Friday 11th - Sunday 13th June 2004 Nieuwolda to Langebrug.

Friday 11th June 2004 Nieuwolda to Langebrug.

Zwaaagsterklap liftbridge - photo by Jaap Elevelt

15.7° C Windy, sunny spells, white scudding clouds plus a few grey ones. Heavy showers during the night. Set off back down the Termunterzijldiep at 9.15 a.m. following Rosy. After we’d gone through ‘t Waar I made a cuppa. Two cruisers saw us coming, untied and pulled out right in front of Bill at Nieuwe Scheemda. We followed them and caught up at the first of the two movable bridges. They were having trouble with the swingbridge, Tichelwaardsdraai, so we hovered under the busy A7 motorway bridge. One cruiser went through, then we followed, leaving the other cruiser’s crew to close the bridge. The woman off the other cruiser lifted the Zwaagsterklap liftbridge, which meant we were both in front of the cruisers. I said to Bill when we got to the lock that I felt a bit guilty at having the lock when they were in front. 

t'Waar - photo by Rens van Stralen

He said I shouldn’t as they had rushed to get out in front of him and swung out almost across his bows to be first, which had now backfired on them. One of the skippers came up on the lockside and asked how long our boats were. The lock was only 25m long by 6m wide, so they had no chance of locking with us. I walked on to lift the bridge on the bend. The lock filled and the gates opened, but Bill had trouble getting his key out, so he swopped keys with the bloke off the cruiser. They were heading for Groningen - the opposite direction to us. Bill went through the bridge, then Mike followed him and picked me up. We carried on to join the Winschoterdiep, turning left into Scheemda. It was 11.30 a.m. as we dropped ropes round bollards at Eexterbrug to wait for the keeper. 

t'Waar - photo by Yvonne Quispel

We expected him to be on his lunch break and I went in to make a sandwich. Ten minutes later he arrived with a boat coming from the opposite direction. He let us through before lowering the bridge when there was no sign of movement on Rosy. We couldn’t raise Bill, so Rosy remained on the far side of the bridge until 1.00 p.m. Bill had been listening to the cricket on Radio Four (probably with headphones on). After lunch the keeper returned and let Bill and a cruiser through Eexterbrug. He kept the cruiser waiting to go through the next two bridges, Graaf Adolfbrug and Kloosterbrug, but it was well ahead of us at Beertsterbrug (the busy road bridge into Winschoten) so he let them through the bridge and closed it after them, reopening it again for us when we arrived five minutes later. 

Be Burcht at Wedde - photo by Frits Knappen

The wind was blowing very hard as we caught up with the cruiser again, who was waiting for the railway swingbridge to reopen after lunch at 2.00 p.m. Mike put the bows into the wind and we waited. No trains this time and the bridge swung to let us through at 2.10 p.m. The cruiser turned off right down the Pekel Aa and we went on to drop down Bulsterverlaat diy lock and turned right under the low bridge on to the Westerwoldse Aa. We moored next to the old quay at Langebrug at 3.30 p.m. and Mike went off on the moped to collect the car. A small cruiser went past just after we’d tied up, ideal to test our mooring lines. The news was full of former US president Ronald Reagan’s funeral in Washington (he’d died at the age of 93 after succumbing to Alzeimer’s disease in his later years) and also Labour’s huge losses in the local elections in England. A couple of blokes had arrived by car earlier in the evening and set up to fish on opposite banks of the canal right by the boat - they didn’t pack up and leave (noisily) until midnight.

Saturday 12th June 2004 Langebrug.

11.3° C The weather was getting colder again. Heavy showers, with brief sunny spells later in the afternoon. Mike was undecided on whether to go to the library in Winschoten on the moped or go in the car. He spoke to Bill, who also wanted to go to the library, so they went in the car. He was glad that they did, as it started to pour with rain five minutes after they left. I got on with the chores. They were back at lunchtime having spent some time in Praxis (DIY) and had called in Wedde to look at the mooring at the end of the navigable Westerwoldse Aa. We’d had a confirmation e-mail from World Wide Telecom with the dial up numbers for their callback service. After lunch Mike took Bill to have a look at a junk shop Bill had spotted on the B.L.Tijdens Kanaal near Bellingwolde. Bill came back with a book and a postcard. Mike tried using the new callback system to ‘phone Mum and Dad and got their answering machine – just our luck when we wanted to test the new system. I made Indonesian fried rice with chicken for dinner.

Sunday 13th June 2004 Langebrug.

Aerial view of Bourtange - photo by Amauri Brandalise

12.1° C Grey and chilly with a cold wind blowing. Set off just after 10.00 a.m. in the car to visit Bourtange, a fortified border village, as Mike and Bill had been told that they fire a cannon at midday on Sundays. Parked the car (vehicles are not allowed in the village) and had a walk around the inside battlements of the star shaped fortress. Bill had brought Fanny and she had a good time chasing her tennis ball up and down the inside slopes of the earthworks. Bill tested (well, not literally, he sat on one of the seats) a reproduction gardrobe - a toilet shed with seats and holes over the moat. When we got back to the residential area, a stall was being set up in the middle of the village square which had a notice that said that the firing of the cannon would be at 15.00 - 3 p.m. Mike said we’d come back next Sunday! We went to have a look at the moorings. We called at the junkshop, Curioso, on the way back. Mike and I went in for a look round while Bill stayed outside with Fanny (the woman in the shop said he could have brought her inside as they had dogs too). 

Bourtange - photo by glamgrids

The junkshop was a in a large shed next to a house facing the canal. They had all sorts of old junk and some nice bits of collectible stuff. Bill had been tempted the day before by an old brass blow lamp, but they wanted 35 Euros (about £23) for it and it was not guaranteed to work. Mike gave up (he’s not a shopper and certainly not a fan of junk shops, unlike me) and went to chat to Bill. I bought a small plain white cream jug with Maastricht on the base for 3€ and a Bitburger stone beer mug for 1€ (thought it would make a nice present for Ray when we go back to GB next). Back home for lunch. Engine and Markon on and did some washing. First load for Bill, then two loads for us, pre-soaked jeans then whites. Mike went for nap and I did the ironing. He’d missed the qualy for the Canadian Grand Prix, by misreading the time on the programme guide, thought it was midday and it must have been midnight. He watched some American Nascar racing and then cricket. I mended a pair of my jeans. Cooked an apple pie with a Dutch pastry mix. The oven was on so I put sausages and some pork in the oven too and did veg to go with them for dinner. Custard with the hot apple pie for afters. The football competition Euro 2004 was being held in Portugal. Mike watched  England playing the cup holders France. We were winning 1 - 0 until the last two minutes of injury time when Zinedan scored two goals for France to win 2 - 1!