This is "Onbekommerd"!

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Amsterdam

When entering the harbour of Amsterdam from the IJsselmeer, you first need to pass through the 'Oranjesluis', a complex of four locks. It was busy there, with quite a few commercial ships waiting. Fortunately there is a separate lock for pleasure craft.





Then you enter the 'IJ', the busy harbour of Amsterdam. Most big cargo ships stay to the Western side, but the big cruise liners moor right in the city centre. Here are a few impressions.











Just across from the Central railway station, you wind the narrow entrance to the Sixhaven.





This is our favourite place in Amsterdam, the facilities are good, there is a lively international atmosphere and it is a short ferry ride from the city centre.

Yesterday we stayed on board, the weather was bad and we had some stuff to do anyway. We had the daily hailstorm too:





This morning the sun is out! We are going to a family gathering, by train.

Location:Havikslaan,Amsterdam,The Netherlands

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Koningsdag

The weathe yesterday on Koningsdag was not as bad as predicted. Cold it was, but the rain stayed away until late afternoon.
Here are a few pictures of the 'freemarket' I mentioned in my last post:




























The kids in the last picture made and sold delicious crepes with Nutella!

Today we continued to Amsterdam where we will stay for 4 nights. We will post some pictures of the harbour tomorrow.

Location:IJ-Tunnel,Amsterdam,The Netherlands

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Huizen - Utrecht

Weather wise it has been a pretty dismal few days. From Eekt we cruised to Spakenburg. This is a very pretty old fisherman's town, but at 8 degrees C max and a howling wind it was not really inviting to wander around, let alone take pictures.

This morning we did an hour and a half to Huizen. On the way we were hit by a heavy hailstorm but fortunately we were able to tie up during a short dry spell.
Our friend Michael picked us up from the boat, he had a business appointment in Utrecht and we walked around a bit in this nice old student town. We used a few bookshops to find shelter from the weather. When Michael had finished his meeting, we had dinner together.

Tomorrow is the King's birthday, 'Koningsdag' and tonight is 'Koningsnacht', when there are (all night) parties in the main centres (which usually end up with people drinking way more than is good for them). Koningsdag itself is more of a family affair, it usually starts with a 'freemarket', where children sell unused toys to other children, a clever way to 'recycle' toys. There often are young musicians performing as well as children's games being played. We plan to see how Koningsdag is celebrated here in Huizen, although the forecast is once again a maximum of 8 degrees with rain showers which will probably dampen the spirits a bit.
In the evening we'll go to Michael and his wife Annemieke.

The plan after that is to continue to Amsterdam on Thursday, but we'll try to report back tomorrow night.



Location:Havenstraat,Huizen,The Netherlands

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Is it winter?

We left Blokzijl and motored along the Ganzendiep towards Kampen. That's a new route which we had never done before, very nice and rural. On the river IJssel there was quite a bit of chop, the flow of the river being against the strong wind. Then onto the Vossemeer towards the Roggebot sluis (lock). Already our fourth lock this year, but they were all very easy ones, with just a few centimetres of drop or rise. But what was unusual was the weather: we had perfectly timed to arrive during a storm with hail and - wait for it - snow! It is ridiculously cold and after we had tied up on a small island (called Eekt) just a few miles before Elburg, we had a hail storm. This is what our deck looked like:






We are now on the 'Randmeren', a series of lakes between the old land and the newly reclaimed polders in what used to be the Zuiderzee. Here is a map showing the Zuiderzee, before 1932 when the Afsluitdijk, a dike between Noord Holland and Friesland was built:




On the right hand side you see the river IJssel running into the sea, south of that is Elburg. You can also find Blokzijl where we were yesterday and Spakenburg where we head for tomorrow. The islands of Schokland and Urk are also easily found.
From 1850 there were plans to close the Zuiderzee off, firstly to protect the land from the many devastating floods but also to be able to reclaim valuable agricultural land from the sea.
In 1914, the plan looked like this:





The shaded parts were going to be the 'new land'.
The 'Afsluitdijk ' was eventually completed in 1932 and the polders were constructed in the decennia thereafter although not exactly according to this map. There is that string of lakes between the old land and the South Eastern polder and the South Western polder was never built.

Both maps were taken from the book 'Langs de Zuiderzee', written by my great grandfather in 1912. Henk and Ria Nooter kindly gave us a copy a few days ago.

Location:Dronten,The Netherlands

Blokzijl and a new record

We arrived in Blokzijl yesterday and had our friends Jur and Aafke from the 'Ramsdiep', another Valkvlet on board for dinner. That was very nice.






