Thursday 19th June 2014 Nieuwolda to Appingedam. 22.3kms 2 locks

Control panel for Hamrikkerklapbrug
 - easy to work. Key in slot and turn it
then press buttons in sequence.

13.5°C Drizzle, rain and wind. Set off at 10 am. I walked up to the bridge, Hamrikkerklap, and pressed the buttons to operate it. The wind made it difficult for Mike to get the boat alongside the landing (which had been taken over by the café alongside it for tables and chairs, plus a rope between all the mooring stumps). A couple of kilometres and we were at Scheveklap, another liftbridge, this one on a bend with a row of stumps at an angle to the bridge and a narrow wooden plank bridge to the bank – again difficult in the wind. The bridge was easy as it was all press button, but the planks to get back on from were tucked into the bank close to the bridge so it needed some reverse to get to it. Beyond the bridge the navigation was much wider, reed edged with open fields beyond and a cutting North wind in our faces, plus the rain. Mike went in and lit

Scheveklap liftbridge

the Refleks central heating as it was only 18°C in the cabin. Under two more low bridges with two fishermen by the second one, which was low skimming the top of the flag staff on the tiller. Turned left into a new section of navigation leading via liftbridges and a lock to the docks in Delfzijl. Mike called on channel 84 and got no reply so we went alongside the the wooden stumps and called on the intercom. This time we had a reply and the guy asked us to go closer to the bridge. It was a modern liftbridge with no top, called Borgsweer, and it lifted as we got closer. On to the lock, Lalleweer, which was empty and gates open ready for us. Uphill, so we

Lalleweer lock and liftbridge, Delfzijl

put ropes through recessed loops in the wall fore and aft and rose 2.1m. The liftbridge across the top of the lock lifted and we carried on along a much wider navigation, 5.5m deep and choppy, where there were large commercials at the quays. Miryana from Zwolle (105mx11.4m 2800T) was unloading smelly recycled woodchips by grab into lorries. The next liftbridge was a conventional styled one, Heemskesbrug, carrying a busy road. No reply on the radio again, so we headed for the wooden stumps and had problems with the wind blowing the boat off before I could get a rope on a stump. At the second attempt I got the rope on as the liftbridge lights

Kleine and Grote Sluis - boats coming up off the Ems estuary

changed from red to red green, let the rope off and went through it. Once we were through the bridge I steered for a bit while Mike went inside. The wind blew plants over on the roof so I stacked them on the front deck. Currency, an empty tanker, was moored by the oil refinery berth in Oosterhornhaven. Turned left into the Oosterhornkanal, under the Weiwerderbrug - which didn’t need lifting for us as it had an ample 3.8m air gap. Turned left again on to the Eemskanaal. A big empty boat was coming up in Grote Sluis behind us and another loaded

Heemskesbrug

boat was waiting to go down the lock. There were lots of moored commercials in the Farmsumerhaven so I took photos. Loaded boat Margarethe (80mx9.35m 1250T) went past heading for the docks with a masted yacht following it; then the boat that came up the lock overtook us, an empty called Nocht (110mx11.45m 3248T) from Drachten, it came past us quite close. A coaster called Isartal, registered at St John’s, was unloading more stinky recycled wood at a berth on the right and a bunkerboat called Main III went past making a rolling wash up the bank. A cruiser called Passe Partout overtook us and continued down the Eemskanaal as we turned right into the Oude Eemskanaal. An empty cement carrier called Reguliersgracht from Amsterdam was moored by the De Graaf shipbuilders (took photos of the bits of ships under construction). The next liftbridge, No 15, was closed for lunch until 2 pm so, with a little difficulty due to the wind we moored alongside a sloping grassy bank to wait at 1.45pm. The keeper was back early and we were soon through his bridge and we turned left for Roggenkampsluis

Coaster Isartal loading stinky woodchips

(6m wide by 28m long) and the bridge keeper worked the lock from his cabin by the bridge. Down 1.7m on to the Damsterdiep. The chart was wrong, below the lock we could go left or right (the chart marks it as straight) we went right then spotted another liftbridge to the left so Mike backed up and we went under the bridge then through the outskirts of Delfzijl, passing some very fine houses and moored boats. Then we came to a liftbridge with nowhere to get off. Spotted some writing on a board by the wooden fendering next to the

