Friday 5th August 2005 Ten Boer to Middelstum.

Oosterdijkshorn lock on  the Westwijtewerdermaar in the rain

12.7º C Heavy rain in the night. A chilly, overcast, grey day with heavy rain showers. It was only 13º C when we set off at 8.20 a.m. to be at the first lock, Oosterdijkshorn, for its first locking time of the day at 9.00 a.m. We were there at 8.40 a.m. and threw a stern rope around a large wooden bollard on a tiny wooden landing stage and waited for the keeper to arrive. The keeper was a bespectacled middle aged farmer’s wife in waterproof, skirts and short wellies, who spoke no English. She opened the liftbridge for us and we went into the lock

Oosterdijkshorn lock on the Westwijtewerdermaar in the rain

which she had already filled for us. The lock was about 25m x 5m, with sloping brick sides and guillotine gates at either end. Electric motors had been installed to modernise the ancient lock, the motor wound what had previously been a manually pulled endless chain – the gate went down slowly behind us and then the one in front went up slowly, filling the 10cm difference in levels without us even noticing. As we left the lock we spotted the sign which said keys for the Damsterdiep available here. Mike reversed back to the lock

Oosterdijkshorn lock on the Westwijtewerdermaar in the rain

landing and the cheery keeper came back out of her farmhouse kitchen with a 20€ note in her hand for the key! We motored on after Rosy. It was 9.20 a.m. I made tea and toast. We hadn’t gone very far when Bill called on VHF to say he’d found a cruiser which had broken down. Mike asked him if he was going to be tugmaster again, to which he replied oh! all right then, and towed the little boat back to its mooring by a house just before the liftbridge in Westwijtwerd. We’d just missed the bridge opening time at 10.45 a.m, the next was at 12.15 p.m. according to the time board. Bill had gained a newspaper reporter who had come to ask questions. Set off again

Oosterdijkshorn lock on the Westwijtewerdermaar in the rain

when the keeper turned up to open the liftbridge at 12.15 p.m. Round a sharp 90º bend to the left and there was a swingbridge, where we had another wait for a keeper to appear at 1.15 p.m. I went inside to do salad for lunch. We went past a factory with an old liftbridge which was permanently open to canal traffic, ducked under another low bridge and followed Rosy round a sharp 90º right hand bend as we joined the Boterdiep. After a couple of kilometres we did another sharp 90º turn to the left under a low bridge and skirted round the town of Middelstum. An open motor boat was moored under the next bridge, a low wooden footbridge, its occupants looking fed up under a brolly sheltering from the downpour. The rain seemed to have set in for the afternoon. The next bridge was in sight and it didn’t open until 4.00 p.m. - it was 1.45 p.m. By this time we were brassed off with the weather and hanging about, we’d only done 12 kms since setting off, so we backed up to a concrete quay with bollards next to a

Windmill on the Westwijtewerdermaar - in the rain!

public garden and tied up. I helped Mike get the moped off the roof and he donned his waders and went to get the car from Hoogezand. First he went on reconnaissance around the village and came back to tell me to tell Bill that there was a VVV (tourist) office back the way we’d come. Bill was getting a bit anxious as he was wanting an internet café. Bill knocked at 4.00 p.m. he’d been for walk and had just seen the bridgekeeper by the liftbridge – the bridge doesn’t open until 10.15 a.m. in the morning. He told me he’d found the VVV office and had asked about the library but hadn’t got there before he was soaked through and decided to turn back. The rain was coming down in buckets. Mike was back at 5 p.m. It was still raining as I helped him put the moped back on the roof. Bill cycled back into the village and found the library, which was only open two days a week, but he had been lucky and found they were open late on Fridays. Watched the news and weather (more of the same for us). It was cold and damp, so Mike lit the coal fire – IN AUGUST!

Thursday 4th August 2005 Hoogezand to Ten Boer.

Ship and tug at Hoogezand

11.9º C overnight. Sunny start, cloudy and showery drizzle later. Bill knocked to tell us he couldn’t find the Dutch couple. They weren’t answering at the factory or their house. Mike suggested he gave them another half hour and, if there was still no sign of them, we’d go. When he tried again they were at the house, they’d been working in their garden (I said perhaps they work in the garden when it’s fine and do their glass making when it’s rainy!) They had a look round Bill’s back cabin, but he was disappointed that he didn’t get an invite to

Bridge section of a ship. Hoogezand

have a look around inside the old church. Set off at 10.45 a.m. We winded and headed back to the Winschoterdiep. One bridge had to catch us at lunchtime, so we had an enforced stop from 12 until 1.00 p.m. at Waterhuizerbrug. I made a salad for lunch. We left again at 1.00 p.m. A tug and dredging pan had stopped too, the pan dropped one leg onto the bed of the canal and sat in the middle until the bridge opened. Into Groningen and turned right at the crossroads on the Eemskanaal. I went to get a key for the Damsterdiep, paying

A collection of tug boats

20€ deposit for it, from the keeper at Slochtersluis on the right hand side of the Eemskanaal. He took photos of the boat as we winded and headed over to the left side of the canal to the J.B. Bronssluis, which was DIY semi-automatic. Bill had pressed the button. The lock was filling with a new little sailing botter in it. The gates opened and the uphill boat left, but the red light stayed on for ages. There was a much needed dustbin on the lockside, we each deposited two full bags! I pulled the string at the back of

Waiting for JB Bronssluis to fill.

a ladder and we dropped down 1.9m. Now we were NAP –1.3m, below sea level. Two more boats were waiting below the lock to go up, a small tjalk and little cruiser. It was 3.00 p.m. when we set off along the 6kms dead straight first section of the Damsterdiep. I hopped off and worked the key operated electric push button swingbridge with manual barriers, by the café Jägmeister (which doesn’t give out keys anymore although the sign in the window gave four places in the village of Garmerwolde where they could be obtained). The next bridge, Boltbrug, was operated for us – much to our

Windmills at Boltbrug on the Damsterdiep

surprise – we still aren’t sure whether he was the keeper or just someone with a key! We stopped at 4.30 p.m. just beyond Ten Boer village, next to a busy road. The wind was blowing quite strongly and the canal was shallow at the edges, so I held the centre line while Mike knocked pegs in, then did the same while Bill moored Rosy. The junction with the Westwijtwerdermaar was a couple of hundred metres further on. The road was noisy with teatime traffic, it became much quieter later.

Click here for a map of today's journey