This morning, on waking up at 6:30, the temperature in the cabin was 4 degrees. That was a record! I quickly switched the heater on and went back to bed. An hour and a half later it was comfortable enough to get up again to make the morning coffee (which we always have in bed).

Today we plan to carry on South to Elburg. Like Blokzijl, that is an old fishing village, which was situated on the Zuiderzee coast before the Zuiderzee was closed off with the 'Afsluitdijk' in 1932. I have a few interesting maps showing that change, which I will try to put in the next blogpost.

Location:Brouwerstraat,Blokzijl,The Netherlands

Friday, April 22, 2016

Going South

We spent last night in Heeg, where we met Henk and Ria on the 'Rasbora'.








After doing a bit of work, we left around mid-day. The general plan is to be around Amsterdam or maybe Leiden next weekend. Originally we thought we would go the 'direct route' over the IJsselmeer, but as the weather predictions for the coming weekend and early next week are not good, we have decided to take the 'inland route'.

We passed through the very picturesque village of Kalenberg.





And are now tied up 'in the wild'. The mooring pins we bought last year came in handy as there is nothing to tie on to here. The 'mooring pins' have a very big 'thread' which you screw into the ground.





You can see they are new, the price ticket is still there....

The overall result is this:





As you can see it is sunny but it's also bitterly cold. And the forecast is even colder and less sun over the weekend....

We plan to be in Blokzijl tomorrow, that's not far from here.

Location:Steenwijkerland,The Netherlands

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

A friend came to visit!

This morning, Onbekommerd's friend Jildou came to visit her in Grou.
Jildou is Jaap and Feikje's Valkvlet. We did our Denmark trip in 2014 with them. It was good to have a chat and coffee. They will also go on a trip to the Wadden islands with us and a few more boats around mid-May.











We are currently in Sneek, in front of the sailmaker who made our new tent. We want a few minor adjustments made, which they will do tomorrow morning.


Location:Bothniakade,Sneek,The Netherlands

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Make-over

To get from Coulsdon to Franeker is quite a journey. We got up at 5:15, Sean took us to Coulsdon South station and 4 trains (National Rail, 2* underground and DLR) later we were at London City airport. Then a 45 minute flight, followed by a long wait for passport control and an even longer wait for luggage. One and a half hours from landing to walking out of the airport is not good, Schiphol Airport!
Then another 2 trains and by 14:30 local time (13:30 London time) we arrived at Onbekommerd.
We ordered a new tent for the cockpit last year which was made and installed during the winter break. We are very pleased with the 'make over' the new tent is much brighter, a new colour as well as more and bigger windows. Compare this picture with the one on top of the blog:





After arriving we saw our good friends Marinus and Ike. They invited us for dinner, which we gladly accepted after a rather tiring day!

This morning we had a few loose ends to tie up at the shipyard and some 'admin' to do. Now we are about to set off, not quite sure yet where to, we'll see where we end up tonight, possibly Sneek tomorrow.

Location:Zuiderkade,Franeker,The Netherlands

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Last few days in London

Tomorrow morning we fly to Amsterdam and then take a train to Franeker and Onbekommerd.

We have had a busy last few days here: on Friday we went to the Queens Gallery to see expositions of butterfly drawings and of Scottish painters. And then on to the National Gallery for 'Dutch Flowers'.
Yesterday we travelled to Over, near Cambridge where our niece Rachel and her husband Mathew and their 8 week old daughter Grace live. We enjoyed seeing them and especially the little one:





Today we went to the 'New Season' seminar of the Cruising Association at Limehouse where the CA clubhouse is. We recently joined the CA, there is a lot of useful experience in this organisation of over 5000 members who cruise all over the world.





The next blog update should be from Onbekommerd!

Location:Chipstead Close,Coulsdon,United Kingdom

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

On our way back to Onbekommerd

After six busy and successful months in Cape Town, we are now in London.





We always enjoy staying here for a week or two on our way to and from the boat. Not only does Sean live here, we have also come to love this vibrant city during our 18 month stay here in 2011/12.

Now in the spring, there are nice flowers in St James' Park:








And just an hour on the train from central London, you can find nice walks. On Sunday we went to East Grinstead where a niece and her husband live. We walked for over 3 hours through nice (though a bit muddy) countryside.





And returned to East Grinstead which is an old market town:








We'll spend the rest of the week here. On Saturday we go to Cambridge to visit another niece plus husband and their 2 month old baby girl.

On Monday it's an early flight to Amsterdam and a train to Franeker where Onbekommerd waits!

Location:Woodstock Road,Coulsdon,United Kingdom