markermeer. The plan had been to eventually reclaim all the land which is now the Markermeer, but they ran out of money and by the time funds were available again, ecologists has put a stop to it. It was also realised what a great resource it was for wildlife, recreation and as a reservoir in times of drought for which purpose it was used as recently as 2009.

The Flevoland Polder is criss-crossed with drainage canals,  a couple of which are navigable by large vessels (including little us). There are 5 entrances from the meers into the Polder through locks which vary in size but which all have a 5m drop as the Polder is 5m lower than the surrounding lakes.

Flevoland canal.

The Flevoland polder has a dividing dijk (looked about 6m high, but that´s just a guess) separating the north half from the south. Should one polder flood, it can be cut off from the other. These huge gates would be closed to cut off the canal.

The southern part of the Polder is particularly pretty to cruise through as there are lots of woods and national parks and unless one particularly wants to visit the towns on the mainland coast, (been there, done that) it is a much smoother ride. The polder is totally flat so there is only the lock in and the lock out and the bridges are all high enough to pass through without needing lifting.

So, there, now you know what a polder is.

13th May 2016
Almere to somewhere on the polder.

Not much to report today. Another sunny breezy day. We travelled 4 hours along the canal and we are now moored up in a forest about 2km from the lock into the Randomeer. There is no apparent path from these moorings, but the maps indicated a possible cycle-path a bit inland. We bundu-bashed about 100m (watch out for the nettles!) and as predicted came across a beautifully surfaced cycle path which wound through the woods. After a couple of km´s we were drawn, as if magnetically, out of the trees, across the road, and into a lake-side pavillion where, naturally, they were able to supply coffee and applegebak (mit slag, of course) :) :).

And look at the cutie we found on the river bank.

12th May 2016
Volendam to Almere

We have been dithering about where to go next. We were planning to go down to Monnickendam to meet up with Gerrit and Sandra, but they can´t make it til Saturday, and we need to be heading back to Strandhorst by then.  

We had thought about 2 nights in Volendam, but Skip could´nt contemplate another day with all the tourists. We then thought we would go across to Marken (on the peninsula) for lunch and spend the night in Monnickendam anyway. 

I expect that everyone who has ever visited Monnickendam has this same photo sat next to the monk next to the town square.

"Don´t bother to photograph that" said Skip, 
"There are too many trucks and cars."
"I´ll be able to crop them out." I thought. And so I have. But truthfully, the streets were lined with many many vans. This 16thC building used to be the weigh house, where goods were weighed and taxed.

The day started sunny but windy, so we changed our minds again and decided to cycle down to Monnickendam (7km down the coast) and check it out. If it proved unmissable we could then take the boat down, if not we would just head across the meer and get the crossing over and done with. 

Narrow canal and lock in the centre of Monnickendam.

Even Jaqui had kibbeling for lunch. (Fish & chips, without the chips)

The ride down the coast, protected by the sea dijk, was pretty and rural and we enjoyed the cycle around the town, but it´s by no means "unmissable" so here we are now moored up inside the polder just outside Almere. 

The 15km crossing was as unpleasant as we expected especially as the wind had picked up to a steady 25 knots and 1m short chop. It was not as bouncy as the other day, although the way everything was tied down, we would´nt have lost anything over the side, even if it had been. It was, nonetheless, a relief to get back on a canal, protected as we are by a forest on the windward side. 

Moored up in a small basin off the canal just outside Almere - no stroom, no water, no wifi, nobody else and NO CHARGE! Wonderful.

11th May 2016
Hoorn to Volendam

I took a quick ride into town to pick up some fresh bread for lunch. Such a pleasure to be out so early when the streets are empty of cars, vans and tourists wandering around in the middle of the road.

For a change, the meer was flat calm and on such a lovely sunny day it was quite a pleasure, especially as our passage was only 1 1/2 hours long. 

The haven here has a big entrance in to the meer without any bridges or sluises to negotiate. The "sea" wall is also low so one can see both in an out of the over the wall. As we arrived, skip said it felt like Paignton. To those who are unacquainted with Paignton, it is a typical seaside town with lines of shops selling tat and souvenirs. 

Just when you thought there was nothing more they could do with a clog.. 

Making waffels on the street. This was the selection.

There are passenger ferries hauling in tourists from the peninsula town of Marken, about 3km across the lake. They arrive there on tour buses from Amsterdam as this is a popular day trip out from the city. And everything on the sea front here caters to them.  

A narrow Edam bridge.

The mooring is good though, side-on, with water and electricity included in the 16.50 euro charge. If one wants there is a good shower block close by. Also included in the price as well as free wifi. There is a steady stream of sightseers, however, passing the boat and peering in the windows or sitting with fish and chips on the benches. I said it was just like Paignton!

After a quick look around the shops, we cycled 5km to Edam, the next town. Famous for it´s cheese, of course, it is a sleepy little town. Skip spotted a charming small hotel with an inviting canal-side patio where we whiled away some time over coffee and borrel (snacks/petiscos/tapas - take your pick). 