Shipbuilders De Graaf. Delfzijl. Eemskanaal

lock and spied a box. Bows right up to the deck of the bridge and I opened the box to find a key slot. Turn the key in it and the keeper will come. He did, on a scooter, and I asked if we could stay overnight on the quay behind us next to a Museum, nope it’s not a mooring just an old quay. We could go through this bridge and moor before the next one, he said. OK. He pressed the buttons to lift the bridge and we ran through to the wooden decking with stumps that was the waiting area for the next liftbridge in the town centre right next to the Co-op. He was there to take

Below Roggenkampsluis. Delfszijl

a rope and said we could moor there for 24 hours for free, on the other side of the next bridge we’d have to pay. Great, fine by us. He also suggested that when we set off next day to go back to the first liftbridge and take the old route through the town. It was 3.15pm and we were damp and windswept. Around 9 pm there was a lot of noise outside so Mike went out to look and found a police car opposite the boat by the entrance to the shops where there was a group of youths. It went quiet again after that.

Moored by the Co-op in Appingedam 

Oystercatcher at Appingedam

Wednesday 18th June 2014 De Dellen to Nieuwolda. 5.9kms no locks

Rushes by the mooring at De Dellen

9.2°C Grey clouds with rain, mostly showers of drizzle in varying degrees of length. Breezy. We delayed setting off until it stopped around 10 am. It was soon drizzling again. Through open fields of wheat with stands of trees and long lines of trees marking distant roads. Farmhouses stood surrounded with trees as windbreaks. The mast was flat on the roof again due to the height of the fixed bridges which were all about 2.5m high. The first, Kerkijktil, had the navigation span on the right - next to the bank – the rest of the wooden bridge was sloping. Just beyond the bridge there

De Dellen windmill

was a mooring place with wooden posts for the village of Nieuw-Scheemda. The right bank was lined with trees and glimpses of farmhouses and barns in the gloom beneath the trees. Musk roses, pink and white, covered the right bank below the trees for some distance. The other side was edged with reeds and brambles. A lone swallow flew over and masses of rooks flew in and out of a great rookery in some tall trees. Back to open fields again, then a long lake was visible on the left between the reed beds. We had a water tap marked on our chart where a farmhouse

Field pump windmill

was now surrounded by summer rental cabins and a camping ground, but no tap – the hose reel was still there but empty. The cabins were smart and must have all mod cons for the modern camping tourist! At the next bend there was a fisherman hidden from view by the tall reeds, but his long rod was three-quarters of the way across the narrow canal. Mike gave a gentle toot to announce our presence and he moved it out of the way before our bows passed him. He was very pleasant and said hello. At ‘t Waar there was a small offline basin designed for small boats with a sign that said it cost 5€ per night. Under an ornate wooden bridge and round a right

Field pump wooden Archimedean screw

hand bend where there was a huge old barn and two new ones to the left of it. The band of trees continued along the right bank and open fields of wheat appeared on the left again. Into the outskirts of Nieuwolda with a few houses on the banks then a large wheat field that came right to the edge of the canal. A pair of grebe swam past, they didn’t even dive out of view as many do. We decided to stop on the left by the sloping grassy bank in the town where we had moored ten years ago with Bill and Rosy. They’d just cut the grass. It was 11.15 am. Mike pushed stakes into the bank to tie to as the ground was soft. The actual mooring places in the town were the

usual wooden posts, one set we’d just passed on the right bank and the other was beyond the liftbridge on the left. 

Old barn

Moored in Nieuwolda

Tuesday 17th June 2014 Wedde to De Dellen 29kms 2 locks.

14.2°C Sunny spells with lots of white clouds, strong North wind. Set off at 9.05 am reversing

from wooden staging to wind and return back downstream on the Westerwoldse Aa.

