Leiden

Leiden     7-23-2011     15:07

Today is somewhere between drizzle and rain. Not so bad really. We’re supposed to leave tomorrow but the weather looks nasty, especially for wind. When we went down to the Harbormaster’s office to pick up another electrical token, we asked him how bad it had to be for us to be allowed to stay for another day and he’s already given us permission! Whoopee!!!! I was ready to try to get out of here, even though we’ll have to back out, but this is much better and gives us an extra day to do a float plan for the next stage of our journey. Went to the market this morning.

WONDERFUL market here.

Went on for blocks and blocks either side of the Nieuwe Rijn canal.  

Lots of fish, didn’t see any meat, veg by the trainload and all super fresh

Good bakeries. Bill found a place to buy small amounts of firewood for the stove, so we’re all set for a cozy time at home if we get a real blow. Leiden is truly a lovely city once you get out of the shopping district, but I’m not sure they make the most of it. We received reams of glossy information when we arrived, beautifully published, but none of it of any real use. The tourist information office is near the station, and totally on the other side of town from us. Quite a hike, but that’s fine. Problem was, once we got there they couldn’t answer any of our questions, fairly basic ones about what to see in the city. Just handed us a map of the city center and smiled. The marina itself is a bit of a generic marina,

not at all the lovely views and sounds we were spoiled by in Haarlem. We did go out on a lunch-and-photo ramble around noon and stumbled on an organ recital

in the Hooglandse church,

that was quite lovely, and later a street organ entertaining kids of all ages in the shopping district.

I suspect that there is much more here to interest us than in Haarlem, we’d just have to struggle to find it and, since they want you gone in three days, it’s a bit difficult to do that. Maybe we’ll just have to stop again on our way back to winter moorings and spend more time.

On to Leiden

Haarlem     7/15/2011     19:00

It's quarter to 7 here, just finished dinner.  We can't seem to shake the US “early” dinner syndrome and get on Euro time.  Anyway, weekends here are crazy.  The Dutch come out about noon on Friday and start enjoying themselves.  Kids in boats, families in boats, parties in boats, last weekend I wish we'd gotten a photo of the mother who had decorated a small boat in balloons and bunting and was sailing around the harbor with her kid and a bunch of others for a birthday party, kiddie music blaring on a portable recorder of some kind and the kids singing along.  Right now there are a bunch of Dutch guys, arms linked, practically skipping down the quai and singing who knows what, but very enthusiastically.  On weekends this doesn’t let up till 2 or 3 am.  Maybe.  Tomorrow and Sunday the river will likely be choked with people in small boats just out for the day.  Friends, families, teenagers, dating groups.  Even grade school aged kids out in a small inflatable with 2 or 3 chums. The enthusiasm and pure enjoyment make me want to jump into a boat with them and join in.  Yeah, right, can anyone out there imagine quiet little repressed me doing that!  But it is just such a joy to be part of this. It's a bit like a 4^th of July weekend BBQ at a pool, but on a much larger scale, and almost a national characteristic.  I truly do like these people and I think I have a lot to learn from them.  Will be fun trying.

Haarlem     7/16/2011     11:21

What words are nice enough to say about a husband who calls your attention to something he knows you will want to buy, even when he has a phobia about “WE GOT TOO MUCH STUFF!!”  One of the reasons we haven’t left yet is that there is an “antique” market on the other side of town today and I just wanted to look.  As we were walking along, Bill called my attention to a tangle of lace bobbins attached to a bit of lace on one of the tables.  Lovely bobbins, very reasonable, and I’d have completely missed them on my own. 

Got to love that man.  It was really quite fun, and most of the items really did qualify – if sometimes marginally – as antiques.  Found a few things that we can use and then went back to the two weekly markets in town to pick up food for dinner and supplies.  We felt quite like locals (well, . . .) carrying a basket of goodies, picking and choosing what we’d need or want for the next few days.  Having even a rudimentary oven has opened up whole worlds of opportunities when it comes to food.  And, knowing we’ll be here a while and don’t have to grab every opportunity makes it all that much more relaxing.  I think we’ve decided to have a larger lunch and then go over to the city center and have a beer and snacks for dinner while we just sit and watch all the Saturday evening socializing.  It is just such a joy to be able to take our time and not worry about missing something because we don’t scramble fast enough before we have to go home.  I guess that’s what today is all about – just enjoying. 

Haarlem    7/17/2011     10:15

Grevestenenbrug just opened for the first time today.  21 boats were waiting to go through, I tried to take a photo but couldn’t do justice to the mayhem in the basin.  This photo doesn't even come close, looks much too orderly.

