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| Below Paradijssluis |
10°C Grey
clouds, sunny spells and heavy showers. Breezy. Mike went by car to get some
bread from Albert Heijn in Havelte before we set off. Unusually for NL, the
keeper for the next bridge came up on his scooter to ask what time we were
leaving. Mike told him 15 minutes and we set off at 9.25 am. It was just a
short distance to Uffelterbrug, which the guy on a scooter worked for us. On
into Uffeltersluis which was worked for us by an older man who spoke excellent
English and told us his daughter lived in Bury-St-Edmonds. Down another 1.9m
and the young
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| Lokbrug swingbridge |
man off the scooter helped open the gates. Below the lock the
tjalk that was following us a couple of days ago was moored, no name on it. A cruiser heading uphill passed us as the rain
started again. As we came around the bend in the canal and could see the bridge
in the distance we saw that there was another cruiser coming through Havelterbrug
that had just come up Haveltersluis. Again there was a keeper to do the bridge
and another to do the lock. Mike asked if he could close the gate for the
keeper and he said OK but he was not at all happy about us going out through
one gate and started shouting (the second person to do that in 21 years
Continental
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| Three limekilns (now attached to a restaurant) |
boating!) Why we have no idea, regulations probably. There was a
beautiful dog on the lockside running up and down like sheep dogs do, it had a
grey/blue coat and a white tail so I asked the keeper if his dog was an
Australian sheepdog – he just said “it’s not my dog” so maybe he was having a
bad day. Two cruisers were waiting below to go up, hope he was pleasanter with
them. A short distance to Boschkampsbrug, where the busy N371 road crosses the
canal right to left. It was a double swingbridge, cycle path and road deck, and
was operated by a keeper in a cabin. In the few minutes it took to open it, us
to pass through and then close it we had a queue of fourteen cars, lorries and
vans. Just beyond the bridge there were lots of boats moored by a toilet block,
many of them braving the showers with washing hanging out to dry on their side
and bow rails. Not far to Lokbrug, another swingbridge where a minor road
joined the N371. An older man pressed buttons on a panel by the bridge, this
time just two mopeds had stopped by the bridge. The canal passed through lots
of open meadows
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| Railway swingbridge by A32 |
with herds of grazing cows and horses as we went down the long
straight to Pijlebrug swingbridge just before the A32 motorway where our busy
road disappeared off to the left. Five cars and a double-decker coach stopped
by the bridge this time. The next bridge was a swinging railway bridge and
worked at set times. A train had just gone across it as we stopped by the
wooden stumps, Mike spotted the big red button which was above the notice that
said call here, 2m above the water. Glad he could reach it, I couldn’t! I
checked on an old railway bridge opening times chart that we had, and we were
in one of its
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| Contrasting cloud formations |
times for opening – before I could ring the number on the board
it swung open for us. On down to Paradijssluis. There were lots of boats moored
by the lock and we had to tie up and wait as the lock was empty with both
bottom end gates open. The keeper spotted us and refilled it. No problems with
him when we went in through one gate. He was beaming smiles as we went into the
lock. Down another 2m and out through one gate. There were two boats waiting to
come up so he had to walk round and open the other gate, wishing us a good
journey as he did so. It
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| Houseboat. Mepperlerdiep |
was 11.55 am as we left his lock, the last on the
canal. Now we were on to the river that runs through Meppel called the
Meppelerdiep. There were islands in the river and a long row of houseboats
behind them. The first commercial we saw was Wendelien (85mx9.5m) that was
moored by the dry dock as we came into Meppel. It was almost 12.15pm as we tied
on the quay wall by Galgenkampbrug liftbridge. The notice said it opens on the
hour and half-hour. I made some lunch and Mike gave the keeper a call just
before 12.30pm on VNF channel 22, the reply came back immediately that he would
open the bridge, which he did. We waved as we went
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| Arembergersluis |
through the next bridge,
Kaapbrug – a footbridge - where his control cabin was situated. On to the next
Eshuisbrug which lifted as we got near to it. There was a row of pans (and a
tug) which were being loaded at the silos and Vogue (110mx11m) was loaded with
containers at the next quay. Meppel was bustling as usual, boats everywhere.
Several huge marinas were full of boats of all shapes and sizes. A tug went
upriver pushing a pan with tubular legs that lower to anchor it to the bottom.
On down the Meppelerdiep and out of the town back into open windswept
countryside. Three large cruisers came out of the Hoogeveenschevaart, two went
upriver
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| Barn for storing cut reeds for thatch |
and one down. More cruisers were coming upriver as a big black cloud
started dropping a lot of rain on us. An empty called Lukkelie (85mx9m 1300T)
overtook us as we went past the town of Baarlo as three large cruisers came out
of Beukergracht on our right and sped off downriver. Into the town of
Zwartsluis, many more moored boats and a slipway with big boats out for
docking. It looked like they were making a bigger cabin for maybe a new bigger
swingbridge to the left of the current one, there was lots of building work
going on so maybe a new flood lock too. Under the deck of the
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Just one of the many beautiful houses
and gardens |
liftbridge with
ample headroom for us without having it raised and out on to Zwartwater,
turning right, more moored boats and another huge marina full of boats. Round
the left hand bend and turned right under a low bridge (3.3m) with our mast
down and into the little harbour before the Arembergersluis. A short wait while
a cruiser came up in the lock and we went down in the little lock, worked for
us by a white-bearded keeper; he gave us a new chart of waterways of the
northwest Overijssel region. Mike’s Mum loved the houses and gardens below the
lock and the barn full of cut reeds for
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| Moored at Arembergersgracht |
thatch. A reed boat towing an empty
boat came out of Oosterlijke Wetering, a narrow channel through the reed beds
on the right to the gracht, then left into another narrow channel. A deer
started to swim across but saw us and turned back before I could grab the
camera. There were about a dozen boats moored so plenty of space for us to
choose a mooring. Tied to the wooden stumps and almost sank into the boggy
grass along the moorings! Three hungry ducks came to beg for bread before we’d
finished tying up. It was 3.15pm.
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| Reflected clouds. Arembergersgracht |
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