Panheel Lock to Maasbracht

A very short journey today.  After pulling up the stakes at 9.15 we were at the lock in just a few minutes.  I called to ask for passage through and we were told to take the left hand lock.  We could see the lock gates were open at the far end and nothing seemed to be happening for ages. It turned out they were waiting for a barge to enter from the lower side. 

This is the first time in a week that we have not had to have a lock or bridge operated just for us.  How many resources, and how much money, has it cost just to get little Njord all the way from Rotterdam to Maasbracht!  So we quite relieved that we were sharing the costs of this lock with another big commercial boat.

Slowly the water rose in the lock, the barge exited and we could enter.  The bollards were badly spaced for a small boat and we only had a stern line on but I could see there was a bollard for the bow line just beneath the water level.  When we reached it I passed a line around it but there was no bollard lower down for the stern line so Ian took his line off and I moved to the mid-ships cleat on our boat and we held there.  

Every lock is different!  It is a very impressive lock .

I believe the next one up stream in Maabracht  is even bigger.  Once out of the lock, and just before we headed up the Maas river, we passed this barge being unloaded. 

There was a strong current against us as all the rain we have had in the last days makes its way to the sea.  We are now at Van Der Laan Yacht Marina in Maasbracht where we picked up the 1/2 cubic metre box of stuff we sent from home.  It was like Christmas!

Now we just have to find somewhere to put it all!

We will spend a couple of days here doing some chores that never got done - and redoing some that have been done before, such as cleaning the fenders of all the dirt they have accrued from the slime off the lock walls and dirt from river banks!

Aarle-Rixtel to Panheel - Sunshine and hail

We discovered from news reports that the wind yesterday was 40 knots, gusting 52 knots.  So much for the weather forecast of 45 km/hr, roughly 23 knots.  No wonder it was so horrible.

Seeing we had lost our faith in the weather forecast  (yeah, ok, I know it is silly to rely on a weather forecast but there is no other option) we decided to just look out the window.  At 7.30 it was raining and a bit windy but not too bad.  By 9.00 the rain had stopped, the wind had dropped, and there was some blue sky too.  Things were looking up, so, at 10.00 we pulled up the stakes and headed into the Zuidwillemsvaart  Canal.  This is a huge, wide canal and we expected to see a lot of traffic but we seemed to be the only people in the whole wide canal world.

At the first lock in Helmond I called on the VHF to ask for passage through.  The lock keeper was very friendly and spoke good English (even though I always try to speak to them in Dutch, some continue in Dutch, but with ATIS they can tell that we are a British boat). The lock keeper even came out to meet us and give us a map of the canal.  

 It took over half an hour to get through the lock because it is high at about 5m and they had to empty it first so that we could enter, then fill it again so could exit 5m higher up.  Seeing there were another four to negotiate before our stopping place today we thought it would be a long day to do just 28 km.  However, all the rest of the locks were prepared for us when we arrived and we could just drive straight in and tie up.  All these locks are well equipped for smaller boats with easy to reach bollards and my rope-around-bollard thingy worked a treat. 

All this time there was very little wind, occasional showers and bursts of sunshine.  It was really rather pleasant, if a little chilly.  The temperature is quite a few degrees lower than it has been since we entered the canal system a few days ago.  Ian has been steering from the interior steering wheel in the saloon except when going through locks.  It made life so much more comfortable, and warmer.

Someone asked why we have not put up the bimini - wind!  This boat is high out of the water for a 9m boat (which is why Ian can stand inside it) and has a lot of windage (as we found out yesterday!) and a bimini would just make it worse.  Once Ian got used to steering from inside, that was the best solution.

We reached our intended stopping place before 2pm and decided to keep going another 14 km, on the Wessel-Nederweert Canal, and stop at a free mooring just before the last lock before Maasbracht, the Panheel lock.  It is a huge lock with an 8m fall, 150m long and 12m wide.  We reckon this might take some time to traverse so we didn't take it on today.

At last we saw some water traffic!  We were not alone in the canal world.

Not long afterwards we saw the first pleasure cruiser of our trip.

For the last hour or so the weather deteriorated.  In between the sunshine we got periods of hail and sleet. 

