This is "Onbekommerd"!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekeroog

We really enjoy the German Wadden. Around each corner is another surprise! And also the Wad is more close, more 'in your face'. With exception of Norderney, the harbours have been much less 'touristy' than for instance Terschelling or Vlieland.

We left Norderney and set course to Baltrum, which is the smallest of the 7 islands. The population is 500 souls, but in season this is augmented by up to 4000 tourists, the highest tourist / local ratio know in Germany (or so they say). Because of these numbers, and the small area of the island, there is no bicycle rental and visitors are asked to leave their bikes at home as everything is within very easy walking distance, which is true! Of course there are no cars (except for one ambulance and one fire engine) and everything is horse drawn. The yacht harbour is very small and the harbour master is also the air traffic controller of the local airfield (every island has an airfield), so you go to the control tower to pay the harbour dues!

We walked around the island and the following morning set course to Langeoog, only an hour and a half over the Wad in very nice weather, sunny with maybe 15 knots of Easterly wind. This island is a bit bigger, but no cars, most transport is by electric carts (plus some horses). The town is a few KM from the harbour, we walked there in the morning and in the afternoon we got the bikes out and cycled around the island. Again very nice.

This morning, Wednesday, the forecast was that it would be more windy and rainy later on, but in the morning it was quite still and although a bit overcast it was dry after some rain during the night. We decided to continue to Spiekeroog, which after all is less than one and a half hour away. A very nice and quiet trip through a ‘prikken route’ followed and by 10h30 we had tied up on our sixth (and second last) German Wadden island. As the weather was showing signs of changing we took a quick walk to the village which is just the other side of the dike and what a surprise! It is like it was taken directly from a fairy tale, with quaint little streets, a rose garden and small restaurants under the trees. Of course no cars, just electric carts. We had not taken the camera, so for pictures of Spiekeroog (also called ‘the Green Island’) you will have to wait until the following blog entry, except for a picture taken from the boat of our view: unimpeded onto the ‘Wad’ where a platbodem has run dry (they do that intentionally, to have even more peace and quit.

Suffice it to say that it has taken first place for us amongst all Wadden Islands (including Schiermonnikoog, sorry).


We often pass close to shallows with seals



Onbekommerd in Baltrum harbour


Baltrum


Meeting a fishing boat early in the morning


The view from our mooring at Spiekeroog (note the storm brewing)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Juist and Norderney

We are now on Norderney, our third German Wadden island. After 4 nights on Borkum we had enough of it and were relieved that the weather was good enough to make the jump to Juist. That is a 3 hour trip, first over a shallow and then crossing the ‘Osterems’, where one of the sea ‘arms’ enters the Waddenzee between the islands. It was blowing around 15 knots, maybe a bit more towards the end and the trip was comfortable. Because of the tide we could only leave after 3pm and therefore arrived on Juist after 6. By then it was nice and sunny and after supper we took a walk over the island. The big thing is that there are no cars there, with the exception of one ambulance and two fire engines. On the Dutch Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog the locals can still have one car per household but not so on Juist. Everything is horse drawn, the taxis, the people transporting the luggage form the ferry to the hotels, and the deliveries. It’s very quaint. Also very friendly and laid back, we enjoyed it a lot. The next day (yesterday, Saturday) the weather was a lot worse. When it stopped raining after lunch we took a 2  ½ hour walk towards the West (the island is only 500m from the harbour in the South to the beach in the North). They call the island ‘Toverland’, fairyland and that’s not a bad description: very nice! The harbour is totally ‘tidal’ only at high tide can boats (including the ferry) enter. And at low tide you sit on the ground: Onbekommerd sank 70cm into the mud!


The beer gets delivered by a 2 horse carriage!


Harbour entrance at low tide


Habour dry at low tide


Food and red wine to keep warm!


On Norderney: Sun at last!

