Sunday 28 June 2015

Late June 2015 – Hoorn and Enkhuizen

21st June – Sunday – To Hoorn

As usual our route follows to the next place with a nice marina and a large enough town to spend a few days.  So our journey to Hoorn started at 08:45 and took only 2 and a half hours to cover the 10 miles.  Unusually we set off in the rain and got pretty soaked, but it wasn’t far, so not too much hardship.

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A bit of work was required on arrival to remove the mass of weed which had been caught on the rudders.  It was not as tough as the French stuff last year but put up a fair fight to remove it.  We were told that it only occurs in this area.

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The sailing ship ‘Half Moon’ greets your arrival into Hoorn now.  It is a replica of a boat sailed by Henry Hudson for whom the Hudson River in New York is named.  The ship only arrived in Hoorn from America on the 23rd May 2015, but we believe this will be its home as the Americans could not justify its upkeep.

Today the crew was not keen to set off in the rain, but the journey proved worthwhile as our early arrival meant that we caught the tail end of the ‘Kaaphoorn 400’ celebrations.

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A festival to celebrate the rounding of Cape Horn 400 years ago by sailors from Hoorn and therefore the town which ‘Cape Horn’ was named after.

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There were several stages set up around town, playing different types of music on each stage, so the oldies did not have to listen to modern music and vice versa.

We spent 3 days in Hoorn and there are some lovely buildings to explore.

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View of the harbour-side tower, which is a quirky, circular restaurant.

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Beautifully decorated buildings.  Many of the buildings have plaques which represent the type of work carried out in them.

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The ‘VVV’ tourist office is located in this elaborately decorated building in the main square.  They do seem to choose some of the best buildings for their offices.  The chap on the plinth is a local member of the Dutch East India Company who appears to have made his money by un-scrupulous means, and there is a plaque on the plinth stating that the man is not to be admired!  Wonder how long it will take for them to melt him down?

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The Physical Performance Arts Theatre had a very eye catching statue on the roof.

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Info:  Hoorn Marina ‘Stichting’ cost 19.80 euros per night, inc electricity.  The facilities were good but a little dated.  A shower costs 1 euro, with a machine on the wall indicating the shower number you had paid for.  Select the number before inserting your money.  We stayed on the visitor pontoon which was a walk to the facilities.  The wifi was excellent and free.  There is a small shop on site and a large ‘Albert Heijn’ at the other side of the railway station over the bridge on the left (20 mins walk).

Hoorn must be on the Lake Cruisers itinerary as a fresh set of tourists were deposited each day from the huge cruise boats, which must be good for the local economy and it is a lovely compact town to walk around.

24th June – Wednesday - To Enkhuizen

Only 12 miles to Enkhuizen, but we took our time.  It was a beautiful sunny and breezy day and we sailed, that’s Sailed most of the way.  09.30 to 15.00 lazy lovely sailing. 

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Except, that an hour of that time was spent in the ‘Naviduct Enkhuizen’.  Normally a place of precision and punctuality, but the ‘lecky was off.  The Naviduct leads from the Markermeer to the Ijsselmeer.  There is a huge lock at each end of the dyke.  The delay meant that the spaces filled up pretty quickly and we all kept moving along until the waiting pontoon was full.  

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That is why they need such a big control tower.  You can see this for miles and they can obviously see you.IMG_7210

Enkhuizen inner harbour, summer sighting of ‘Bondicus Shorticus’, a rare display of plumage.

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As above.

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Picturesque Enkhuizen.  The best Kebbelin shop is just over the bridge.  There are 2 excellent Ice-Cream shops too.  Only 1 Euro for 1 blob, cheapest yet (The pink shop on the main street).

Info: Enkhuizen Marina ‘Compagnieshaven’ 21.50 euros per night.  1 Euro per day for electricity.  Free wifi but this is a large marina and at weekends the signal is poor.  1 Euro for a shower.  Top tip: there are showers and toilets upstairs too.  There is a comprehensive site shop which sells fresh baked bread and pastries and a good chandlers.  The supermarkets are ‘Deen’ and ‘Aldi’ near Westerstraat and are not that easy to find, but are worth the search.

27th June – Saturday – Grand Day Out – Zuiderzee Museum Open Air and Indoor.

The museum is worth every cent of the 15 euro entrance fee.  It comprises 130+ traditional homes and businesses gathered together from around Holland to represent a town of 1905 or thereabouts in a fishing harbour setting.  There is also an indoor museum included in the price, opposite the Marina and a free ferry from the train station.

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Tanning the fishing nets, to stop them rotting.

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Children’s clogs lined up outside the classroom.

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Traditional classroom.

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These poorer houses had people ‘living’ in them, very well done.  It felt like you were intruding as they cooked their lunch on a paraffin stove.

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It is so higgeldy-piggeldy, it is hard to take a good photo to do it justice.  The most curious people will get the most from the visit as there are gems to find round each corner.

