Thursday 29th April 2004 Viannen to Utrecht.

View down the arm at Viannen. (Picture from Sep 2005)

Grey and overcast, colder and windy after a mild 12° C overnight. Refilled the water tank and Mike took the cheque we’d done for the VNF to post it (23 Eu to pay for our trip through the St Quentin tunnel) while Bill filled up. Winded and set off at 9.40 a.m. pausing at the junction with the main canal then followed an empty 50m called Wilhelmein into the Grote sluis Viannen and dropped down 1.5m on to the tidal Lek (the northern branch of the Rhine). We followed the commercial out of the lock. He turned right, heading upriver and we went directly across the river to the Merwede Kanal. We sat on the steigers below Koninginnensluis and Mike climbed the ladder and went to see the keeper, as there were two red lights showing on the lock. It was 10.30 a.m. The keeper said OK at 11 a.m. he didn’t speak any English, so Mike couldn’t find out why we had to wait - there was enough water over the sill - the electronic board said 1.7m. 

In the Grote Sluis (Picture from Sep 2005) 

Traffic on the Lek was busy and the water was very choppy from their wash. Two cruisers arrived and joined us. The skipper off the larger boat, called Quo Vadis, went up to see the keeper. 11.30 and still no signs of the lock being worked. Then one red light went off and a green one joined it. The outer flood gates opened and the lock started to empty. Then another red light came on, so now we’d got two reds and a green - we’d never seen that before! The lock was empty, but the gates didn’t open. The man on Quo Vadis got on his ‘phone. He’d already untied when he’d seen the lights change to red/green and had been hovering in the middle. He turned round and went off back towards the Lek indicating that the lock was broken. We untied and followed suit, heading for the Prinses Beatrixsluis on the Lek Kanaal which leads on to the Amsterdam-Rijn Kanaal. The other smaller cruiser, called Caprice, came with us, but Quo Vadis remained hovering in the middle of the river. A lockful had just entered the left hand chamber and the gate had dropped behind them, so we went to wait on the right hand side behind a loaded petrol tanker ship. Rosy came alongside while we waited. A couple of boats came out of the lock and then we followed the tanker into the lock, 

The Lek (Picture from Sep 2005)

Bill went alongside it and almost down to the far end gates before he stopped (where he’d been directed by the keeper). We stayed at the back of the chamber, as did the cruiser. The lock dropped us down about 75 cms, then Bill was out first to get out of the way of the tanker and the other boats heading for the lock. An 80m empty called Copain, a small tug called Ara and a loaded French 85m (1235 tonnes) boat called Phocea from St Pol-sur-Mer were all heading for the lock as we left it and a small sailing botter called Bree 14 was racing to get in with them. Rosy was way off in front. The canal was bouncy from all the traffic as was the Amsterdam-Rijn Kanaal. I made a sandwich for lunch and we had just enough time to eat it before we came to the junction with the Merwede Kanaal (where we should have been going straight across if we’d managed to get through Koninginnensluis) and we turned right for the Noordersluis. A commercial had just come out from the canal and turned on to the ARK heading north. 

The Lek (Picture from Sep 2005)

A hireboat! (Cor, when did we last see one of those??) A small pénichette, called Woerden from Loosdrechtseplaassen, came from the left and joined us to bob around in the wash of passing traffic while the keeper got the small lock ready for us. Needless to say the hireboat got in the way, right in front of our bows, then went into the lock following Bill and the keeper was frantically trying to get them to keep right (they did eventually) while we hung on the left wall behind Rosy. We rose about half a metre, then all went out together and under the vertical lift bridge after a couple of cruisers had cleared it. A large derelict factory had Draadindustrie written in bricks on the walls, (a wire works). A couple of rowing skiffs were in the middle beyond the motorway bridge, but they soon moved out of the way. We went straight on for the Vaartse Rijn, following the hireboat. It tied up just before the first liftbridge, Zuiderbrug. The keeper let us through and we went on past lots of moored boats while the keeper cycled up to let us through Oranjebrug and Vondelbrug. There was a cruiser turning round beyond the last liftbridge, he was having trouble with the wind, the keeper let him through first,  then us. As we went through the bridge we told him we were going to do a circuit of the city and come back. We turned right into the easterly route around the city of Utrecht called the Stadsbuiten Gracht, the lowest route with arched bridges having only 1.9m headroom. The moped’s handlebars were 1.87m above the water. Took the mast down and the red ensign’s mast off the tiller. We went very carefully and slowly around the very sharp bends as we followed the old ramparts. Turned left when we came to the Oude Gracht and went back south through the city centre on the route with triple arched (but much higher, 3.5m) bridges. 

