Boating in Holland – Part 7

Boating in Holland – Part 7

Boating in Holland

Haarlem

Click here – to go to the start of this journey.

The following day the weather improved slightly. Since we hadn’t seen much of Haarlem we decided to stay on and do the walking tour together.

The walk is supposed to be 90 mins. We took a 30 minute lunch break and yet somehow managed to drag the walk out to 3 hours. Lunch was at a cute vintage style cafe called In Den Gevulde Broodmand Tea Salon.

We had belegde broodjies which are filled slices of bread. And coffees. Very, very nice. Our walk included historical old buildings but also streets where residents had planted lots of greenery. Our map got drenched with all the rain.

Lunch stop in Haarlem

Back at the boat we freshened up and ate supper, then walked back up to the main square to watch the Netherlands vs Argentina game in the Soccer World Cup quarter finals. I really, really wanted Holland to win. I so badly wanted to be part of the winning celebrations. The Dutch sure know how to party. We had been following the games and invested so much interest in this tournament.

The game was yet another goal-less draw. And yet another round of play either way. Again no result. At penalty shoot out the Dutch goalie let in two balls. That was it for the Dutch team! I wanted to cry. Everyone filed out of the pub and walked silently. I saw people crying. It was so, so sad.

The weather had now turned hot. Amazing how we can be in winter woolies one day, and dying of heat the next. Our destination was Amsterdam. A busy port and a bustling city. With two extra folk on board I could relax a bit. It’s nice to

Six Haven Amsterdam

have other people enjoy this experience with us. We see things through their eyes and share what we have learned about the Netherlands. We went via Noorszee Kanal through Spaarndam Sluis. Lots of big barges and marine traffic on this route.

Amsterdam has a couple of marinas but the one everyone mentioned was Six Haven. So we went there. It’s right opposite Amsterdam Centraal Station. Crossing over the channel with so much big boat activity was a bit nerve wracking but we have a great captain. Six Haven has box berths. A

Box style berths

really tight squeeze. The extra hands on deck were most welcome. Access on and off the boat was over bow – which requires some dexterity. After lunch we had a relaxing afternoon. Some of us slept off the late night before.

We decided to go into Amsterdam and have a drink in Damrak. We donned our glad rags and took the free ferry across. We’ve seen so much of The Netherlands now that we can make comparisons. Damrak is at the very heart of Amsterdam’s tourist area. It’s heaving with humans and to be honest, not a true reflection of how people live in The Netherlands.

If only visitors knew that a mere 20 minutes from where they are, it’s much quieter, friendlier and way more authentic. My advice

Sunset on the River Ij Amsterdam

after all this time in Holland is get out of Amsterdam and go to Haarlem, Edam, Gouda or Delft. Public transport in Holland is excellent.

After our drinks we stopped at the supermarket – Albert Heijn – and bought items to make a BBQ (or braai as South Africans call it). Back on the boat we got the BBQ fired up and had a very late meal. And wine.

We left all the portholes and hatches open to allow cool air to flow in as it was hot – but also humid. Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up with water falling on my face. A massive thunderstorm had come up and rain was pouring in via the hatch above our bed. My other

Broek aan de Waterland

half scrambled to close all the porthole windows and the hatches in the dark. He came back inside dripping wet. Bold flashes of lightning and thunder ensued and then as quickly as it started, it was over.

Edam was our next port of call. The amenities at Six Haven were OK. We all spruced up, got ourselves dressed and ready to make an early start. Breakfast was an en-route affair. We decided to travel along the scenic inland route to Edam as opposed to going via the Markemeer. Our boat passed through Broek aan de Waterland

Broek aan de Waterland

where I could easily live. It’s a narrow waterway with lilies and loads of boho homes.

A person has to be wide awake and know to look out for wire operated ferries. The last thing a person wants is to get tangled in the personal wire operated boats. We expected the route to Monnickendam would narrow and shallow. But not THAT shallow. At times the echo sounder showed NO space beneath us. We heard the boat touch the bottom of the canal a good few times. We also lost time as we had to wait for dredging vessels to move so we could pass them.

We got to Grafelijkheid Sluis. Have I mentioned

All navigation gear and awnings down

my partner is a planner de luxe? He had planned this trip – months in advance. The mandatory Dutch charts showed the lock first and THEN the bridge at 3.9m. Our boat is 4.8m at full height. Minus the radar arch we get to 3.65 which should have been fine.

What we discovered as we got there is the bridge is right over the lock. And the lock goes up! I guess I thought a lock keeper would be around to manage the situation. Or even check all was OK before going ahead. But no.

The lock closed behind us. The water level started rising. Right under the bridge! We only had 30cm to spare. Our boat was about to get crushed. The awnings had to be dropped in seconds.

Connecting to shore power in Haarlem

Oh, and we had to also hold onto the ropes to stop the boat crashing as the water rushed into the lock. Mega stress! But we got it right.

Thank God we had extra people on board helping. I could not have done it alone with Patrick.

Read my tips for aspirant boaters – on this link.

For more on other places we have visited, go to the top of this page and open – My Holidays and Trips.

I will be back soon.

Greenie.