I always wanted to be the BIG cheese...

And more cheeses. Yes, I know, but it IS edam.

The hotel patio where we stopped for coffee & snacks.

The hotel was just as charming inside.

On the way back to the boat, we spotted a Deen supermarket and stopped to stock the boat up with supplies to leave for when we get back in August - milk, juice, coffee, chocomel, soups etc. . Skip popped in to the Action next door where he found a bike "computer" for 4.59 euros, which tells one how fast you are going, how long you´ve been going, and most importantly when one has limited battery power, how many kilometers one has travelled. Hmmmm, 4.59 euros - we´ll see.

Now we are enjoying cocktail hour on the aft deck and raising a glass to grandson Shane who passed his driver´s licence test today. Well done, Shane!

PS: So we´ve generally been moored on prime dog walkies territory the last couple of weeks and I have decided that, when I am 85 and no longer have any interest in labradors etc, I am going to get a Teacup Teckel. OMG - there has been a puppy coming past the boat on his thrice daily walkies the last couple of days and the cute is too much to handle :) :) :). Yes, I know, Graeme, but have you seen one in the flesh, or fur, yet?

10th May 2016
Hoorn

Not a lot to say today. I spent the morning shopping - again :) - while skip did chores. We went for a cycle around town in the afternoon, checking out the suburbs. The town centre is very attractive, with lovely old buildings and gables. The suburbs are very ordinary.

Hoorn Central square.

Same statue - central square looking the other way.

It was a such a nice warm evening, we wandered across to the Red Rose Café and had a drink sitting on their harbourside patio. A small La Chouffre for me, and a Jopen (the beer from Harlem) for Clive. We strolled around the harbour looking at all the old sailing barges before heading back to the boat for a braai. There are lots of traditional old boats here. The sailing barges seem to be used as sail-training boats and at least 8 of them were full of German teens over for the holidays on what one presumes are school trips.

There are dozens of these old sailing barges in the Hoorn Binnehaven.

I am happy to report that the new Weber grilled the ribs just as well as the old one.

9th May 2016
Enkhuizen to Hoorn

AAAARRRGH .... I knew there was a reason we don´t like cruising in the meer, other than the lack of anything to look at other than water, sails, and distant shoreline. It was windy and choppy today and the boat did a lot of bouncing around and SPLASH our gas Weber BBQ jumped right out of its holder (with 4 bungees securing it) and disappeared beneath the waves....  :( :(   That´s one sad face for Skip and one for me. We actually only realised it was gone when we were moored up again and rolled up the sides of the tent - OOOOOPS.

Faced with the dreary prospect of cooking in the pan from now on, I consulted Mr Google, who, as I have mentioned before, knows all, and he directed us to a couple of stores we might find a replacement. Skip took off on his bicycle, and found exactly the same small Weber as we had before at the last (natch) shop he checked. There has been a run on BBQ´s because of the excellent weather we have been having over this last 5-day-long long weekend and this was the last in the store. It only remained unsold because it was the display model. Skip was especially pleased as they sold it to him with a 25% discount, and, he was planning a big BBQ clean at the next port which he does´nt have to do anymore.
:) :)

Skip is determined this one can´t escape...

Hoorn is a lovely old town and we are tied up in the Binnehaven in exactly the same spot we were last year when we passed this way with son Brett. The biggest difference is that this time the sun is shining and last time poor Brett was steering the boat up on deck, with no tent, freezing his nuts off - I recall sleet....

Moored up in Hoorn binnehaven - same spot as last year.

The other difference is the price of moorings has gone up a couple of euros, but they have also removed the pay meters for the electricity, so that kinda evens up. They have also removed the free washer and dryer that was in the shower block. I used it extensively last year, as I am sure did many others before and after me, and their electricity bill must have been taking a hit so now the machines are gone.

I did some shopping in town for a new wardrobe :) :) :). I started with shorts ´cos of the hot weather. The only pair I had left on the boat from last year were threatening to drop around my ankles at every step. And I sorta got carried away and now I´m glad we forked out 35 euros to take a suitcase on Ryanair, which whom we are flying home.

Enkhuizen gables.

Note from Skip:  Zoe is 10m long, plus 1/2m swim platform at the back and 3.25m wide. We carry 700lt fuel and use 7 lt per hour motoring at a steady 10km per hour. We also carry 700lt of water and have 1250 amp hours of batteries. Our 2 electric bikes (ProRider) can go 30km or so on a charge.

Remember to click on the photos to make them bigger.

8th May 2016
Enkhuizen

Ok, so I´ve skipped a day. Mostly due to idleness on the part of your blogger.  The hot weather (25 yesterday and today) makes me lazy.  We managed to get away from Medemblik shortly after 9am.

