Friday 12th August 2005 Oudekerk to Berlikum.

Tiled bridge at Giekerk on 11 towns race circuit. Ouddeel Murk

10.7º C overnight. Grey, damp and chilly, sunny later in the afternoon. It was drizzling when we set of just after eight. Took photos of a tiled bridge, covered with pictures in blue and white of the ice skaters who have competed in the famous eleven towns race – the Ouddeel Murk forms part of the course – the pictures had been skilfully arranged to form images of ice speed skaters when viewed from a distance. We skirted Leeuwarden, heading southwards, to the east of the city, then the canal swung right to run to the west,

Tiled bridge at Giekerk on 11 towns race circuit. Ouddeel Murk

south of the city on the main commercial route, Van Harinxmakanaal. As this is the route for masted vessels all the bridges are moveable, including two pivoting swinging railway bridges. After seeing nothing but a small cruiser on the little canal we were suddenly back among the cruisers and yachts, most of which were heading south for the lakes. We turned right near Deinum (a town with an intriguing Mediaeval church which has a tower topped with an onion dome) off the Van Harinxmakanaal on to the

Tiled bridge at Giekerk on 11 towns race circuit. Ouddeel Murk

Menaldumervaart, where all the bridges were fixed (except one) and the maximum possible height above the water was 2.4m, which eliminates all the tall cruisers and hireboats and is only 1.25m deep, which gets rid of the keeled yachts, even with their masts stepped. The bends were very interesting, some more than ninety degrees and the little bridges were often arched ones, so care had to be taken to get the right line through the bridge. In Menaldum we went through a narrow section with a roof high quay all along the left hand side and were faced with a

Railway swing bridge on the Van Harixmakanaal

very low arched bridge, which had a notice saying apply at 4, Lyste Dijk for service. Mike got off and went to find the keeper, who appeared and came to lift the bridge – a modern press button affair. Mike asked him about the water levels as we’d noticed that the level looked down by about 20 cms and he confirmed our suspicions that they run water out into the sea at low tide, then the land drains into the canal and fills it up again, etc, etc. Round the next bend we spotted a supermarket right alongside the canal and Bill had been saying earlier that

Dock cranes at Leeuwarden Van Harixmakanaal

he could do with some groceries. We tied to the posts provided and Mike went off to get a few things too, while I made a salad for lunch. It was very useful for Bill as he could get the supermarket trolley very close to his boat and stock up with crates of beer without having to carry them any distance. Set off again eating lunch on the stern as the sun came out. Round the next bend we met a little black hulled botter with its masts lowered. Mike called Bill on VHF to tell him that there was a boat coming towards him and they would meet on the bend, but

Railway swing bridge on the Van Harixmakanaal

the botter slowed right down when its crew saw us. The couple on board looked very sullen and miserable – they didn’t say hello or wave. As we came into Berlikum, where we had decided to stay overnight, two cruisers pulled away from a quay where lots of other small boats were moored in front of a row of houses. That was fortunate, it gave us a place to tie up. Mike unloaded the moped, easily as the quay was almost roof height, and went off to collect the car from Oudekerk. I trimmed off the mossie netting on the new door

Church tower at Deinum. Van Harixmakanaal

curtain and a man passing by stopped to chat. He’d wanted to know how long the boat was and did we have any trouble with the bends! He’d been kayaking in Poland 30 years ago with kayakers from all over the world, around Posnan and Bydgoszcz! Small world. Put the PC on and did the log. When Mike returned, (he came back with a box of Merci chocolates for me from the fisherlady we saw yesterday! Wasn’t that a nice surprise – that’s the first time I’ve ever had a box of chocolates from complete strangers) and we’d stowed the

Tight bend on the Menaldumervaart

moped back on board, we went for a look around the Market Hall located about 50m behind the boats. In a large factory unit someone had set up a shop selling all sorts of odds and ends, from clothes and clogs to food and tools. Bill had bought a pack of two mousetraps – he gave us one, which Mike installed under the bonnet of the car as a rodent (resident?) had continued to chew away at the insulation under the

Moored on the quay in Berlikum

bonnet. 

Thursday 11th August 2005 Ee nr Dokkum to Oudekerk.