Made the jockeying for position at the beginning of a sailboat race seem mild by comparison.  This is why we don’t travel on weekends.  There’s just too much opportunity for trouble.  Besides, we’re moored right in the center of a major city.  Granted it’s Sunday morning, but even so the only sound we’ve heard up until now is the seagulls squawking at each other.  There was a boat a long way off running it’s engine, but we hardly heard that and it left with the other boats.  The carillon rang for about 15 minutes to announce that church was starting.  Other than that, nothing.  It’s noisier than this by far on a Sunday morning at home. 

Lisse     7/19/2011      16:58

We’re back in Lisse on the way to Leiden.  Woke up this morning to NO rain and fairly clear skies, so we took the opportunity to get moving.  We’ve discovered the one Dutch quality that gives us a bit of trouble:  the whole jockeying for position when waiting for bridges to open thing.  Jill had warned us, and we had seen for ourselves, but being part of it turns out to be absolutely hair-raising.  You are creeping up on the boat in front of you, he starts to reverse, the boat behind you is almost on your deck, several others are trying to sneak past on your right and/or left, and the wind is blowing and pushing you sideways across a narrow channel.  And the bridgekeeper has decided he really needs to let the land traffic cross the bridge before it’s the turn of the boats.  And this happens at every bridge, not just one or two.  And in the Netherlands, there are LOTS of bridges.  On a typical 3 hour journey, we probably spend at least half of that waiting for bridges to open.  I guess it’s not as bad as it might sound.  We’re learning to deal with it and getting better and better.  The Dutch are extremely friendly and helpful.  At every stop we meet new people who give us help, tips, suggestions, teach us how to splice the ends of our ropes or different ways to tie off our lines.  Quite a bit of it is contradictory, and we’ll have to sort through it at some point, but it’s certainly not for lack of kindness or interest. 

Leiden     7/21/2011     16:14

Arrived in Leiden at about 1:30.  It was a bit of a mess to begin with.  We arrived at the lift bridge at the turnoff into town just as the bridge master was scheduled to go to lunch, so we had to wait 45 minutes for him to get back.  We were the only ones there at first, but the infamous Dutch queuing system kicked in.  Between people rafting up to us to wait, and others cutting shamelessly between boats, we were the last of 12 boats to go through the bridge and, by extension, the last boat to arrive and snag one of the coveted moorings in the center city.  Luckily, there were enough.  Not so luckily, they are all parallel berths, and we don’t do those well.  The great triumph of the day:  not only did I get the boat docked, I actually got complements from the usual gaggle of Dutch onlookers that we entertain with our (lack of) technique and experience.  I guess if they say I’m doing well, I can’t be doing too badly.  We would like to stay a week or more.  Leiden is a very old town and a university town as well, so there is a lot to see and do if we are in tourist mode.  Unfortunately, in high season they only let you stay 3 days.  OOPS!  But that’s probably why there was room for us when we got here.  AND that means we’ll have to travel on a Sunday, not our favorite thing.  Next stop, Alphen a/d Rijn, more I suspect for convenience and boat work than anything else, then on to Gouda I think.  But we will have to see what we can cram into 2 full days in Leiden.  It will put to the test our idea of not worrying about what we miss cuz we can always come back.  We’ve already walked the extensive shopping street to get some exercise after the morning’s traveling. 

Not our thing.  Got off that and walked along the Oude Rijn, an older canal promenade lined with floating cafes and restaurants. 

 A lot of the more picturesque buildings along this route, but we are always a bit stressed after a sailing day, so we headed back home for a rest.  Guess we’ll do the tourist thing tomorrow in competition with internet day and hopefully get some photos posted.  And for the record, you-all, I do go back and edit past postings to include more photos, so you might want to check back occasionally.  Tot ziens!

Leiden     7/22/2011     22:10

I really need to be more conscientious about taking a camera when we go out walking.  Earlier in the day we went to the archeology museum, and then walked through some of the streets in the older sections of the city, including the university section.  Very quiet and very different from the shopping district that we were directed to yesterday.  Just now took a two hour ramble through Leiden in the evening and it was lovely.  The streets were quiet even in the middle of town, with pockets of revelry coming from coffee houses and pubs.  We stood on one swing bridge and watched an open boat with about 35 people in it singing along to Zorba the Greek tunes.  Wandered past many, many narrow side streets that just begged to be explored, except it was starting to get dark (a whole hour earlier than when we arrived only a month ago!) and we were headed home with the biggest chocolate cream puffs you’ve ever seen.  They were setting up for the market tomorrow, and it would appear to be quite large.  Both sides of the canal and running for several blocks.  More reminiscent of some of the larger markets in Paris than what I’ve seen here so far.  Maybe I’ll remember to take a camera tomorrow! 