Wow, cold, cold, cold!  And of course Murphy decrees that you will get the worst conditions when you have to be outside manoeuvring (like yesterday at the lock that broke down) and so it was when we arrived at our mooring.  Down came the hail and there we were messing with fenders, ropes and stakes with bare hands - I discovered many years ago that ropes and gloves don't mix.

We have made contact with Lynn and Shaun, Ian's sister and brother-in-law, who arrived from South Africa today and we expect to see them later.

Can't afford to celebrate too much with the awesome (in the old fashioned sense of the word)  lock tomorrow.  

Oirschot to Aarle-Rixtel - A Day to Forget

Well, that was an adventure we would rather not have had!

After examining the weather forecasts we knew it would be a bit windy, gusting around 45 km/hr, but we've coped with far worse than that when crossing oceans.  Also today is the last dry day for a while, so it was a toss up: wind today or rain tomorrow.  We chose to put up with the wind because there are no locks in the stretch we planned to do today, just 6 lift bridges.

The first section of canal was really not bad at all.  The wind was not as bad as expected as the canal ran between high banks with tall trees on top.  

We could see the wind in the trees but on the canal we were sheltered and the first couple of lift bridges were uneventful except that we had to call before each bridge (last time we called only at the first bridge and all the rest after that were made ready as we approached) and they only started preparing the bridge when we were very close to it.  

Could this be a doffing of the cap to Operation Market Garden?

A different design of lift bridge - I think I'm becoming a bridge anorak

With the strong wind behind us it was difficult to slow down and the bridges were not protected by high banks and trees.  At one of the bridges we drifted sideways at about 2 knots because it was impossible to keep the boat straight at slow speed and at another bridge  we actually passed the traffic lights before the red light had gone out even though Ian had the engine in reverse (the bridge was already fully up). 

Then we ran out of high banks and protection from the trees, and the wind picked up with extremely vicious gusts which blew the surface water into williwaws and splashed the windows.  One of the bridges was slow to open and while we waited around a huge gust blew Ian's gloves and a mat on the foredeck into the water.

At the very last bridge, just half a km from our intended stop, all was going to plan but instead of the red light going out when the bridge was up, the green light went out and a second red light came on.  After drifting around for a few minutes I called the bridge control and was informed there was a problem, "Wait a moment", after another 5 minutes they called and said we could not pass the bridge until the problem was resolved.  So we had to tie up.  Easier said than done.  Just at that time the gusts were particularly bad and the only place to tie up was designed for big commercial barges with tall poles at maybe 15m or 18m intervals and a wall inside them with big bollards.  Ian started to approach the wall between the pillars when a huge gust caught the boat and slammed the bow into the wall, forward of the fender - a scar which bears witness to our trials and tribulations!  I'm really not sure how Ian managed it but he got us off that wall without any further mishap but then we had to do it all over again.  Second time round there was brief lull and I managed to get ashore and get a rope around a bollard without any further problems.

We felt really bad because with the bridge stuck in the up position there were queues of cars forming, and bicycles - school kids trying to get home in the horrible weather.  The nearest bridge was about 1km behind us.  One young girl asked Ian if we could ferry her across the river!  "I want to go home" she said.  We really felt bad.

Eventually after more than half an hour Bridge Control called us and said we could go through the bridge.  As we went through we saw an electrician's truck and police to control the traffic.  Perhaps we were the first boat to go through that bridge since last summer.

When we approached the place we intended to stop we saw a no entry sign and a row of buoys blocking the canal to the Passantenhaven.  They only open tomorrow!  We tied up against the bank using stakes (many of them).  The wind is still blowing and buffeting the boat but at least we are secure.

We walked to the town centre to buy Ian a new pair of gloves.  It is a lovely little town, very quaint.  It was known for its bell foundry and the church has a huge array of bells in the bell tower.  Just before the hour they chimed up with a rendition of Greensleeves.  Very entertaining. 

Tomorrow we are staying put - apart from moving into the Passantenhaven, just a couple of hundred metres.  It is still going to be windy, and raining, not a good combination, and we have 6 locks to negotiate on the next leg.  We hope to get all the way to Maasbracht but it will be a long day.

