Dutch Holiday on Sabine

[Hockham Admiral]

Before we leave Sneek I've taken a few more pics that might be interesting to some of us. Here's a sight I didn't think I'd see!

 

 

 

 

 

The following is a sequence I’ve taken of a very long cruise barge manoeuvring to get through the bridge. I’ll put individual comments with each pic.

 

When we first saw her we thought she'd tied up on the water pontoon but in fact a crewman was fastening the forward starboard mooring warp to the very substantial bollards on the side of the bridge.

 

 

When the bridge starts to open the Skipper puts on full starboard helm and lots of power!

 

 

He then waits for the boats to come through the opened bridge

 

 

Before putting on full helm again and a quick burst of full power to get her straightened up for the transit

 

 

The crewman has now untied the warp and if your Dutch is up to it you can correct me because she's a KERKSCHIP (Church Ship) for Sundays at 10am!

 

 

Now her bow is snugged into the bridge entrance and she starts to move forward

 

 

And through she goes!

 

 

 

[Hockham Admiral]

  hi john it sounds like you are really enjoying your hols, it's a really lovely boat, lovely colour too, would.nt mind one like that over here lol, I love all your piccies, they're brilliant, can't believe the size of that barge coming through that bridge, very tight indeed,   what's the speciality over there john with food ? & what's your favourite ?  lori

I guess fish would be the speciality answer, Lori, in this part of Holland.

Our personal favourite (if we eat out) is an Indonesian Rice Table with up to 20 different dishes! It's a bit like a Meze.

Eating out is expensive, say a minimum of £20 a person for a simple meal; so we mainly enjoy varied salads etc. onboard.

[Hockham Admiral]

SNEEK-BOSWALD Tuesday, 20^th August

 

As we left Sneek behind we passed by this sign which may give hope to some out there! Perhaps, coupled with the ‘De Bonke’ sign previously, it may give you a false impression of Friesland! Or maybe a hopeful one….   

 

 

 

Just after this we crossed yet another aqueduct. It never ceases to amaze me just how water-holiday orientated they are over here and the lengths they have gone to ensure an easy passage for boaters. For example, today we passed through no less than six opening bridges, all but one were manned, which costs a fair bit of money I dare say. Every one of the manned ones turned their lights red/green as soon as we approached; road traffic just has to wait.    

 

 

I’m not too good at self portraits, holding the camera backwards and pressing the button, but here goes:

 

 

Here’s a lovely looking old boat, in my mind, and the very pretty little village of Ijlst, just SW of Sneek.

 

 

 

A bit later on we came to a road and then rail bridge which were the only two swing bridges we’ve seen so far. All the others have been bascule bridges.

 

 

 

 

As is this small one with the elderly gent in attendance!

 

 

 

For any of you who prefer the narrow boat world here’s one you might hire. The school holidays finish in mid-August here in Holland and if you look at the price range in Sytzse’s brochure you’ll see that reflected in the drop in prices after the end of July.

 

 

Next is where we met up with the Kayak Squadron, Mum, Dad and the two children, who were paddling (do you say that with kayaks?) quite quickly at about 3-4mph. They did sort of move over just after the bend in the river as we approached the bridge.

 

 

 

Coming towards us is this Dutch equivalent of our wherries but look at the enormous side-boards they have for going to windward across the Ijsselmeer. They refer to them as the ‘Starboard’ and the ‘Backboard’ (Portboard).

 

 

Here’s another boat you might hire although I’m not too sure about the casual attitude of the gent outside who was enjoying a ciggie with his right hand and left hand in his pocket!

 

 

And so on to Boswald, the prettiest place we’ve visited so far. The weather brightened up, the sun came out and we set off to explore the town. Life doesn’t get much better for Mary-Jane and me!    

 

[Dan]

Before we leave Sneek I've taken a few more pics that might be interesting to some of us.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wooo... look at that bad boy of an Aquafibre from Le Boat!

 

Dan

[Hockham Admiral]

Dan, Hi.

