Hockham Admiral

Jill, Hi. As a relative newcomer to Norfolk, only been here 34 years, I still can't understand how you get "Stewkey" out of "Stiffkey"!

You might put it in the Broads pictures section, Mick, but we're really not that fussy. BTW, quite remarkable pics, are you a professional photographer?

Fascinating stuff, Jill, thanks. I'll try to watch it again when I get decent broadband as my present WIFI is painfully slow (but free!).

Maurice, Hi and welcome aboard from us. I think you'll find us a pretty friendly lot and hope to hear more from you. (P.S. I'll be putting more pics on tomorrow of our trip down the Princess Margaret Canal here in Friesland today).

Last post and we’d just missed out on a pub-stop (Thanks, Alan!). We were just coming up to the outskirts of Leeuwarden and here’s a pic of just that. I can’t but not think you might be somewhere on The Broads! Then we passed by a sign that several of our members couldn’t have resisted a quick visit to! I must ask someone what it means! I do know that ‘de’ is ‘the’! ‘De’ and ‘Het’ are the two Dutch words for ‘the’, and although there are generalities in their use the Dutch say that you really have to learn them individually… which I guess is OK if you’re born here! I just remember that ‘de’ is always used with plurals and ‘het’ with diminutives. To use the adjective ‘little’ you just add ‘je’ to the end of a word; then it’s always ‘het’. Probably best that you just learn to say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’……………. We soon came to another pretty little bridge whose lights immediately changed to red/green. Most of these smaller bridges are radio controlled from a central centre. They are really how we should go about it, especially when you think about the bridges in Gt Yarmouth. Here in Holland they would have traffic cctv’s at the Haven Bridge and radio control it from the Breydon Bridge; so simple really. Next we saw one of several small peeps/bicycle ferries which surround some of the towns over here. They are virtually a floating platform for a few peeps and their bikes and seem to work to order pretty much like the Reedham Ferry does. We arrived in Leeuwarden at13.15 and were lucky to find a prime mooring right in the centre of town. Here was the only place we’ve been so far which had a much lower bank than all the others. This meant a step down of about 3ft and justified us bringing our collapsible stool! We were also outside the shower/toilet facilities and nearby were a leccy post and wheelie-bins. The paying kiosk was automated and even though the screen was in Dutch, German, French or English I still couldn’t work it out. I was quite relieved when a Dutch family were also baffled! When at last I did get to use it we paid about £10 for the 24hrs. Not too bad in the centre of a large town, I think. We then spent a pleasant few hours wandering around the centre of this lovely old town and sampled a brew in one of the hotels. Yes, hotels! Bars don’t seem to open until the evening and then stay open until the last one standing falls out! So lunchtime is just that; mostly a light meal and usually a soft drink with it, as far as we saw others. Most of the customers were sat outside the hotels at pavement tables watching the world go by, as one does.. We did make note of a couple of likely looking bars for the evening’s entertainment! Mary-Jane enjoyed the views with a glass of Rose! An old (skippered) hire-boat passed us by; we’d seen it moored in Dokkum the previous day and they gave us a wave as they passed by. Thursday was a washout and we stayed another day in Leeuwarden. Not a total waste as we managed to find another bank who accepted Visa Debit cards. (So far, ABM Hambro and Ing had). We also found a handy Albert Heijn mini-supermarket. They are the Dutch equivalent of Tesco or Sainsbury and are in most nearly all towns, as are Aldi and Lidl. So we were able to top-up on the basics you always seem to need; milk, bread, beer and wine, not necessarily in that order! ! I did get the chance, in the early evening when it had cleared up, to wander around looking at boats. Invariably the Dutch crews were polite and only too happy to talk in English to a visitor. If I’d taken up every invite to a glass we’d probably still be there! Anyway I spoke with the owners of these two tugs… one had come from Prague! They seem to renovate anything that floats and use it as a holiday or permanent home. It really is a ‘must-do’ holiday to come over here and the tales you hear are truly fascinating and some even heroic! Friday dawned bright and clear and it had been our intention to head for Grau but I was unhappy with the domestic battery bank and Warten was just a small diversion off our route. The ‘fridge had been shutting down about two hours after we either stopped the engine or the 230V leccy ran out. (This was serious as we then had neither ice nor cold wine/beers). To my mind that meant battery problems and so it later proved. Yes, I could have telephoned them but I doubted my ability to make them understand the problem. The bridges don’t start to work until 09.00 and so it was then that we slipped our mooring and slowly cruised down to the first one behind a Dutch Yacht. As we followed the circular canal-system around Leeuwarden we saw many live-a-boards and here’s one which might make Jill envious! ‘Tornado’ might be in need of a coat of paint but she did look substantial and I reckon you could quite literally go anywhere in her (if you could afford the fuel!). Lori mentioned big Dutch barges and we thought we’d seen a few big ones…. until this giant appeared under the bridge ahead. He quite literally had only a foot or so each side to miss the bridge! We’ve seen bigger on the main rivers of Europe but not on the Dutch waterway system where there are even more peeps let loose with a small boat than back at home. As I’ve said, most boats over here are privately owned but that doesn’t always signify common sense, or seamanship, on behalf of the owners! Just before one bridge we were overtaken by a small (about 60ft) converted barge with a family onboard. The bow-wake and wash were not only impressive but caused us lots of rolling for about 10 minutes afterwards with the returning waves bouncing backwards and forwards off the edges of the canal. Probably 50% or so of the boats we’ve seen so far have had a slightly cavalier approach to speed limits and so far we’ve not seen any signs of the river police. Ah yes, I’ve found that useful Dutch word which I could neither spell nor pronounce, it’s ‘Gedogen’ and you pronounce the g’s as though you’re coughing up something nasty! Our final adventure was then to cross an aqueduct… it really IS strange looking DOWN on traffic as you motor along! Then it was a gentle 4mph burble back to Warten to get Sabine some needed TLC. We arrived back at Warten at 11.00 and I explained the problem to Anna, who said that if I’d telephoned from anywhere in Holland then Sytze would have come out in his van and fixed it personally. That’s good to know for future reference! When Sytze came onboard he agreed that there was a battery problem and went off to Grau to buy another two. I also asked if there was a switch for the immersion heater which had been eating up leccy! He said not but showed me the panel on the control consul, which I could remove, and the plug to pull out to disconnect the heater. Gedogen! We took the opportunity to take the car for a drive around and fill up on basic stores for the next two weeks. We then drove into Grau to look around and decided to give it a miss tomorrow (Saturday) and go directly to Sneek for the weekend. When we returned to Warten the entire cabin floor was up and the engine bay revealed… Wow, now that’s an engine bay! So roomy that you can walk around the engine and everything is easily accessible for maintenance. The two new batteries were enormous, like those big lorry ones with two terminals at one end. Of the old ones there was one at 12.7V and the other at 10.2V… we had the culprit! Sytze then proceeded to start cutting a 1.5ins hole in the side of the wheel-consul and wired a switch in for the immersion heater. Brill!