Tilburg to Oirschot

The day dawned bright and clear and not much wind so at 9.00 we pulled our lines in and headed away from Tilburg.  The first hour was lovely, positively balmy in the sunshine but we could see huge clouds building behind us.  They looked very ominous and soon blanked out the sun and the temperature dropped dramatically.  Just as we approached a lock it began to hail.  Cold?  Well, just a little bit.

This time I was better prepared and had my rope-over-bollard thingy ready, and the bollards were too big!  So I had to revert to throwing, only took 3 attempts this time.  I'll master it eventually! 

The Wilhelmina Canal is lovely, and in summer when the leaves are out it must be beautiful.  

It is really peaceful, we only saw one other boat, a huge sand barge, and a rowing boat, crewed by young girls who looked even colder that we were.

We passed through 12 movable bridges, 2 different kinds of lift bridge and a swing bridge.  

One kind of lift bridge

Another kind of lift bridge

I had to call the first bridge to ask them to let us through and after that the next few bridges were all being prepared for us as we approached them. You can tell this is happening because the bridges have 2 traffic lights one above the other.  They are both red when the bridge is closed and when they start to prepare the bridge for opening the top one turns green.  When the bottom red one goes out you may proceed through the bridge. Clever stuff this canal technology.  I find the locks fascinating.

Now we are tied up to the canal side in a town called Oirshot.   Half an hour after tying up a huge floating crane thing moved in just a couple of metres from our bow to work on the side of the canal where they are doing a great deal of work to turn a muddy bank into a lovely promenade with grass slope behind it.  

Ian offered to move but the driver assured him we are not in his way. 

The weather is not looking good for tomorrow so we might just be here for two days.  We took a walk into town and it looks rather nice, quite a good spot to shelter from the elements.

Comedy Half Hour in the Lock

Yesterday we took on our first lock.  Well, anyone would think I had never been on a boat before.  It seems I have forgotten everything I ever learnt in 20 years of sailing during the 20 years we have lived in the Azores!  For a start, our little Njord is too short for the spacing of the bollards in the lock.  Do you think I could throw the darn rope around the bollard?  Not a chance!  So Ian and I swapped places, he having already got his rope around the bollard near the stern.  But I then had to manoeuvre the boat to get the bow as close to the next bollard as possible and in the process let go of the tail of the rope around the stern bollard and it drifted over the side!  Ian got the forward rope on, and I had to pull the whole stern rope back aboard and start all over again with the stern bollard.  Finally got that sorted.  As the lock filled and the water rose we had to move the ropes to higher bollards, which again was a nightmare for me at only 1.5m tall.  By the time the rope slipped off the lower bollard I still could not reach the higher bollard!  But we got there in the end. 

We have a fancy piece of equipment on board for putting ropes around bollards but could not find it in the cavernous locker where we had stowed it!  We found it once we safely tied up at the mooring, all the way at the bottom of the locker!  It is obviously going to be an essential item for me and from now on it will be ready on deck. 

I am just pleased we were the only the boat in the lock so I didn't have an audience to my incompetence - but Ian assured me the lock operators were watching on cctv and having a good laugh!

Today is a rest day, closed in between two movable bridges only 1.00m high which are not operating today.  However, we needed a rest day and it is raining even harder today than it did yesterday.  It is a lot warmer though.

Chicken stew for dinner last night, and the leftovers became soup for lunch today.  More chicken for dinner (bought a big economy pack yesterday) but in the form of Thai green curry.

Cruising in the rain

The pea soup was a success, very hearty, comfort food.  Just what you need on a cold winter night and there was enough left over for lunch today.

We left Oosterhout marina later than intended at 9.15, and as it turned out we should have left much earlier.  We were hoping to get to Oirschot, almost 40km away with 4 locks and 12  lift bridges that had to be negotiated and these all take time. 

The very first lock was at Oosterhout and when Ian called them to ask for passage through, the very helpful lady who spoke good English, informed him that there was a problem with the locks and bridges: being Saturday they were only operational till 14.00 and closed tomorrow (even though in the official Almanak it says they are open 24 hours a day all year round).  Now we knew there was no hope of making it to Oirschot.