Vartse Rijn leading into Utrecht (Picture from Sep 2005)

The trip boat we’d followed round the eastern route (he’d entered it just a few minutes before us) had already tied up and disembarked all his passengers - what 4.5 kph speed limit! The shops were decorating their frontages with orange garlands and festooning great bunches of orange or red, white and blue balloons around their windows ready for tomorrow’s holiday, the Queen’s birthday. There were lots of people about and the cafés and coffee shops were doing a good trade even though the weather wasn’t too brilliant. As we waited for Vondelbrug to lift again, a council workboat went past us, he was low enough to get under all the bridges. We waited at Oranjebrug for the bridge to lift. There was a small Dutch barge and a large hire boat coming in the opposite direction, but the keeper let us through first. We told him what we were going to do, stay there overnight and start again at 9 a.m. next day after he’d told us said the bridges were working the next day. We moored between Oranjebrug and Zuiderbrug, opposite some new houses on the far bank and a road backed by new flats on the side we’d tied to. It was 4.00 p.m. Mike and I unloaded the moped and he went off at 4.30 p.m. to retrieve the car from Viannen, he was back at 6 p.m. There were lots of small boats running up and down the canal all evening. 

Wednesday 28th April 2004 Viannen.

Mild 11.1° C overnight. Sunny spells and showers. It was raining when we got up, so we had a chat with Bill and decided to stay put for a day and enjoy the free mooring, etc. Mike and I went shopping at the Albert Hein right next to the mooring, just beyond the blocks of new flats.  Did some washing for Bill. The electricity supply was not sufficient for running the washer’s heaters so we ran the engine while the load heated up then reverted to shore mains. The two cruisers moored nearest the water tap (the end of the staging furthest from the main line) moved off so we moved down, leaving enough space on the end for your average cruiser to water up. I put the Mac on to catch up with the log (which had been neglected again for around a week). It went very dark and we had a thunderstorm with heavy rain – glad we’d stayed put.

Tuesday 27th April 2004 Arkel to Viannen.

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The flood lock on the Linge link kanaal

7.8° C Sunny.  It was noisy at Arkel with the factory, the road and the geese! Set off at 9.20 a.m. round the bend in the river, passing two cruisers bound for Gorichem. I called the control on VHF 22 to ask them to change the lights on the stop lock to green for us, which they did. On to the main Merwede kanaal and a short wait for the Schotdeurensebrug to lift, which was also remotely operated from Gorichem. We were just too late for the railway swingbridge, which operated up until 9.30 a.m. so we had to wait until 10.05 when a commercial was also heading for the bridge from the opposite direction. 

Crowds ( in 2005) Schotduerensebrug, jnc Linge/Merwede kanaal

A small boat was catching us up as we arrived at Bazelbrug liftbridge. The control centre lifted it for us, then dropped it again right in front of the small yacht that had caught up. The road traffic went across and then they lifted it again for the yacht. A loaded boat called “Kreta” came past a few minutes later, also headed for Gorichem, as we passed by a decidedly tilted old house on the canal bank. Near Meerkerk, a man was walking a cat on a lead, he was wearing traditional baggy trousers and bright yellow clogs - he gave us a friendly wave as we went past. The yacht overtook us just before Meerkerksebrug and went through the bridge on red/green - it didn’t wait for the green light - and sped off into the distance. We passed the next loaded boat, Antares from Terneuzen (57m long, capacity 707 tonnes) at KP 9.5. Had some lunch as we went along. 