Cranes and factory Dokkumer Grootdiep

13.1º C overnight. Grey clouds, windy and cold when we set off just after 8 a.m. (Sunny spells in the afternoon). The first liftbridge, D.F.Woudabrug, was only about a kilometre away and we had to tie up again when we got there as it didn’t open (for pleasure boats) until 9.00 a.m. Two sail boats turned up as the bridge opened, they followed us through and overtook. The bridge was operated by the keeper who was at the bridge just outside Dokkum, using surveillance cameras to watch the boats. A medium sized tripboat out of Dokkum was coming towards us by where a few boats were moored, Rosy stopped instead of keeping going - there

Windmill in Dokkum

was plenty of room. A sailboat overtook us going round the tight bends just before the keeper-operated bridge. Another masted yacht was coming towards us, so the one who’d just overtaken us slotted in between us and Rosy. We could both get under the deck of the bridge without it being lifted, so we went to go past the yacht but the bridge opened so he continued to follow Rosy until we’d cleared the bridge. Like a

Putting the money in the clog on a string

motorway for a while! Into Dokkum, a very touristy little town. The chandlery was selling diesel at 1,07€ a litre. We took the left hand route through the liftbridges, rather than the route through the centre of the town under low fixed bridges and went through Woudspoortbrug with a queue of boats as we went around the town’s moat with two tall windmills on the right bank. The keeper at Altenabrug relieved us of

Waiting for the bridges in Birdaard

4,20€ each for the bridges, swinging the clog on a string to collect it. All the boats stooged about between the rows of moored boats on both banks while the keeper closed his bridge and went on his bike to open Eebrug at the west end of town. A big hireboat from Sneek (pronounced Snake) pulled out from the moorings directly in front of us. The keeper added to the mayhem by letting the boats through from the far side of his bridge first. Swarms of y

Rosy emerging  from the Oudkerkstrevaart on to Oudeel Murk

achts and botters and tjalks went past, all of them travelling much, much faster than us. The hordes overtook as we left the town of Dokkum behind, the canal emerging into windswept meadows where coots were pecking for insects in the grass and geese were competing with the sheep for the best grass. A little house was advertising smoked herring for sale at 11€ per “Pond” – who said we had to use kilos, they’re still using pounds! Ten minutes later a convoy of boats came past which had just cleared the next liftbridge, Klaarkampsterbrug, which lifted as we approached it

DIY liftbridge at Oudekerk

. Two sail boats were approaching the far side as we went through the free bridge. Mike told Bill we should get a move on as the two bridges at Birdaard would be closed for lunch at 12.00. We didn’t make it. The last sailboat to overtake us made it through the bridge at 11.55 a.m. and then the keeper left the cabin. We could see there was a great tangle of boats on the far side of the liftbridge. We tied to the posts by the bridge, Rosy came alongside and a sailboat alongside Rosy. Lunch. Several more yachts and botters arrived and moored behind us. At one o’clock the keeper started from the

Narrow canal through Oudekerk

other end of town first, bringing a gaggle of boats through his two bridges. He lowered the bridge again to let the road traffic queue disperse before letting us through into the 500m length between the two bridges, where more boats were moored along the quay on the right with houses on both sides. The clog swung again for 2€ for the two bridges. The yachts behind us took advantage of the melee between the bridges to zoom past to the head of the queue. Several large cruisers had joined in the convoy behind us and their bow thrusters were zut-zutting as the wind blew them sideways. They all zipped past as we cleared Birdaard. More windswept wide open fields with the wind blasting from our right. Into Bartleheim, where there were some very smart houses and gardens along both banks and we turned left into the little canal, called the Oudkerksvaart, where there was nothing else moving but us and ducked under a couple of low fixed bridges. Round a sharp right hand bend into the village of Ouekerk, where we had a DIY liftbridge to play with. 2€ in the slot to operate the press button bridge (once we’d lowered both road barriers and set the traffic lights to

Little lake Oudekerkstermeer

red). Between the tree lined banks, past a café with pedaloes (which seemed to be closed) and crossed a little shallow lake called Oudkerkstermeer. The name of the navigation had changed to Ouddeel Murk. More meadows, with a kestrel hovering, hunting, and a marsh harrier swooping low, also looking for dinner. A little further on was our destination, a wooden landing sheltered from the wind by a stand of trees not