This morning it was beginning to clear and there was almost no wind. We took the morning tide and left at 8 to arrive on Norderney at 10h30. Nice calm trip and on arrival bright sunshine! Took a walk to the town straight away: very different from Juist, this is a place where one comes to take in the healthy sea air like the German Emperors and Kings have been doing for hundreds of years (A ‘Kurort’ in German). The average age of the people on the island decreased considerably when I landed (let alone the effect Lyn had!). Although it is not unpleasant, it has little going for it as far as we are concerned.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to Baltrum, then to Langeroog, Spiekeroog and Wangerooge, from there to the mainland at Wilhelmshaven and through the Ems – Jade canal back to the West. Now at over 7 degrees East, we’ll get to 8 before we head back.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Still Borkum. Weather delay......

The plan was to move to Geetsiel or Juist yesterday, but in the morning it was alredy blowing well over 20 Knots and the forecast did not expect much improvement so we decided to extend our stay here by a day. After cycling the day before (which was nice), we decided to take the bus to the town as we had already packed the bikes away. Had a coffee on the 'promenade' and a stroll through the town where we also walked into the people on the boat in front of us who have similar plans to us.
This morning, the forecast was still quite bad with a wind warning and also heavy showers forecast. Now, at almost 3pm, the showers have indeed arrived and it is raining heavily with poor visibility so we are glad we decided to stay put, although we have seen enough of Borkum.
The forecast for tomorrow is decidedly better, so we live in hope. We'll go to Juist, just like our neighbours. The departure time, in order to get over the shallows, gets a bit later every day, tomorrow it will be around 15.30.
In the meantime, when the tide is high (like now), the waves penetrate a bit into the (otherwise quite sheltered) harbour and the boat rocks a bit. Lyn cant work on the laptop for a few hours as she gets a bit 'seasick'. But in a few hours the water level will have dropped and all is quiet again. Such is life on a boat!

Here are some Borkum pictures:


"Dressed for Germany: Guest flag in SB spreader, bikes ready


Nostalgic train between harbour and town


Borkum beach front


The yacht harbour is a bit run down

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Borkum, but alone

We are now in another country, Germany, on the island of Borkum. But unfortunately without Hans and Jet! The story goes as follows:
We (the Onbekommerd and the Waterbufvel) left Zoutkamp yesterday (Monday) morning just before 8. The wind was quite light, say around 12 knots and we got through the lock at Lauwersoog by 9h30. As planned, we stopped in the harbour there: to check on any leakage problems with Waterbufvel, to do a little bit of shopping for supplies and to wait until after 10h15 as we would otherwise be too early in the tide for our first shallow in the Waddenzee (there are called 'wantij', the explanation is quite complicated and has to do with the tide coming to a position from both sides of the island in front of it).
The problem was with the first item: there was again some water in the engine compartment of Hans and Jet's boat and a 'phone call to the mechanic came to a suggestion that it might be the seal of the prop shaft (which on that boat is water lubricated). As that is not a good thing to continue with, they wisely decided to return to the mechanic in Drachten to have the problem fixed and - after some deliiberation - we decided to continue 'on out own'. The trip over the Wadden (no less than 4 'wantijen'!) was very nice and we arrived in Borkum at 15h30, exactly as per the plan. We did have to wait a bit before one of the wantijen as there was not enough depth yet (but honesty directs me to reveal that we were also a few metres out of the channel, which is difficult to see as it is only marked on one side). Once in Borkum we took the bus to the town, which is 7 KM away and had a look around. It is quite festive and the weather was nice and sunny. We took the little nostalgic train back and had supper at the restaurant at the harbour (to try and forget that we should have been eating with Hans and Jet). Hans sent an sms explaining that the seal is not the problem but that there is a leaking cooling water hose. That was also one of our earlier thoughts, but the leak is right in the depth of the boat and difficult to see! Nevertheless, although this problem is easy to fix, we will remain on our own as they have deecided not to follow on.
Today the weather is a lot worse, with some rain although it is now clearing up, which is good as we need to go shopping by bicycle!
Will try to post some pictures later. Also the updates will not be daily from now on as internet outside Holland is a lot more expensive for us.
For those who need contact: SMS's to the Dutch number will be received without problems!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Still Zoutkanp - And Pictures!

