WINTER WONDERLAND. TRAVELS ON LAND. February 15th.

Winter has come to Paris

Boating in the Netherlands has come to a standstill as the weather gets really cold. The water on the docks is turned off so the pipes don't burst and David is carting Jerry Cans 250m each way to fill the tanks. 

The trusty Mase Generator, installed in 2003 has finally been consigned to the "no further use" basket and we've removed it from the boat. The waterline hardly noticed! The plan is to replace it in the UK during the coming months, before heading south, then across the Atlantic once again, and west towards Panama.

Soon after we arrived in Vlissingen, some good friends, and sailors, Dick and Anita off "Kind of Blue" offered to take us for a drive to the Flood Museum. 

On a freezing cold night at the end of January 1953, a huge storm from the North Sea combined with spring tidal conditions and extensive inland rains, caused a rise of over 5 meters above high tide, in the seawater level. There were 67 breaches of the Zeeland Dykes which protect the countryside from flooding. Being over 6 meters below sea level in places, it was a catastrophic event and 1836 people perished in the southern Netherlands area of Zeeland alone. 165,000ha of farmland was flooded with seawater in several hours. Countless livestock were drowned.

One of several links to more information on the Flood.

The Flood Museum is housed in several caissons, or huge concrete boxes, which were purchased from the UK and towed to locations in the Netherlands to shore up the dikes and stop the water. It took over a year to close the breaches.

Delta Works New Flood control barriers.

Unfortunately, the museum was closed, so we have that for another day, but suffice to say, it was a monumental disaster and as a result, there has been ongoing engineering works such as flood surge barriers, dams and monitoring systems in order to prevent a calamity such as this, ever recurring.

Adventures in the Antwerp city Market

Andrew and Christine, David's brother and wife, visited again from the UK for four days. It is always such fun and great to have the family so close. We did a day trip to Antwerp to show them the sights and pick up some treats at the excellent Saturday City Market. 

In order to break up the long winter hibernation aboard, we decided to take a quick break, and head to France and Switzerland to catch up with friends and see some countryside. Step one, research...step 2 buy train tickets. Easy enough here, and not too expensive for the shorter, more popular routes. 

Andrew and Christine's departure coincided nicely with ours, so we all piled in the Postpub Van for the trip to Rotterdam ,and lunch catch up with great friends, Evert and Janny. "Moby Dick" We then made our way to the Rotterdam Central Station to begin our winter sojourn.

French countryside.

Frantz and Libby our wonderful hosts in Paris. 

First stop, Paris Nord, past snowy pastures and towns. Libby met us at the station and we made our way to their Apartment in central Paris. What fun we had! How well did we eat! Fabulous French cuisine by Libby. Two days were filled with miles of walking. 

Paris had quite a lot of snow which surprised and delighted the children, some of whom had never seen it. It's not snowed in Paris for some years. Busses came to a standstill. What a picture. Even though it curtailed our exploration somewhat, it was still delightful. The Architecture Museum, filled with plaster replicas of reliefs, building motifs, and models of important architecture in France was fascinating and not full of tourists. And there was no queue to get in!

Notre Dame on a snowy winters morning.

Some Photos from Paris

All too soon it was time to board the Thalys Train for Geneva and on to Interlaken, Switzerland where we had booked 2 nights in the mountains. More snow and picturesque landscape. Photos through the train window frustrating as the windows were dirty!! Train change at Geneva was simple and Interlaken arrival, just 2 minutes walk to our hotel. The following day we took a local Cog Train up the mountain to Grindelwald. 

The Firste up the mountain from Grindelwald.

The more pretty scenery, beautiful turquoise lakes and snow everywhere. Then the sun burst through and we had a clear blue sky the whole day. Up the mountain to Firste on the cable car was just postcard perfect.

Moody picture reflection in the trains window.

The whole timing of this trip revolved around Carnival in Lucerne. Our good friends, and sailing buddies Sven and Gerda, also known as "The Mountain Goats!!" live in Lucerne and had invited us to come stay. They met our train and we started what was to be an unforgettable visit to this unbelievably beautiful city. Only 90,000 people, so not large. Centuries of architecture and culture. And Carnival!! 

David ans Kris. Ready to scare away the winter!

Heres a link to Carnival 2016 with some video.

“Guggenmusigen”, (brass bands,) lead crowds of weirdly dressed people clad in fantastic masks around the narrow streets of the city to frighten away the winter. This medieval festival takes place annually, 6 weeks before Easter, and lasts for 5 days. The masks are scary! Really scary. With over 100 bands, plus other exhibits and floats, the Monday parade took 3 hours to pass our viewing position. 

Sven and Gerda. Our wonderful Lucerne hosts.

