Tuesday 11th May 2004 Jentje Meer to Opeinde

Chart of Friesland lakes (from sailchartersneek website)

9.7° C overnight. Overcast, cold and windy. It was a chilly 14° C in the cabin first thing. We needed to do some washing, so Mike put the pins in, but the Markon was misbehaving and not putting out its correct voltage. First we tried plugging in the ceramic heater to put extra load on. When the little heater’s thermostat switched off the washer refused to work, the relays buzzed or chattered because the voltage was too low for them. I found my hairdryer out and plugged that in (which worked well as it ran continuously) and managed to finish the washing. We headed north through the the two little lakes, Jentje meer and Langstaarten poel, then crossed the almost deserted Sneekermeer to join the Prinses Margriet Kanaal as far as Grouw, before turning off on to the Pikmeer, heading south for a while, then looping back eastwards on the Wijde of Peanster Ee and then took the southern, narrower route to the Kromme Ee, the Wijde Ee and then the Smalle Ee towards Drachten. 

Sailing tjalks on Sneeker Meer - pic from Groot Sneek website

The route around a large island of sand had changed yet again and Mike noted on the echo sounder that the newly formed lake was over 20m deep. We headed north on the Opeinder Vaart, a very narrow canal after all the lakes and moored at 2 p.m. at the passantenhaven in Opeinde. The old brick quay was just long enough for our two boats. It fronted several large buildings now housing a garage’s repair shops, but it used to be a dairy according to the ever-useful Deel 2 almanak. Nearby a factory chimney spewed a continuous column of steam into the air. Tractors were delivering loads of newly mown grass to be converted into cattle pellets. Mike fetched the car while I got on with the chores and cooked chicken and mushrooms in cream sauce for dinner. Watched “Corrie” then Mike dismantled the Markon and discovered that the 47 µF capacitor that is instrumental in producing the field current (420/470V -  physical size 95mm long x 50mm dia and not something that he keeps as a spare) had failed, its innards were spilling out. Now where to source a replacement?