As the weather is pretty wet and windy (as well as cold!), we are still in Zoutkamp. I have taken the opportunity to add some pictures, see the 'party' post below! Also the slideshow has been expanded, if you click on a picture it takes you to the Picasa photo album an you can see the pictures better!

The leak in Hans and Jet's boat seems to be minor, we did quite a bit of investigating yesterday, which included heeling and rocking the boat:





Going for a walk!
The plan is to leave tomorrow morning around 8am to get to Borkum, via Lauwersoog. The weather forecast is much better (and it needs to be!!).

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Zoutkamp

The trip to Zoutkamp (in the province of Groningen) was uneventful but nice. It was dry and the sun came out every now and then. As we exited the lock at Dokkumer Nieuwe Zijlen, we saw Henk and Inge de Jong, whom we met during our Waddentrip last year. A lot of waving and later a 'phone call: they had spent a week at Schiermonnikoog and were now giong to Terschelling via Harlingen. I notice that we every now and then see the same boats as before.
As we arrived at Zoutkamp, Hans and Jet had tied up to get Diesel and had just discovered a lot of water below the floorboards of their boat. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon trying to find out where the water had come from and have located the possible source as somewhere near the bowthruster tunnel (but not the bowtruster connection itself). But the leak - if any - is very small and cannot really explain the amount of water found. A mystery so far.We cooked dinner for the 4 of us on Onbekommerd. This morning it is quite rainy and windy so we have decided to stay here for a day. The forecast for Monday is much better for the start of the trip to the German islands and now we can also monitoer 'the leak' a bit more. On Onbekommerd all is well, Lyn is doing some work and we are dry and warm!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Dokkum

We are now in Dokkum on an extremely slow and patchy internet connection but I'll try to update anyway.
During the night we spent in Stavoren, it cleared nicely, so in the morning the sun was out. We did some shopping and I had the cable which connects the GPS to the laptop repaired at the local yacht shop cum electrical contractor. As the diesel station was right there and we needed a new gas bottle anyway, we filled up with diesel, put a new spare gas bottle in the bin and then set off for Sneek. It was a nice trip in very good weather. Gwilym and Janine took us out for dinner and in the morning I even had a haircut! Then we went past the solar panel people as during the previous afternoon the charge regulator had gone 'on the blink'. That was soon solved (according to the technician this had happened three times in 4 years, we'll see..) and we continued to Leeuwarden over a combination of lakes, small and big canals and through small villages. In Leeuwarden we easily found a place for the night. During the night it started to rain and by the time Gwilym and Janine left to take the train to Amsterdam (and from there the bus to Monnickendam to collect their car), it was raining heavily. We left Leeuwarden for Dokkum by noon when it had abated somewhat, after a while there were a few 'shirt tails' of blue sky bus as we tied up in Dokkum - which is a nice place where we have been several times before - it rained again.
Tomorrow we will meet up with Hans and Jet in Zoutkamp and plan what the best way is to start our trip to the German 'Wadden'.
News from the home front is that Sean has booked his flight to London (on 24 June). He has sold his car and can now be on his way. He has organised to be met at the airport, we will only see him a month later on 24 July when we return to London.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Party

Sorry, I have been too busy to update.
On Friday morning Gwilym and Janine arrived as a start to the festivitis for my 'official' birthday. On Sunday Willem and Hetty (my parents) as well as Ineke (my sister) checked in on Onbekommerd as well as John and Cynthia from Cape Town. We had a few 'pre-celebrations' on Onbekommerd to start:






In the evening we had the 60th birthday dinner, with (in addition to the above), my cousins & partners (except for Barend and Marielle who are in Crete) and good friends from all through my life. It was a very special party for me, Lyn had organised a table rotation resulting in everyone almost sharing a table with anyone else at some time during the evening. It seemed to work very well and it appears that everyone enjoyed themselves (Lyn and I certainly did!).
Here are a few pictures:







On Sunday we took some of the guests, plus my dad's brother, uncle Hans, for a cruise on the Gouwzee to Marken (where we were very lucky that a very nice berth just opened up) for Herring rolls and via Volendam back to Monnickendam.
2 brothers, 176 years old together!