The day had dawned bright and clear, I saw the sun rise at about 6.30, but by the time we left it was completely overcast and started to drizzle within minutes of our departure.  As the day wore on the drizzle became more persistent, and a breeze picked up.  Ian's foul weather jacket fitted over his normal jacket but the zip of the trousers had seized up from use at sea on his fishing boat (yes, we should have checked them before we left!).  My rain jacket does not fit over my thick Musto jacket and I never got around to putting the rain trousers on because I was up and down the companion way so many times and long johns plus jeans were already rather bulky.

After the first lock there was a long stretch with no locks or bridges.  Ian was steering from the outside steering position on the aft deck but as it got wetter and colder he decided it would be more sensible to steer from inside.  Just as he got the steering changed over the next lock arrived and then the locks and lift bridges came in quick succession and he could not operate the lines, etc, while steering from inside. 

By the time we got to Tilburg it was raining properly and as we passed one of the possible stopping places we had marked on the chart, we both decided we had had enough and it was time to stop. We were numb with cold.  It was 1.00pm.  And that left over soup was ever so welcome!

This is a free mooring just on the side of the canal, not in a marina.  No facilities such as water, electricity or wifi.  There is a big supermarket just 700m away.  It feels rather exposed to the public eye, but it is very quiet.

Not many photos today because of the rain.

Our first lock, or comedy half hour!

Our mooring in Tilburg

We're on our way

It is a week since we arrived on board Njord and finally today we slipped the moorings at WSV Ijsselmonde, which was so good to us, and set off on our journey - I am tempted to say into the unknown but this is not quite Star Wars.

As soon as he got up and looked out the window Ian noticed that the tide was extremely high.  He went for a walk to the river side of the marina and saw that it was still rising and running strongly.  We had to leave asap, because when the tide turned we would be battling against it instead of running with it.

At 8.45 we passed out of the entrance to the marina and into the River Maas.  

The tide was extremely high and pushing us at a good rate of knots in the right direction.  We whizzed up to our first turn off into the Noord Maas, passing some very impressive houses on the way.

  

How about that, having your own boat hoist in your garden!

We were amazed by the amount of river traffic.  Huge container ships and barges, some of the barges were even doubled up like articulated truck trains. At one time we were four abreast with little Njord hugging the bank as tight as possible!

We passed Dordrecht, resplendent in silhouette against a moody sky.

Next stretch of water was the Dordste Kil, what a nightmare.  Just at that stage there must have been wind against tide/current or whatever because it was very turbulent, even with whirlpools and standing waves.  It reminded me of our days out on the ocean in rough conditions!  But we passed this fascinating tower at s'Gravendeel. Anyone for chess?

It also got a lot colder. Ian, who normally wears just a t-shirt on the coldest days, was dressed up like a Michelin tyre man.

And we shared the waterway with some seriously large ships.

  

But the sun started to appear in fits and starts, and it was glorious when it did.

From there we turned into the Hollandse Diep, the part that I had been the most anxious about because it is a very wide expanse of water, susceptible to the influence of wind and current.  For the first few kms we had the tide against us, at 2000 revs we were doing 9kph whereas on leaving Rotterdam were doing 13.6 kph on 1600 rpm. 

Clive called us, just as they were waking up in the Azores, as we were passing under a set of huge bridges for road and rail.  He was amazed to get us on phone and it was great to chat.  About half an hour later the tide changed in our favour yet again.  Suddenly we were whizzing along again.

After 4 hours on the river systems we turned off into the Amertak Canal.  

What a difference - suddenly it was all calm and peaceful, but still a lot of huge container barges.  We passed an enormous container terminal with massive cranes stretching over the canal.  Impressive.  And no wonder we were seeing so many container barges.

4 hours 45 mins after leaving the marina in Rotterdam we tied up at a lovely marina in Oosterhout.  We had made much better time than we expected. The Hawenmaster was really friendly, gave us the benefit on the doubt on length of boat for the overnight charge, free electricity and water, and wonderful showers for 50c.

There is a supermarket roughly 10-15 mins walk across the bridge/lock.

What's not to like?

And for dinner tonight I am attempting to make snert, the traditional Dutch pea soup. It sure smells good.