Tuesday 2nd August 2005 Stadskanaal to Hoogezand.

Lock 1 Stadskanaal. Note keeper poling far gate open.

A chilly 9.7º C overnight. Blue skies first thing, cloudy by 9.00 a.m. and drizzly in the afternoon. We set off at 8.00 a.m. The German boat Nixe was away first leading our convoy of three boats. Through four bridges to lock 2. Two men worked the lock. The cruiser took the straight right hand wall so we wriggled into the bay offset on the left and Bill brought Rosy alongside. Set off down to the next lock following the cruiser. We met the first uphill convoy at the first swingbridge. Five cruisers lead the way, followed by two little open boats and two little 

In convoy on the Oosterdiep

Luxemotors, one of which had the smokiest engine we’d seen for a long time. Both converted boats looked like hotel boats. I don’t think the skipper of the boat with the smoky engine liked us coughing and making rude comments about him needing his engine mending (he wouldn’t let his car engine get into that state!) They all trooped through the bridge while we waited. We went through the bridge, past the junction with the Pekkelerhoofddiep, and on to new waters for us as well as Rosy. Followed Rosy into the oval chamber of lock 1. The lock had slightly sloping brick walls and dropped only 0.7m. The keeper, a burly, bearded, long-haired young man (looked like a biker) poled the bottom end gates open (no balance beams or capstans on these old locks) and lifted the little footpath liftbridge and we followed the cruiser through the keeper’s last swingbridge on the last bit of the Stadskanaal and did a sharp right turn into the Oosterdiep and immediately under a liftbridge, the first of

Participanten lock oosterdiep

thirty moveable bridges operated for us by a team of two young keepers, one on a bike and one on a scooter, who leapfrogged one another down the canal doing the bridges turn and turn about. I made a cuppa just as we arrived at the first of three locks on the Oosterdiep. The lock, Batjeverlaat, had a newly refurbished concrete chamber and was electrically powered with controls in a box which our dayglo-orange jacketed lads worked for us. As I pulled on the centre rope to get the boat close to the wall I heard a splashing sound from down below my feet. I glanced down

Modern liftbridges in Veendam. Oosterdiep

and thought I saw a cormorant - but couldn’t believe a bird would be underwater in the lock chamber. It surfaced again five minutes later, I still wasn’t sure if it was bird or a fish! It came to the surface again in the middle of the lock – it was definitely a cormorant! Stupid bird. It looked filthy, a dirty grey colour like the canal water. More bridges followed. We passed a Stilesteven with masts, heading uphill, as we went by a fish and chip shop! New bridge workers were at the next bridge, we thought we’d swapped workers but they were

Waiting for Geert Veenhuizerbrug. A.G. Wildervanckkanaal

reinforcements, they all worked the bridges as they became closer together as we neared Veendam town centre. One keeper, an older guy, waved his arm indicating we should hurry up as we went through a swingbridge. We were already doing 6 kph – the speed limit! Next bridge was an electrically powered liftbridge, which we had to wait for, but not long. On down to the middle lock, Participantenverlaat, which had a longer chamber, we had enough room to go on the same side as the cruiser with room to spare. Through the town centre of Veendam and into the last

Twin flood locks on Winschoterdiep near Zuidbroek

lock, Wilhelminaschutsluis, which was narrower with parallel sides. Several cruisers were waiting below to go uphill. Did a sharp left turn on to another canal, the A.G. Wildervranckkanaal, and came to a stop at a modern, keeper-operated liftbridge. The German cruiser tied to the posts by the bridge and we found a stump on the bank to sling a centre line round. It was 11.45 a.m. Mike called on VHF channel 22 but got no reply. There was a man in the cabin, (we thought the bridge was remotely operated) he surfaced

Slochterbrug. Winschoterdiep

when a small cruiser arrived at the far side and he lifted the bridge for all four of us to go through. It started raining. The navigation was a more modern, wider, deeper canal with reeds along the banks and factories beyond that instead of houses. More cruisers went past heading uphill. Black clouds were gathering. We came to another stop for lunchtime at Meedenerbrug. When the keeper opened the bridge at 1.00 p.m. other boats came through and we set off - but Bill shouted to say Rosy’s engine had stopped before we got to the bridge. We reversed and

Containership Hardi passing at Zwedenbrug

dropped two ropes on Rosy then tied both boats to the posts by the bridge. The keeper went off in his car (he oscillates between the two bridges) when Mike indicated to him that we had a problem. Bill had turned off his automatic refilling system, and the low fuel alarm, for a test he said. He then forgot about doing it, the daytank had emptied, running the engine out of fuel. He had to refill the daytank and then completely bleed the engine fuel system through. He finished and restarted the engine just as the keeper returned. I made us a cup of soup as the drizzle had brought a very chilly wind with it. We joined the Winschoterdiep, turning left heading for Groningen, passing through the open gates of an immense double flood lock. More cruisers went past through the other long open chamber. We caught up with another cruiser to go through the first of a string of keeper operated large modern liftbridges. A brown sailed klipper was waiting on the other side of the first bridge. Mike rigged up our new CD player and we

