Before we talk about Dokkum lets relive our passage through Burdaard.

Burdaard consists of a bridge 200 meters of canal front houses and then a second bridge.  Lovely one could say, and yes it was very pretty, however it was also the place we became “one of those boats” that lost it in the wind.  Much to the frustration of the bridge master, and of course to us also!

It was a very windy day, however it can be a little deceiving when in the canals as you can easily be sheltered from it for long periods by trees and houses etc and then all of a sudden – wham it hits you, and of course always hits from the angle you don’t want it to.  This is what happened to us at Burdaard.

The first bridge opened and we passed through and very slowly crept toward the second bridge (as most of these small towns the bridge keeper has to open both and he/she cycles between them).  We crept up and waited, waited and waited, we started to wonder what was happening, it was nearly 12 o’clock and we thought surely he wasn’t going to leave us in-between the two bridges whilst he had his lunch???  Luckily that was a no, and we saw back in the distance behind us another yacht approaching and figured that he was waiting for them to pass the first bridge before cycling to the second and opening it just the once to let us both through – good, no worries…..until ……. the wind gusted up and got us as we came out from the shelter of the last houses along the canal and into the lawn area just prior to the second bridge! So now we had a bridge shut in front of us, a yacht coming up behind us (in a skinny canal) and Red Roo getting wind blown across our bow turning the boat 90 degrees across the canal which is really not much wider than we are long, yes, very awkward.

As mentioned in a previous post the only time you get really good steering in a yacht is when you have good way (speed) on and in a canal trying to hoover still waiting for the bridge is not when you have good steering.  The wind was steering us, we were not in control.  So put some speed on I hear you say, hard to do when your sitting 90 degrees across the canal with no space to go forward or backwards.

In the mean time the bridge keeper had made his way to the bridge and began to open it . . . 5 minutes too late for us.  We had been blown all the way sideways now and were going to have to do a complete 360 (or 270 now) to get back to face the bridge, so Phil put the throttle on, then reverse on (over and over again) and we eventually completed the 16 point turn to get us around . . . . now facing back the way we came and not towards the opening bridge – hmmm , this at least allowed the second yacht to pass us and get under the bridge.

The bridge keeper now started to speak in Dutch quite loudly as if he was being inconvenienced (well I guess we were now encroaching on his lunch time), I smiled nicely and waved and said we have to turn around as the wind was pushing us, he then closed the bridge just as we were doing our next 16 point turn to get us facing the correct direction to pass through the bridge.  I most kindly asked him to please reopen it again, now, quickly please, the panic rising as we were almost back at the point of the wind catching our bow and turning us around again!!!!

With much arm raising, huffing and puffing he re-opened the bridge and collected our money as we passed by (myself apologising to him profusely – he just nodded).

Yes we were very much embarrassed and “one of those yachts”.  However, we were very happy we didn’t hit the bridge, very happy we didn’t hit the other yacht (staying well clear of both) and very happy we didn’t run aground or hit the banks of the canal when doing our circle work, just also very embarrassed.

Dokkum was another town surrounded by a canal in with lovely gardens down to the water where you can berth along the edge, I managed to take a couple of cracker pictures of Red Roo settled down beneath a windmill.

We were in Dokkum for Kings Day a national public holiday and enjoyed the kings day parade around the streets, especially the xylophones playing modern pop songs.

We also met the Cyclone of Langstone (aka Jo and Rob) who were to become great travelling companions for the next month or so as we were heading in the same direction, meaning we would catch up every few days as we both travelled to the Baltic and then east along the German coast to Poland.

Getting organised now to leave the shelter of the Netherlands canals and once again head into the North Sea to go out and around into Germany – exciting another country.

Lauwersoog

We have filled up with fuel and water and are ready to depart the Netherland.  It will be an overnight sail travelling North East in the north sea across the top of Germany and into the River Elbe from which we will cut through the Kiel Canal to the Baltic Sea 🙂

A city of bridges with 6 in total to transit.  The first of those being quite unique.  Most of the bridges we encounter either swing open or go straight up from one hinge, or some of the bigger ones actually have a tower at each end and the whole road piece lifts up in-between on a pulleys staying horizontally flat, however the first bridge into Leeuwarden was really quite strange, it was like an arm lifting the whole section of road up from the bridge and it lifted at a very strange angle and was really very different.

