Tag: canal

OGA in Gloucester

The 2025 AGM for the gaffers’ association was held in historic Gloucester, at the confluence of the mighty Severn river and the Sharpness canal. National AGM’s don’t have an inspiring reputation, but the weekend was a great opportunity to catch up with boaters from all over the country.

I was very chuffed to not only win the “sailing gaffers” category of the photo competition, but this blog (and the YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@erbster200?si=9rEUk5N9owhUyVz7) was also recognised with an award. The meeting, in medieval Llanthony Secunda priory, was rounded off with a meal and some music.

My winning image of skipper Frits sweating the halyards of historic Dutch barge Oeral Thus

OGA “Tales of Sail” trophy for this blog

On the following morning we were treated to a guided tour of the Nielsen boatyard, given by the owner himself. The yard is almost unique in having dry docks and facilities to work on classic boats of any size, from timber planks and frames, to rigging and even foundry facilities. It’s great to see traditional skills being kept alive and work carried out on classic boats.

The last lock

With the strong south westerlies from the remnant of storm Ernesto finally abating, it was time to leave the seclusion of the canal system and return to la mer.

As if to remind us of the comparative slowness of travelling in the shelter of inland waterways, the “blue wave” from Middelburg to Vlissingen was frustratingly slow. We then had a longer wait than expected at the sea lock.

We did however, have plenty of time for the fair tide, so once we were discharged from the lock, we emerged onto the busy Westerschelde, gathered like a clutch of ducklings before dashing through a gap in the shipping to the southern shore.

The strong tide carried us quickly around the corner and then helped us along the coast. The wind direction was good for a fetch the whole way. Nevertheless, I used the engine too to ensure that I reached Nieuwpoort in time to check out with the customs, allowing me to be able to make an early start the next day.

Fishing from the harbour arm at Nieuwpoort

The five crews rather tired crews of Molly, Indian Runner, East Breeze, Moon River and Plum met to eat a meal together, in celebration of Chris’ birthday and our last evening as a group. Following this, Plum and East Breeze were heading for the east coast, via Ramsgate, whereas the rest of us were to cross to Dover for points west.

Hidden havens

Numansdorp harbour at the end of its canal

An advantage of travelling with a local is that you see places that might well otherwise pass beneath the radar. Our latest two stops are good examples of this, thanks to our good fortune to be travelling back from NL OGA 20 with Dirk and Linda of Anemone.

The Netherlands has a network of Watersportsvereniging (thankfully abbreviated to WSV!) which are basically private clubs that have visitor berths, rather than commercial marinas. These can often be found in small towns nestled behind the dykes and accessed by narrow channels.

Numansdorp and Oude Tonge are two examples of this. They are accessed by improbably narrow channels (made possible by the effective absence of tide) and providing both excellent shelter and charming locations.

In our current crawl south west against the worst that ex-storm Ernesto can throw at us, we have been looking for short hops to bring us to the best place to pop out onto the sea when the weather is more favourable for our passage.

Numansdorp entrance seen from the outside

When we approached Numansdorp along the Hollandsch Diep, I almost sailed straight past, so narrow was the entrance. In the especially lively conditions prevailing, motoring towards that lee shore felt quite intimidating but a mole projecting from the entrance made the waters in the approach very calm. After winding past reef beds into the town, we found sheltered berths for our party.

The weather was bad enough that we stayed two nights and I took the opportunity to repair the autohelm mount (important for the impending long passages on my solo homeward journey) and also borrow a bike to explore nearby. The second night was topped off with a lovely shared meal, prepared on our boats. The aperitif was enjoyed on the quayside and then the crews of Anemone, Plum, East Breeze and Hussar repaired aboard Molly for the remainder.

The next morning was an early start to use a short weather window to make more progress, this time to Oude Tonge. This was another small town with plenty of space for visitors, lovely local eateries and convenient shops. The harbourmaster’s assistant bucked the trend of these WSV marinas, in that the staff are almost universally friendly, accommodating and helpful.

Oude Tonge was one of the worst affected villages during the terrible flood during the winter of 1953. We visited the memorial and the devastating effects of the inundation were a reminder of the vulnerability of the Netherlands to the sea. The plaques commemorating the dead showed whole families lost in this tragedy.

In common with most of these villages, Oude Tonge has an impressive brick church

In the evening, we shared a most excellent final meal together at the quayside hotel – I enjoyed the most delicious mussels I’ve ever eaten, cooked in the Dutch way with a few vegetables (celery, onion and carrot) and herbs (thyme and rosemary). A fitting end to this phase of the trip.

