Amsterdam

On our way to Amsterdam for a couple of days.


Not the normal type of house you see around Holland.

This sign we do see a lot. On the working barges the owners live aboard, they have their car on the barge with a crane to remove the car and there are designated spots where they can off load them. This sign shows one on the spots.



Canal Cruise, now we are getting closer to Amsterdam we have seen 2 already.
Our Yacht Haven is across the canal from the cruise terminal, we have seen heaps now.

You can see inside the cabins with the towels shaped like a swan.





This is the marina we are in for the next 2 nights, this photo doesn't show what I would like it too, the yacht master is stacking the boats side by side which is blocking the entry. We got here at 2pm when there was still moorings left, thank goodness. The 2 boats closest is the way out.

Behind our boat at 9pm.



Behind our boat at 9.15, not much water left in the marina.

Nederhorst den Berg

We stayed on the lake Spiegel-en Blijkpdderplas. This is the fist place we went for a swim, the water was very clear and very cold. We stayed in the water for about 15 mins and when we were still filling cold we thought it was never going to feel warm, time for a beer, that should warm us back up.

Believe it or not but you can see the bottom.

Our park for the night, had it all to ourselves

Tonight we will be staying just outside of Sloten

Setting Sun

Time 8.35

Time 9.15

Time 9.25

Time 10.00

Muiderslot - Castle

The castle is in the town of Muiden, there wasn't a lot of places for us to moor so we moved further down the canal to a Yacht Haven in Weesp. 4.4kms on our bikes so not that far about 14 minutes. We were lucky and had one of Netherlands summer days to spent the day at the castle with.


Our first look at the castle from the water the day before

The castle from land.



Water Shield: it's a display of seven centuries history of water defences.

Part of the display in the Water Shield

Baby Owl

This photo is taken from the Falconry, it shows the tower on a bit of a lean.
Note: I don't know who the lady is.

This is the Falconry from the top of leaning tower, 83 uneven steps to get to the top.

Dining room

Kitchen

Auto rotisserie, the guy who invented this then invented the clock two years later. 

Babies bed, the picture above the cot shows how the babies were wrapped up to sleep.

The main bed, it wasn't very long, because they slept in a reclining position. The belief was if you lay flat, the blood will fill your head and cause you to become dumb. The bed was used for more then the adults, the older kids would also be in there so everyone could keep warm.

The roof structure it the tower.

Lesson Learnt

This morning we left Amersfoort, we were going along the Eemmeer following the channel when we looked at the chart and thought the water is deep enough so we will just cut across. Well, it didn't take long for the boat to start vibrating. When we backed off on the power the vibration stopped but she wasn't feeling the same. It didn't take long to realise that the weeds had got tangled it the propeller. Tried a couple of things to shake it off but nothing worked.

We decided to go to the closest yacht haven with a lift that might get us out of the water to clear the propeller. The place we went in to didn't have anything large enough to lift Ardella out but they rang another haven who could do it the next day at 8.30 and they were close by. We found a spot for the night which is what I have marked on the location map.    

Not the best photo but if you look near the top right of the photo you can just make out something on the surface, what you don't see is all the plants just below the surface. What we didn't know at the time was in this area they had trouble with blue algae at one point. Someone had this bright idea to use a plant to help fight the algae problem, now they have another problem, the plant loves the conditions and has become a weed. They have to cut the weed but they only do it in the marked channel. We now know: if the locals are staying in the channel then so are we.  



The next morning, the boat felt better but we decided to still get it pulled out and get it checked. It was nice to see some weeds still there so it wasn't a total waste of time and money.

Sloten by water

We were here last year by car, now we go through town on by water.

IJlst - hopfully for the last time

Here again, this time to get the ejectors done. Yes I know I said last week we where getting them done, they started with the gearbox, it took 2 days and then they were getting busy so we arranged to come back in a week. This way could show Xavier around before he moved on.

Thought you would like to know it's not all sunshine.

On our way to IJlst

On the Sneekermeer

Left the noise of the city to go to the lake where the races were been held. Walked around the island we will be staying for the night.