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These wooden carved heads are from a private collection and were used to identify Chemist shops when people could not read.  (There is one near the V&D shop in Haarlem too).

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Goats getting out of the sun.

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The indoor museum, which was very modern inside a traditional building.  There is something for everyone.

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Marken Lace.

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A sampler from 1617.  Don’t think my bears will last that long.

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Amazing hall full of traditional boats.

Sunday 28th June

Enkhuizen ‘Haringparty’ a festival for the beloved Herring.

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Young ladies traditionally dressed.

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Fishermen singing on a boat.  Also many of the restaurants were handing out samples.

Got to love a festival.

Sunday 21 June 2015

Mid June 2015 – Vollendam, Edam and Monnickendam

16th June – Tuesday

18 miles from Amsterdam to Vollendam, we left the Northsea Canal and entered the Markermeer the first of the large inland seas.  09.45 start and arrived at 14.00.  Again we timed our departure from Amsterdam to reach the large lock with leads to the Markermeer.

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Sport (small craft) channel and waiting pontoon outside the lock.

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Inside the lock.  We were in the middle of the lock.

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Road bridge, all the passengers on the coach waved to us.

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We passed the Paard den Marken, a lighthouse on Marken Island, which is a National Monument, but sadly it is currently covered in Scaffolding.

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Our first sight of Volendam.

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Volendam Marina village.

Info:  Volendam Marina village appears to be a purpose built holiday complex.  Approx 18 euros per night.  The facilities are excellent.  The marina require you to pay a 10 euro deposit for the security card which allows entry to the village out of hours and is also used in the showers to turn on the water flow!  Wifi is 1 euro per day, and had a poor signal.  The marina is an easy 10 minute walk from town, where there is a ‘Deen’ supermarket.  The market is outside Deen’s on Saturdays.  There is also an excellent Chandlery on site.

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Children’s car garage with 6 cars and petrol pumps on the marina pontoon.  Very child friendly.

We had a lovely evening with John and Eileen from Largs on their Catalina.  We started our trip last year from Largs so had lots to talk about.

17th June – Wednesday

Walked to Edam from Volendam along the dyke approx 4km, on a sunny but windy day. 

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Another very pretty town with a bakery which had to be sampled.

We had wondered about the large car park full of coaches as we entered town.  Then we found out it was Wednesday and therefore the famous Edam cheese market.  Volendam had been very busy on our way out and we think it was the second stop of the day for the cheese tours.

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Edam cheese market, just after the crowds.  (The market is only on from 10.30 to 12.30).

18th June – Thursday

Cycled to Monnickendam on our folding bikes, which are far less comfortable than the Dutch bikes.  Approx 10km round trip with an Ice Cream stop in town.

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Monnickendam town quay towards the town.

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Town Quay towards the marina.

Monnickendam is worth a visit but do not try to walk, use the bikes, as the journey follows a main road.

19th June – Friday

We walked into Volendam on this overcast day.

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The main street is very picturesque.  It was a fishing village and cheese producer and is famous for the old fashioned costumes worn by the locals.  Less so these days but we did see a few.  Hence there are numerous photo shops where people can have their photograph taken in traditional costume.  I wondered how they all made a living until the tour boats arrived.

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The town gets much busier and the photo shops do swift business.

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As promised this is Michael with his portion of ‘Kebbelin’.  We just remembered to take a picture before it disappeared.  It is small pieces of cod fried and served with a choice of sauce.  It is usually freshly cooked and irresistible.

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A particularly snazzy tour boat. 

We had a very pleasant evening on our boat with Brian and Lynn from Sunderland.  They moored next door and we immediately recognised their boat ‘Mad Crab’ from our time in Hartlepool.  They now keep her in Sunderland and once again we had lots to chat about.

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Another sign I could not resist, from Volendam Marina.

We really enjoyed our time in Volendam, it has a holiday atmosphere and is a honeypot for tour boats which equals great people watching.

Next stop Hoorn, of ‘Cape Horn’ fame.

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Mid June 2015 – Haarlemsche Jacht Club to Amsterdam

As predicted we stayed in Haarlemsche Jacht Club for quite a while, which turned into 10 days.  A holiday within a holiday.  Arriving on the 3rd of June and not leaving until the 14th.  Michael’s sister Annette and husband Julian were due to arrive in Holland in their campervan on the 10th of June and we wanted to find a nice place for them to stay for a few days and relax into their holiday, before departing on their own adventure.

We only came to this club because an English couple stopped their bikes in Haarlem town when they saw we were an English boat.  They told us about the Jacht Club and told us what a lovely spot it was, how friendly the members were and that there were free bikes to use and good wifi.

As it is a members club it does not appear on all the charts.  It is in the Standing Mast-route book, but not on the latest charts for the area.  It’s previous location is mentioned in the Busby and Broad Pilot book, which confused us a little.  The large bridge at the end of the Haarlem town canal is not in the pilot books either.  After the big bridge, aim right and follow the land around to the right, there is a sign for the Jacht Club and the lake opens in front of you.  The club is on the right.

