It is June 28th and we are still in Stavoren. It is a nice place and everyone is very friendly but, it is not where I expected to be today. So why are we still here?
As is so often the case it all comes down to “stuff”. We shipped the “stuff” we didn’t get rid of from San Francisco in mid-May. It was scheduled to arrive in Rotterdam in June 18. Instead, the ship went into Antwerp on June 19 and the “stuff” was trucked to Rotterdam on June 23. The shipper is now trying to move it through customs so we can rent a truck and go pick it up. I don’t know what the hold up is but there does not seem to be much I can do about it.
So we are still in Stavoren. Lest you think we have just been sitting in the slip, we have gotten out and gone sailing. To date, we have sailed (or motorsailed) through the canals to Heeg, Sneek, Koudum (by accident), and Workum. We have also been out in the IJsselmeer and sailed to Hindeloopen and back to Stavoren. All of these towns are boating oriented and fun to visit.
Sneek is the largest town in the area and we spent 3 nights there at Jachthaven De Domp. Although there are no security issue there, this boater was taking no chances!
watch gator
When we didn’t get clearance to collect or “stuff” Friday, we headed back to Stavoren. Saturday we thought we would try out a second mainsail that came with the boat. The first was made for a larger boat and cut down to fit – sort of. The other main worked great so we decided to go to Workum. There are two ways to get there from Stavoren. You can go out into the IJsselmeer or you can take the canals. To get to the IJsselmeer, you must go through a lock. It was beautiful Saturday afternoon and there was a long line of boats waiting to lock through. Not liking lines, we decide to go to Workum the long way, through the canals.
Orca was sailing well. There were lots of other boats in the canals. I became distracted with something below while Mary had the helm. When I came out of the cabin I misread a buoy number and told Mary we needed to turn into a different channel. She did and we went merrily down an ever narrowing canal.
on the road to Koudum
It was all pleasant enough but it didn’t quite match the chart. When we saw the sign pointing to Koudum, we realized we were miles from where we thought we were. Time to backtrack.
We eventually made it to Workum and tied up at a free spot along the canal provided by the town. It was a nice facility that included restrooms and showers. After dinner, as we walked into town I commented that the streets seemed deserted for a Saturday night. After another block or two I could hear some music being played over loudspeakers. When we reach the town square we found most of the towns people at a big party. There was a DJ, a dance floor, a mechanical bull and plenty of inexpensive beer and wine. We enjoyed the party till around 12:30 when we gave up and went back to the boat to sleep.
Sunday morning was the true definition of cruising – “performing boat maintenance in exotic places”.
cleaning the compnionway hatch slides
After getting thoroughly dirty cleaning the hatch slides, we went through the four bridges of Workum (70 cents bruggeld each) and locked up into the IJsselmeer.
The IJsselmeer (pronounced aye-sel-meer) was once part of the North Sea but the Dutch have converted it into a huge fresh water lake. Although it covers 1,100 square kilometers, it has an average depth of only 5 – 6 meters. The winds were light, the water was calm and the sail to Hindeloopen was idyllic.
Hindeloopen from the IJsselmeer
We went ashore for some coffee and applegebak and to look around the very small village. Follow that, it was back to sea (lake) and on the Stavoren.
Stavoren from the IJsselmeer
So here we are, still waiting for the “stuff”. Latest report is we can pick it up Thursday. We will see.