Windmill and waterwheel at Meerkerk

A loaded péniche called Harry went past. Bolgerijensebrug had not yet been converted to a remotely operated liftbridge like the previous bridge and the keeper came out to swing it by standing in the middle of the deck and revolving a large portable capstan. We arrived at Viannen at 12.40 p.m. There were only three cruisers on the new stagings by the flats. We moored with the aid of a chap off a German cruiser who came to lend a hand. First job, visit the Post Office, the package from Glyn was there waiting for us. Mike went off on the moped to collect the car from Arkel. I ‘phoned some very good Dutch friends when he came back and arranged to go over and visit them later – it was 1.30 am when we returned to the boat after a really lovely evening reminiscing about old times (they came with us as far as Berlin on our first visit to Germany in 1999).

Please note these photos are from the return journey in 2005

Monday 26th April 2004 Den Bosch to Arkel. Crossing the Rhine (Waal)

Below lock 0 Den Bosch (Pictures from 2005)

8.5° C Warm and sunny all day. Up early at 7 a.m. Mike took a walk down to the lock to drop off the rubbish and talk to the lock keeper. He didn’t speak English, but said we could go through the lock at 9.00 a.m. - we could have got up at our normal time! There had been several boats up and down first thing and one was coming up in the chamber. He had to wait - they don’t lift the bridges during peak road traffic time, between 8.30 and 9.00 a.m. We moved down to the lock. An empty called Stella-Duce arrived and moored opposite us. Mike went to chat to Bill.

New flood gates. Heusdens kanaal (Pictures from 2005)

The boat coming up in the lock was the French pusher pair called Rolibert 1 & 2 we’d last seen at Abbécourt in France. They waved. Animo, which had been moored at Den Bosch all weekend, had moved off and was now vying for locking position with Stella-Duce alongside us, as the pusher left the lock. We followed the two of them into the chamber. Stella had pole position and went for the water hose on the left hand side of the chamber, we hung on the wall behind him and Bill brought Rosy alongside us. The lock emptied slowly as always.

Wilhelmina lock (Pictures from 2005)

We followed the two commercials out at 9.35 a.m. down the narrow channel through the town. They had to wait for the liftbridges to be raised, so we had to hover behind them. The keeper dropped the bridges as the big boats cleared and we went under the lowered spans with plenty of headroom with our masts down. A small Dutch cruiser, called Lucky Duck, steered by one woman and her Sheltie dog, was waiting to go uphill at the end of the narrow section. The quays on the river Dieze were busy with boats unloading. Three loaded péniches were on the waiting quay, Sequens from Ampsin B, Secunda NL, Triade NL plus a 50m called Rina. 

Wilhelmina lock (Pictures from 2005)

It was 10.30 a.m. when we arrived at Engelen lock. The two commercials were waiting for the lock and a small cruiser was with them. A sand barge The-An II and Wilhelmina (also loaded) left the lock and the two big boats went in and moored opposite one another in the wide chamber. The cruiser (British and single handed by the looks of it) was entering on the right to go behind the shorter boat Animo, but the keeper on the left hand side called him over to the left which meant he turned right directly in front of our bows causing Mike to do a hard reverse emergency stop,

Cable ferry at Veen Andelse Maas

 

he was not at all happy about it! We moved over to the right and hung on the wall behind Animo with Rosy alongside us to descend the two metre fall. The guy on the British cruiser didn’t acknowledge our presence in the slightest! Mike put the pins in to run the generator as we ran down the last of the Dieze and I put the washer on. Had a digestive biscuit with our cuppa as we turned on to the tidal (but not much) Maas, heading downstream. I photographed the new floodgates across the beginning of the Heusden canal. Did a second load of washing as we continued along the arm linking the Maas to the Waal. The boat had a bubble bath as we passed over an aeration pipe. 