Containership Hardi passing at Zwedenbrug

tested it. Had new brolly up as it was raining. On through the last few liftbridges and turned left into the old canal to Hoogezand, past the ship builders yards and were faced with wall to wall Dutch barges! Couldn’t get near the area designated as the passantenhaven or mooring place for passing boats. There was a space between a smart new cruiser and an old yacht by the church, so we slotted in and Bill brought Rosy alongside once we’d thrown ropes around the posts on top of the sloping grassy bank. Mike reached a plank out to unload the moped and left it out so Bill and Fanny could get on and off and he went to get the car from

Ship building yard at Hoogezand

Terwalslagerbrug, calling via the Post Office in Hoogezand (our post had arrived on the 29th) and the shop in Stadskanaal where he bought the CD player. The man in the shop had got the book for the 500 series of Sony camcorders which the engineer had said had a similar power supply layout. The book consisted of lots of fold out circuit diagrams. Mike sorted out the two for the power supply section and the chap photocopied them for him. It was 7.30 p.m. before Mike returned with the car. Bill had been chatting to the guy off the cruiser behind us, named

Adjustable pitch prop on a new ship at Hoogezand

George, who had told him that we were in his parents’ boat’s mooring, but it was OK for a few days as the boat wouldn't be back for a while. They owned the old church which was now a glass factory and they lived in the house next door to it. He said it was OK to plug into their electricity supply too and Mike retrieved the car from the car park at the end of the canal arm to park it next to the church, which was very kind of them. 

1st August 2005 Terlwaslagerbrug to Stadskanaal.

Ter Apelersluis on the Ruiten-Aa kanaal

12.6º C overnight, grey overcast, chilly day. Set off at 8 a.m. following Rosy up the Ruiten Aa kanaal. Overtook Rosy before we got to the first swingbridge and I stepped off to work Roelagebrug. Followed Rosy up to Ter Apelersluis. Two cruisers were coming down so we went into the lock after they’d cleared. Mike went back to turn the key in the slot to activate the lock to go uphill and Bill hit the green button. The gates closed, the single paddle lifted and the turbulence forced our boat off the wall, keeping it away from the rough rocks in the chamber wall. Mike

Bridge fendering and bollards. Stadskanaal

wound the liftbridge up and I wound it back down again after the boats had left the chamber. The canal as it neared Ter Apel went through a wooded area which (unusual for the Netherlands) was left natural, without the undergrowth cleared or the grass and flowers cropped short. I worked the next swingbridge (no name) and then the last bridge before the Ter Apel kanaal, which was a main road bridge. A cruiser had just come through - we were a couple of minutes out with the timing! I lifted it and

A lovely old Wartburg car in Stadskanaal

kept it open for a small converted Dutch barge to come through too, which had just arrived on the far side. We turned right on the Ter Apelerkanaal at 9.55 a.m. Bill announced on the VHF that it was new water for him – a few more kilometres and it will be for us – we’ve not been on the Oosterdiep through Veendam before. We had a short wait for the keeper to arrive. He worked the next five bridges for us, a mix of modern electric liftbridges and old style swing footbridges which were manually operated. The first lock was No 6. It had sliding

Lock 6 Musselkanaal. Hand wound top end sliding gate. 

gates offset at either end of a square chamber and little liftbridges for access from one side of the lock to the other by each gate. The keeper was an elderly bloke, pleasant and chatty. He gave Bill his book to write our names and boat names, where we’d come from etc, while he went off to lift the paddles – in the corner in front of our bows two racks lifted big boards over two holes in the lockwall. When the lock was empty he wound the sliding gate open and lifted the little bridge for us to leave the

Liftbridge. Lock 6 Musselkanaal

chamber. We had an enforced pause for lunch, which started at 11.50 a.m. as the bridges and locks are closed from midday until 1.00 p.m. The keeper turned up early at 12.40 p.m. and we were on our way again. Off into the town of Musselkanaal, where there were moored houseboats (some of them in a disused state) and the church clock played a carillon at 1.00 p.m. Down lock 5, with an older narrower lock alongside. Some people arrived by car at the houses by the lock and came to chat, none of them spoke English. We understood the questions in Dutch and they