Mooring at Wedde

Immediately the clegs found us, repellent on and swatters out. Past the little windmill (a water pump) and the banks lined with Giant Hogweed as we passed the offline basin where the trip boats were moored at Wedderveen; on past the islands and the chalets, caravans and tents, then out into open countryside with wide water meadows, reed beds and boggy land with rushes. Lapwings flew up from the fields and a solitary Egyptian goose took off. Round the new bends where the reed beds had encroached where the Veendeip came in from the right, then the channel became wider and

Windmill water pump

deeper with higher banks (no views across the fields) where sheep and lambs grazing. We’d moored several times in the past next to an empty roof-high quay at Langebrug, a lovely isolated quiet mooring in the middle of nowhere – but not today. Under more low fixed bridges at around 2.5m air draught, so the mast stayed flat on the roof. Turned sharp left, heading West on the Winschoterdiep and pressed the button on the wooden baulks below Bulsterverlaat to empty the lock. Once it was empty and we had a green light we went into the chamber on the right hand side only to find the chain to pull and activate the lock was in the ladder slot on the left hand side. A nifty bit of manoeuvring by Mike and I could reach to yank the chain. The lock was a bigger one at 5.8m wide by 40m long. We rose only 0.6m. The Winschoterdiep was much wider and a metre deeper at 3.5m than the previous navigation. Still no traffic on it though. The noisy A7 followed the right bank, filled with lorries, just 4kms from the German border. A buzzard soared above and grebes were diving, a pair of goldeneye ducks flew off in front, but the mallards stayed put. Mike had forgotten all about the rail swingbridge and it

Lock activation button Bulsterverlaat

was fast approaching midday so we slung a rope on the timber posts expecting a two hour wait during the keeper’s lunch break. A two-car Arriva train went across then a young man walked across from his portacabin office and I shouted we thought you’d be gone to lunch, he waved. He opened the bridge for us and we found we were now behind a loaded commercial which had just come from the Rensel haven, an arm off to the left in Winschoten. Noted there had been a new yacht harbour excavated off to the right at Oldambtmeer making a crossroads with the Rensel. We followed Weslie from Ten Boer to Beertsterbrug liftbridge and a small cruiser appeared and

Bulsterverlaat lock, emptying

circled around behind the commercial. The latter attached his bow to the timber posts by the bridge and we hovered as there was nowhere to tie up while the bridge keeper had his lunch break. The wind blowed every whichway and we were broadside across the canal most of the time, the cruiser went alongside the bank that was constructed of rock gabions. At 1 pm we followed the other two through the liftbridge with long queues of road traffic waiting while we went through. Waved to the bloke in the control cabin

Yank the chain and the lock works!

and trundled on for 2kms behind the big boat to Kloosterbrug. A lady keeper this time and she had the bridge up ready for the commercial. Another 2kms to Graaf Adolfsbrug with our lady keeper officiating. Likewise, she pressed the buttons in the cabin to lift Eexterbrug and we continued through the open floodlock where a piling gang were working. Went slowly, letting the commercial get ahead as we were not continuing along the Winschoterdiep, the cruiser followed it until we slowed right down to sweep right under a low bridge on to the Opdiep

Following Weslie and a cruiser through
the liftbridges on Winschoterdiep

leading into the town of Scheemda. The cruiser winded to follow us (he’d missed the junction). Under a wooden footbridge, passing new flats and houses and a large offline marina and I hopped off to lift the bridge while Mike stayed back. The cruiser came alongside him. It took me a few minutes to realise that the instructions on the bridge said to keep pressing the buttons! Mike did the sharp left turn under the bridge followed by the cruiser and I lowered the bridge then walked down to the lock passing another cruiser. I

Moored by the windmill De Dellen

said sorry I didn’t realise they were waiting for the bridge, they could have come through before I lowered it. Mike by this time had our boat in the schutsluis (back to small locks - 6m wide by 25m long) and the cruiser went in ignoring Mike’s miming of “turn the key in the slot before you come in”. The lock light was still red, so they had to back out and put the key in and turn it before the power pack started up to operate the lock. They pulled the cord and we dropped down 2m. Wished them a good trip as they were carrying on to Nieuwolda, completely forgetting there were a couple of bridges to operate. Round a sharp right hand bend on to the Termunsterzijldiep, now heading North, and it was just a short distance to Zwaagsterklap liftbridge. The lady off the cruiser had got the bridge open (and a long queue of road traffic was fast forming) and we started to follow the cruiser through the bridge - except she pressed the button to drop the bridge – Mike gave a toot on the hooter and the bridge