We've seen quite a few le boats and in general they're in nowhere near as good a condition of the small Dutch yards' boats.

I guess that's because they have a much larger turnover? Certainly they are usually using a lot of diesel!

[Hockham Admiral]

BOSWALD

Back to Boswald, in the heart of SW Friesland where I'll digress awhile and talk about generalities of a boating holiday in Holland.

 

If you want extended cruising over long days and lots of sluis (locks) to navigate then Zeeland in the South of Holland is the place to be. To a degree that extends up to the Ijsselmeer in the northern part of Holland and to get there you will have to go through them.

 

Mary-Jane and I would have some difficulty doing that as it involves two of you catching hold with your mooring lines onto bollards on the sides of the lock. We moor well enough as we've developed techniques which allow me to virtually self moor anywhere we go, be it side or stern on. However the Dutch tend to flood the locks as soon as you're all in and if you've not caught hold you'll be swept sideways... we've seen it happen to others and don't want to experience it ourselves. But don’t be put off, with two able bodied peeps it’s no problem at all.

 

Now Friesland is a totally different kettle of fish. Here are no locks unless you wish to venture onto the Ijsselmeer but there are scores of bridges. We were initially a bit worried about them but needn’t have been; as I’ve said they open just about as soon as they see you regardless of road traffic. But there is a penalty… isn’t there always? They sometimes charge you (via the swinging clog on the fishing rod). We’ve been stopped only three times so far for that and charges varied between 1 & 2 Euros.

 

Then there’s South West Friesland, where a bridge seems to come up every few miles or so. We’ve been in that area for the last week. Here they open ‘gratis’ (a Dutch word too) but it’s all taken into account by the mooring fees in the towns. It varies between 75cents and 1.25 Euros per metre but does include (in the more expensive form) free leccy. Also, wherever you are there are free showers/toilets and in two places free washing machines/tumbler dryers. So it’s all swings and roundabouts out here.

 

There are lots of things you would need to consider bringing with you:

Bedding, towels and tea towels; A 230V plug convertor is essential! If you actually want to hear what’s going on at home a LW radio to pick up 198 kHz for Radio 4; Teabags, Dutch tea bags are insipid at best! Fly spray/matches and finally a sharp knife. You can buy all these bits in the supermarkets here but those I’ve mentioned can’t be bettered over home bought ones.

 

And so to Boswald, a really lovely place, and as we arrived at 11.40 we found a prime mooring place. That had developed into our strategy; to leave early enough to get to the next place by or before mid-day. After we’d tied up we had our by now late brunch before venturing off into town to see the sights. We weren’t disappointed! Possibly the nicest stopover so far and we liked it so much we stayed another night! Below are a few pics taken around Boswald.

[Dan]

Dan, Hi.

We've seen quite a few le boats and in general they're in nowhere near as good a condition of the small Dutch yards' boats.

I guess that's because they have a much larger turnover? Certainly they are usually using a lot of diesel!

 

Hi John

 

Whilst it may be excused under several reasons the hard reality can only be that they are choosing not to prioritise looking after them as well as how the other yards were that you saw.

 

It's a shame really as most were built to a good standard but they do not seem to look to manage the yards with this at their heart.  It's a shame really, but standards of upkeep seem to have continually dropped over the years under the ownership of TUI, but I am sure that the management have a lot of different reasons to excuse or deny such realities

 

Dan

[Hockham Admiral]

Well, Dan, I guess that's so and it does seem a shame. I think it's like pub chains really; when the suits take over the bottom-line is only money/profit....    

 

Here's a few hire boats we've seen.  I was very surprised to see number 4! 

[Dan]

Well, Dan, I guess that's so and it does seem a shame. I think it's like pub chains really; when the suits take over the bottom-line is only money/profit....    

 

Here's a few hire boats we've seen.  I was very surprised to see number 4! 

Yeah, I guess it can be - but it depends how good the management is.  With the right 'suits' companies can do very well so I just happen to think they are not doing a great job and missing a few key things that would get them more business but other opinions are available!

