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were no free moorings there (our Wateralmanak Deel 2 of ’97 said the moorings were free for three days, must be out of date on that one, same as it was regarding the moorings in Warffum - they were supposed be the same - free for three days).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.