Giant hogweed

stopped going down. As we passed them we said we’d work the next bridge for them. OK. It was only a few hundred metres to Tichelwaardsdraai swingbridge. Waited until they were close behind us and I opened the bridge which had manually operated barriers (it only led to a boat workshop) and an electrically operated bridge. She said that she’d hit the stop button and had only to pull it back out again before the bridge carried on working! We wished the crew a good journey as they went past and Mike followed them through the bridge, then paused to pick me up after I’d closed it – I had one van waiting to cross the bridge. Under the busy A7 motorway and 1.5kms to the mooring by the windmill called De Dellen, built in 1854 it worked for 133 years before being retired in favour of a small electric water pump! Someone had left an old wooden canoe tied in the middle of the mooring, we went in front of it with our bows a couple of metres beyond the end. Mike put a pin in the bank to hold the bows steady in the ever-blowing North wind. It was 3.30 pm.

Saturday 14th June 2014 Veerlveen to Wedde. 14.4kms 1 lock

Windmill at Veelerveen

12.9°C Grey start then sunny spells with increasing numbers of white clouds. Wind picking up from breezy to very windy by the time we’d tied up. Mike and I got up at 8 am and had breakfast then he moved the car to Wedde and walked back - 6kms!! He returned at 11.15 am. I made a cuppa. As it was breezy Mike suggested that I walk to the bridge, which I did. Veelervensterbrug was fully automatic, just press two buttons – bridge up and bridge down – and one each way for the traffic lights. Soon on our way again, passing the first windmill on our way to Vriescheloostersluis. The name of the canal had changed to B. J. Tijdens kanaal.  Two men on cycles stopped to watch us lock through. Key in the slot on a post on one of the wooden posts for tying to, turn

Groenesluis - straight through today - a flood lock

it and take it out and the lock worked – bottom end gates closed and the lock filled, top end gates opened and we went in – I pressed the green button on a post and the gates closed behind us, paddles up and we soon dropped down 1.5m. Bottom end gates opened and there were two small open motor boats waiting to come up. Mike took the mast off and laid it on the roof as the rest of the bridges were fixed ones and lower than the height of the mast at 3.4m, averaging about 2.5m. The canal was straight and had a cycle path on the left and a busy minor road on the right. After a short distance we

Groenesluis - looking back to T-junction

turned left on to the Veendiep expecting to have to work a lock but found Groenesluis. a flood lock, had both sets of gates standing open – no need to stop! The canal beyond was narrow with high banks on both sides and rocks edging the right bank. I made sandwiches for lunch. Left again when we came the junction with the Westerwoldse Aa, now a much broader river channel edged with reeds between water meadows with grazing cows. A harrier carrying lunch for its nestlings flew low across the reeds. A few lapwings flew across the navigation. Under several more low fixed bridges and we went into a wooded area where there was a yacht

Moored on Westerwoldse Aa at Wedde

harbour at Wedderveer among the islands in the river. Another offline basin was filled with trip boats. The banks were lined with holiday homes, chalets, bungalows, caravans and tents, either they were all watching the football (World Cup has just started in Brazil) or nobody was home. Under one more low bridge and there was an empty basin with one large gent fishing. The banks of the river were sprouting large stands of Giant Hogweed. We reached the head of navigation at Wedde at 3 pm and tied to a wooden staging – the wind was directly from behind and blowing us off the staging so a nifty bit of rope work and we were snugly tied up.