Looking back, passing through the dyke at Oude Tonge

Back through the canals

Passing through the Oranjesluis back into the canals

During the rally, we enjoyed an extended period of warm, sunny weather but the remnants of hurricane Ernesto upset this fair spell. Several members of the fleet had made a rapid departure down the North Sea canal to Ijmuiden and a sea crossing before the bad weather arrived, but they were all heading for the English East coast. With strong SW winds expected along the Dutch North Sea coast, this route was not an option for Molly, so a group of us elected to reverse our outbound path along the standing mast route.

With limited time available, we made longer hops each day and missed out several stops, but also took the opportunity to overnight at some different places.

The first day, I sailed Molly from Enkhuizen to Durgerdam, whilst Niki and Alice took the train to visit Amsterdam for the day. My trip started with “bin bags”, motoring across a glassy sea. As I rounded the island of Marken though, a lovely breeze filled in and I enjoyed a welcome sail all the way into Durgerdam. We stayed at the very welcome Het Y sailing club again and enjoyed beers on the veranda before pizza aboard Molly.

The next morning we made an early start and passed through Amsterdam and onto the Zijkanaal south towards Haarlem. We spent another night against the wall in the city and entertained Dirk and Linda of Anemone aboard for a dinner of vegetable curry, prepared in the thermal cooker at lunchtime, whilst waiting for the Spaarndam bridges.

The third day was shorter, with a later start and the first of two “bridge marathons”. After twelve bridges (and one lock), we passed Kaag, pausing only to refuel and moved on to an overnight stop at a lovely spot at the southern end of the Braasemermeer at Gr Hem, a sort of hollow island surrounded by the lake. The facilities were simple but it was a glorious spot, though we were not really able to appreciate it as it rained heavily most of the afternoon and evening (though this was only the third rainy day in a month!)

An early departure from the Brassemermeer

Our fourth day, the last with Niki and Alice aboard, was to be a second “bridge marathon” to pass through Alphen and Gouda. The bridge before Gouda had been closed for maintenance during the previous week and that day was the first opening. As a result, there was a lot of other southbound traffic, in contrast to previous days. Nevertheless we made fantastic progress and were past the bridges at Alphen and the lock at Gouda before 11.30. That’s 15 bridges before lunchtime! Unfortunately, in the heavy traffic, our fleet became divided with only Avola and Molly in the vanguard.

Avola and Molly reached the Wijnhaven Marina in Dordrecht in late afternoon and found there was only just space for us. Niki, Alice and I went out for a valedictory meal, as the girls were due to fly home the next day and I was to bring Molly home from solo from that point.

Markermeer

After two weeks cruising the canals and lakes of Holland along the standing mast route, Molly is now back to more open water.

From Haarlem, we passed under the Spaarnespoor railway bridge and through the Rijnlsndsluis onto the North Sea canal, passing through the centre of Amsterdam and out of the Oranjesluis onto the Markermeer.

The Markermeer is part of a former inland sea, the Zuiderzee, which has been gradually reclaimed under the Zuiderzee Works. The Markermeer is a body of fresh water, separated by a dyke from the IJsselmeer to the north.

It was incredibly hot as we approached Durgerdam, so chose to anchor in the bay outside the harbour for a swim. Lots of other boats had the same idea and vessels of all sorts were scattered across the bay.

Refreshed, we entered the Het Y sailing club for the NL OGA 20 party. With formalities and many beers exchanged between the Dutch and English fleets, the rules of engagement for the following day’s Battle of the Zuiderzee were exchanged.

Each boat had been decorating a clog, which was to be towed astern on the passage to Hoorn. The object was to capture the opposing team’s clogs, whilst avoiding losing one’s own.

There was very little wind as we made our way out and it was a case of “death in slow motion” as one boat drew up to another, those with the biggest sails at the advantage. Molly scored an early victory, capturing a Dutch clog early on. She was raided twice, on the first occasion the raiders (Bluebird), having snagged our clog with their boat hook, dropped it and I dived in to retrieve it. On the second raid, our clog was captured by Persis.

Jan Blank was not above sculling up to relieve a victim of her clog

Pilot cutter Persis bearing down to capture our clog

The air was hot and still, so after we lost our clog, we started the engine to create a breeze of our own, but before long the true breeze filled in and we had a lovely sail for the last few miles into Hoorn.

During this leg, we encountered the dreaded weed. The Markermeer is an almost uniform 4m deep in this area and there are large patches of water plant in places. This has long fronds which can entangle boats. We could hear the fronds brushing Molly’s underside at times and several times under engine we could hear the revs drop. Clearly we had passed over weed beds and some had caught around the stern. I found that a big burst of astern cleared it, but our centre plate makes us vulnerable. We seem to have escaped unscathed but next time we anchor, I’ll don my mask and take a look for myself.