 

Loved the hireboat piccies.

 

Those blue hulled Bounty's have been about since I was a nipper, I remember them in the brochures.... do you know where they start from?

 

Looks like you had a great time

 

Dan

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello John & Mary-Jane.

One of those hire boats looks very similar to yours, other than it having a blue hull.

Boswald looks an interesting place and by the looks of it very clean, this is something that comes across in all the pictures you have posted.

Regards

Alan

[Hockham Admiral]

Loved the hireboat piccies.

Those blue hulled Bounty's have been about since I was a nipper, I remember them in the brochures.... do you know where they start from?

Looks like you had a great time

Dan laptop.

I'll try to find out if I see one again, Dan.

 

We're still here for another week and at present we're at Wousend. We're heading for Lemmer, via Sloten, later this morning.

 

I'm a bit behind on the blog as we've not been near a leccy post for two days and I only managed an hour or so in the pub last night to charge the laptop. 

[Hockham Admiral]

Hello John & Mary-Jane.

One of those hire boats looks very similar to yours, other than it having a blue hull.

Boswald looks an interesting place and by the looks of it very clean, this is something that comes across in all the pictures you have posted.

Regards

Alan

 

Yes, I thought so, Alan, but as you would have guessed, Dan even knew what sort of 'Alpha' it was!   

 

Everywhere here seems clean, Alan. I think it's just their sense of being, really. It's probably yet another reason we came to admire this country so much over the years apart from their obvious devotion to anything that moves on water!  

[loribear]

hi john, loved your piccies, it seems hard to believe you've been there 2 weeks already, i strikes me you're enjoying yourself alittle tooo much over there lol, i can see you not wanting to come back home again . How does that boat compare to yours regarding comfort ? & if you had a choice which one would you have , that one or yours ? Lori

[Dan]

Hi John

 

I did a quick search and found them.  A nice selection actually, and all look quite nicely built & presented, including several ex Broads from the Moores fleet.

 

http://www.centerpoint-charters.com/

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip

 

Dan

[littlesprite]

I think this holiday tale has convinced me just how beautiful it all is, can I find the time and money to give it a try.

[Hockham Admiral]

hi john, loved your piccies, it seems hard to believe you've been there 2 weeks already, i strikes me you're enjoying yourself alittle tooo much over there lol, i can see you not wanting to come back home again . How does that boat compare to yours regarding comfort ? & if you had a choice which one would you have , that one or yours ? Lori

Well, Lori, when we finish next Saturday we aren't coming home!

 

There's a £500 fuel/damage waiver charge and we shall get back what's left after we've paid for the fuel, in cash... (a euro cheque isn't a lot of use to us).

 

So we're driving down the length of Holland to Zeeland for a few days in small hotels until we spend up the change! 

 

Friday Girl is more comfortable but I could get used to the view from the upper deck on Sabine! However she would be (to us) totally inappropriate for The Broads so it's no contest.

[Hockham Admiral]

THURSDAY, 22^ND AUGUST

 

We slipped away from Boswald at 09.25; stopping by the Shower/Laundry block to top up with water… that tap ran at about the same speed as the one at Womach Staithe! (Yesterday we had put a week’s wash in the machine and then tumbled dried it all for free). Half an hour later and we finally said goodbye to Boswald.

 

Before our next stop at the small town of Workum  I managed to branch off under a dual-carriageway bridge. This, as usual, stopped a considerable amount of road traffic to allow us to do so. It wasn’t until I looked at the map a few minutes later and computed the sun’s position (90 degrees out to our required heading) that I realised that we were going the wrong way! Ah well, let’s hope the young lady Brugmeister is in a good humour this morning…. As we re-approached the bridge I pointed my right hand, cocked in a pistol shape, at my head and then bowed deeply… She fell about laughing and immediately stopped the road traffic again. This is truly a wonderful place to be on a boat!