Monday 9th June 2014 Sellingen to Veelerveen. 12.9kms 4 locks

Pill box from WWII facing German border

13.5°C After heavy rain in the night it was hot and sunny until mid-afternoon then the clouds rolled in. After breakfast we got ready to move. The skipper off the smaller boat of the two by the lock landing came over to chat with Mike. He told him he’d built the boat himself and this was its first voyage in company with his father-in-law’s boat that had been built originally for harvesting spuds in 1904 and fifty years later it had an engine added and a cabin and became a pleasure boat. We left at 9.40 am and the clegs found us, so out came the swatters and repellent. There were a few fishermen around Jipsinghuizersluis when we arrived. I tied the centre rope to the post on the (much, much too short) wooden landing and Mike got off

Above Bourtangersluis

with the key to work the liftbridge. Two cars arrived just as we’d got the bridge open, typical. Mike brought the boat into the lock and I wound the bridge back down, locked it and Mike lifted the barriers. Put our accumulated rubbish into the lockside waste paper bin and made a cuppa while the water level dropped us down 1.3m. We just had time to drink our cuppa before our second lock of the day, Wollinghuizersluis, which had a busy road that crossed the canal via the liftbridge – this one was fully

Plaque in Wollinghuizersluis

automatic – turn the key and press buttons and everything worked, no dropping and lifting barriers and no winding the bridge up and down. Good thing as lots of cars had stopped to wait for the bridge. Down another 1.00m. A long straight lead to the canal arm to Bourtange, round a left hand bend and we were at Bourtangersluis. A part converted Dutch barge was moored on the left above the lock, the liftbridge was up and a small cruiser was waiting on the right to go down. The lock gate opened and an large open motorboat with half a dozen people off for a Bank Holiday picnic emerged. The little boat went in (ignoring the red light

Carved wooden posts nr Bourtanger branch canal

and didn’t put his key in the slot) and tied on the right, we followed and took the left. From here the locks are shorter, only 20m instead of 27m. Neither Mike nor the German skipper could find a key slot to put the liftbridge back down. There were cyclists our side who helped look and a tractor driver on the far side. The German skipper pressed the button to work the lock. Eventually between them they found out that there was a button (on posts both sides of the canal) which said press to operate bridge and down it came, just as the tractor driver started

Above Flagtweddesluis

backing up to turn around. Down another 1.00m and the small cruiser was off in the distance in no time. In fact it was in Vlagtweddesluis, going down, when we arrived and had left before we finished putting ropes round bollards above the rebuilt lock chamber, dated 1991. No one waiting below so Mike turned the key in the slot and the lock refilled. As we went in we could see another open motorboat waiting below. Mike took the mast off and laid it on the roof to go under the low fixed bridge (3.00m) below the lock. Left it lying on the roof as there was another low fixed bridge in Veelerveen. A short

Moored at Veelerveen

straight, then an arm off to the left leading to an amusement park called Parc Emslander Meer, then our last bridge of the day, Veelerveensterbrug, again all automatic using the key. Under an unusual threeway footbridge called Noabersbadde, which had only 2.5m air draught, just enough for our sunshade. The Dutch barge we’d seen the day before was still moored on the wooden landing stage, so we tied up behind it at 1.15 pm – the staging was now full. After lunch I helped get the bike off down the short plank so Mike could go and retrieve the car from Sellingen. The sky had gone grey and it was hot, sticky and muggy. Thunderstorm and heavy rain started around 3.30 pm.

Friday 6th June 2014 Roelagebrug to Sellingen. 8.07kms 2 locks.

Control panel for Terwalslagerbrug swingbridge

8.6°C Sunny and warm with a light breeze, clouds in the afternoon but still sunny. One boat came through the swingbridge while we were getting ready to move. As we were untying another boat came to the other side of the swingbridge and tied up ready to open it. A Waterways van arrived and its driver got out to speak to the elderly couple who had just put the bridge barriers down. I waited until they’d finished chatting and asked him if it was OK for us to come through as he started pushing it open. Yes, OK – and he told me the next one was electric. Yes, I said, we’ve been here before thanks and I helped Mike

Rural road across Terwalslagerbrug

shove the boat out after the cruiser had come through the bridge. It was 10.25 am. Thanked our bridge keeper and sailed on down to the next bridge, no name on it but it's called Terwalslagerbrug, which had barriers that we had to lower and lock then the bridge swung open automatically after a press of the “bridge open” button. Mike took the boat through and tied on the landing the far side and came to give me a hand with unlocking the barriers. It seemed to take ages jacking the bridge back up to

