Kampen to Zwaartsluis via the Ganzendiep

The morning was pretty grey and overcast with a high cloud cover, but thankfully dry and an almost balmy 16 degrees. We cycled the 5 kms back down the river to Kampen, one of the cities on the Ijssel, on a lovely bike path next to the river. As it was Sunday, the roads were almost totally traffic free. 

The channel out of the Ganzendiep to the Zwaarte water. There is a vast stretch of water with a narrow 2km-long channel marked with green cones CLOSE to the reeds. Everywhere else is only 1/2m deep.

The exit out into the Zwaarte Water.

Gorgeous old ladies tied up alongside the wharf at Kampen. Many of them are now charter boats.

"Where are all the people?" we wondered as we rode into the town centre. Just then we could hear music coming from all directions and realised everyone was in church singing hymns. There were at least 4 churches around the centre and they must have all been pretty full judging by the volume. Just then, the doors opened and hundreds of people poured. Unlike much of the Uk, they seem to be well attended.

The Radhus, old town hall, with its leaning tower.

It was built in the 14th Century, so we'll forgive the tilt.

The old town is lovely with narrow streets lined with old buildings. The town was once ringed with protective walls, long gone, but three of the gates with their towers are still standing. We made it our mission to find them all.

Kampen's three city gates.

After a lovely cycle around the small lake just outside of town, dodging ducks and geese as we went, we headed back into the centre to a streetside cafe for lunch. Uitsmuiter sandwich (basically eggs and bacon on toast) for Clive and a healthy tuna salad for me.

Back aboard we headed up the Ganzendiep and out into the Zwarte Water for a couple of kms until we turned into the Drentsche Hoofvaart at Zwartsluis where we are tucked up next to a pretty bridge with a lovely pub. 

Moored up in Zwartsluis. This picture taken from the pretty bridge on our way to the pub 30m away.

You can just make out Zoe in the background.

Skip told me to order him a beer, so I did. 

:) :) :) I saw this on the menu and had to have it. Kwak, it's called, and it comes in this special glass, although a chap at the next table had to show us how to drink from it (we had it out of it's holder, at first).

My legs needed a stretch so I took a quick walk around the village. I came across a small cemetery with hebrew headstones and a pile of bouquets of flowers placed around a central monument. Curious I wandered over and found a list of about 20 names of, presumably, Zwartsluis residents, with dates of death in mid 1943 - place of death: Auschwitz. 

Randomeer eiland to Ganzendiep, Kampen

For no reason Skip decided to take a look what was on  TV last night and as he switched to a local channel a wonderful Liberation Day concert was about to start. An annual event marking the liberation of the Netherlands in WWII, the concert takes place on floats on the Amstel river in the heart of Amsterdam. The king and queen arrive and leave by boat, and people throng the river sides and bridges. There was a wonderful mix of classical, jazz, pop and big band music acts, fronted last night by a vertically challenged pop singer, VanVelzen, who might have been short of stature but BIG on personality and talent. We watched til the end when they traditionally sing Vera Lynn's "We'll meet again". And by the by, has anyone noticed how much like Donald Trump the dutch King Willem looks. A younger version to be sure. Now, I'm not trying to insult the Dutch king who by all accounts is a lovely chap but, just sayin'.

 Waiting for the lock. A bit tardy this one. We pressed the call button, called up on Vhf 86 AND phoned the telephone number until eventually it opened.

When we did get in, the drop down to the polder was 5m.

This morning started blustery so we decided to head into the polder and take the canal route north instead of carrying on up the relatively unprotected Randomeer. It certainly was calmer, but, oh so boring. A ruler straight canal through open farmlands without the lovely woods and national park that you get on the south side of the polder. At one point we did find ourselves in a couple of kms of forest and noticed enticing trails through the trees. We stopped at the first opportunity, put the bikes ashore and took a lovely hour ride.

The only bend in today's canal through the noord Flevoland Polder.

Tulip fields were a colourful break in the monotonous canal.

Back on board we consulted maps and decided to push on through to the Ijssel and take a left at Kampen into the Ganzendiep where we found a nice mooring after a few kms of houseboats. It was quite a long day for us, 50km in all, and tomorrow morning we will reward ourselves with a bike ride back down to Kampen, which, according to Wiki has one of the best preserved medieval town centers in the country. It will be sunday and the shops will be closed but there should be almost no traffic.

There are few things cuter than Cootie babies.

This lovely old lady sailed past on on the Ijssel.

Amersfoort to the Randomeer

Brrrrr ….. chilly today. A crisp 10 degrees outside. We're expecting it to be dry but overcast all day so have a dull day planned for the Randomeer later. Our friendly harbour master waved us a cheery farewell as he opened the two bridges for us leading downstream from Amersfoort. 'See you next time!" he called. And we liked Amersfoort a lot so there may well be a next time.