Boating in Holland – Part 6

Boating in Holland – Part 6

Boating in Holland

Music festival Kaag Eiland

We went back to the pub at 21.30pm and found the place heaving with Team Orange supporters. Not a spare bit of space. But they were all smoking inside the pub which was a surprise. I cannot bear second-hand smoke so we decided to watch the game through the window. And got chatting to locals in a mix of English, Afrikaans and Dutch. People back home often ask if

Dutch and Afrikaans are the same. The Dutch were the first European settlers in South Africa. The Portuguese got there first but did not settle. Yes. And No. Highbrow newspapers are impossible to understand. If we read coloquial

Kaag Muziekfestival

Dutch we can
mostly understand it. I will give a few examples with the Dutch word first and the the Afrikaans word second. Rice = rijst/rys. You = jouw/jou. New = nu/nuwe. But then other words are completely different. Kitchen = keuken/kombuis. Hospital = ziekenhuis/hospitaal. Chicken = kip/hoender. Lemon = citroen/suurlemoen. Peanuts = pindas/grondbone. But also, it’s the way the Dutch people pronounce their words. Leg = is spelled as – been – in both Dutch and Afrikaans.

Amenities Kaag Eiland

The Dutch
say it as bain or bayn. In Afrikaans it’s said as bee-in. We get by with a combo of all three languages. Luckily almost every Dutch person I have met speaks English – but also – they are willing to speak English.

The game started at 22.00pm. It was emotionally draining. Costa Rica and The Netherlands ended the game with goal-less draw. They went on to rounds of 15 minutes each way. Still no result. Finally they had penalty shoot outs and The Netherlands saved two goals. Much cause for celebration and our new friend bought us a round of drinks. Our new best friend did say that although Netherlands won, he felt it wasn’t actually a victory as they hadn’t WON the game through

Laundrette Kaag Eiland

play. We stayed until 01.30am and then snuck away for some much needed sleep.

Kaag Eiland have an annual music festival and the following day was festival day. I have to be honest, most small towns in Holland are peaceful and I wasn’t expecting the festival to be all that. How wrong was I? They set up bands all over Kaag Eiland at various pubs, eateries and under stalls. We listened to some blistering blues and solid good old fashioned rock. They had a bit of jazz, swing and pop going on too. We bought a Heineken and some frites from one of the foodie stands. Kaag Eiland is a gorgoeus place. Postcard perfect. Who knew?

Shangri La moored in Kaag Eiland

After wandering around the island taking in various bands we ended up back near our marina where a band was doing covers of 80’s numbers from the likes of Robert Palmer and Hall and Oates. The heavens opened and we all scrambled to boogie under an awning. This is why I love the boating scene. In front of me were three ladies dressed in designer duds worth a small fortune. I could see

Hooking up to shore power or Walstroom in Kaag Eiland

the labels on their handbags sitting on the table. I know what they paid for those bags. Next to them/us were the complete opposite folk. Hippy bohemian “couldn’t give a shit” type people who live on their ramshackled boats. We all danced in the rain together and had a ball.

Our next destination was Haarlem. There were 11 bridges to pass in total. Our boat would not go under all of them. Also, some of the bridges only opened at fixed times as they were on busy roads/train tracks. We had to factor all this into our journey. We decided to bring down the radar

Coin operated fresh water Kaag Eiland

arch and awnings to help us make better progress. We did 22 kilometres in 3 hours. The speed limit is 9 kilometres an hour but there is always time lost waiting at the bridges.

Haarlem is immediately different to the places we just came from such as Delft and Leiden. It has a bohemian laid back vibe. Blokes walk around in long shorts and pony tails. None of the formal designer scene you get in Amsterdam. Lots of seriously old, slightly decayed buildings but without the twee hanging floral baskets with geraniums one finds in other areas. It also has a large industrial outer area. I have to say as a Capetonian, I LOVED Haarlem. But then I prefer Glasgow to Edinburgh which most people don’t understand.

After tying up in Haarlem, we went for a walk to the main

Approaching Haarlem

square which every Dutch city/village has. And had a beer. We managed an early night. Well a not too late night, I should say. We tend to stay up far too late. The next morning we got up and went to find IKEA in heavy rain. We should have caught the
bus or train but we try to walk as much as we can – when we can. It’s impossible to exercise on the boat.

Haarlem station

We had an early lunch at IKEA and stocked up on Swedish knäckebröd, Swedish beers, a few other items and walked back in the unrelenting rain. Next stop was the VVV to find out more about what to do in Haarlem. They had a walking tour but same deal as in Leiden – only in Dutch. We bought their booklet with the tour route and info for only €.50. Bargain!

Our next group of friends were arriving later that afternoon. They caught the Eurostar from London to Brussels and then to Amsterdam. There had been a power failure and a few of the train services had been cancelled. Luckily not theirs, but their trip was delayed. We met them at Haarlem Centraal Station, walked back to our boat and

Side street in Haarlem

had supper together inside the boat. Amenities at Haarlem were OK but not well serviced. I prefer not to find pubic hair in the basin.

Our travels continue – here.

Read my husband’s take on our boating holidays in his blog – Waterway Wanderer.

For more on other places we have visited, go to the top of this page and open – My Holidays and Trips.

I will be back soon.

Greenie.

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