Locking mechanism on liftbridge at Zuidveldsluis

road height, good thing we didn’t keep any road traffic waiting. As we set off again a curlew flew over, not enough time to get a photo. A short distance to the next bridge and lock at Zuidveldsluis (south field lock). A man in a van drove off leaving a youth in a dayglow orange vest to dig up weeds around the bridge railings on the road. The youth said hello then watched us as we worked the liftbridge (Llangollen style with a winding handle). Mike gave me hand to lock the barriers down and he wound the bridge up. He brought the boat into the lock and dropped a rope around one of the tiny bollards (shaped like a pawn chess piece) and

Mike holding the string in Sellingersluis

helped unlock the barriers. This time we had a tractor waiting one side and a car on the other. I wound the bridge down and locked it then got back on the boat to hold the centre rope as we dropped down 1.2m. A longer pound led to the next lock with trees along both banks and a fisherman tucked amongst the reeds who just stared in amazement as we went past him. I swatted the first cleg (type of small grey horsefly, lots of them here in thundery, hot weather) of the year as we approached Sellingersluis. Another Llangollen liftbridge at the top end of the lock. Mike came to help

The staging for lock working and quay below Sellingersluis

work it. We paused as a car was coming, it stopped and the driver and his wife asked where we’d come from, surprised when we said Roelage! Dropped and locked the barriers then pressed the button and this time the bridge deck lifted automatically. Boat into lock, pressed button, bridge down, unlocked barriers and the lock emptied, down another 1.2m. There was a cruiser moored in the middle of the quay where we were intending to stop for the weekend, so we decided to continue to the quay below the next lock then realised that it was a small cruiser and there was more than enough room

An aptly named wasp beetle

behind it on the 40m long old quay, so we stopped. No signs of life on the boat, the crew must have gone into Sellingen village for lunch. Tied up, Mike cut the herbage back and I made lunch. After lunch Mike unloaded the moped off the roof with the aid of our smallest plank as the roof was only half a metre higher than the quay. The young couple were just returning to the cruiser. They set off immediately then stopped on the landing for the lock to put the key in the slot, then untied and went into the lock. Now I would have walked up to the landing and turned the key in the slot to get a green light and Mike would have taken the boat straight into the empty chamber, saving fiddling with tying up and untying on the staging. Strange how something like that just doesn’t occur to some people. Mike went off to get the car at 2.35 pm and was back before I’d finished doing the log forty minutes later. Put the bike back on the roof and found a wasp beetle on the roof under the planks, Mike attempted to get it to walk on to a piece of wood to carry it to the bank but it decided to exercise its wings and flew off.

Monday 2nd June 2014 Lingen to Roelagebrug NL. 52kms 9 locks

Two cruisers in Meppen lock DEK

7.8°C Sunny but chilly. Happy Birthday to me, 65 today. Mike was up early and set off at 6.15 am. I got up just before he started the engine. He said an 80m empty had gone past the basin making the water lively just before we turned on to the main canal. Another empty 80m (called Sven) went past heading uphill. We were in sight of the first of the last three locks on the DEK when two cruisers appeared behind us, rapidly catching us up. We dropped down 3.7m in Varloh lock with them and watched them speed off into the distance on the 5.6kms pound. Corrado from Gronigen NL (80mx9.5m 1352T) went past, loaded, heading upriver, so we thought the cruisers must have gone down Meppen after the commercial came up it. We

Who untied the bow line too soon??

resigned ourselves to a long wait for the next lock. Surprise, surprise, the cruisers were milling around above the lock when we got there, waiting for the green light. They went in and had to wait a few minutes until we got there. Mike noted that the rising top end gate was a guillotine and rose vertically. Just the three of us to drop down Meppen’s 7.5m deep chamber, very, very slowly. The cruiser in front of us loosed off his bow rope (cruisers often put bow and stern ropes around the same bollard) and he turned broadside in the lock while waiting for the guillotine gate to rise. 10.3kms to Hüntel, no way we could keep up with the cruisers, so we didn’t waste diesel

Tanker and tug going into Huntel lock

trying. Through the river in Meppen there was a one way system operating, but only for boats longer than 71m. From the liftbridge (air draught 4.5m, so we wondered how often it got lifted – rarely we thought) there were signs to say swop sides for the winding narrow section. A cruiser came past heading uphill as the river came back in on our left. He seemed a bit bewildered that we were on the wrong side as he passed by on our starboard side. A push-towed tanker was moored on a quay on the right, he set off as we were passing him. Suanca (83.88mx9.54m 1664T) and tug Gino from Stralsund were