This is the Lady Tower in the medieval centre of Amersfoort. It was completed in 1300. According to Mr Google, it used to have a church attached, as one would expect, however that "exploded" in 1757 leaving the tower on its own. I would really like to know how it "exploded", but they are a bit vague on that. It is the tallest medieval tower in the Netherlands. 

I can tell you with some confidence that the navigable River Eems is 17,9 kms as the river is marked, helpfully, every 100ms, and all along the river fowl are busy fixing up nests and sitting on eggs. A couple of families of geese have already hatched, but most of the parents are still incubating their babies. It's going to be real cute around here in a couple of weeks.

Even with my long johns and 4 layers on my top half, it was pretty chilly so I stayed below for the most part with my hot water bottle which I was able to top up every now and then from the hot tap in the galley. The calorifier (sic)/hotwater heater that Skip installed last year after I had left the boat is BRILLIANT. Hot hot water on tap 24 hours a day. No more doing dishes in cold greasy water - ugh - and nice LONG hot showers. We had a 10ltr electric water heater before, but it chomped up the batteries so we tried to only use it when we were hooked up to shore power. The new one is either electric or heats up from the engine as we are underway.

We are now moored up on a tiny island 32kms up the Randomeer from the Eems turnoff where we will spend the night. Our plans for the next few weeks are deliberately vague as the only plan is to have no plan and go as we please.

Now, don't our new cushions look comfy and inviting?

Moored up on the island in the middle of the Randomeer. This is obviously a popular spot in summer, judging by the beach with water slides and all the bbq pits. The white sailboat behind us just pulled in with a rather harassed looking chap and nine 7 or 8-yr-old girls on board. 

Amersfoort

The lovely sunny morning called for a walk so we headed into the old town for a stroll and some window shopping. Skip pushed his bike and eventually left me to find a tool to change/clean the gas jet which I had bunged up by letting my oatmeal boil over. 

The River Eems is only navigable up to Amersfoort with this weir preventing further travel.

Like magic, my feet directed me to the C & A for a good browse. Naturally I came out with a bag, although not a very big one as we only have hand luggage this trip.  This is such a pretty town to wander around, with narrow canals and alleys opening up to church squares ringed with cafes and art shops. Great way to pass the morning. 

The other side of the Waterpoort.

...and just 'cos it's a nice pic of me (a rarity),
here's a close-up :) :) :)

Skip and I met up again in a cafe serving up BBQ pulled pork sandwiches which he had spotted earlier and declared today's lunch spot. "Good choice!" he informed me. I had soup :(

Skip's bike nav system. No more getting lost.

After lunch we consulted the maps and plotted a bike ride out to 'Kleine Zwitzerland'. The bumpf had waxed lyrical about the forest trails and the Amerfoortse Berg (mountain). 

"Really!! A Mountain??" Skip asked. "This we gotta see."

Well, more like a little bit of a hill - 40m high we later found out. Still, if you live in such a flat country, I guess that 40m is something to take note of. Twas indeed a nice ride, though.

Kleine Zwitzerland woods.

We collected a few more beers on the way home.

Mmmmmmm  ............

Amersfoort

The morning started out drizzly and cold as we headed through the first bridge and up the River Eems. The first boat we passed was an enormous barge headed downriver at quite a lick, in reverse, as the river is too narrow for them to turn around. They seem to go backwards just as well as they go forwards. We stayed well clear. 

Moored up in Amersfoort.

The lower reaches of the river are undergoing works on the banks and dykes and there were dredgers and work barges busy busy for a couple of km's, narrowing the already narrow river to a single file. We were quite grumpy that NONE of them were displaying the correct day-time signals (i.e. combination of black balls and cones for "work vessels unable to manouevre pass on the side of the cones"). Now, normally this would not bother us in the slightest, except we had just had to spend weeks learning all this crap to pass the ICC test.

A very friendly chap lifted the last two bridges into town for us and then met us at the quay. Turns out he is the havenmeester and he presented us with a nice shopping bag full of maps, bumpf, yachting mag, haven guide etc (and a packet of mints, for some reason). The habour fee for a boat our size is 11 euros, water, electricity and wifi included, AND to my delight a laundry with washer and dryer included in the harbour fees. Now that is a good deal! As Skip had left a bag of dirty laundry from LAST year (!!!), I made that my first stop and set it all going while we put the bikes ashore and took a ride around town. Very attractive old town center with the usual modern outskirts.

The Waterpoort into the old town. The boat is 100m away. And, yes, As it was grey and miz when we arrived, I pinched this picture off the internet.

There is an Ikea close by and as we were looking for some knobs to match the existing ones (which we knew came from ikea) we headed the couple of kms out of town to find it. Skip attached our new tablet/phone brackets onto the handlebars which Santa had brought us (thanks Allan!) so we found it with no problem.  We also came home with some cushions for the aft deck and a pot plant for the cockpit.

