Plan Change

3 & 4 August 2015

One of the reasons for coming this far East was to visit the city of Groningen.  We thought that four or five days in the city would be good, but after a bit of back-of-fag-packet calculating, we thought that if we wanted to keep doing our leisurely meandering that we had done thus far, we would be getting a bit shot of time for this trip.   So we decided to save Groningen for another time and, when we arrived at the junction of the Reitdiep with the Starkenburgh Canal, we turned to starboard (west) instead of heading south to Groningen.   

We are continually amazed that in what is a relatively small 'flat' country, the scenery changes so much and so often over here.   This could be central France:

By 1315 we had reached the lock at Gaarkeuken which we shared with a large (100 metre) commercial and two other plaisanciers:

In the lock the wind dropped to zero and it was 29C in the shade; suddenly it became very hot.   We motored on, thinking about somewhere to stop but nowhere really appealed.   Eventually we decided to continue to the Alde Feanen where we were two weeks ago (although it felt like two months!)    

We like these little 'bolt holes' that are fairly common along the waterways here;  they can vary from glorified umbrellas to quite substantial constructions.

So, after 6.5 hours and 32 nautical miles, we arrive at the island on Alde Feanen.   Our mooring was slightly to the north of our previous one, se we were alongside one of the plastic pontoons again (no problem with that) instead of the grassy bank.   Beautiful calm evening.

We stayed two nights here.   The forecast for 4th was rain and wind.   It actually rained non stop for ten hours but at 1900, pretty much on the dot, the clouds vanished and we enjoyed a clear sunny evening although the wind remained blowing about F4-5 until late.

/Rich

Out of Friesland

2 August 2015

We stayed two nights at the marina in Oostmahorn at a cost of €15.40 per night.  Water and electricity, if required, are extra.

At 0930 we left the marina in beautiful weather.   The meer is about a mile wide in places so we had a bit of old-fashioned pilotage to do, navigating from buoy to buoy.  

… quite a change from the narrow canals and rivers…

We were aiming to find a nature mooring to stop for lunch, and at 1315 we found one with just enough room for us between two other vessels.   We are now out of Friesland and into the Province of Groningen.

The mooring was such a nice place that we decided to stay there for the night.   There was no pontoon, just linked posts, so we were unable to go ashore onto what was very clearly private farmland.   We did have a visit from the locals.

What little wind there was dropped away in the evening and we enjoyed another beautiful sunset.

/Rich

Dokkum to the Lauwersmeer

31 July - 1 August 2015

Time to leave Dokkum.  We liked this little town and fully intend to return for further exploring.  Especially the restaurants.

The weather had improved and we had a light westerly this morning; overcast with bits of sun here and there.   We wanted to use one of the harbour's hosepipes to fill the water tanks but there are only 4 dotted around the place, and not easy to reach.   However, as a lot of boats had left, we were hopeful of finding a place to moor close to one of the water points.   Sure enough, just around the corner there was in fact plenty of space so we went alongside and filled the tanks.

We were soon through the last bridge and heading E out of Dokkum along an attractive waterway which looked at times a bit like the upper Thames, of all places.   We passed maybe 30 yachts all in a line and all going westbound, which became a bit tiring after the first 10 … everyone waves at each other when passing!   This waterway is part of the Standing Mast Route with effectively unlimited airdraft ('headroom') all the way from Germany - almost the Kiel Canal - to Amsterdam and south to Rotterdam, enabling yachts to transit from the Baltic to the eastern English Channel without having to sail round the top of Holland or deal with the issues of the southern North Sea.   It will take you much longer, but you do go through some lovely countryside.   The limiting factor is the depth of water.

Anyway, by 1345 we were through the lock at Dokkumer Nieuwe Zijlen and, 2 or 3 miles later, out into the relatively open water of the Lauwersmeer:

Arrived at the marina in Oostmahorn at about 1500 to a warm and sunny afternoon.   We are only about a mile or so from the Wadden Sea and we could smell the salt in the air.   The marina has a restaurant attached to it so we decided to eat there tonight.   The name of the restaurant is Het Raadsel van de Wadden, better known to English speakers as 'The Riddle of the Sands':

The novel was of course set in the German Friesian islands rather then the Dutch ones, but what's wrong with a bit of creative marketing?   The food, by the way, was excellent.   As was the Heineken.   Maybe we went a bit overboard with the sweet selection .  Oink.

