Monday 30th June 2014 Uffelte to Arembergersgracht. 26.8kms 4 locks

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

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

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

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

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

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 

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

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

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

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.

Reflected clouds. Arembergersgracht

Sunday 29th June 2014 Hoogersmilde to Uffelte. 15.7kms 3 locks

Hoogersmilde TV mast

12.2°C Heavy rain overnight and into the morning caused us to delay setting off until 9.30am. Sunny with light showers. We went through Pieter Hummelbrug liftbridge then stopped on the moorings by the toilet block and filled the water tank. At 1€/100 litres we thought it was expensive. A couple in their seventies came to chat while we filled up. They asked us to have coffee on their cruiser, called Excess, so we took some milk (as they don’t have any as it goes off) and some old photos of the boat in the UK and had a coffee and a naughty cake with them. They come from Groningen area but are out for the summer and are “going where the wind blows them” a nice way of cruising! We set off again at 11.15am. We had a short wait for the keeper at Henrik Oostdraai swingbridge as he was letting two boats through Pieter Hummelbrug, we all went through the manually operated swingbridge and the cruiser overtook us (what 6kph speed limit!) before we got to Veensluis lock at the end of the summit pound on the Drentschehoofdvaart. The boat behind it was

Dieversluis

a tjalk that was too big to fit in the lock with us and it stayed behind us. Veensluis was 26.76m long by 6m wide and our boat just fitted into the lock, overlapping our bows with the cruiser’s rounded stern. Mike checked with the keeper, there was no cill so he could stay as far back as the top end gates. Down 1.4m and the same keeper rode down to the next liftbridge, Geeuwenbrug, on a scooter to work it for us. We moored above Haarsluis at 12.20 pm to wait for the

Veensluis tight fit with a wide cruiser

keeper’s lunch break to finish. Set off again at 1.00 pm and followed the cruiser into Haarlsluis which was full with the top end gates open. No sign of the keeper. A younger man wearing “shades” came from the lock house and said OK when Mike asked if he could close the gate for him. The crew on the cruiser spoke in Dutch to the keeper as he passed them, telling him that we were English and used to working our own locks. He smiled. Down another 2m, this lock was longer at 27.48m and this one had a cill to make sure we kept clear of. A longer pound lead to the next lock and we could see the cruiser, way off in the distance in Diever going through the Dieverbrug liftbridge. When we got there we expected the keeper to be working the lock but

Back pumping station

to our great surprise he was still there. There were several larger DBs moored before the liftbridge, Avontur had its dimensions on the side as 26.95m x 4.5 135 tonnes and looked like it was the size of boat that used to work on these small canals. Beyond the liftbridge there were several cafés and lots of moored boats, including the cruiser we’d been locking with. The lock keeper opened one gate for us and smiled as we came in. Two men from the café came to chat and take photos. Mike had spotted that water was on sale above the lock at half the price we’d

Moored at Uffelte

just paid. Typical! Many more boats were moored below the lock and beyond Olden Dieverbrug liftbridge which was worked for us by the lock keeper from the last lock. Another man on a scooter worked Wittelterbrug liftbridge for us and leaned out the cabin to say he liked the boat and one of the cyclists waiting for the bridge asked what the boat name meant so I told him. The landscape of wide open fields continued, mostly meadows with grazing cows. Saw a buzzard on a post. The moorings on the outskirts of the small town of Uffelte were no good for TV so we went through Uffelte no 1 liftbridge and moored on wooden posts by some houses with no trees. It was 3.15 pm. 

New thatch

Buzzard on a post

Saturday 28th June 2014 Assen to Hoogesmilde. 13.5kms no locks

15.4°C Lots of grey clouds, short sunny spells, heavy but short rain showers. A small cruiser

Bus operated lane blockers

went past heading in the same direction as us around 8.45 am. We set off at 9.10 am after getting all the pins out of the bank. No one around at the first liftbridge, Kloosterbrug at the start of the Drentsche Hoofdvaart, so we thought the keeper must have gone on to the next bridge and slung a bow rope around a log beam by the bridge. It was 9.25 am. After over hour’s wait we were beginning to think we ought to have informed the keeper at the previous bridge (Asserwijk) that we were leaving before we set off. I found a number in the new book and Mike phoned at 10.45 am. They said they would call the keeper. Another half hour went by, so he rang

Waiting for Kloosterbrug

them again. The keeper arrived shortly after, the same guy who had worked the first lock for us the day before, full of apologies. He said that he was stationed at the next bridge and his colleague at Asserwijk rings him when boats set off from his bridge, but he hadn’t seen us leave. Lesson learnt. It was 11.25am when we headed for Norgerbrug. The heavens opened and we had a five minute deluge. Brolly up quick. The keeper came out of the cabin to say it’s English weather! Yes, not just for the TT races but it’s the Glastonbury Festival today too. Pop concerts in the UK have to have mud! A very large cruiser came towards us

Kloosterbrug

through the next bridge, Van Liersbrug, and the deck lowered behind it. A young lady was working it and it was all manually operated, both barriers and wind the bridge up and down. She opened it again for us. We were stuck for an hour at the next, Mr Sickensbrug as it was lunchtime, 12.00 - 1.00 pm. I checked for Wi-Fi and found one! Managed to do two replies to e-mails, but it was very slow. Lunch then set off again at 1.00 pm. A cruiser had caught up and had moored behind us during lunchtime. It followed us through the bridge and overtook us immediately afterwards. We followed it through Grietmansbrug but it must have been doing twice the 6kph speed limit as that was (almost) the last we saw of it. Through

Floating water weed - first we've seen here in NL

Jonkersbrug and into the town of Smilde, strung out along the banks of the canal. Next bridge was Polakkenbrug, then we had another very heavy shower as we approached the next bridge, which was a manually operated swingbridge pedestrian bridge, Koopbakkersdraai. A man came out from one of the houses by the bridge and opened it just as the wind caught us as we were reversing and shoved us left against the high quay wall before the bridge. I had to go and push the fore end off the wall. We could see in the distance the cruiser in front had just gone through Veenhoopsbrug. Once through that bridge we passed the junction (on the right) with

Canal side art

the Turf route, the Witte Wijk leading to the Compagnonsvaart. A bridge keeper was stationed at the first bridge on to the Turf Route (on the busy N371 which follows the canal all the way to Meppel) and he also controls the next swingbridge. Tentingerdraai, on the Hoofdvaart. He waved. We went through Leerbrug, operated by a young man on a bike who shuttles back and forth with the next bridge. We told him we were stopping as he cycled on to Spiersbrug, however, the mooring next to an old quay didn’t work as Mike couldn’t get our mooring pins in the brick paved top (and we didn’t want to damage them!) The keeper went past

Moored at Hoogersmilde

again on his bike and said there was a mooring beyond the next bridge. We went through Spiersbrug and moored by a farmhouse where there was a small gap in the trees to get satellite TV through. Set the TV up so Mum could watch Wimbledon and Mike did a quick look at Wi-Fi and found nothing. Gave him a hand to unload the bike and he went to check the mooring further down by the bridge. Yes, it would have been OK and there was only one boat so there was plenty of space and a good access for the TV. Oh well. Never have we seen so many bikers on the move, all afternoon they were going past in their hundreds, with lots of police bikes among them. People were sitting outside their houses all along the N371, just watching all the bikes

A few of the 100's of bikers going home after the TT

going past, some of who were revving up as if to do wheelies when the police weren’t about. When Mike returned with the car at 6pm there were still hundreds going past. We wondered if all the bikes in the Netherlands (and Belgium and Germany!) had been there.