When we left early for the couple of hours trip down to Enkhuizen from Medemblik, there was already a steady stream of boats leaving the harbour.

Sails everywhere.

It is a long weekend here and the hot weather has brought out every sailor in the land. We were concerned about finding a mooring in Enkhuizen and wanted to get here early hence the 9am start. The meer was full of sails, but still a dull trip, as all meer trips are. 

We´ve never seen so many yachts in one place as Enkhuizen. There are two huge marinas, with 700 berths apiece, as well as the 4 town havens which are also full of boats. Then there is the wharf for sailing barges, schooners and klippers. Very picturesque.  

The 16C dromedaris has been guarding the entrance to Enkhuizen for 550 years.

We were directed to a good spot in the Oosterhaven by the harbourmaster. "It´s quieter in there." he counselled, and he was right. It is very tranquil other than a couple of coots who demand treats all day.

Waiting for bridge keeper at the entrance to the Oosterhaven in Enkhuizen.
We had been there awhile when a friendly dog-walker advised us to call them on channel 12 for service.

Oosterhaven, Enkhuizen.

We cycled out to look at the traffic at the two big locks on the Markerwaardijk, the 30km dijk which splits the Ijsselmeer from the Markermeer. We´ll be passing through there in a day or two. Being a sunny Saturday afternoon there was a steady stream of mostly sail boats passing through the locks. The locks are big and are in fact what they call a "Naviduct" as they are built above the 6 lane highway in a kinda big trough. They were packing in about 15 yachts each pass. Lots of yelling and boat-bumping going on, always good entertainment for spectators :).

Watching the show at the locks. Most of the time we were there, there were 15-16 boats going through at a time.

The sailing barge fleet, Enkhuizen.

This is a charming town. It was one of the three East India Company towns and most of the houses and buildings that lean over the streets in the centre date from the 16th & 17th centuries. There is a happy holiday buzz in town and the street cafés are all full and there is a long line outside the ice cream shop. Naturally Skip had to join the queue.

Canal-side houses. The one on the left is for sale so, of course, I had to look it up on the Estate Agents website. It is huge, built in the 1600´s and for sale for 649 000,00. It is in need of some, ahem, TLC. Don´t know if I would be brave enough to take it on.

On Sunday, today, Heidi, Michael and Mila drove up from Amsterdam and joined us on the boat. We had a nice walk around town and then wandered back for a BBQ with them. It has been another gorgeous day and they just loved being on the boat in the sunshine.

Skip, Jaqui, Mila & Heidi. Michael took the pic.

RELAXED!

We are now just enjoying the aftdeck in the still evening air.

6th May 2016
Medemblik

After a quick trip to the nearby Aldi and Deen, we had an early lunch and then headed for the station. It was such a hot sunny day, we had to cover ourselves with sunblock. Hottest day this year - 24c. We even cycled in short sleeves.

The train was waiting in the station when we arrived at the restored station house which dates from 1887. As there would be no return trip from Hoorn today, we put the bikes in the baggage caboose at the back. 

Hoorn - Medemblik heritage steam tram.

Happily there was a lot of whistle blowing along the way and the staff at both the station and on the train were all dressed in period costumes, adding to the atmosphere. 

"OK, you can blow the whistle now!"

Flashing her bloomers.

The line is very rural, through fields of horses and tulips. Lots of miniature horses and foals. Too cute!

At Hoorn station, one can wander around the steam engine repair/restoration shed. 

We eventually found the first knoppunt of the cycle route back to Medemblik. The cycleroutes are all well numbered and go from knoppunt (I guess you could translate that as "node") to knoppunt, each with an individual number. They branch off every couple of kms or so in different directions and at each one you choose the number of the next one on your preplanned route. They tend to take one on the most interesting/pretty routes available for the area and we have discovered so many wonderful villages by following them rather than the obvious road routes. 

There was a fair in one of the towns we cycled through today, with carriage racing as well as all the usual fairground attractions - rides for the kids, tombolas and junk food.

Today´s route took us through one of the prettiest villages, Twisk, we have seen in the Netherlands. Reminded me a bit of Giethoorn, but without the tourists. Huge trees line the streets and small bridges lead over a small canal to the houses on the other side. 

Twisk

I bought myself the book of cycle routes last summer, and a great investment it has proved to be. We do have a tendency to go wrong however. The signs are not always as obvious as they could be and the riders not as attentive as they should be. We did go quite dramatically wrong and went at least 6 km out of our way at one point. We were concerned about the batteries with the extra distance so dropped the battery assist down to its lowest setting which meant a lot more pedalling.  We ended up doing a total of 31km. Skip was muttering ...

BUT we made it back OK and rewarded ourselves with dinner at a harbourside cafe. Worth it!!

PS:  Thanks a million to Pat & Dani for taking care of Merle, and also to Gunther - we are having a wonderful time and could´nt do it without you.

PPS:  Don´t forget, you can make the photos bigger by clicking on them.