Read about this journey from the start by clicking on – this link – or to go back to the last post click – here.
The weather had been slowly changing and by early evening the heavens opened in Heeger Meer. I felt so sorry for people in tiny boats. Some had erected tents on the banks of the lake. They were standing in rain proof gear, trying to cook food under umbrellas.
Amenities at Heeger Meer were really basic. A row of 4 loos and an outside basin. That was it! Most amenities are single gender but some, like in Groningen, are mixed. In Leeuwarden and in Lemmer a bloke just
Sailing on the Heege Meer
walked into the ladies shower while I was there and didn’t seem too fazed to see me.
The next morning, it was still cold and dreary. And a Sunday. We decided to hang around Heeger Meer another day. After lunch the weather suddenly cleared up and the sun came out. A friendly Dutch woman from the boat across the way was walking her dog. She came up to us and greeted. We must have spoken for about 45 minutes.
The next morning her husband walked the dog and he also chatted with us for quite some time. As is custom, they offered us a coffee. Conversation and coffee go together in The Netherlands. Dutch people
Sunset at Heege Meer
LOVE their coffee. We noticed massive 2 kg bags of coffee beans for sale in their food stores. Those would be for commercial use back home!
Before we untied I went to see where the sound of running water was coming from. There are no mountains in this part of the world. A dijk is as good as it gets so I knew it wasn’t a river.
Our mooring for the night was on a mini island in the lake. It was the sound of water from the wind splashing on the banks of the lake.
But . . I found a big fat bush of blackberries. I grabbed my other half and we filled two big bowls with fresh blackberries which went into our breakfast smoothie.
Old Dutch boats in Lemmer
The next part of our journey was toward Lemmer via Slotermeer, Brandemar and Grutte Brekken. The maps seem to alternate between Frisian and Dutch place names. Not sure which name is which. I guess they refer to the most commonly used name first. We thought we would motor straight into the centre of
Blackberries
Lemmer and tie up.
The bridge man let us in – no problem. The harbour DID look crowded but we thought there had to be space further ahead, or why would he have let us pass?
But no, the harbour was chock-a-block full. We turned around and were heading out when the bloke at the bridge said we can double bank. Basically park abreast of another boat.
It was a group of Germans and they seemed amenable to the idea, so we tied up to their boat. It does feel a bit strange stepping all over someone else’s boat to get shore power and to go to the shops. That’s how it’s done.
Lemmer is an old fishing town that came to a halt when the Afsluitdijk
Lakeside at Heege Meer
came into existence in 1932. From then on Lemmer had to rely on boating and tourism. It has a LOT of yacht harbours, camping and a white sandy beach. Not many beaches in this part of the world. There are plenty cafes and bars along the canal and a person is spoilt for choice if you want to eat out. We found a fabulous organic food emporium with a deli, fresh produce, store cupboard staples, personal products and certified organic wines selling at 3 bottles for €11.
Sundowners onboard Shangri La
We opted for a central public mooring. The amenities were not great. But, it was a lovely location. However, after one night we decided to move to a privately owned marina with more facilities. We had been without Internet for three days, the electricity dispenser was swallowing €1 coins as opposed to 50 cent pieces everywhere else. The lights kept going off and the kettle wouldn’t boil. Fiddling about with coins in a shower or at the electricity meter in the dark was most frustrating.
To go back to the beginning of this trip – use this link. And if you want to go back to the previous post –use
View from our bedroom porthole
this link
At this point we had been on the canals for just short of a month. The boat was our home. We’d been buying odds and ends like spice jars and spare fenders to make it just the way we wanted it. We also worked out that the most obvious routes on the map might not be best for us. Our original intention was to travel along the Princes
Moorings in Lemmer
Magriet canal.
However our boat is small enough to fit on the narrower and shallower canals. Bigger canals are used by large working barges, which always have right of way. The big canals are geared toward commercial traffic on the banks and often have a rather industrial look.
In contrast, the smaller canals pass through farms, little towns and are only used by pleasure craft. But then bridge and lock hours are restricted and waterway heights and depths have to be considered.
My husband keeps a boating travel log. Not obligatory, but not uncommon. He notes travel times, distance travelled, engine hours, routes
Beach in Lemmer on a drizzly day
taken and any maintenance done. He bought a RYA (Royal Yacht Association) blank book specifically intended for motor cruisers. Their guide had WAY too much detail which he never filled in. But he also wanted to log other things that they didn’t allocate space for. It may seem tedious but we often found ourselves referring to his log book. Simple things like place names where we over-nighted or the length of time it took to travel a certain distance. Even info like when last we cleaned the filter for the shower pump proved to be very handy.
Beach cafe in lemmer
From Sneek we set south toward Lemmer intending at least one “wild” overnight stop. We did a shop-up at Albert Heijn and stocked our little fridge and cellar before leaving. Shopping hours in the Netherlands can be a bit perplexing. Even large cities like Amsterdam shut down on a Sunday. Mondays are late starting if at all. Thursdays and sometimes market days – whatever day that may be, have late shopping hours. So it’s wise to check shop opening times with either the VVV (tourist info) or haven meester (harbour master) to avoid being without food and provisions.
We cruised through a gorgeous little town called IJlst with a narrow canal that caused a mini traffic
Dutch and Fries place names on map
jam. We had been led to believe that the Dutch are inclined to push ahead in queues and are not aware of the British – ‘wait your turn’ – ethos. I have to say, I saw only three boats blatantly shove in front. Like switch their engine to full throttle, overtake, and race ahead of a boat. One with a German flag and two with a red British ensign. It happens every now and again. However, just because a boat flies a particular flag, does not mean the driver is from that country. People from all over the world hire boats. We could easily have registered our boat via our broker in The Netherlands. Our boat flies the British ensign but
Our deck on Shangri La
we live in South Africa. My husband’s cousin was happy to be his representative person in the UK.
Flag protocol says that you fly the flag of the country where your boat is registered at the back or at the stern. This is the most important flag. Next, you have to fly a courtesy flag, of the country you are in, on the right or starboard side of the mast. You can fly as many flags as you want after that. But you fly them alternating left to right, and from the outside inward. We flew a South African flag on the left or port side of our mast. Dutch people fly regional flags and yacht club flags. We even saw football flags and fun pirate
Drying our washing on the aft deck in rainy Lemmer
flags. So there you go!
We made good time and ended up stopping early at a space on the Heeger Meer (Heeger Lake). Very, very shallow, with only 30 centimetres of water below the boat, which made mooring or parking the boat difficult. The less water the boat has to move in, the less space for water to displace. It has the effect of sucking or pushing the boat. Revving the engine or bow thrusters only worsens the problem causing the boat to be pushed or sucked even more. It requires a gentle, slow approach. I’m not ready to tackle that just yet.