Behind Suanca & Gino in Huntel lock

roughly about 100m long; Gino’s hydraulic wheelhouse lifted up as they set off. It overtook us as we were passing the entrance to the old river where the Hase-Ems yacht club’s moorings were located, then lowered his wheelhouse for the next road bridge. On the next bend we met an uphill loaded boat called Marja from Groningen NL (67mx7.05m 704T). We followed the tanker into Hüntel lock; he went in very slowly. Down another 2.9m in the brick walled chamber. Last year we had to use the old lock (an ancient sloping sided chamber with timber dolphins and baulks) as they were doing repairs on this one. The tanker set up waves in the lock chamber

Below lock No5 Rutenbrock kanal

as he powered out of the lock and exited very slowly. A WSA tug and workboat were heading for the lock as we left. It was 11.40 am. We ran slowly downriver, no point in rushing as the lock keeper, who operates all the structures on the Rütenbrock kanal from his office by the bottom lock, has lunch from 12 – 12.30 pm. We moored on the pontoon below the lock and I started making lunch, Mike went to take some photos. The keeper came back early and called us into the lock (No.5) which was empty with bottom gates open. What a tiny lock (28m long by 6m wide) after all the ones we’ve been used to this year! The lock filled, lifting the boat 1.2m, and Mike paid 5€ (gone up from the 2€ it cost us last year) to the keeper who gave him a

Lock full No 5 Rutenbrock kanal

receipt. Mike lowered our mast down on to the roof and we carried on past the museum with its collection of lovely old boats and engines. A short wait for the first liftbridge and I went in to finish making lunch. A tjalk (less than the German max of 15m long) and a Dutch open motor boat went past heading downhill. Two cruisers were moored on pins next to a very steep overgrown bank by the liftbridge that caused us  (and Rosy) a long wait in 2004 while it was being rebuilt. Two more cruisers went past followed by an old steel boat with a very smoky engine. The latter wanted the middle, he didn’t get it as we had overhanging alder trees on our side and there

Tug at boat museum Rutenbrock kanal

was no way we were going through them. He moved over. Lock No 4 was empty but had red lights, so we hovered until a young man called us in. There was a van on the lockside and two men were working on the tail end liftbridge, one of them operated the lock from the control panel by the top end gates. The trees had grown so thick now that you could hardly see the former keeper’s house – a very elegant lady used to come out and press the buttons to work the lock before it was modified to work from the office by lock No.5. This lock has slightly sloping walls made with bricks in scallop shapes between metal uprights and tiny bollards along the lock edges. Vertical yellow-painted bars had been

More boats at the museum in Haren Rutenbrock kanal

added in this, the deepest lock on the canal, to thread ropes around for the 1.9m rise. We passed the next cruiser heading downhill, a Dutch one, on the next long straight. There was another cruiser coming down in lock No.3 so we had a short wait while it came out of the chamber, another one wanting the middle! Into the lock and rose 0.8m in no time (remotely operated from lock 5). Another Dutch cruiser came though the liftbridge 100m beyond the lock while we were coming up in it. The liftbridge closed again behind it, so we had a short wait while the keeper got the lock sorted before he lifted the bridge for us. Must be a bit hectic

Liftbridge Rutenbrock kanal

down at lock 5 with all these boats, never seen it so busy. On the run up to the last lock (No. 2 – No.1 is an old flood lock right on the border) Mike went in the cabin to phone the Citroën garage in Stadskanaal to ask them to order new brake discs for the Xsara. They’d got them in stock -164€ ouch! Into Lock No.2 and dropped down a mere 10cms. A guy on a scooter wearing a fluorescent jacket that had Brug & Sluis on the back of it operated the swingbridge for us. Our Dutch mobile lock keeper! Past the old Dutch customs post and quay, then Potze’s garage (selling diesel at 1,35.9€/litre now with a canalside pump) and had a short wait in the old flood lock while our