 

By the time we reached Workum it was heating up nicely towards 26degs and a clear blue sky; we can stand all of this! We passed under a pretty low bridge (our airheight is 2.30m) and by some interesting boats down the cut into town.

 

Our mooring was just a very short walk from the town centre and we spent a while looking around the Jopie Huisman museum.

 

http://www.jopiehuismanmuseum.nl/klik-hier-om-verder-te-gaan.html

 

There were also some very nice restaurants fronting the market square with lots of seating spaces in the bright sunshine… we had a beer or two.  

[Hockham Admiral]

Friday, 23rd August

Friday morning dawned a bit misty but a beautiful blue sky and we set off just before 09.00 to make the first bridge and then the railway bridge out of Boswald.

 

 

Our first intended stopover was the small town of Heeg but the few moorings available were daytime only and the marinas on the central island were all very crowded. We also came down a very narrow part of the river with boats on either side; just about enough room to squeeze through. Yes, I’d taken another wrong turn! (In my defence Heeg is not shown up very well on the map…).

 

Then round a tight bend we came to this:

 

 

I actually doubted my ability to reverse out of whence we’d just come so it was a case of “nothing ventured…” I was helming from the upper deck and just had to aim Sabine at the centre of the bridge and lie flat on the deck! We did make it but there wasn’t very much clearance! 

 

As we crossed the Heeger Meer we saw lots of very varied boats and sailing lessons for very young children were under way. They do start them very young over here and are to be admired, I think. There were also many moored up at the numerous islands scattered around.

 

And so on to Woudsend where we found a space nearby surely the busiest bascule bridge anywhere! We were just down from a café/bar and spent the afternoon watching the world go by, quite literally, because that bridge was opening and closing every few minutes continuously from our arrival before 12.00 until well after 18.00. The only one we’ve seen so far that doesn’t close for an hour at lunch and teatime.

[Hockham Admiral]

Saturday, 24^th August

 

We wanted to be in Lemmer before 11.00 because we’d been told that the moorings would fill up rapidly after then…. they did! So we left Woudsend at 08.50 on a windy and somewhat chilly morning; too cold for the upper deck!

 

They do like wherries over here! In fact they seem to like just about anything that floats! And the barges just get bigger and bigger as we get nearer to the Ijsselmeer. Some of the boats make even our bigggest Brooms look tiny!

 

Lemmer is far the busiest place we’ve been to as a tourist attraction. We found a space but it wasn’t too long before we were surrounded by boats. We were fortunate that our immediate neighbours were a very nice young couple form Cologne who we helped raft up alongside Sabine. They rewarded us with bottles of Heineken and were soon onboard sharing holiday tales and some more Heinekens!

 

 

 

We spent the afternoon wandering around the quayside, browsing the many small shops and just watching the world go by. It was by now hot at 28C and needed lots  of chilling refreshments to keep cool! Our fridge was up to the task

[Ebbtide]

Once again John a wonderful post, and I can see why you are both enjoying it so much.

 

Am loving all the pictures some of the Dutch sailing vessels look beautiful, also all the commercial traffic. I was particularly interested in the suction dredger "Carpediem" I have only ever seen this type once before in the Bristol Channel. That huge steel pipe in the bow is lowered to the river bed, and holds the vessel in position while dredging. Perhaps its an idea that was developed by the Dutch.

 

That low bridge reminded me of Wayford Bridge.

 

Maurice

[Hockham Admiral]

Thank you, Maurice.

 

Carpe Diem, which if I remember means "Seize the Day", was absolutely full to the gunwales and we did wonder where she was going to dump it all!   

[trambo]

Hi John, Just catching up on your voyage and what a enjoyable story it is making. The one thing that strikes me more than anything, is not the amount of commercial traffic but the shear size of the vessels. Also, they don't crawl along like the coasters used to do  on the Yare. Just how much room is there on the navigations? It just seems incredible that no competence  test is required on such waterways.

