Sunday 7th August 2005 Oldenzijl to Middelstum south.

Rosy winding in the reeds on Uithuizermeester

8º C Cold, sunny spells, breezy, rain later. Mike was up at 4.30 a.m. retying the boat. Some nasty person had lifted our stern ropes off the mooring pins and untied our bow rope too. The noise of our bows bumping Rosy had woken Mike. They’d undone Rosy’s stern ropes, but hadn’t been able to get to the bows as Bill had looped a rope round the post supporting the rubbish bin and his bows were not near the bank. That’s the first time ever that that has happened since we’ve been on Continental

Houseboats

waterways. It was only 13º C when we set off in reverse at 9 a.m. We only just turned the boat in the outflow of a field drain, forcing the stern fenders through the tall reeds, being careful that the headlight didn’t catch the footpath bridge over the drain, but the depth was insufficient for the bows to go that far up the drain. Waited while Bill turned Rosy and set off again at 10.20 a.m. heading back “upstream” on the former tidal creek. We saw no other signs of life than a lone fisherman sitting atop a section of reedless bank by the road bridge. We arrived back at the

Storm clouds gathering

junction with the Boterdiep at 11 a.m. After a half hour wait the keeper came to swing the bridge at Doodstil and we carried on following Rosy back through Kantens back to Middelstum. We tied next to Rosy at 12.45 p.m. by the bridge north of Middlestum to wait for the bridge to lift. The keeper arrived just after one and we continued around the village to moor at the southern end in a layby. The rain had started to pour and the wind had picked up to gale force as we swung round to moor with our stern in the corner so we could have a

Moored in the layby at Middelstum south

better chance of getting satellite TV. A man came to chat to Mike as we tied up. Gave Bill a hand to get Rosy alongside, it was difficult in the side wind. After lunch Mike and I went for a walk through a deserted village to pick up the car from the mooring by the bridge to the north of the town. We went to have a look at the possibility of mooring (and winding!) in Usquert and Warffum, both villages at the ends of little canals. They both looked OK. Mike said let’s go and have a look at the sea, so we went north across the flat as a

Horses and seagulls on the Nordpolder

pancake Nordpolder, through an old flood dyke and then stopped at the foot of the next dyke at the end of the road. We took a walk to the top among the sheep and saw fields below where horses were grazing, beyond which were posts in the sea bed continuing the process of land reclamation, called landaanwinning here. Gulls wheeled in the air and lapwings took off as a marsh harrier flew low over the marshy fields. In the distance on the Waddenzee there was a large island ferry boat of Grimaldi lines and we could see the Waddeneilands

The Waddeneilands ferry

on the horizon, the mud banks of one to our left and buildings in the town of Borkum to our right. Back home via the villages of Warffum and Baflo on the N363, then turned east north of Winsum back to Middelstum. The weather had been sunny while we were out, but was still very windy. More rain arrived later.

Nosy Nordpolder sheep