Mooring at Oudekerk

far from the village of Oudekerk. A family were fishing from it! I said sorry as we cruised past them and they all lifted their rods so we could get to the end of the staging, leaving them half of it to fish from. Bill brought Rosy alongside. Helped Mike unload the moped and he went off to get the car. I set up the new mossie net in the front door as there were masses of small black houseflies. When the fishers went home Bill moved Rosy to moor behind us on the staging. Mike returned at 6 p.m. I helped get the moped back on the roof and sheeted up (the roof was covered in white things, empty shells of thousands of tiny insects).

Wednesday 10th August 2005 Schaphalsterzijl to Ee nr Dokkum.

Flood lock on the Reitdiep at Electra

11.8º C Still cold grey and windy after lots of rain in the night. Set off with the pins in, ready to do some washing, at 8.15 a.m. We winded and went back through the new flood lock and out on to the Reitdiep, turning right, heading downstream. Only the briefest of pauses in midriver while the Roodehaan liftbridge opened for us. There were hundreds of mallard ducks along the next stretch of river, most of them in one bunch, they took off and landed again behind us. The cruisers started waking up and moving off after nine o’clock. The first washer load finished just before we reached the flood lock at Lammersburen and I had time to unload and reload

Moored fishing boats and smokeries Zoutkamp

before we had to stop to work through the lock. There was a lift today of about 5cms. We went on the left, Bill came in on the right and the wind blew Rosy across the lock and across our bows before he had time to sling a rope around the wooden baulks. A British yawl, a very nice sailboat, was waiting on the other side of the lock. We did some mutual admiration and took photos. On down the river, the wind was picking up and, as the river got wider, the waves increased in size. Through Zoutkamp, taking photos of the fishing boats moored by the brightly painted fish smokeries. A sailboat got in the way, it was waiting for the Fries sluis liftbridge bridge to open at 10.36 a.m. and was stooging right in the middle. We could get under the bridge deck, 

Small coaster at Zoutkamp

but ended up having to slow down to stay behind the yacht, so I had to pause the washing briefly. I got the ironing done. Glad to get that out of the way as the laundry pile had been growing. On into the former tidal estuary, called the Slenk (snake) and I stood in the side hatch and took photos of the waves hitting our bows and Rosy’s. The northwest wind was in our faces as we got to the widest bit, which wasn’t very deep - 3m deepening to about 4.5m as we reached the Dokkumerdiep, where we turned left to head south. The waves slapped loudly under the

Boats in the hafen at Zoutkamp

counter as we turned and we were still moving with the swell. There were lots of sailboats out, although most had no canvas showing and were moving under motor. A large charter klipper overtook us, he was sailing with just one big square sail deployed. I made us a cup of soup as it was really chilly with the biting wind still in our faces. Another British yacht went past, doubling the number we’d seen so far this year. The wind on the estuary had been blowing around force five to six, but moderated as we went further away from the North Sea and the channel grew narrower. As we were going upstream there was a flow to contend with, 

Starboard channel marker on the Reitdiep

only about 1.5 kph but that’s a fair flow for Dutch waters. Lots of sailboats overtook us, all in a big bunch, just before we arrived at the lock, Willem Loréslûs. The big charter sailboat was heading for the lock, which still had red lights showing and a cruiser was trying to get in first. There was a long queue of mainly masted sailboats tied to the wooden stagings waiting for the lock. Two blasts on the ship’s hooter were needed before the cruiser gave way and the ship went into the chamber first. The lock lights changed to green and the lock keeper called us two narrowboats in behind the sailboat alongside the cruiser, leaving lots of smaller boats still

Rosy battling through the waves

milling about. The problem with the lock is that there is a liftbridge which reduces the amount of headroom in about half the length of the 65m long chamber, so sailboats get in first and motorboats (with less height above the water) can sit under the deck of the lowered liftbridge. The road which crosses the bridge is a busy north-south route, the N358. We rose about 20 cms and followed the sailboat and cruiser out of the lock on to the Dokkumer Grootdiep. A queue was forming on the other side of the lock too. At the head of it was the first hireboat we’d seen this year, a big white cruiser belonging to Blue Line. I took a photo of it heading into the