 

Fred

[Hockham Admiral]

Hi John, Just catching up on your voyage and what a enjoyable story it is making. The one thing that strikes me more than anything, is not the amount of commercial traffic but the shear size of the vessels. Also, they don't crawl along like the coasters used to do  on the Yare. Just how much room is there on the navigations? It just seems incredible that no competence  test is required on such waterways.

 

Fred

Fred, Hi.

In answer to your first question the main canals are at least as wide as the widest part of the Yare and although there are bends there are none such as you have on a meandering old river like the Yare. Thus they don't swing about so much as you might have seen them do at home. That's probably why there are still signs on bends on the Yare warning of Coaters).

They do seem to generally observe the 10kph limits (although the pleasure boats don't) except when they're overtaking.

The problem comes when you get one on a narrower river or canal but it doesn't seem to faze them over here; they're just used to it!

As for competence then most seem pretty up to scratch, with the exceptions, I must say, of some few visitors from an adjacent country. (How's that for diplomacy?    :naughty: ). 

[Hockham Admiral]

Sunday, 25 August 2013

 

This morning it was pouring with rain at 05.00, to the extent that it woke me up! Where we were moored was a wifi hotspot and so I checked the local weather forecast: “Sunny & warm by 10.00” … it was!

 

As I was up and about I downloaded another 50 or so pics from yesterday onto the laptop and then edited/enhanced them. Then I wrote the blog up and inserted the pics. It doesn’t sound much but a couple of hours soon go by; I can’t begin to imagine how long Robin spends editing those marvellous movies he makes for us!     

 

The Haven Meister had told us that a ‘cruise ship’ (somewhat like those at Oulton, Wroxham and Horning) would be arriving this morning between 10.00 and 11.00. So when a slot opposite us was vacated at 09.30 we asked Sebastian and Marianne to let us out so that we could fill it before another boat arrived, which they did. 10.30 and the ‘cruise ship’ arrived and stayed until 14.00.

 

For 10 Euros you could take the round trip up towards Sneek and back, with beer, music and food served as you went along; we declined but a heck of a lot of punters did get onboard!

 

Another lazy day spent in more hot sunshine; we wandered around some more for an hour or so in the early afternoon and spent the obligatory time first drinking a beer and then licking an ice-cream cornet (one each!) … we do know how to live…   

 

Then it was back to the boat for a quiet afternoon and our tea for today; ham pasta with sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers, peas, carrots, garlic and onions in a cheese sauce. I haven’t mentioned food before in any great detail but with the hot weather we’ve been having it’s been mainly salads and rice/pasta dishes. Sabine has a four-burner gas hob but neither oven nor grill; so pizzas and the like are out! Probably the grill (and occasionally the microwave) we have on Friday Girl are what we’ve missed most. If you’re a toast addict then one of those small stainless steel contraptions you sit on top of a gas burner would be useful! (Come on, someone will know what I mean!). For us it’s been packet Melba toasts!

 

For shopping we’ve had a good selection of small supermarkets everywhere we’ve been. Aldi and Lidl are usually somewhere around together with Albert Heijn, Spar, Jumbo and Polesz. These give a good variety of wines, beers and food. Wines and beer are cheaper than at home while food tends to be more expensive; not a problem for us as we don’t tend to eat that much. Possibly a sandwich and cuppa for elevenses and a salad for tea would be our daily intake.

 

There are also lots of small wine, nuts and cheese shops together with innumerable cake and bread shops; you could get seriously porky over here! Somehow we’ve tried to be good and only had the occasional exotic cake creation.

 

Later on, after tea, we searched the map for places to visit in the next five days; tomorrow it’s off to Terherne on the Sneeker Meer (Sneek Lake) for the night. We shall report back!

 

(The thumbnail of Mary-Jane writing up her diary shows the posy of roses that Marianne and Sebastian bought us; what a lovely thoughtful gesture!).

[Hockham Admiral]

When I'd just finished this (the first time) the Wi-Fi cut out for a few seconds and although it auto-saved the text it didn't the pics ???

Hence as soon as I finished re-uploading the pics I hit "Post"!