A new King

From today, the Netherlands have a King, for the first time in 123 years. Since the death of King Willem III in 1890, we have had four Queens, but today Queen Beatrix abdicated and her eldest son, Willem Alexander succeeded her.
The event had been keenly anticipated since it was announced in January. The 30th April has been the day of the Queens's birthday celebrations since 1948, so it was a rather fitting date to do the succession ceremony as well. The whole country was decked in orange, our national colour and there were festivities everywhere. We went to a local restaurant to see the official events which took place in Amsterdam on a big screen. During the day, we also walked around the village of West Terschelling and took some pictures:




The flag plus orange streamer were flying from the 'Brandaris'.




No, kids' life jackets are always orange, this was not for the occasion!




The entrance to the restaurant where we watched.




You get 'Oranjebitter' with your coffee!




Orange, wherever you look.




If you own a full set of signal flags, you can 'dress' your ship. It's called 'pavoiseren' in Dutch.


We plan to leave here around 8am tomorrow morning to return to the mainland on the incoming tide. The weather forecast is good, so we look forward to a nice trip over het Wad.

Location:Dellewal,West-Terschelling,The Netherlands

A special day

Today, 27 April, is the birthday of our crown prince, Willem Alexander. It will be his last birthday as (crown) prince, as he will be inaugurated as King of the Netherlands on Tuesday. So next year, 27 April will be the King's birthday and as such a public holiday. When there is a celebration involving the royal family, the orange 'wimpel', a streamer which is hoisted above the flag, is used. Here you can (just) see it on the Brandaris and also on a private house:


Apart from this, it's also 'National Lifeboat Day'. The KNRM, which is the Dutch equivalent of the South African NSRI or the British RNLI, has an open day at all their 28 stations. If you are a financial supporter (which we are), you can even go on a ride on one of the lifeboats. We happily took advantage of that!



These are seriously big and capable craft, 28 tonnes, can do up to 35 knots, are self righting in case of a capsize and can take up to 120 people in case of a big rescue. During the 'outing', they demonstrated how to recover a person from the sea. Very impressive in all. We did remark to the skipper that we hope never to need a rescue boat 'for real' and he agreed but also said that if we did they would happily do the job!
As you can see on the pictures, it is nice and clear although still cold. We of course hope for good weather on Tuesday for 'Koninginnedag'.

Location:Dellewal,Terschelling,The Netherlands

To Terschelling

My apologies, I have been rather amiss, not posting anything for a few days.

The last two days on Vlieland, we worked, cycled and walked. The weather was sunny but cold. The Wadden islands are the sunniest but also coldest part of the country. As it is better to have sun and cold than rain and not-so-cold, we think its quite a good deal!

Here are a few more Vlieland pictures, taken when we walked up the dune to the lighthouse.











This morning we left at 8:30 for the short (8.1 nm) trip to Terschelling. If you use the high tide, you can go through the "Schuitengat", which is a major shortcut (otherwise its 17 nm).
It was a bit hazy, but enough visibility to pick up the marks plus we had the radar and the GPS as extra aids. There was no wind to speak of, so an easy trip:





Soon we arrived at the harbour entrance. The lighthouse, the 'Brandaris', is very prominent and a typical Terschelling landmark:





It looks even better once you are moving through the harbour:





Then you pass the yard where the buoys are serviced and stored:





And if you're lucky you get this picture of the seagulls:





We'll stay here until the Royal inauguration ceremony on the 30th, but will post from time to time!

Location:Burg van Heusdenweg,Terschelling,The Netherlands

The season ís late!

When we were cycling around yesterday, we realised that we were here almost exactly two years ago and that nature was quite a bit ahead of where we are now. This is nicely illustrated with two pictures. The first one was taken on 15 April 2011:





And this one, almost from the same spot, today 22 April 2013:





Spot the difference! Although it has been sunny - and therefore pleasant - the last few days, the temperatures here in the North on the islands have not risen above 8C (and are not likely to do so in the next week, it seems).

This, I think, is a particularly nice shot of Onbekommerd from the shore at low tide:





See how empty the harbour still is! By July you have to be lucky to find a spot here.

We'll be here for another few days. Blogpost only when there is something to report!

Location:Havenweg,Vlieland,The Netherlands

A good morning on 'het Wad'

After our aborted attempt to go to Schiermonnikoog a few days ago, we got up early, full of excitement this morning. At the appointed 5 to 8 the bridge opened and let us out of the Noorderhaven in Harlingen. Soon, we were on the Wad and encountered our first cardinal mark:





As you can see, it was sunny with only a light breeze, ideal weather for us. The route between Harlingen and Vlieland is quite busy, with ferries, water taxis and the odd commercial ship but early in the season there were very few pleasure craft.

We had planned the tide quite well and had a favourable 1 to 2 knot current all of the way and by 10:30 we had tied up in the almost empty marina on Vlieland, just in time for coffee.