Emptying sluices lock 6 Musselkanaal

seemed to understand the answers in English! We left the empty lock chamber at 1.25 p.m. and carried on down the canal to lock 4, where a German cruiser was coming up. A young lad was playing about in a speedboat. He went right across our bows, then his engine stopped when he was about 10m away – he found a paddle and moved it quick. We went into the lock after the cruiser left. The keeper was talking on a mobile phone. He said there was another boat coming down the last lock and we would wait for him. Mike told me he’d

Eurobrug. Stadskanaal

looked behind us before we got to the lock and there was no sign of anyone else. He picked up his binoculars and crossed over to the old lock chamber to get a better view back up the canal – still no sign of a boat. He was not amused. Half an hour later at 3.05 p.m. another German cruiser arrived and we went down the lock. The keeper did the next two bridges, beyond which there were three tjalks and two klippers moored, all were houseboats. There was a short section free of bridges and then we came to a stop by the first liftbridge, 500m above lock 3. A lockful of seven boats

Eurobrug statue of spitting man.

came uphill, six Germans and one solitary Dutchman. We’d tied to some railings by the bridge and the boats going the opposite way were milling about, so of course the bridge keeper gave us the green light first. Some of the boats gave up once they’d got through the liftbridge and moored by where we’d been waiting, next to a Lidl supermarket. The keeper spoke bad English loudly and kept stopping what he was doing to answer his mobile – only able to cope with doing one thing at a time. He told us we could moor in the town,

Statue of spitting man by the Eurobrug Stadskanaal

Stadskanaal, overnight and continue next morning at 8.00 a.m. when the next convoy sets off. It was 4.30 p.m. when we tied up on the right hand side by the shopping centre and Bill tied on the opposite side (a bit better for Fanny as the road that side was a little quieter by the houses). It was 8.5 hours since we set off and we’d actually been moving only 4 hours. Mike went off with the camera to take some better pictures of the disgusting statue of a spitting man by the Eurobrug liftbridge.

Moored by the shops in Stadskanaal town

Map for today's route to Stadskanaal

22nd July 2005 Dutch border nr Ter Apel to Roelagebrug.

Bridge working instructions

12.6º C overnight. Lousy weather – it was STILL raining. Mike went to Potze’s garage and hired a key for the little Ruiten-Aa canal before we set off following Rosy at 8 o’clock. There was no keeper at the liftbridge so Mike went off on foot down to the lock to inform him we were waiting and got a lift back to the boat with him in his car. The boats set off again at 8.50 a.m. turning right on the Stadkanaal, with a couple of idiots in cruisers getting in the way on the turn. The keeper let us through the other swing and lift-bridges. A white yacht that had moored by us overnight, had set off before us and was in the lock chamber, waiting to go down. We left the lock at 9.20 a.m. following Rosy. A cruiser had just tied on the landing stage by the bridge which carries the main road over the entrance to the Ruiten-Aa, a young lad had gone to work the bridge. We went through the lifted bridge first, the white yacht carried on down the Stadskanaal, and Mike told the crew of the waiting cruiser that we would do the next bridge. When we got there the crew of a black steel-hulled yacht had just untied and they

Box for the key //

were working the next swingbridge. We went through and said we’d do the next. The next was the first lock and a liftbridge. I got off and opened the liftbridge, the lock was full with the gate open and so Mike called the cruiser and black hulled yacht in first. Not enough room for all four of us in the 27m x 6m chamber. Helped them through the lock, then turned the lock round for us. The rain was still pouring down. Mike pressed the

Ruiten-Aa kanaal and landing for operating the liftbridge 

green button to empty the lock and we waited and waited and nothing happened. By chance, a maintenance man in a white van arrived and told Mike he’d forgotten to turn the key in the box on the landing stage above the lock. Waah! We motored on down to the quay by the next swingbridge at Roelagebrug and tied up. It was 11.30 a.m. I made some potato salad ready for lunch. Mike put the satellite dish up and we had a quick look at the

Mooring on the old quay by Roelagerbrug

weather forecast. A great depression centred on Scandinavia was throwing rain across the whole of northern Europe, from the Netherlands all the way across to Poland. Mike put the TV on again ten minutes later, as I’d said that there was a breaking news headline about a suspect suicide bomber being shot in Stockwell. The TV came on with a horrible green screen. He turned it off and then back on and it still wouldn’t come on again. Took the case off when he noticed it was damp. Rain had leaked through the top edge of the window and dripped on to the TV. Dried it out and left it to dry thoroughly before we dared try it again (luckily, it worked OK later). Ate lunch, then Mike got ready to go and get the car, dressed in waders! When he left at 1.15 p.m it was still raining.

Here's a link to my map of today's route.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1VUS_iCSzy0.kMTmExb-XnBs&usp=sharing