So it's huge! The city had snow on Sunday and more overnight, so in the bright sunlight on Monday morning, Lucerne was sparkling and filled with people enjoying the carnival. We were suitably attired by Gerda and Sven for the occasion and wandered transfixed by the spectacle!! I think we walked or stood for 5 hours, after which we retired to their home where we were treated to another Swiss delicacy. Fondu! When we arrived we had Raklet, a great Swiss cheese delight. And now we have our own Raklet maker! Thanks, Gerda and Sven!!

Lucerne

Link to photos from Switzerland.

Three days passed in Lucerne far to quickly and it was time to move on to Vienna. Travelling through Zurich, where we made a very simple train change and headed on into Austria through some more spectacular mountain and lake scenery. Again, all snow covered, as Austria has had some of its heaviest snowfalls in years. Over a meter and a half in places. 

More photos of Switzerland and Carnival

Its always been a dream to see the Spanish Riding School and as we were sort of close.... we booked the train from Lucerne to Vienna.

We stayed just one night in Vienna and will go back one day. The Spanish Riding School was fun but we only saw morning exercises, as the Performances are on Saturday during winter and we decided not to stay the extra 4 days.  Vienna is a really beautiful city and easy to get around. Looking forward to returning.

No its a poster. No photos allowed. I did sneak a few though.

A flight from Vienna to Amsterdam and a train home to Taipan in Vlissingen took only 5 hours and cost total 130 Euro each. Not too bad. The train was way more expensive and took almost a day with many train changes.

Morning Excercises captured.

All told it was more of a toe wetting exercise to get a grip on traveling here and a great excuse to catch up with friends. It's pretty easy, not as cheap on trains as we thought it would be but they are fast and comfortable and you get to see the country. No waiting at airports and that irksome, but necessary, security is not present on trains.

St Stephen's Vienna

Photos from Vienna.

Since returning from break ashore we have refitted the damaged cockpit cover replaced a halyard, made a new snubber and ticked off a few other minor jobs. Now its countdown to departure. Schengen once again intervenes to dictate our movements, irrespective of weather constraints! On the next suitable weather window, we plan to cross the Channel to the UK and back to Ipswich.

FESTIVITIES IN EUROPE. January 3rd 2018

Well, its that crazy time of year again and as usual, between boat jobs, we fit in the obligatory eating, drinking and making merry. Commencing the silly season with birthdays, this time in cahoots with "Red Roo's" Maree, and moving right along into the Xmas Market season. It would seem that a European traditional Xmas Market is erected in every City. British tourists are sold package holidays to visit Christmas Markets in Europe. In Antwerp it was in the Groet Market, a central space presided over by the Antwerp City Hall and surrounded by spectacular Flemish architecture. Gilded Galleons, fish, and famous figures adorn the surrounding rooftops. Every evening, to the accompaniment of Christmas carols, the local inhabitants, and tourist, promenade the square, eating seasonal delicacies and sipping on Glugwein and hot chocolate. Restaurants surround the square and they are always full. The life-size nativity scene in front of the wondrous Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady has an empty cradle. Skaters skim around the ice rink which is erected near by at Groenplaats. On opening night a spectacular light and sound show was projected on the City Hall.The atmosphere is one of fun and expectation and is not dampened by the ever-present sight of armed guards, their fingers always on the trigger of their automatic weapons.

Xmas Market Antwerp.

Our lead up to Xmas included some visits to local restaurants for a course here or there. Xmas day itself was a quiet one aboard Taipan but not a hungry one. We experimented with a Dukigeon. David ordered a duck and a wild pigeon from the local meat boutique and he boned them out and I stuffed them with, chicken mince, prunes, orange, and walnut stuffing and resewed it together. Pressure cooked for 15 minutes, bagged in the Wonderbag for 5 hours then BBQ to finish and crisp for 45 minutes. It was sensational, served with roast veg, cauliflower cheese and gravy. Preceded by prawn cocktail and followed by plum pudding cream and brandy sauce.

On Boxing Day everything is open so we strolled and we visited the Rubens House. This baroque master had a stunning house in the center of Antwerp. Built and expanded over a number of years it is a masterpiece of the era. The house is full of beautiful art and furniture from the period. Definitely worth a visit. 

On the 27th of December, we left Willemdock marina once again and headed down river towards Vlissingen. This was not one of our better-planned trips. Total about 40nm. It is easy to become complacent when tied up securely in the marina. There is very little wind as the surrounding buildings deflect it. We left with a forecast of southwesterly maybe up to about 25knots. Shouldn't be a problem. Wrong! We had a fairly pleasant trip for the first day with the current and in sunshine. 

Harbour Building

The overnight forecast was for increasing wind and the forecast strength was higher. We had anchored about 18 miles downriver at our previous anchorage on the change of tide. Several hours later we dropped out some more chain and waited. The wind built and the tide rose, we had less protection as the water rose over the banks to windward. Just before high tide we had several gusts over 50knots. The waves occasionally broke over the bow and we actually decided to sleep in the aft cabin. Something we usually only do on passage!. The wind settled after several hours and we were awoken by loud banging on the deck around dawn by a police boat. 