We'll be here for 4 or 5 days and then move on to Terschelling, the next island where we plan to join in the celebrations for the inauguration of our King, Willem Alexander on 30 April. The country is getting in quite a serious 'Orange mood', we'll post pictures of some shop windows etc later.

Both Vlieland and Terschelling are excellent cycling grounds: tomorrow we'll get the bikes out of the back of the boat.

There may not be a post every day, the next few days. All subject to anything of interest to report!

Location:Havenweg,Vlieland,The Netherlands

Indonesian food in Franeker.

As we got 'home' too late yesterday to do a blog post, we are combining two days into one today.

It was really blowing hard yesterday, up to 35 knots (or 8 Bft). As the trip from Burgum to Franeker was along the two main shipping canals in Fryslân, that was not a problem, but it did make for the wildest canal scenes we have experienced. Lots of water coming over the deck, as we were going straight into it. Not easy to get a good picture of the spray, this is the best we could do through the clear view, the fast rotating window pane that deals with lots of water extremely efficiently.





After we got to Franeker, we first did some work and then went to visit Marinus and Ike, people we met last year on the German islands with their Hogaars, a traditional Dutch sailing vessel. We travelled together for a few days and as we got on well, kept in touch. By coincidence hey live in Franeker, where Onbekommerd spent the winter, and they invited us at the end of last season and again now for 'a bite to eat'. Last night, this turned out to be a fantastic Indonesian 'rijsttafel':





With good company as well as good food and drink, time went very fast and when we got back to the boat we turned in without writing a blogpost.

This morning, again after some work and some shopping, we left for Harlingen where we are now. This is another one of the Frisian '11 cities' and its also the ferry port for Vlieland and Terschelling. To catch the best of the tide, we'll make a relatively early (8 am) start for Vlieland tomorrow.

Location:Noorderhaven,Harlingen,The Netherlands

Not much to report

From Zoutkamp we motored to Burgum today. Nothing to exciting. We were happy to have decided not to try to go to Ameland today as it was blowing hard and the Waddenzee would have been quite uncomfortable. We'll stay in Burgum for another day, so probably no blogpost tomorrow. We are pacing ourselves, as Saturday should be a good day to cross to Vlieland.

Location:9251GD,Bergum,The Netherlands

Much excitement, but no Schiermonnikoog

It was all pretty well planned, and in the beginning it worked: we left Dokkum early. The two bridges before we got to the first lock (at Dokkumer Nieuwe Zijlen) operated immediately. Just before the second one, we saw this vessel at the canal side:






If you look carefully, its name is "Jac. P. Thijsse". That's my great grandfather, who had the word "onbekommerd" as his motto and that's where the name of our boat comes from! Even more surprising was that a man emerged from this rather dilapidated vessel and shouted that he liked the name of ours! Unfortunately, the (remotely controlled) bridge had just started to open just for us and we could not really stop for a chat.

There were two locks on the programme (our first two this season) and again, there was no wait for either one. Perfect! So by 1pm we were back on salt water, what we like most. Only another hour to 'Schier'! The fishing boats were also going out:





Now Schiermonnikoog is approached over a flat that falls dry at low tide. 2:15 was high tide, all planned. But you still need to go through a channel, marked with 'prikken', little dead trees stuck in the ground next to the channel, to mark it. We have done this many times before, so we look for the first 'prik'. Nothing..... Lets get the binoculars to see if there are prikken a bit further. Nothing.... By now we have drifted onto the shallows, run aground. Drop the anchor so we can't move further. We are not worried as its an incoming tide and it will rise another 45cm and float us off. We have a bite to eat and I call the marine traffic information on the VHF. Where is the demarcation? 'No sir, the demarcation has not been put back after the winter, we have no information when it will be replaced'. So, in spite of the almanac claiming the harbour is open from 1 April, there is no demarcation. Half an hour later we are afloat again, winch up the anchor and decide to go back to the lock. It's too far to go to the next island, Ameland, in this tide. And the wind forecast for tomorrow is not that nice. Back in the lock we talk to the skipper of a yacht that went to Schiermonnikoog, using the track in his plotter that was still there from last year. He tells us that there were no facilities available (power, water or ablutions) and that he was still expected to pay harbour fees!

As we needed provisions, we made for the nearest town, which is Zoutkamp. A small place with a friendly yacht harbour, still in 'winter mode'. This was the view from the galley window just before sunset:





The plan is now to travel back through Friesland to Harlingen and approach the islands from the other side, or even just limit ourselves to Vlieland and Terschelling. I tried to phone the harbour master at Schiermonnikoog, but the phone just rings. The island still exists, we were half a mile from the harbour. So near and yet so far.....

(As there is virtually no 3G signal here, this post may well be late....)

