Volendam

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, from a sailing point of view, so we pressed on under engine. I had been into Volendam before when I was reviewing Hejira for purchase. She was called another name then, but I inevitably did ‘the deal’, and it was interesting to moor there again. It is very busy with tourists as it is a ‘picture postcard’ waterfront and we were allocated a berth, on our own, on the front, to become part of the picture…

We are driven by the need to understand the ‘standing mast route’ limitations and we consider that Amsterdam should be the best place to get a view on the situation. Unfortunately, the various provinces have their own canal responsibilities, and they don’t seem to co-ordinate very well, so it is difficult to get a coherent picture.

We had to be patient and take our turn through the access bridge and lock into the Amsterdam waterway. Once inside, we seemed to be in a race to secure one of the last, places in the Six Haven marina, which is directly opposite the central station and the most vaunted position in Amsterdam. Having raced (and beaten) a German yacht, it turned out that they were heading beyond our destination, so we only needed to avoid the ferries and secure our berth, and what a great spot. The berthing manager greeted us with “Welcome to the best marina in Holland”.

The only downside was that there was limited electrical power available and could only run one AC system as our excessive load tripped it out. Needless to say, the AC in my cabin is on…

Richard writes:

It has been absolutely stifling. With no breeze and nowhere to escape the sun. Below decks is like an oven, except in Nick’s cabin of course! But the skipper had mentioned some time ago that he had a Bimini, a shade that stretches across the cockpit providing shade on sunny days. Talk about reluctant. “No, it will be raining in a few days”, “the girls will want the sunshine”, “it’s a 3 hour job to get it erected”. But, finally he agreed. It took all of 10 minutes (once he’d found it buried deep in the bilges) and what a relief it has been. Shade at last.

But the best bit of this story is that our Belgian neighbour, on the other side of the pontoon, asked Nick to turn off his aircon because the sound of constantly running water would stop him from sleeping. Yes!

David writes:

The Dutch do seem to be very efficient, and the facilities offered are of a very high standard. The guy who welcomed us to this marina, was equally efficient, half German, half English, but now living in Holland, truly multilingual. He was very affable and able to greet all arriving boats with self-effacing banter, not the usual greeting in a busy marina when under pressure. The searing heat that some of the UK has had over recent days, caught up with us as we settled into Six Haven, never before have I even thought about swimming in a marina, but the combination of soaring temperatures and the very clean waters in the marina, prompted by our near neighbour leading the way, a swim was called for, and what a relief.

Refreshing and relief from the intense heat, air temperatures close to 35C, even the water temperature was very respectable. Amsterdam to be explored next.