Canal barge with telescopic bridge. So he can pass under low bridges.

Thinking he wanted to check our papers we scurried around, getting presentable and opened the hatch. No! All they  wanted to know was.... "are you OK?" Satisfied that all was well they went happily off on other business. We learned from local friends that it is unusual for boats to anchor in the river. It is true. Most European boaters don't anchor, its marinas every night.

Fladen suites to the fore!

The leg to Vlissingen the following day was into 30 knots and the temperature was around 5 degrees out of the wind. Not altogether pleasant, and we were relieved to arrive, with friends Dick and Anita off "Kind of Blue" to greet us alongside at VVW Scheld inside the lock at Vlissingen.

Train to Central Station Rotterdam.

On the 29th we boarded a train to Rotterdam. Evert and Janny, ”Moby Dick”, had invited us to spend New Year with them. The train trip is only one and three-quarter hours to central Rotterdam. Here we met some English friends, Jeananne and Ray, also on a visit to Rotterdam. We lunched together and exchanged news and greetings at Nostra, a particularly nice wine bar, and then wandered to the MarktHal where we were picked up by Evert.

Evert and Janny have a lovely home overlooking the river and city and we were totally spoiled by them during our three-day visit. A visit to The Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, an ethnographic museum, where we saw a fabulous Mask Exhibition amongst other things. Being an amateur mask collector I particularly enjoyed this one. 

Happy New Year.

The fireworks on New Year's Eve commenced around 7pm with private crackers going off everywhere. It is legal in Holland to buy fireworks several days before New Year and the Dutch spent €74 million on fireworks this year!! They continued to light the entire horizon until around 2am. The city fireworks, fired from the Swan Bridge in central Rotterdam, were spectacular and the weather was clear, with an almost full moon overhead. Enjoyed in great company, accompanied by Oliebollen and Appelflappen and many other traditional delights.

Delfshaven. The Coat of Arms is Herring and Grain

A trip to Delfshaven, founded in 1389, when a canal was dug to give the city of Delft a connection with the Meuse and the world.   The Distilleerketel or malt mill and grain mill is a windmill built in 1986 to replace a mill which was demolished after a fire. There's a lot of lovely old architecture and of course the inevitable Dutch Barges in the canals offering such photographic opportunities. We did a tour of the Euromast, which at 185 meters offers fantastic views over the city and has extra good hot chocolate and muffins!

Our hosts. Taken at the Euromast.

After a wonderful three days of Dutch hospitality, we packed up and set off back to Taipan. It was a mixed day and one of lock failures. We put our luggage in the locker at the train station so we could do a little strolling before our departure and when we returned the mechanism controlling the locks had failed. It took some time for Railway staff to unlock the locker and return our luggage. Then, already late, when we arrived at Vlissingen, the Marina was totally locked up and we had no gate code. Luckily "Red Roo" were online and were able to supply the code as it was dark, about 2 degrees, raining, and blowing about 35knots!!!  Regardless of the day of locks, we had a fabulous New Year and look forward to 2018 adventures.

Delfshaven on a winters day.

More pictures of Belgium

And more photos of Rotterdam.

Map Link

AMSTERDAM AND THE GREAT LAKES. 2nd June 2017

And another one of Amsterdam

Traditional Dutch Shallow Draft Fishing Boat.

Amsterdam was a fantastic stopover and one never tires of the beautiful canals and striking architecture both old and modern here in the Netherlands. We had some awesome weather and some not so awesome weather but no trouble finding places to see to keep busy. It is gradually warming up as summer approaches. Getting out of Amsterdam and into the Markemeer is a doddle. The water traffic was daunting to look at on the AIS before we left Amsterdam Marina but the reality was pretty straight forward. Lots of ferries crossing our path but traffic all flowed in an orderly way. Leaving the City behind, you quite quickly arrive at the huge lock which provides access to the Markermeer, the first of the 2 great man made lakes.

The lakes.

It being a long weekend, the lakes were crowded with vessels. The dutch have used shallow draft wide beam fishing vessels on the Zudersee long before the lakes were formed. Large areas of the vast sandy bay dried out and these boats readily take the ground, remaining upright. They have long retractable keels, or lee boards, attached either side of the hull for use underway but these retract should the vessel ground. Today many are in use as charter vessels ranging in size from just 7 or so meters up to 50 meters. They also remain a popular boat for families.

Herring smoking.