A klipper under sail

lock. Hardly had to slow down before the liftbridge at Engwierum opened for us. It was operated from afar by a keeper watching us on CCTV. The wind was still in our faces as we ran west heading towards Dokkum. We moored at 2.10 p.m. at the first Marrekrite mooring just after the junction with the Oud Dokkumerdiep. We needed a hot meal so I heated some pea soup for Mike’s lunch. After lunch we fetched a plank off the roof to get the moped off (the bank was a good step down off our gunwales, only about 20cms above water). It was 3.30 p.m. when Mike left to get the car. Bill took Fanny for a walk into Ee to post a letter. Mike was

First hire boat of the year

back at 6.15 p.m. with a handful of plums from the house by where he’d left the car yesterday. The couple at the house had been picking the fruit off their tree and had given some to him when he arrived to collect our car. He’d moved the car to a car park by the lock, Willem Loréslûs, and ridden back along the canal bank on the moped.

Tuesday 9th August 2005 Warffum to Schaphalsterzijl.

The basin at Warffum

13º C overnight and still 13ºC when we set off at 8.05 a.m. delayed slightly because a man from Brentford came to chat with Mike. Grey, overcast, chilly and windy again. We arrived at the junction with the main canal as Bill was reversing Rosy out and winding. We followed Rosy back down the Warffumermaar. Bill told us that the water level had gone down a couple of inches overnight, enough to put Rosy on the bottom and he had to shove the boat off the mud. We hadn’t noticed, the water must have been deeper in the basin.

Under one of the low bridges in Baflo

Turned right into the Rasquerdermaar. Bridges through the village of Baflo were all fixed ones and quite low, some a little under 2m. The navigation’s name changed to the Baflo-Mesingeweer kanaal. We had a short pause as we drifted against the reeds while Mike and Bill looked at the chart and discussed where to go at the next junction. We set off first leading the way again. Turned right on to the Mensingeweerster loopdiep just after a cruiser had gone across the junction from left to right. After a short distance we turned 

New flood lock at Schaphalsterzijl

left on to the Kromme Raken, another river with no flow leading on to the main river, the Rietdiep (pronounced Reetdeep). Toasted some raisin buns (similar to hot cross buns, a Dutch speciality and addictively tasty) as we wound round some extremely tight bends. Bill missed a particularly tight bend and had to go into hard reverse but just managed to miss the reeds. Good job the canal is deep all the way across edge to edge. Just before we reached the village of Schouwerzijl a cruiser caught us up but stayed behind Rosy. The moorings just before the Reitdiep were empty, a long wooden landing with rings to tie to and a notice saying there

New flood lock at Schaphalsterzijl

were no free moorings there (our Wateralmanak Deel 2 of ’97 said the moorings were free for three days, must be out of date on that one, same as it was regarding the moorings in Warffum - they were supposed be the same - free for three days). We turned left between two cruisers heading down the Reitdiep, heading upstream on the wider river. A sailing boat went past under motor. A short distance up the river we turned left into the Winsumerdiep and found a brand new flood lock at Schaphalsterzijl. When we

New flood lock at Schaphalsterzijl

moored there in ’97 there were single flood gates under the road bridge, now there was a brand new, modern pumping station and a lock. New moorings for lock waiting had been installed too. Bill paused on the one before the lock while we had a look at the moorings upstream of the lock. The old quay was now rebuilt (and inaccessible), but the mooring for lock waiting looked OK, if a bit overpopulated with things to tie to. There were bollards, low level looped bars and high level tiny bollards on top of wooden boards, almost no room for your feet. The decking was the type that Fanny hates

New flood lock at Schaphalsterzijl

to walk on – open metal mesh. Mike called Bill on the radio, it was quieter away from the main river, so he brought Rosy through the open gates of the flood lock to join us. We overlapped either end of the mooring. I made some lunch then helped Mike unload the moped. Black clouds came over so he threw the cover over the moped and retreated back on board until the heavy shower passed over before he went off to get the car from Middelstum. I put the inverter on and got up to date with the log. Mike returned and negotiated with the people at the house to park our car on their land. It was OK. Bill couldn’t get TV as the trees were in the way, so I gave him a hand to pull Rosy alongside us.