/Rich

Dokkum

27 - 30 July 2015

Last night's mooring was only about 4 miles from the town of Dokkum so we had a short and easy leg today - so we thought.   In fact it was pretty windy and we were held up by the bridges into Dokkum.   There were three of us waiting for the first bridge to open, jiggling about in a narrow canal in windy conditions.   Unusually, there was nowhere obvious to moor up while waiting, so we milled about for 15 minutes waiting for the 'bridge man' to do his stuff.  Once through the first bridge, it became clear why there was a delay - one man was attending to the two bridges 300 metres apart, cycling between them in, today, high winds and lashing rain.   He was still cheerful when collecting his bruggeld - €5 for both bridges.

This photo shows us moored up directly in front of one of the two windmills, with the 'second bridge' just closing:

In fact we were lucky to get this spot; when we came through this 'second bridge' it was clear that the harbour was almost full, although we could see two free places in front of us. We hoped that the two boats we had followed into the harbour would carry on, but one of them, a small German-flagged sailing boat, grabbed both slots by mooring, or attempting to moor, in the middle.   We could see that in fact she had gone aground a metre or so from the bank.  They didn't appear to be moving much, so we continued slowly past the all the town moorings, turned at the third and final bridge and motored back up the harbour hoping that someone might be leaving.   No luck.   We had to return to the first basin to be able to spin around, but saw that the yacht had by now managed to shift herself through the putty, leaving a gap wide enough (just) for us.

Dokkum is a lovely town - even if it was a bit damp.   The notes in the log read:

        27 July.  Rain, rain, rain.

        28 July.  Rain, wind, rain

        30 July.  Rain squalls.

        31 July.  Intermittent rain, sunny in the evening.

We grabbed some pictures during the dry periods:

As sightseeing and "wandering around in the sunshine eating ice-cream" wasn't going to happen on this visit, I took the opportunity of changing the oil and filter on the generator.   Oil change; no problem.  Filter change … um.   Before leaving the UK on this trip, I had contacted the Fischer Panda HQ in Verwood, Dorset to obtain some spares, giving them full details of the generator model including the engine number (it's a Kubota engine).   The guy appeared to know what he was talking about so I bought three HH152-32532 filters.   When I unscrewed the old filter it was immediately obvious that the new one was too big:

The difference in radius is about 1cm but there is a non-moveable pipe and electrical cable right next to the filter:

… so the old one had to go back on until the correct ones could be found.   

/Rich

NE from Leeuwarden

26 July 2015

The storm vanished as fast as it arrived.   We were on the move by 1030 heading NE towards Dokkum.   This is on the N outskirts of Leeuwarden:

After a couple of miles, we were in open country - what a change from yesterday…

We had decided to stop at one more nature mooring before we reached Dokkum so by 1330 we were moored at a Marrekrite pontoon (LM 18) and watching a rapidly changing sky:

What a strange afternoon … the weather alternated between mirror-flat calm to 35 knots within a few seconds and then back to flat calm again.   And more heavy rain.  This went on until late evening.   At this same time we were looking at the weather in S France where some friends were … it was averaging 35C and sometimes over 40 - at night and no breeze.  Perhaps we were actually better off.   Only later did we learn that it had been so hot and dry over there that the canals were being closed because of lack of water, trapping any vessel which hadn't escaped.   Not so funny.   

We were cozy - gezellig - an important word in Dutch. 

Although it looked like we were in a field next to a river, ...

…we were actually on a pontoon which, by the way, are made of recycled plastic.   They are solid as a rock, don't rot and not covered in slippery green slime.   Brilliant.

/Rich

Running for shelter

24 July 2015

The Captain (V) had been watching the weather systems on WindFinder and had noticed that there was a Big Storm building up and forecast to arrive in Friesland within about 30 hours.   We thought it a good idea to head for the city of Leeuwarden rather then be exposed on a nature mooring, so at 0900 we started the engine and rather than use the bow thruster (which is annoyingly noisy) we moved off the mooring by the simple and silent method of leaning on the boathook until we were far enough into clear water to be able to motor off. 

We arrived at about noon in still calm and warm weather.   By the evening it was still 20C and almost no wind, although light drizzle had started.

However, the warnings were accurate.  By next morning pressure had dropped 28mb in as many hours, but it was still warm with almost no wind.   The calm before the storm.   It began to drizzle gently at 1600 but at 1630 someone flicked a switch.  Within a few seconds the wind went from 4 knots to 40.   And with torrential rain.

Having been in Leeuwarden earlier in the year, we knew that we would rather not be in the park area because of the overhanging trees, so Veronica had chosen a mooring alongside the wall just after the entrance to the Historic Harbour.  Good choice - the morning after the storm we took a walk around the park and there were a lot of broken branches on the ground with boats covered in twigs and leaves.

