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| Factory bridge Witmarsumervaart |
13º
C Grey, overcast, cold and breezy. Mike went to the bakery for bread and then
we both went to the Spa minimarket, calling via the car to get two rucksacks,
and bought groceries for the week. Saw a very tame wren in one of the gardens
as we walked by. The prices in Spa were not as bad as I had expected, we spent
around 45€. Bill had already been to both places when we got back. Set off just
after 9.00 a.m. As we were untying three little lads on bikes arrived again and
were still trying to talk to us in Fries. I don’t think they could grasp the
idea that we, as adults, couldn’t understand what they were saying. We followed
Rosy south on the Witmarsumervaart, round some awesome bends under bridges
which were marked on our
chart (dated ‘96/’97) as between 45 cms and 1m, all of
which had been raised to give ample headroom (for narrowboats!) of around 2.5m.
We came to a stop when faced with a liftbridge, overtaking Rosy to investigate.
There was a push button, which I pressed. Immediately the road barriers dropped
and the bridge deck lifted. Although Rosy was close behind us, the bridge
lights turned red and the deck lowered as soon as we’d cleared the three
sensors under the deck. Bill had to reverse hard and then press the button for
it to open again. A “one boat at a time bridge” – the first we’d come across!
We turned left on to the canal into Bolsward and
admired the enterprise of the
DIY store on the outskirts of the town for putting a nice wooden edge to the
bank and a horizontal bar for boats to tie to alongside their car park to
enable them to visit their premises. Round a sharp left hand bend and we came
to another lift bridge, Knetermansbrug. There was no one around except a man
fishing from the bridge deck. He told us the keeper was at the next bridge, so
Mike climbed the bridge deck (there was no bank access from the posts and
planks by the bridge) and went to find him. He was back in a few minutes and I
picked him up off the bridge. Round a ninety degree right hand bend, the
junction with the circular route through the little town, and we waited for the
keeper to
come and open the next bridge, Blauwpoortsbrug. Both were free of
charge. Suddenly there were boats everywhere, sailboats with masts up and
cruisers, most of which were big hireboats from Sneek and Ijlst. Turned right
and followed two cruisers and a masted tjalk through the double road
liftbridges, whose decks descended as we went through (2.6m clearance was
plenty for us with no mast up). Just beyond the bridge we turned left on the
Bolswardervaart with two cruisers approaching from our left. I got the blame
for us cutting across in front of them as I hadn’t gone up to the bows to check
to see what was coming. I had forgotten that
the navigation we were joining was
twice the width and depth of the one we’d just left. Rosy was right behind us
and kept coming too as he said he hadn’t heard Mike call on VHF as the bridge
was making a loud noise. As it happens the two cruisers were turning into the
canal we’d just left anyway. Mike put our mast back up as all the bridges were
moveable ones all the way into the little town of Ijlst. There were lapwings,
crows and starlings in the meadow alongside the canal, swallows all along the
wire fence, sandpipers dashing off in front skimming over the water and coots,
grebe and ducks paddling around in the canal. Lots of birds for such a busy boaty
spot. We got through Wolsumerkettingbrug and Abbegeasterkettingbrug (1,20€
each) the keeper at the latter bridge was an old lady who beamed at us and said
our boats were beautiful, before getting stuck for lunch at the swingbridge at
Oosthem. Two cruisers were following a masted tjalk (with leeboard just lowered
a few cms in the water to compensate for the strong side wind) going towards
the last liftbridge, it was ten to twelve and we wondered if the old lady would
let them through - she did. Made some lunch. Set off again when a man came out
to swing the manually operated swingbridge. He stood next to the bridge with a
clog on a
fishing pole at the ready, but couldn’t reach us as both boats
steered through on the far side of the bridge hole (I’d got a note on the chart
that he swings a clog out for a tip) and didn’t make a contribution for him
working the free bridge. Bill had paid for the two boats at the previous bridge
due to lack of change, so Mike paid for two at the next bridge, Nijezijlbrug
liftbridge. The rail swing bridge was open so I took photos for Glyn, including
one from the roof of the lines, and a whole ruck of boats were coming through
Nijezijlbrug liftbridge towards us. A large hireboat hadn’t got the idea that
he could go through the other side of the open railway swingbridge (it was on a bend) and swung hard across
behind Rosy to take the side we’d just come through. We skirted round the western
edge of the little town of Ijlst, heading south on the
Wijde Wijmerts. There
were lots of kids in sailing boats coming towards us, some of them being towed
by motor boats and a couple of them had settees! What next? One tacked right in
front of our bows and Mike shouted “Missed!” not realising until a few minutes
later what he’s said – mest (pronounced “mist”) is Dutch for shit! After a
short distance further down the navigation we turned left, heading back towards
the town, east on the Winsloot, then north on the Het Zouw before turning right
on to the Jutrijpervaart, heading south again, round some more very impressive
bends. Two open speed boats passed us, one in either direction, the one coming
towards us tried to take the wrong side on a left hand bend until Mike left him
no
room (we needed it all to get round the sharp bend) then the one overtaking
us nipped round our bows and opened up the big outboard engine as he went round
a blind right hand bend. We could see over the reeds that there was nothing
else coming round the bend, but the two boys on board the speedboat couldn’t!
Turned left, heading east again, on the Zoolsloot, then right - running
southeast, down the Ooster Wijmerts. Crossed the Prinses Margriet Kanaal (no
commercials about only sailboats by the dozen) where the channel crossed a
small lake with a house on an island, then southeast again on the
Langeweerdervaart, then left again - eastwards - on the De Brekken and Fammensraken,
under three low bridges turning north to the moorings south of Jentje Meer. The
first landing stages were almost full with
moored cruisers, but the second had
only two moored boats. We winded at the southern end of the little lake and
went back to the landing. The mud under the stagings always shoves the boat
back out again as it comes alongside, so I got off sharpish with the bow ropes
and we tied behind the cruiser and yacht at the north end of the staging. It
was 3.45 p.m. Mike and I unloaded the moped and Mike went to collect the car
from Witmarsum. Bill called round to say that Veronica had called him to say
his missing parcel had just turned up – marked “wrongly addressed” and returned
to her (it had been addressed exactly the same as was the one he’d received).
Glyn phoned with the address for our next postal drop at Wolvega (now nicknamed
by Mike and
Glyn “Swarfega” (brand name of a famous hand cleaner) - deaf pair
of idiots) which he’d found via the internet for us again.
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| Windmill near Bolsward |
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| Blauwpoortsbrug Bolsward |
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| Open railway swingbridge at Ijlst |
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| Railway tracks from the swingbridge at Ijlst |
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| Railway swingbridge at Ijlst |
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| Nijezijlbrug. Wijde Wijmerts |
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| Armchair boating Wijde Wijmerts |
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| Farmhouse Het Zouw |
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| Safety poster "Travel courteously on the waterways" |
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| Sunset over Jentjemeer |
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