Monday 8th August 2005 Middelstum south to Warffum via Usquert.

Modern suction dredger at Middelstum

9.6º C. Rain in the night. Sunny spells and more heavy rain showers. Mike was up at 7.30 a.m. He took Bill to get a few things from a Plus supermarket by car before we set off at 9.20 a.m. Back down the Boterdiep. The first bridge, Fraamklap was only a kilometre away. We arrived just before the lady keeper came out to lift the bridge at 9.50 a.m. A cruiser was waiting around the corner, but the keeper let us through first. Ninety degrees right and within a few more minutes we were at the brand new DIY lock at Den Deel. Pressed the button on the landing before the lock

Den Deel lock and pumping station

and the lights changed to red and green, then the guillotine gate lifted and we went into the concrete chamber, 25m long by 3m wide, guillotine gates at either end and a new pumping station alongside the lock chamber. Bill pressed the button on the lockside and we rose 10 cms. The heavens opened and it poured with rain. We followed Rosy to the next waiting point, the liftbridge in Onderdendam. I went inside and did a few chores while we waited. Zijlvestrbrug opened at 11.30 a.m. and we followed Rosy through. Bill missed the

Statue of a bow-hauling boatwoman at Onderdendam

right turn on to the Warffumermeer and had to reverse - that put us in the lead. Two men in canoes followed us and overtook as we went along the narrower canal. We hadn’t gone far before we met a new replica botter coming in the opposite direction. He sounded his horn, so we sounded ours. Cheeky so and so thought he was going to get the middle, think again, matey! The elderly couple inside the cabin looked very miserable as they went past, not a smile or a wave. Turned right on to the Usquerdermaar at 12.15 p.m. a

The hill by the Usequerdermaar

wider canal fringed with reeds and good views across the fields and meadows. Bill went straight on, as he said he wasn’t that interested in dead end canals, (unlike us, we always have to go to the very ends of navigation, always have done!) so he continued on into Warffum and we said we’d see him later, or possibly the next day. Just us now. The canal up to Usquert was deeper too at almost 2m deep. Seagulls and whimbrels were feeding in one large meadow. A little further on we came across a grass covered hill, partly hidden by trees - almost a forest! Came to the conclusion that the hill was formerly a rubbish tip and the trees were to hide it. We passed 

Farm track liftbridge (DIY) near Usquert

a fisherman and saw no other signs of humanity until we reached the village. The last section, alongside a road, was narrower with trees on our left. A farm access liftbridge was DIY and hand wound, once I’d heaved on the rusty bar to unlock the deck. Mike took the boat through and picked me up on the other side and we ran into Usquert. There was a wide space before the moorings so we winded and stopped by a little landing stage while Mike went to look at the moorings and take a couple of photos. While he was away, an elderly man in a van stopped to have a chat. He’d been a sailor and had been to all sorts of places in England - Margate and Whitstable, even Gainsborough! I told him we’d just come back from Poland. He asked if we were staying overnight and I told him no, we were going to carry on back to the junction and 

Start of the moorings at Usquert

up the Warffummermaar. He said the moorings were free in Usquert. I didn’t get the significance of his comment until later. It was 2.15 p.m. when Mike returned and said the moorings were completely full and he could find no sign of a tap. I walked back down the road to wind the farm bridge up and he brought the boat through. I had remarked that we must get some water as I really needed to do some washing. Mike put the pins in and we did one load while we carried on down the canal back to the junction and turned right heading up to Warffum.

End of navigation at Usquert

Travelling at the increased speed necessary for generating 240v made some of the bends a bit tricky. We turned right into an old basin which had new brick quay walls and a low wooden landing to tie to. It was devoid of boats except for one resident cruiser. There was a section marked “Water” and a hose connection in the wall, so we tied up next to it and Mike went to find the harbour master while I connected up our hosepipe. I dipped the tank to find we had half a tank, 300 litres. The man who came back with Mike to unlock the cabin across the road and turn the water tap on spoke very good English and was very chatty. He said that the moorings in the main channel were an overspill from the basin and were charged at the same rate, which