It is always a bit of a guess as to what a town will have in the way of berth, some being concrete walls, others wooden pontoons but Leeuwarden had beautiful green lawns and gardens all along the canal sides with plenty of room to berth, so of course we squeeze in between two other boats to a place where they have just laid sand and planted new grass seeds which equalled sand being carted on deck and imbedded in the lines to shore!  But who am I to argue with the captain about where we berth!!  In his defence it was sheltered from the wind (hence why the 6 boats all gathered there over the other kilometres of shore line) and was also close to the amenities block, but still the grit and sand in the boat – grrrrrrrr!!! and of course it also rained so that it soon became mud.

Note in the picture above the lovely green grass near the white boat in the foreground, and if you look carefully you can see the grey sand/mud at Red Roo.

Leeuwarden was a bigger town than we had been to for quite some time (since Amsterdam) and to be honest we really both prefer the smaller places.   However with the garden berth we were easily able avoid the city, and it felt very tranquil especially as they have music in the gardens each Sunday and we were in for a special treat with todays music being bagpipes…so nice to hear the sounds of Scotland again.

When you have a lifting keel (centreboard) make the most of it and visit the places that most boats can’t get to due to the shallow depths, this for us meant taking the small side canal to Sloten – the smallest city in the province of Frisian – The Netherlands.  With the depth gauge turned off and the centreboard wound up so we were only 1 meter deep under the water we made it to this wee little old city, having been granted city rights in 1426 (it’s even older than Phil!!).

Small it is, taking a good 10 minutes at a slow pace to walk the circumference of the city walls, most of which are gone, but the moat or canals easily define where they were.  It has the required picturesque windmill and cobblestone streets and all the canal edges were grassed gardens – lovely.

It is also where we began to pay for bridge openings with a “Money in the Clog” system (which we renamed, money in the clog Wog – with us being the Wogs).

Pictures below as we approached Sloten – obviously we didn’t fit under this bridge!

Each small bridge had a little enclosed box either on the canal bank or on the bridge for a bridge keeper – who sits patiently all day opening the bridges for boats (I imagine there are some long quite boring days, as well as some busy ones).

As you approach the bridges you keep and eye on the traffic lights (two lights);

• one red means bridge closed – as in not operating (meaning it’s lunch time, most bridges don’t open between 12 and 2, or it’s after hours from around 7pm-8am)
• double red lights means wait (as in the bridge is down and cars are crossing)
• a red and a green light means ‘get ready to go’ as the bridge is about to open (usually corresponding to the barricades going down to stop cars) basically its a 5 minute warning to get up close ready to pass once open
• and of course double green means ok to pass under the opening bridge.

With the bridges that you have to pay to pass, the bridge keeper waits alongside with a clog on a strong attached to a pole and as you pass he swings it out for you to put your money in (this all happens very quickly) prices range from €2 to €10s – the more expensive ones are usually if a village has 4 or 5 bridges you just pay once at the first or last bridge.  I am pleased to report we succeeded in paying every bridge the correct change, as well as no mishaps when catching the clog and returning it (sending it back swinging) as well as no dropping the money in the water.

Heading to Lemmer across the IJsselmeer we knew this would be our last chance to sail in The Netherlands as the remainder of our time would be once again in the canals before popping out into the north sea to Germany, and it was a great day for sailing.  Perfect winds, good angle in the sails and a bright sunny warm day.

Back into the canals at Lemmer and an overnight stop.  Much to Phil’s delight right near a Lidl Supermarket perfect as he was almost out of beer.  They use a create system over here where you buy the create of beer (including the old fashioned crete) and pay a fee for the bottles and crete which is refundable when you return them – or swap them back for a full create once empty.  We have found a beer we like which costs a whopping €7.99 (for 24), making it much more enjoyable being cheap, it was also nice to be able to take both empty create and bottles and the heavy new create and bottles to the shop within easy walking distance rather than lugging it miles or even balancing it on the handle bars of the bike as a certain someone has been known to do (you will drop it one day Phil).

We met a great British family Dave, Gill & Vicky who live in northern England, work in Scotland and keep their boat and sail in Holland.  Love it our kind of people.  Also a bonus Vicky spent last winter in Victoria (Australia) as a ski instructor and is a fantastic nordic skiing champion.  We had a great evening on board Red Roo with them and once again hope it’s not the last time we see them.