We had gathered information from a very helpful fellow sailor in Amsterdam who was Dutch and familiar with the area. Using his advice, our destinations were all very pretty, historical and quite delightful. We thought Willemstad was special, being an old fortress town, but then it was trumped by Veere, and then we had a... Continue Reading →

I am conscious that this blog should not degenerate into a ‘what we did on our holidays’ account so, I will try to keep that element to a minimum. A successful rendezvous at Schiphol Airport with our wives followed by a nice meal near the marina, was the right start to our sailing holiday. Unfortunately... Continue Reading →

Mooring in the convenient Sixhaven marina in the centre of Amsterdam enabled us to relax and take stock of the canal closure situation. We had noticed water pouring from the swing bridges as they opened. This confused us until we concluded that it was probably a system of cooling to prevent the bridges expanding and... Continue Reading →

Making passage south towards Amsterdam, it was necessary to pass from the Ijsselmeer into the Markermeer via the Krabbersgatsluis. This lock is unique in that the main road goes through a tunnel under the lock, it's a bit disconcerting when looking over the lock wall. This was all straightforward but the winds were not helpful,... Continue Reading →

Given the blockage on the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, we decided that we should transit to Amsterdam by the Ijsselmeer and the Markermeer. These are two retained bodies of water to the east of North Holland. They were formed from the former Zuiderzee when a dyke was built across the mouth in 1932. It is accessed through... Continue Reading →