From Dordrecht to Gouda and Haarlem

Passing through one of the huge lifting bridges to Gouda

The NL OGA 20 armada left the lovely Wijnhaven Marina in Dordrecht in two enormous streams, when the bridge lifted at 0820 and again at 0850. Shipping had been warned of this by the rally organisers and this seemed to have worked because there was little traffic ax we crossed the wide Oude Maas and made our way up the Noord on our route to Gouda. Molly squeezed under the Alblasserdamsebrug railway bridge, the first of many on our way through the countryside.

Our hopes of staying in the museum harbour of Gouda had been blocked by a broken lock, but no sooner had we arrived and moored on the main canal outside the town than we were told the lock was fixed! It took us over 2 hours to negotiate all the bridges and the lock to enter the city, but it meant we were right in the heart of things and the boats looked wonderful dressed all over.

Apart from the usual socialising, we went to see the “cheese pantomime market” in the town centre, stock up on provisions and generally eat well.

It took us two more days to reach Haarlem, passing through very rural parts of North Holland, punctuated with small, neat towns . It’s very obvious that the general land level is below that of the canals and only remains habitable through the pumps that keep the waters out. The countryside was very beautiful and we saw much wildlife as we travelled.

We made our overnight stop on a lake near the town of Kaag and were led to a lovely secluded harbour called Meldsteiger where we were serenaded by musicians from the traditional barge which had joined our fleet.

We completed our journey to Haarlem the next day, traversing 11 bridges. Our convoy of over 30 boats looked wonderful and the bridges opened in turn like magic as the fleet approached. We attracted quite a bit of attention as we passed, giving the trip a party feel, though it required a great deal of concentration to travel so close to so many other boats.

The fleet massing before the railway bridge, to pass north to Haarlem

Arriving in Haarlem, we had two nights in the centre of the city, giving us a chance to re supply ourselves and enjoy the beautiful city. We had a tour of the reconstructed mill of Adriaan, which had successively ground mortar for building, tobacco for snuff and grain for bread and brewing.

On the second night we tasted some of the different beers at the Jopen brewery, housed in a repurposed church. The weather was scorching hot, so cold beers were very welcome! We invited the crews of Puffin and Windbreker aboard Molly for dinner and had a most enjoyable evening – beef dhansak from the thermal cooker.

The rally begins

Our group of boats which had gathered at Wemeldinge began their journey to Hellevoetsluis by first visiting the picturesque town of Willemstad. The fleet rafted to the town quay made a wonderful sight and we enjoyed another alfresco meal that evening. The passage to Hellevoetsluis the next day was begun under sail, downwind in increasingly light airs. As the boat speed dwindled to a crawl, Ben and I took turns to swim off the boat, which was very refreshing on such a hot day. We then reluctantly fired up the engine and motored across the glassy water.

We were all greeted in Hellevoetsluis by local organiser Else, who we had met at previous events in the UK. One of the treats of a rally is receiving the goody bag of items. Apart from the beautifully produced rally program and T-shirt, we found, among other little treats, stroopwaffels, a mysterious foam-filled clog (evidently for turning into a boat), a flashlight and a lovely laser-cut plaque.

Hostilities between Dutch and English navies begin…

The reception party was a very jolly affair at an old armoury in this historically important town. We were served a stream of delicious shared pizzas from a “pizza van”, followed by a sea battle between the Dutch and British navies in the form of a game of skittles devised by organised Rijk.

We stayed two days in Hellevoetsluis and enjoyed a race on each day. In the first race we sailed really well in a good breeze and managed to beat the other two Crabber 26’s racing but did not fare so well on the second day in some very light airs.

Molly had the legs of Lahloo on a breezy day…

…but we didn’t do so well the next day in light airs

“Admiral De Reuter” giving us a tour of Hellevoetsluis

On Saturday afternoon Niki joined the boat and we attended the formal opening of the rally and on Monday made our way to the next port, Dordrecht. We chose a river route, following the tidal Spui to join the Oude Maas (“old river Maas”). The former was very rural surrounded by fields and dotted with swimming places, whereas the latter was busier and more industrial with a lot of commercial traffic. We had to negotiate a couple of major junctions, the AIS was really useful here for being able to spot commercial traffic coming round the corner.

Colin of Plum making good use of a parasol

No locks on this journey but an enormous bridge, carrying a busy railway line, as well as a road bridge. This opens once an hour in a meticulously synchronised operation. We just made an opening time and I was glad not to have to wait for an hour in these busy and choppy waters.

We saw a train cross the bridge and, seconds later, the middle section started to slowly rise, whilst the bascules of the road bridge also hinged upward. As soon as there was enough air draught, the boats began motoring through, under the watchful eye of the bridge master. We brought up the rear, at full revs to get under in time. The rail bridge was already lowering as we passed through and had been up for less than two minutes!

The second bridge of the day was at the narrow entrance to Wijnhaven and after the usual boat dancing, the fleet was rafted three-deep to the pontoon.