Lovely, but almost, empty moorings at Warffum

should be 4,50€ per night for boats of our length (electricity cost another 1€ per day, but the water was free). (Now we knew why the guy at Usquert made the comment that their moorings were free!) We said we’d move on. Mike said he would walk down the road to go and tell Bill the bad news and the guy went with him. It had started to rain while we were refilling the water tank and neither of us thought about the fact that we’d left all the gear out on the stern of the boat, including the GPS and the camera. When Mike returned he said the guy had waived the charges as he thought it was silly to charge for the moorings and have no boats stopping overnight. That was nice of him. We took all the stuff off the slide inside and dried it out as best we could. The GPS was pretty much waterproof, but the camera wasn’t. Left it to dry out overnight with its battery and flash card removed. (We were lucky – it recovered). Watched the news and weather - Britain was enjoying good summer weather, while we were due more cold rain and wind.

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

Saturday 6th August 2005 Middelstum to Oldenzijl.

Leaving the mooring at Middelstum

10.7º C overnight. After rain in the night it was sunny, but with a cold wind. We went out in the car first thing to get fuel, petrol for the gennie and diesel for the car, then called in a Plus supermarket in the village for bread and cheese, etc. When the bridge opened at 10.15 a.m. we set off, heading north on the Boterdiep. It was still cold with the wind blowing, so Mike kept the coal fire going all day. The channel was narrow and the banks built up with gabions (rocks in wire mesh baskets) below the road through the village of Kantens, past a tall

Grote Geert windmill in Kantens

windmill called Grote Geert. The canal did a sharp right turn, with a canoe route off to the left called the Koksmaar, and we passed two moored houseboats (which had seen better days) in the middle of nowhere. A young man stepped off the one that looked inhabited with a dog at his heels – hippies! He said hello as we passed by. We arrived at the swingbridge at Doodstil (the village sign said the “mooiest plaatsnaame” - the most beautiful place name in the Netherlands - it means dead calm) at 11.35 a.m. No one around, so we dropped a rope on the posts by the bridge. An old chap with a camera arrived to chat and take photos. At 11.45 a.m. two waterways men came with a couple of cruisers on their way back down the canal from Uithuizen (where the Boterdiep finishes). As we went through the bridge Mike told the bridge workers that we weren’t going into the town, we were going up to Oldenzil, but one of them still cycled on to the liftbridge going in the direction of Uithizen. He went away again when we did a

Rosy in the reeds in the narrow channel of the Uithuizermeester

sharp right turn into the Uithuizermeester, a very narrow channel between high banks of reeds. The course of the former river twisted and turned, ducked under several fixed footbridges and a roadbridge and after 6.5 kms we arrived in Oldenzijl, the end of the navigation, where an unattended liftbridge barred the way. Mike tried winding with the bows in a ditch at the end of someone’s garden, but the boat was just about two metres too long. We gave up and backed off for Bill to have a go. He couldn’t get Rosy round either, so we both moored next to an old low quay wall and decided we’d have to reverse

Reeds and a winding channel - Uithuizermeester

next day to a place about a kilometre back down the navigation where we might be able to wind. We’d stirred the bottom up quite well and the water had turned from peaty brown to inky black, sending up the most malodorous pong imaginable. We’d arrived at 1 p.m but it was 1.45 p.m. by the time we’d tied up. Mike said we’d leave the car where it was as we would be going back to Middlestum next day. We started making up the new mossie net strip curtain for the front door. In the middle of

Moored at Paapstilbrug

doing that a small (15m) unconverted (except for an engine in its hold) masted tjalk arrived with a crowd of people who leapt off on to the bank behind us and proceeded to hammer out the wedges on the bridge deck and wind up Paapstil liftbridge with two hefty blokes swinging on the windlass to operate it. They took the boat through, some of the youths climbed the bridge deck whilst hanging on to the side railings, and then wound the bridge back down again and never said a word to us, didn’t even look in our direction - we might have been invisible! Not even a wave. Back to work on

Tjalk going through the bridge.

the curtain, except a lady arrived on the quay and engaged Mike and Bill in conversation. She invited us to go to her house for a drink. OK. Half an hour later her husband arrived in his car to pick us up and we had a very entertaining time with two journalists who had been all over the world.