Enkhuizen, our destination, is a small harbor town of the VOC  from whence trade was conducted with the East Indies. It received city rites in  1355 and was once one of the most important harbor cities in the Netherlands. Sited on the shores of the IJsselmeer, a shallow 1100sq km artificial fresh water lake fed principally by rivers. It was created in 1932 when major hydraulic engineering works closed it from the sea with a dam wall.  It has further been cut in half with another great dam wall crossing it forming the Markermeer through which we sailed to  come north to Enkhuizen from Amsterdam.
 

Museum. Enkhuizen,

The fantastic Zuiderzee outdoor museum was an entertaining and informative outing on the first afternoon in Enkhuizen. The Museum seeks to recreate a village on the shores of the lake with all the styles of houses and stores of the old seaside communities now lost to the new fresh water lake system. Whole industries have folded and new ones have replaced them. Fishing is the obvious example. We sampled fresh smoked herring and explored the old warehouses, houses and recreated shops. Eel are prolific in the fresh waterways and special nets are deployed to catch them. We didn't try eel yet.

Store reconstruction. Enkhouizen.

Informative plaques give good details of the history of the buildings and of their inhabitants. Many of the interiors are reconstructed also with tools and utensils, furnishings and equipment. The buildings were deconstructed and relocated here from many places throughout the Zuiderzee, a supreme effort in engineering and ingenuity.  Its a really remarkable museum requiring almost a whole day to do it  justice.

Limekilns in the Museum

Enkhuizen was once fortified from the land by walls and  a moat. We took the opportunity to ride bikes around the outer wall taking in the lovely rural landscape outside the town.
Catching up with our friends Evert and Jenny on Moby Dick and some old friends whom we met crossing the Atlantic. Ron and Joce Lub off De Verleiding was another bit of fun.

Just one of hundreds of charter boats

Summer is upon us this week so armed with 20 lt of anti-foul from Ron and Joces’ Watersport in Enkhuizen we headed to Stavoren for a scheduled haul out on Tuesday. 

Upon arrival we

See the lee board.

were told there was a problem and we could maybe haul out on Friday but not certain. Monday more likely!. Very darn!! Schengen clock is ticking!! Well we chose to head to Lelystad as we were told they could lift us first thing Friday. 

Back  we went across the  IJsselmeer and through another big lock into the Markermeer again and then a short run to a canal lock and the yard. Well this lock had us in for a surprise! The water went down and down and even further down!! About 6 meters below the Markermeer level and out we flushed! It wasn't far to the yard but once again we were disappointed because the yard needed us to remove back stay and or fore stay…. sigh!! Language difficulty. So we set off back up the lock to the lake and decided to spend the afternoon in the Batavia Museum.

Batavia reproduction. Without top masts. Stavoren. Nl.

A replica of the Batavia, one of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) ships built in 1628, was built here 32 years ago and was sailed for many years. The original Batavia, as we West Australians well know, was wrecked on its maiden voyage on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands and a terrible story of mutiny, murder and heroic rescue ensued. Lelystads Batavia replica is now a, display only, because cost of maintenance and safety issues make it impractical to take out. Nevertheless it is an impressive vessel and we spent several hours in the museum.

Crouching Man Sculpture by Anthony Gormley

Poised gazing over our anchorage was a monumental metal framed sculpture dubbed by the dutch, Shitting Man, but it is an impressive addition to an otherwise flat landscape. More on Anthony Gormleys Crouching Man.

 
Another haul-out has been organized for us by our good friend Evert. This time we head to Makkum north east on the IJsselmeer. On our way to Makkum we stopped again in Stavoren on the free dock right near the town lock. It is free for a mazimum of 8 days. Not many such free facilities around the Netherlands. Stavoren was basking in a 29deg day and the town was alive with tourists. The annual Vinage Car and MotorBike Club was conducting a 200km Rally passing throug Stavoren with over 400 vehicles. What a spectacle. 

Stavoren on a busy summer long weekend.

A night on the town dock and then into the canal to Seabell. Rob Kloppers the manager, couldn't be more helpful and we hauled without incident. Safely on the hard work commenced once again. How many times have we anti fouled this boat???

 

Walker Bay Genesis 310 RIB

Just a day and it was all over bar the trims. During the interim we took the dingy across the road to have one of the tubes patched. Its our 15 year old Australian made Swift Hypalon 310 Aluminium RIB. Its performed brilliantly for us and we have no complaints but it was definitely showing signs of its age. Well Kenny, the manager of Zuidwaard Watersport Makkum had a secondhand Walker Bay  Genesis Hypalon 310 RIB 2009 in the shop and promptly offered it to us. After some consideration we decided to take it. Its a little heavier than the Aluminium RIB being Polypropylene but we hope we can manage.

Back to the water for some more adventures.

With Taipan afloat again we are eager to set off north to the Baltic. Farewell Holland and thank you for the fine friends we have made here and the wonderful experience.
For more photos of this leg of the journey.