/Rich

Return to Pirramimma

23 July 2015

We returned to Lemmer towards the end of June; very glad to be back 'home'.   We had a few visitors as I was getting the dinghy ready:

One of which tried to use the painter as a resting place:

By 1100 we were ready to depart for our destination that evening which was to be one of the Marrekrite moorings on an island just E of Grou and just W of the village of Earnewâld.   On our way we passed at least half a dozen large commercial vessels:

The mooring we had chosen is in a National Park.   It is a beautiful place, in spite of being very popular, with many vessels choosing to use the excellent pontoons and grassed mooring areas.   A lot of the boats had dogs and cats on board but these were never a problem - everyone is careful to clear up their animal poop - usually by flicking it into the water…

The island has a circular walk, which we did.   In various places there are signs giving information about the diverse flora and fauna that can be found here.

By 1600 most of the available space was taken, which I would guess means there must have been 50 or 60 vessels parked up around the island with a couple rafted up here and there.   We were very happy with our position on the W side of the island as we had the benefit of the evening sun, and another spectacular sunset.

/Rich

Leeuwarden to Jirnsum

18 June 2015

Retracing our steps (wake?) for the first few miles, we left the interesting city of Leeuwarden and, unlike our arrival, managed to go through the four lifting bridges without much delay.  Cool and overcast today with a W-NW wind blowing at about F4.

Just S of Leeuwarden we decided to take a slight dog-leg onto a stretch of water called Lange Meer - "Long Lake" which pretty well describes it.   In the distance we spotted the very distinctive WOBs flag [Women on Barges, a web-based group of which Veronica is a member].  It turned out to be Yavanna with Vickie and Max on board.

The wind was blowing straight down the channel and Max and I were having, er, great fun attempting to hold the boats in position while the lassies chatted…

After re-joining the PMK, which is the main commercial route through this part of the Netherlands, we headed back towards Jirnsum.   On a whim, I decided to take another detour, just for fun - two sides of a triangle  - and what do we spot in the distance?   Another Aussie ensign and WOB, this time Jean & Phil on Sojourn.  Also, like Max & Vickie, from Perth, WA.   

So Phil & I did our boat jiggling dance while the WOBs chatted.   Small world.    

Back onto the PMK again, through the town of Grou and shortly afterwards, a 90º turn to starboard up to Jirmsum where we moored at the yard that built Pirramimma, Boarnstream.   Mooring €16.50 inc. electricity and WiFi which is a discount from their normal rates.   Not sure why we were given a discount; maybe because we are 'home' at the builder's yard.   Very nice anyway.

Two nights at the Boarnstream yard and then a return to our homeport of Lemmer.

/Rich

Wergea to Leeuwarden

15 June 2015

Up reasonably early (for us) to have a walk around the town, five minutes from the mooring, pausing only to try the swings that the friendly farmer had installed for the adults children.

   We had managed to choose a Monday which meant that the place was … closed.    Hardly a soul about.   The Spar mini-supermarket was the only place open so we went in and bought some nectarines, fruit loaf and bread rolls - all excellent.

Back to the boat for a quick coffee and then slipped the mooring for the short trip to Leeuwarden.   We kept the engine revs to about 1000 which gave us 4 knots of peacefully quiet motoring.    

Under one of those amazing bridges the Dutch construct:

… to arrive in the centre of town for a late lunch.  And what a great location.

/Rich

Wergea

14 June 2015

This morning the wind had eased considerably so we slipped the mooring at 0915 and headed N towards Sâltpoel just S of Terherne to see our friends on 'Harmonie'.   After coffee with them we continued our trip through the E side of Terherne - pausing to photograph 'Rompslomp' owned by other Dutch friends of ours.

Taking the scenic route, we went through Akkrum, via Grou to our overnight mooring at the small town of Wergea.   We were told about a location on the W side of the town, owned by the local farmer, where there are some alongside moorings but without any facilities.   No problem; we thought this would be fine for us, and it was.   Very simple, but a great place.   Reminded me of the upper Thames - that is, the Thames above Oxford, for some reason.

The farmer duly arrived to collect his mooring fee which should have been €0.50/m (€7 for us) but he charged us €5 "because the weather is so bad…"   How about that?   We also received a 'goody bag' presumably supplied by the town's tourist office which contained two cookies from the local baker, a notepad, coloured pencils and a picture to colour in for the crew children, plus other items, all in a small blue shopping bag.   Brilliant!

By 20.00hrs it was cold, wet and windy so we decided to forget a BBQ and cook on board.   Started the generator but after a couple of minutes the engine shut down automatically (fortunately…).   I wasn't sure why this had occurred so re-started the engine.   Auto shut down again almost immediately.   This time I was watching the control board and noticed that the 'over temperature' alarm light came on briefly.   From that it was a quick and easy diagnosis of a failed raw water impeller, but it took me the best part of an hour to replace it.

Old and new impeller:

So, a somewhat delayed dinner that evening but we did have a spectacular sunset.

/Rich