Woudsend to Lemmer via Sneek

10th April

Awoke to a calm and misty morning.   We had enjoyed our brief stay in Woudsend.  We zig-zagged our way towards the Heegermeer (half a dozen 90 degree bends), through Heeg itself and then through the town of IJlst where we thought we had arrived in Spain:

By now it really was a flat calm:

The channel became quite narrow in the middle of this old town, which appeared to us to be worth the visit some other time, with a sharp turn just before the lifting bridge and moored boats either side.

Another couple of miles and we were in the middle of Sneek.   By pure chance we arrived at the first lifting bridge just as it was opening for two other boats so we, er, sneaked in behind them, went under another two lifting bridges and popped out the other side heading E towards the Sneekermeer.  This time we didn't stop, but Sneek is a 'must visit' place.   But not, so we are informed, during 'Sneek Week'.   It's probably like 'Cowes Week' in the UK -  i.e. completely manic and you are barely able to see the water for boats.  Even this early in the season, the town looked pretty busy to us and there were significantly more vessels in the area.

We then turned S back down the Prinses Margriet Canal and in due course, arrived at our berth back in Lemmer in time for apéros on deck in the warm evening sun.

/Rich

Short cruise

8/9th April 2015

Short cruise.   In fact a very short cruise on Wednesday - about 3 nautical miles from Lemmer to the little town of Sloten.    Cool and overcast but little wind.   The harbour at Sloten is called Lemsterpoort and these people run the main marina as well as overseeing the public moorings in and around the small town.   Just before the marina there are two long fixed pontoons with shore access.   We chose the one nearer the town.  No facilities and very peaceful.   Overnight fee €1 per metre.

With the boat secure, we walked into the town via the harbourmaster's office.   It's a great place!   Very historic with a good museum and some restaurants.  There is also a small supermarket.

The canal (above) running through the centre is navigable but there are fixed bridges with low airdraft.   It would be great to come in by dinghy on a warm summer's evening for dinner, or just a drink, in the historic centre as the walk takes about 10 minutes.

There is a large and rather ugly factory just N of the bridge which, strangely enough, didn't seem to intrude too much.   It makes milk powder.

Just beside our mooring was a grebe sitting on her nest.

Next morning was flat calm (nearly) and warm for the first time this year.   What a difference.

We crossed the Slotermeer on the way to Woudsend; only about 3nm.   One interesting issue we found was that our Raymarine chart plotter was putting us about 15m outside the buoyed channel to port, and the Navionics system on the iPad was putting us about 15m outside the channel to starboard.   Odd, as they are usually accurate to about 2 metres - especially the Navionics system.  It's all very shallow around here - the depth of water in the buoyed channel is only 2m; outside is is variable down to 1.1m. One Dutch phrase worth knowing - "buiten de vaargeul"; 'variable depths'.

Anyway, we duly arrived in Woudsend without dragging the keel through the putty.  Through the bridge and moored at the JH [Yacht harbour] De Rakken on a very pleasant Spring afternoon.

Time for relaxing in the warm sunshine.

/Rich

Delivery Trip

March/April 2015

After a check-over of the various systems, we were set to leave our winter berth in Elburg.   Our destination is Lemmer in Friesland where we will be based until October.

In spite of the cold and wet weather, it was great to be back on board once more and on the move.   We  arrived at the Roggebotsluis at 1230 for a 1300 transit.   In fact the lock was prepared early and we were through by 1250, joined by one commercial, one sailing boat and one very small cabin cruiser.

Winds, as forecast, were about 20kts gusting 30 from the W and NW so the closer we got to the Ketelmeer the windier it became, and on the nose.   Turning N across the mouth of the Ijsselmeer to leave an E Cardinal to port, we then shaped a NW'ly course for the entrance of the Ramsdiep, arriving (late) at our first bridge.   We were soon through the second bridge at Vollenhove and arrived at Blokzijl at 1630.   Still cold and very windy.   We moored up on a fixed pontoon at the N end of the harbour.

That evening we had a short respite from the wind.

It didn't last.   Next morning it was blowing again with worse to come.   We decided to stay in Blokzijl for another four nights while the storm worked itself out.   The harbour is fully surrounded by buildings with a guard lock at one end and a conventional lock at the other.  This is the view from the guard lock to the other, and the lifting bridge beyond.

The guard lock is "never closed".  Well, at the height of the storm, they closed it:

By this time we had moved from our fixed pontoon to the floating ones on the W side of the harbour in anticipation of a rise in water level.

We had gusts of 66 knots according to the weather monitor in Blokzijl;  Pirramimma was secured by a cat's cradle of lines.

1st April.

We decided to move.   On 1st April the locks and bridges become fully manned which saves the (for us) challenging task of phoning an automated call centre to book transit times. The forecast was now predicting a force 5, gusting 7 so, abandoning our idea of stopping at a pleasant 'nature mooring' for the night, we decided that we would motor non stop to Lemmer.   

By 1005 on 1st April we were through the lock in Blokzijl in rather more benign conditions.

Once out of the shelter of the town, the wind never dropped below 20 knots and it was often a lot more.   

On the advice of a friend of ours, we went through the Kalenbergergracht in the Weerribben National Park.   Fabulous place; we will return in warmer conditions.   

Actually, we did stop once - for fuel at Echtenerbrug.

… where it was still blowing, with surprisingly rough water:

Across the Tjeukemeer, turning S into the Prinses Margriet Canal and into the yacht harbour Lemmer Binnen.

/Rich.