Lock No 4 Rutenbrock kanal

Dutch lock keeper had an animated conversation on his phone before opening the vertical lifting road bridge. Turned right on to the Compascumkanaal for a short distance to lock 7 with a liftbridge across the top end. Our keeper on a scooter was there to work the lock, with manually operated paddle gear and gates that he opened and closed using a very long boatshaft. An old man came out of the lock cabin and chatted with him while he worked. Another long animated phone call ensued. There was a cruiser below the lock with its bows almost on the gates – it backed off before the keeper wound one gate paddle to empty the lock. Down another 1.5m,

Scalloped brick walls and vertical bar for ropes Lock No4

slowly, and as we left the lock four cruisers piled in, what a busy day! Several more cruisers were moored below the lock, but they looked permanent. A short distance to the start of the Ruiten-Aa-kanaal and my turn to become bridge keeper as this canal is totally DIY. Took my key and a radio and stepped off to operate the liftbridge on a very busy road. The panel was all in Dutch but easy enough to follow, although I’m still not sure why there needed to be buttons to press indicating which way you were going, towards Ter Apel or towards Bourtange. Pressing towards Bourtange caused the

 barriers to come down, nothing else happened so I pressed “bridge up” and the enormous

Bottom end gates that open further into the
lock chamber than normal

structure opened, Mike brought the boat through, “bridge down” and it dropped the bridge back down and then opened the barriers. I took my key out of the panel (it won’t let you have it back until all is secured) and got back on the boat at the little wooden staging on the start of the quietest canal we’ve been on in ages. Although the town of Ter Apel is very close the canal was lined with trees on both banks that made it feel like we were going through woods. Saw the occasional cyclist or dog walker as we continued to the next bridge, a manually operated swing bridge (Leeds and Liverpool style) except it was key

Below lock No 2 Rutenbrock kanal

activated. Once the key was in I could lift the locking bars on the barriers, drop them and lock them again with the bar, then the bridge’s hydraulic jack lowered the deck and I could shove it open. A van appeared on the far side and once I’d closed the bridge and it had automatically jacked the deck back up, the guy from the van opened the far side barrier, once that was open I could open the one on my side and recover my key. Back on the boat at another little wooden landing stage. Mike checked the water depth with the echo sounder, 1.7m deep although the signs at the start of the canal said it was only 1m deep. The water was peat coloured, chocolate brown. On through the woods with birds singing loudly all around us. Around a left hand

Out of the Rutenbrock and on to the Compascumkanaal in NL

bend and we were at the next lock, Ter Apelersluis, with a liftbridge. The liftbridge was in the raised position, lock full with top end gates open and a red traffic light. I stepped on to the landing stage, put my key in the slot and turned it – we got a green light. The liftbridge had been damaged, probably by a farm vehicle that was too big for it, and had barriers across the road on both sides. Into the little lock chamber and looked for another key slot until eventually we remembered that there was a green button

Dutch lock keeper lock 7 Pole to shut gates

to press on a post by the lockside. I pressed it and got back on the boat while we dropped down another 1.7m, the lock chamber walls were made of large stones with no grouting so plants were growing in the gaps and water pouring out of holes as we descended. I had wondered if I should have stayed off the boat in case the key was needed again and we thought that was the case as it took the gates a very long time to activate and start to open. Out on to a different canalscape, now we had open fields on either side and farm houses surrounded by trees. There were two teenage lads fishing by the quay we were heading for at the next swingbridge,

Pole to heave the gate open 

Roelagebrug. They got into their 4x4 and drove off as we were knocking pins in the bank to tie up. Beyond the quay was a paddock with horses next to a farmhouse. It was 5.45pm the longest boating day we’d done for quite a long time, almost 12 hours. Glad to be in a quiet spot with no passing barge or cruiser wash. Not many boats come this way as the canal isn’t very deep and all the structures are DIY. We set the TV up and made a cuppa. I’d got two mossie bites! Mike said he’d leave fetching the car until the next day and we’d stay here while he did the brakes on the Xsara.

Moored at Roelagebrug Ruiten Aa-kanaal

 

Lock operating DIY

Ter Apelersluis Ruiten-Aa-Kanaal