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Info:  Haarlemsche Jacht Club cost 14.50 Euros per night, all inclusive.  The showers are a good standard and have proper shower heads and regulator taps for the temperature (bliss).  There is a bar but no restaurant.  You are encouraged to borrow the on site bicycles, they have more than a dozen.  Beware they are European bikes which require you to back-pedal to brake.  They have locks and chains so it feels OK to leave them in town.  The town centre is a 20 minute bike ride.  There are 3 supermarkets within walking distance, we would recommend the ‘Dekamarkt’ 25 minutes walk over the bridge and the ‘Voram’ supermarket on the road into town, which is a 40 minute walk.  I think it would take an hour to walk into Haarlem centre.  Don’t let that put you off, taking the bikes is fun.

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It’s lakeside location makes it a peaceful spot despite the aircraft going into Schipol.  Julian was in his element with the bird-watching.

6th June – Saturday

We took the bikes into Haarlem.  Another excuse for more Turkish Pizza.

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Everyone rides ‘Mary Poppins’ bikes with baskets, crates and children carriers.

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There are cycle lanes next to most roads and some are fully separated with a curb.  Cyclists have their own crossing buttons too (above) and small traffic lights to indicate when it’s your turn to cross.

7th June – Sunday

We walked to Ikea around the side of the lake and then on into a small village, which had a thatched windmill.  We think they hold open house days for the old windmills to keep them going.  The living space inside this one was fascinating.  The owner had all mods cons, just somewhat curved.

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We were just saying that there should be a pub round here when we were caught by this sign.

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Rounding the corner we found a lovely riverside cafe ‘Bij van Alemma’.

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Would be rude not to.

We also moved the boat today as being on the end pontoon on the lakeside, meant lots of lapping as boats went by and when the wind increased.  A club member was taking his boat away for 2 weeks so we were allowed to move to his mooring. 

The next two days were spent sprucing ourselves and the boat up for our impending visitors and a big shop.

10th June – Annette and Julian arrived.

How lovely to see family from home after 2 months.  We all piled in the van and went to town and to the supermarket.  As we have not had transport, it was a surprise to find out how expensive it was to park in town. 3.90 euros per hour.  2.60, a little further out of town.  Bikes seem to be more welcome than cars.

11th June – Julian’s Birthday

First we had an epic bird-watching walk, and just happened to end up at the cafe again.  Then a lakeside BBQ.  Lovely day with lots of greetings from home for the Birthday boy.

12th June – Friday

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Annette and I cycled around the lake to the furthest windmill, and ice-creams in the cafe.  Then spent the rest of the day lounging and Annette put me on the right track with the crochet book she bought for my last birthday.

13th June – Saturday

Back to the Market in the campervan.  We parked a little further out this time.  Julian managed to spend some birthday money in the ‘Liquid Gold’ whisky shop.  It is a third cheaper than in the UK.

Mick also bought a new set of charts for the Markermeer and Ijsselmeer, to supplement the electronic charts on board.

A lovely last night get together in the van before we went our separate ways.

14th June – To Amsterdam

We left early to catch the lock.  08.00 to 11.30 to make the 9 mile trip.

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This lock has a concrete side on the pontoon.  You have to moor up and then walk to the lock-keepers cabin (far right) to pay the 3.50 euro toll to a very smiley lady lock-keeper.  The first toll we have paid so far.

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We then moored to wait for the road bridge which only opens 3 times a day.

After the road bridge we emerged onto the North Sea Canal and turned right for Amsterdam.  This section of the canal is very industrial as you make your way into the city (approx 5 miles).

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Approach to Amsterdam Marina.

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Marina Office complex and Restaurant.

Info: The next picture takes Amsterdam Marina almost to the top of our marina list.

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What a wonderful site, complete with Opaque window with a button to clear the glass once you are in the bath.  It won’t be a surprise that the rest of the marina is top quality too.

The marina office is located at the bottom of the slope on the left of the building.  20 Euros per night, free wifi and electricity.

There is a free ferry to Amsterdam Central station which departs on the hour and half hour and returns on the quarter hours.  The ferry terminal is located behind the ‘Botel’ which is a floating hotel.  The red letters are also hotel rooms!

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People and cycles use the ferry along with these small cars, which are also allowed to drive in the cycle lanes.

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Another form of transport waiting to surprise us.

We had a good walk around on the first afternoon and then a full day out and walk around on the second day.

We found the Albert Cuyp market located behind the Heineken Brewery, which is worth a look if you like markets.  It is open every day except Sundays.  I went into the Handbag and Purse museum (a great girlie experience, fascinating and beautiful), while Mick had a wander.

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Central Station known to many with its gothic frontage.

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But did you know it had a state of the art waterfront facade behind.

Finally, examples of signage.  The first so blunt it speaks for itself, but made us laugh.

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The second explains how the bargee’s get their cars off the back of their boats shown on the left hand blue image.

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On our way next to Volendam Edam into the large inland seas.