As you are a commercial interest, David, (Norfolk Broads Boat Hire) you can become an "Official Business Supporter" (like Clive Ricco) for a small sum. Then you can advertise as much as you want on our pages. PM me if you're interested.

Alan, hi from us.Will you be alone or is Sally B along? We hope to visit Kerri early Sept too.

So much to tell and so many pics to share! Unfortunately I'm only on my tablet tonight. I'll try to write it all up later in word and then add the pics tomorrow when we get to Sneek (pronounced snake). Li'l Sprite, sorry you became impatient! Lori, what a tale! How old were you then?

Well if you know what it means then I apologise, Mate! Laptop now down to 12% so I've got to go and don't know when I'll get 230V to charge it or WIFI to communicate.. Ah well, one more Heine to finish the night off!

He's probably quietly dreaming, Bill!

Alan, Hi.... as we would say over here "Lazer Op!"

Hi, Ali's daughter! (May we know your name, please?). You're obviously going to be a writer when you finish with education!

About halfway along we came to this old wind-pump which reminded me of those near How Hill. The wind had dropped and it was turning into another beautiful day. I can't stop thinking of how similar to the Broads are the waterways of Friesland...without the traffic! We were now in a 6kph section of the river but had to up it to keep up with a yacht which powered past us towards the next bridge. The bridges seem to give priority to yachts but I was told that it's because they see the stick a while ahead of the boat. He then accelerated even faster to overtake a cruiser and we gave up trying to follow and came back to the legal limit! After another few miles we came to our first riverside pub we had seen so far. And NO, we didn't stop! The public moorings alongside were the usual immaculate ones we have grown to expect. Only one cruiser tied up outside and the sun was over the yardarm!

Dokkum is a lovely little town, very typically Dutch, which we wandered around between the showers. It cost us E7,30/night for the boat and E1.00 each for 'tourist tax'. The 'Haven Meister' here was a very pretty young Dutch girl who again spoke perfect English, although she'd never been over to the UK! I can't help but keep saying how very friendly the Dutch are. Over the years we have taught ourselves a few stock phrases in Dutch and these are much appreciated as no-one (except the Dutch) seem to make any effort to speak to them in their own language. We left Dokkum yesterday morning for the short (distance) trip to Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland. However the six bascule bridges between, although relatively attentive to river traffic, do slow you down. I guess it's all relative when I think back to Somerleyton! Leaving Dokkum I hadn't noticed that there was a notice on the bridge ahead which said that the transit fee was E3.50... I was in the cabin and only the sight of the dangled clog by the 'Brug Meister' (which is only accessible from outside) triggered my response! I grabbed a handful of Euros and jumped up the gangway to the upper helm deck and attempted to slow us down to pay the money. Fortunately, this time, I had remembered to pull the wheelhouse throttle back to neutral; otherwise the upper deck one doesn't work...... Is that how dual controls work at home, I wonder? I did mange not to hit either side of the bridge (just) but they are quite narrow; it was blowing a bit and I had to leave the helm to grab the clog and put the money in. You find a double red when you approach the bridges and again hoot three times. (I guess we never did wait for much more than five minutes). Then the lights change to green/red and finally green/green. They like you to be passing just as they change to green/green.

Hi, Kerry, and welcome aboard the friendly forum from us.

Where can you find this video, please?

It's the inside of a mould

Thanks, Ali and Alan. We'll give it a try when we return.

What a lovely blog, Ali. You make it all sound so interesting. Was the food very expensive? We've not had a meal there yet.

Welcome aboard from us, Bobby!

Oh, you three!!!

That's a super pic of the galley onboard! Really spacious and lots of light coming in! Please keep it coming! :clap

That's a really nice pic of Swallow, Fred. We went onboard her last year when Neil and Karen had her out. What a charming little boat she is!

The 'victims' need not apply!

Bill, Hi That's a really useful tool and I shall make one up when I get home! I've saved it to 'My Pictures' and will report on how it works out.