Masted tjalks moored at Workum (Pictures from 2005)

Made lunch as Mike dodged several busy cable ferries. Several cruisers overtook us. Amazing what a bit of warm sunshine brings out! We had a short wait by Wilhelmina lock while a cruiser-styled Dutch barge came down the 5 cms rise in the lock. We went in and threw a rope on a bollard on the huge wooden baulks in the sloping sided lock chamber and we rose 5 cms on to the Afgedamde Maas, the last bit of calm water before the Waal. A cruiser coming towards us ran along the left hand bank and then dropped anchor. A bit further towards the junction and we came across several boats who had also anchored in the Maas while they ate lunch and/or sunbathed. 

A well loaded boat overtaking on the Waal (Pictures from 2005)

One very large speedboat cruiser had exiled their two matching pooches into the inflatable tied at their stern. Another masted yacht arrived and also dropped anchor. The ferry had just arrived at Workum (proper name Woudrichem) and was unloading passengers as we set off across an unusually very calm and quiet branch of the mighty Rhine. I had the video camera connected up to 12v and the stills camera at the ready and was a bit disappointed to find there was very little wash and so few boats moving (we must have just caught a lull - or perhaps Monday is a good day for crossing the Waaal?) that we had an unhindered passage straight across from the Maas right over to the far bank. 

Wash from passing traffic (Pictures from 2005)

Only about half a dozen boats overtook and went past on the other side as we ran down the 3 kms to turn right into the basin before the lock at Gorkum (otherwise known as Gorichem – roughly pronounced Horicum). An excellent, if dull, crossing. 
The Merwedesluis was empty with the gates open, so Mike called on VHF and we went in then rose a couple of inches off the tidal Waal on to the Merwede canal. We got into the lock under the lower end liftbridge, but the keeper had to lift the bridge over the top end gates for us to get out. Passed through lines of moored boats and houseboats on the canal before turning right on to the river Linge, ducking under the vertical lift bridge. 

Bill steering Rosy on the Waal (Pictures from 2005)

There had been a lot of building work going on, factories had been demolished and new houses and flats built since we were last here. More and more little boats were moored along the banks of the little river. We moored at Arkel at 3.50 p.m. with the whole mooring to ourselves. It was very warm and still sunny. Mike got the BBQ out and lit it. I cooked some spuds and wrapped them and marinaded some chicken in a peanut sauce to make satays. Mike wasn’t keen as the chicken was cooked in no time - it took much longer to light the charcoal than to cook the whole meal! It was tasty though. Bill brought his dinner over to eat outside with us and we had a few beers with it. We sat out watching the birds - ducks, coots and grebe plus a pair of Canada geese and Egyptian geese. 

Merwedesluis at Gorichem (Pictures from 2005)

A white stork flew over. Fanny went in the water at the bottom of the dyke when Mike threw sticks for her - it was smelly so Bill threw her in the river which she didn’t like as she had trouble getting out over the wooden edging. Later he tried to get her to fetch a stick out of the river but she wouldn’t jump in. Several groups of doggie walkers went past and kids in power boats went stooging up and down until quite late in the evening. Grebes were stealing a coot’s nesting material to build their own nest right next door. A pochard flew down the river and paddled back up again. The mossies came out so I lit a mossie candle - which had no effect, so I searched out some mossie repellent spirals that burned like joss sticks. They had little effect too and there were clouds of them hovering over the boat. The grebes were sleeping, sitting still on the water, beaks buried in their feathers while the coots stole the nesting material back that the grebes had pinched from them earlier. Gave up at 9.30 pm and went in to watch TV. 

Photos from 2005 - the return trip - please note that the boats are facing the wrong direction in these pictures! Sorry not many pix from 2004 pre-digital days.