As tourists, eating herring rolls in Marken

After the last goodbyes, we left Monnickendam this morning and crossed to Stavoren. It was quite windy (about 5 Bft) but with the sea coming in from behind it was fairly comfortable. Gwilym and Janine are staying with us until Thursday morning, which is very nice. They will go back from Leeuwarden by train to Monnickendam to pick up their car and drive to the Chalet in France. We will then meet up with Hans and Jet for a trip to the German Wadden, weather permitting.
Sorry, still no new slides posted, that will have to happen later.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Solar energy

We now have 2 solar panels, which together - under ideal conditions, which you dont get in Holland - can supply us with 140 Watts of power into our batteries. That, combined with a (much) more efficient fridge, should make it possible to tie up without the electrical umbilical cord for a couple of days, the exact number being a bit dependent on the strenght of the light (it does not HAVE to be sun, but it sure helps) and the way we use or conserve power.
After the installation which took about 8 hours in all, we left Sneek only at 6.30 PM yesterday and tied up at Neie Kruzpolle (now that's Frisian for you!), an island in the Fluessen lake 2 hours later. There we had our first 'solar experience' and indeed the following morning we had a lot more electrons in the batteries than has been the norm so far. The new fridge cannot work on gas anymore and that is also a safety advantage.
This morning we were already under way at 8.30 and one bridge, two locks and 6 hours motoring (of which most on a sometimes rather 'lumpy' IJsselmeer), we are back in Monnickendam. Now it is nice and sunny, but we have the shorepower on a the lasagna is cooking in the electric oven and that would require way too many solar panels.
We'll be here for some time, with my 60th birthday dinner on Saturday as the main focus. But in the meantime we have washing to do, the boat needs some varnish and I'll try to put some new pictures into the slideshow on the blog.
Busy busy..........

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Bolsward & Joure

As planned we motored from Makkum to Bolsward on Saturday, which was only just over an hour. The weather was very nice, and consequently a lot of boats on the water, especially the last bit before Bolsward. B. is a nice Friesian 'city', with a beautiful town hall. We had a very quiet and comfortable spot in one of the towns 'grachten', the canals circling the old city. This (Sunday) morning we moved to Joure. The weather soon got overcast and at one stage we had a huge thunderstorm (but we are well sheltered inside). Now, in Joure (wich is not all that interesting), the sun has come out again although the forcast for the next few days is decidedly unsettled.
Spoke with Sean this evening, he did his "CFA 1" exam yesterday and is cautiously optimistic about that. Its difficult to say how it went, as they look at the exam afterwards and adjust the pass mark. Anyway, it was not a 'big problem', so we hold thumbs. The pass rate for this exam worldwide is usually around 30-35%, so not easy to do! Sean is now preparing to come to England to find a career, he'll most likely arrive there before we are back in London, which is a bit of a pity.
Our plan is to go to Sneek tomorrow (thats quite close, probably not more than 1 1/2 hours) for the solar panel appointment on Tuesday. Will let you know how it went!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Makkum

At the Dutch Youth Regatta I helped with measuring Optimists for the first 2 days and when that was done there was not a lot to do, so we decided to move on, also because the marina there was very noisy at night with 'Eastern neighbours' (the whole of Friesland is full of Germans and especially Workum, where it is so bad that the shopkeepe of the yachting shop does not speak a word of Dutch!). Also. Lyn had a big problem with hayfever there.
So we moved a little bit up the coast to Makkum, were we went though the (very small) lock and are now tied up in the 'inner harbour', more like a canal that runs though the town. Makkum is not one of the 11 Frisian 'Cities', as it does not have city rights. So it is a 'vlecke', which is Frisian for a large village. It is very nice and 'quaint' and also not that busy in the 'inner harbour' as the charter boats stay inland on the Frisian lakes and the sailing yachts stay on the IJsselmeer side.
Our plan is to move to Bolsward tomorrow (wich IS one of the 11 cities), we have never been there. The weather is perfect for sailing, sunny with a nice 18-20 Knots breeze. About 22 degrees, but tomorrow is expected to be warmer. After that we expect some cloudy and even rainy weather. We'll keep in touch!