By now the sun was out and we spent a glorious couple of hours on the aft deck watching the scene while enjoying some smoked mackrel and a Kasteel Triple, which turned out to have 11% alcohol (for beer!!!!), so we stuck to one.

BBQ for dinner, natch.

Strandhorst to Zeewolde to the River Eems

You will have to forgive my lazy ass. I really couldn't be bothered with the blog the last couple of days since we got here. Mind you, it has been somewhat busy.

After a couple of delays getting luggage out of Schipol Airport, we eventually got to the boat around 5pm, an hour later than planned. And yes, we did go with only hand baggage but they asked for volunteers with big hand luggage to please put them in the hold and we foolishly agreed. Turns out those bags get put in with the cargo and are dished out last, about 45 minutes after the rest of the bags. Grrrrrr. Lesson learnt. Never again.

Hmmm - "What shall I try next?"
There are 8 buffet tables like this at the Wok Inn as well as the grill and wok stations. Sooooooooooo much choice.

Took Skip and hour and five minutes to get the boat back in order (de-winterizing) and we were sitting on the aft deck with the first beer. And, as we had not yet done any provisioning, we wandered the 100m up the dock to our favourite asian buffet, the Wok Inn. YUM YUM.

Monday we had a really early start as we were meeting the RYA instructor across the river at Zeewolde at 10am to do the ICC boat licence assessment. We didn't have to do the course as Skip has, ahem, enough experience so went straight to the assessment. The ICC is something we have to have if we want to go anywhere other than the Netherlands. Michiel was a lovely chap and we spent most of the time chatting and drinking coffee. Skip sailed through the requested manouevers and the three of us ended up at the McDonalds eating burgers instead. :) :) :)

After an hour at the Lidl and Albert Heijn we went back across the randomeer to Strandhorst for the night.

Skip taking advantage of a rare sunny spell to scrub poop off the aft platform. 

This morning we left port for proper and are now tied up just before the first bridge on the charming River Eems on our way up to Amersfoort. We are expecting a couple more days of rain showers, so decided that Amersfoort would be a nice place to hang out til the weather clears.

Our first 'mooring' away from home port - just before the first bridge on the River Eems.

Thanks to everyone who is helping back home. Much appreciated.  ALSO don't forget, you can click on the photos to make them bigger.

31 August

Nieuwegen to Utrecht

 

Hmmm, it was OK, but I would'nt bother with Nieuwegen again. In hindsight we should have carried on the extra 5km to Utrecht. We'll know if there is ever a next time.

 

 

The mooring at Nieuwegen. This photo carefully excludes the busy road a spit away from the boat and a bit old ugly factory just out of shot.

 

 

Interestingly, at the last-but-one lock into Utrecht, the lock keeper handed us a map and booklet on the city with the boat routes through town marked. On our previous visits, we have had the impression that the route through the Oudegracht was not exactly encouraged. Nothing overt, but it was only consulting an obscure blog that we discovered that it was permitted, albeit with the low 3.25 clearance many boats would be unable to use it. But now, here was the route touted as an opportunity to experience the historic old city from the water.

 

 

Zoe moored in Utrecht.

 

Anyhow, that is for tomorrow. For tonight we are moored up in our favourite "city mooring" right in the centre of town. Astonishingly, the overnight mooring fees are now 12,00 euros, electricity included. Last year, it was 16,00. I also remember last year the fees were collected by a bloke on a bicycle who knocked, loudly, on the boat at 7.30am. Now one pays at a pay-and-display meter. Not often a price goes down.

 

Our first stop was to the Media Markt in the Hoog Catarine mall. This is their bike park.

 

 

This visit, we took a bike tour of the old town - down narrow cobbled streets, past the beautiful old university buildings, through student-thronged squares until we ended up lingering at a streetside café with a couple of drinks.

 

Aren't they beautiful! We dutifully walked on past.

 

We stopped in a square for a drink. Note the 0% beer for me :)  - also note I was too lazy to even get up and take the photo :) :)

 

The Oudegracht is a narrow 10m wide canal that passes right through the heart of old Utrecht.

 

A quiet section of the Oudegracht.

 

There are 16 arched bridges with a maximum clearance at the top of the arch of 3.25 m. The canal is popular with canoists and tour boats, so one has to keep a keen eye out. About halfway down, the stadshuisbrug is more of a tunnel than a bridge with a sharp bend in it. You toot your horn as you enter and listen out if anyone toots back, indicating someone may be coming the other way.

 

I took this photo standing on top of the Stadhuisbrug/tunnel. We'll be passing underneath here tomorrow.

 

The canal-sides, where once were wharves and warehouses,  are now packed with bars and restaurants, tables and chairs right to the canal edge. Very popular on summer afternoons.

 

One of the reasons we love the Utrecht moorings, is the constant beauty parade of dogs on their walkies. Although I'm not too sure if this tubby pudding would win any beauty prizes (but I would vote for him!).