The next day was a rest day and we enjoyed an Indonesian meal, walks around the picturesque city and generally trying to keep cool in the wonderful hot sunny weather.

I wanted to top up the fuel but the fuel berth is designed for commercial vessels and is not safe for small boats to moor, so I ended up carrying two 10-litre cans back to Molly.

We waved Ben off back to Falmouth in Dordrecht. It had been good to have his experience on board, particularly for the channel crossing. It would be just Niki and I for the next couple of weeks, until Alice and her friends join us near the end of the rally.

The palaver on the pontoon (briefing for the next day)

Winding through Zeeland

Having entered the canals and reached Middleburg, our next task was to cross the Zeeland region to reach the pre-rally gathering in Wemeldinge.

After fuelling up, we motored down the wide straight canal to the lock at Veere which opens onto the Verse Meere. This is a brackish lagoon created as part of the system to control water levels. It’s evidently very popular for all kinds of water sports and is bordered by beaches, camp sites and sailing clubs. The buoyed channel is quite narrow and winding and it’s necessary to stay within its path as we found out to our cost!

We threaded our way under sail – our course always seemed to be a beat, despite the twists and turns of the channel. Every time we thought we could sail straight to the next mark, the wind would shift to head us off! After an hour or two of short tacking back and forth in the narrow channel, we gave up and motored, as we’d been warned not to turn up late to our destination that night, Goes (pronounced like a Scot might refer to his home: “hoose”).

We needn’t have worried, when we reached the lock to leave the Verse Meer, we discovered it was broken and quite a few boats were waiting. We rafted onto the waiting pontoon and, er, waited. It was no hardship in the sun!

After something over an hour, the lock was fixed and disgorged its waiting flotilla of boats. I had been worried that we might not get into the lock as so many boats were waiting. However, the lock was huge and after over 30 boats had emerged, we were cleared to enter – all the waiting boats fitted easily.

Indian Runner and Molly on the Oosterschelde

Even though it was now late, we were still determined to reach Goes, so motored a short distance along the tidal Eastern Scheldt to our final lock and the short canal to Goes. As we entered that lock we were told there was a problem with one of the bridges ahead but we went ahead anyway. It was early evening by then but engineers were working to fix it and, by the time reached it, it was opened. We passed up to the town, moored and walked to the town square for our evening meal.

The Mary Magdalen church in the centre of Goes

The following day our target was to travel the six miles or so to Wemeldinge, for the “pre-rally rally”. Many of the boats travelling to Hellevoetsluis for the main rally were to gather at Wemeldinge and travel onward in convoy.

We left our moorings in Goes and made our way along the short canal to the sea lock, only to be stopped at a bridge in the small village of Wilheminasdorf. We had two red lights, indicating a delay and we received local information that the bridge was broken and it would be several hours until it opened, so we made fast as best we could. It was a very hot day but I could think of worse places to be trapped!

Plum, Moon River, Molly, Indian Runner and Puffin Bach trapped in Wilhelminasdorf

After a while, we we visited by local fellow gaffer owner Rik who offered us a lift to the bar whilst we waited. As I knew we had a couple more hours to wait, I inflated our tender and ferried some of our party ashore. Rik very kindly drove us to the sailing club bar, where we bought ice creams back for everyone.

Just before the engineer was due to arrive, a large fleet of boats arrived behind us from Goes. The bridge was lifted as soon as the engineer arrived and there was a general jostle to reach the lock. It took two lock cycles to pass all the waiting boats through, but we were soon in Wemeldinge.

We took the next day as a rest day, hired bikes for a tour of the local area and sampled the excellent seafood in nearby Yerseke. Later, a reception had been arranged to welcome all the travellers and we spent the evening getting to know our travelling companions.

Into the canals

We made a 4.30am start from Blankenburg, leaving the port in the darkness with the bright lights of Zeebrugge port ahead. It was a very calm morning and we motored down tied with just the staysail to stabilise us. Despite being a neap tide, the current was very strong and we were making over 6kt as Zeeland hove into view. We had to wait for a large container ship to pass before turning across the Westerschelde to enter Vlissingen. There were a number of other boats waiting for the ship lock into the canal, as apparently there had been a problem with the lock. We passed through a few minutes after the time for the “blue wave”, where a convoy of boats passes through the bridges opening in sequence.

Our destination was just a few miles up in the historic city of Middleburg. Before we could relax and have a kip after our early start, we were introduced to box moorings. I’m sure we entertained the onlookers but with help, managed to get settled.

Molly motoring up to Middleburg (photo courtesy of E. Frenks)

Cruising along Belgium

Saturday sound Molly of Mylor, Puffin Bach, Plum and Moon River in Nieuwport. We had a morning to available to explore before moving on to Blankenburg with the afternoon tide.