Location:Zoutkamp

Bonifatius

Every Dutch citizen knows who Bonifatius was. The year 754 is probably one of the best known years in Dutch history lessons. Bonifatius was a bishop, who was murdered near Dokkum by the Frisians in 754 (probably because, being confirmed heathens, they did not want to be converted to Christianity).
As we are in Dokkum, we went to look for a bit of Bonifatius history. There is a Bonifatius spring, a fresh water spring which sprang to live in a place where he tapped the ground with his bishops' stave. Near there is also a rather large chapel for pilgrims who come here (it seats 2000 people but it was closed today and actually most days except for July and August). There is a second spring, which was discovered in the 1300's when building another Bonifatius chapel. Fresh water springs were considered miracles as the normal ground water here was brackish, Dokkum then being on the coast.

Here is the Bonifatius statue in front of the chapel:





Whilst looking for these Bonifatius signs, we walked around the pretty town of Dokkum:





And also saw an old lock:





I will finish off with a bit of a spring picture. It was almost 20C today, but only a bit of sun was seen. Still, spring is - very carefully - making a (late) entry:

Location:Diepswal,Dokkum,The Netherlands

On our way

After getting fresh bread and connecting a last loose wire, we left Franeker. But not before taking these pictures, which show that nature is still completely in 'winter mode': no buds or leaves to be seen on the trees. Winter has been very long and there have been sub zero temperatures until a few days before we arrived.











We travelled from Franeker to Leeuwarden and then on to Dokkum where we are now. We got to Leeuwarden during the bridge keepers' lunchtime, so there was a half hour delay. And after that, in spite of the steep bridge fees (€6.50 for four bridges), the service was very slow, so much so, that in future it will be better to take the longer route around the city.
Then on to Dokkum, a relatively uneventful trip. It was still grey with even a bit of drizzle. The tiny lambs in the meadow must have wondered if this was what life is all about.

We tied up in the very pretty town of Dokkum (one of the 11 Friesian 'steden', which means towns) a bit before 5 and hey, the sun came out and we did not need the heater!

This is the view behind the boat:





We might stay here tomorrow, the plan is to go to Schiermonnikoog from here and the wind and tide suggest that Monday is a better day to do this. The predictions for tomorrow are for 20C. We need to feel that to believe it!

Location:9101NH,Dokkum,The Netherlands

Getting organised

We are still in Franeker, there were a few outstanding items to be do e by the shipyard, the most amusing one being changing the 'designation' of the boat. We have a 10.60 OK Valkvlet, 10.60 being the length overall in meters. But after painting the hull, they put 11.30 OK on the side of the boat. That's the next size up! So I remarked that Onbekommerd had grown during winter and they somewhat shamefacedly pulled the boat out of the water to change it. At the same time, we also changed to home port designation on the transom from Monnickendam to Franeker. We used to have the boat in Monnickendam during summer but since we don't have a fixed summer mooring anymore we decided to make Franeker the official home port: after all Onbekommerd was 'born' here and she spent last winter here.
We are very impressed with the job that was done: the new varnishing and paintwork is exquisite (the varnish looks like a French polished grand piano). And the technical work done is very professional too.
No pictures today, the weather is too poor to get a nice view of Onbekommerd, so that will have to wait another day.
As we are now fully set up (we rigged up the piano today and Lyn played for almost two hours), we plan to leave tomorrow. Destination probably Dokkum and then on to our beloved Schiermonnikoog. But plans may still change, we have no fixed plan or schedule for the time being.

Location:Zuiderkade,Franeker,The Netherlands

Back on board!

I was planning to have a bit of a 'lead-in' into the adventures of Onbekommerd and her crew in 2013, but things have been so hectic the last week that I have not really been able to write an earlier post.
On Thursday last week, we left Cape Town. We have had a very productive 6 months, we had set some goals to be achieved and we met all of them.
We had breakfast with Greg they morning we left:





Then a comfortable trip to London. The temperature there was 20C lower than in Cape Town, so that was a bit of a shock to the system. But one gets used to that very easily. It was of course wonderful to see Sean and we managed to see him a few times.
In London, there is always something strange going on. On Saturday it was 'National Pillow Fight Day' (actually International it appears). This was Trafalgar Square during and after the 'fight' (which was extremely good-natured!).









Of course we had to do several walks. One of them was along the Thames in East London. Here is the Thames barrier:





And Gwilym and I had to check on the iPad if we were indeed on the 'zero meridian':





Finally we succumbed and took a typical touristy London picture, the light was too nice to let the opportunity pass:





This morning, we left very early and after an eventful trip (cancelled flight and misdirected luggage), we got to Franeker where Onbekommerd was patiently waiting for us. As it has been drizzling from the moment we left Kew until now, the picture will have to wait, but suffice it to say that she looks very well in her new coats of paint and varnish and that the new heater is fantastic!

The weather is predicted to improve substantially from Saturday, so we are looking forward to the start of our trip (after the arrival of our luggage 'between 8 and 1' tomorrow.

Location:Zuiderkade,Franeker,The Netherlands