Haarlem

Haarlem     7/8/11     21:00

Ian and Jill stopped by this afternoon for a bit.  Ian has built 2 trimarans in Australia so knows “just a bit” about boats.  Went over some of our systems with Bill, hope Bill remembers at least the most important bits.  Very generous of them to help out like that.  I was able to ask a few questions, and looks like we should be able to add a small fridge without too much problem.  That will be nice.  Warm beer is definitely not my thing.  Our house energy use here seems to be almost nonexistent.  We only use the water pump and recharge small electronics – cell phones, the computer, MP3s, etc – and only when we are on shore power, so using a fridge when on shore power and the few things I’d like to use only occasionally doesn’t seem to be an issue.  This boat is really turning out to be a comfortable little haven for two.  It is going to get quite chummy quite fast if we have guests, but that’ll be OK for a while.  Shopped for yesterday’s meals at our first really decent market.  Not quite as comprehensive as I’d hoped, but good.  A woman there was selling “genuine English pies.”  We bought one and shared it for dinner, very good actually.  A bit scorched on the bottom as we had to heat it in a skillet instead of an oven, but good none the less.  Amazingly good, sometimes amazingly inexpensive fresh veg.  We found a WiFi hot spot at the “big” department store in town, so we may pack up the computer some early morning and go over there and have breakfast.  They also have a book department on the same floor with a nice cookbook section, so  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .         Bill says I need to include a photo of me on the boat so you-all know I'm really here, so . .

.But the one that really tells the story is . . .

Haarlem     7/12/11     5:35

Spent yesterday playing telephone tag with Frank, the former owner.  He is evidently leaving for France on Saturday, and he is trying to meet up with us to help us decipher some of the systems on board.  Otherwise, not much to do.  Well, there’s lots to do, we’re just not doing it.  We’re not living like tourists here, which is exactly what we wanted.  Most days are more like a day doing odd jobs around the house, or maybe stocking up on groceries, or sitting in the shade reading a book.  (I guess to some extent we’re also decompressing from getting ready for Adam and Amy’s wedding.  The relative inactivity feels decidedly not right)  We’re just doing all this in a different language and in a different context.  Really good days have small triumphs of living – yesterday we found the laundromat!  We’re not spending a lot of time gazing at the old buildings, it’s more that the laundromat is tucked into one of those old buildings and we get to study the architecture as we wait for our clothes to dry.  Different perspective???  The weather has been fabulous.  The forecast last week called for one day of guaranteed rain, then fair and mostly sunny for the foreseeable future.  Well, the rainy day consisted of some pleasant, mild showers in the morning and sun all afternoon.  The mostly sunny has been right on target.  We seem to have snagged one of the best moorings in the city.  Other boat owners keep casually stopping by (difficult to be “casual” when we’re on the end of a long pier) and asking us how long we’re staying – meaning when are we going to leave.  As soon as one of the 4 boats that can fit in starts its motor to leave, the vultures gather waiting to see who can grab the spot.  Yesterday a retired Dutch truck driver managed to fit in a 5^th boat.  A 11 meter boat in a 10 meter space at that.  He managed by sliding his rear in under the point of our bow, and his bow in under the dinghy on the boat in front of us, all with millimeters to spare.  Lines all over the place, but he’s happy.  I’m looking forward to adding that fridge and a small electric oven that we’ll only use when we’re on shore power.  Meals have been a bit sparse and simple up until now, and it would be nice to have the option to eat a bit differently if we chose.  Also, even though the veg here is amazing, I haven’t been able to work myself up about eating salads, and I love salads.  There’s a “curio” (junk??) market on Wednesday and an “antique” market on Saturday that I’m curious about, we’ll see what that amounts to and whether we can find something there that we NEED and that adds some character to the boat.  She is a character, but the interior needs a bit of personalization. 

Haarlem     7/13/2011     1:30

We felt that we should do something to be tourists occasionally, so we went to the Frans Hals Museum over the weekend and yesterday morning we did the tour of the almshouses and their courtyards.  These were a tad more interesting than the “where’s the mailbox?” tour we did yesterday afternoon.  The Hals museum was very interesting, but somewhat overpriced we thought.  The almshouse tour was a self-guided walk that gave us plenty of exercise for the day and a framework for just walking around the city and looking.  Found a really lovely little Quilt Shop near the museum.  The amazing thing seemed to be the “street gardens.”  I really don’t know what to call them.  We’d turn the corner into these small, narrow streets in out of the way areas, and they’d be absolutely choked with plantings.  At first, it seemed to be just a case of someone pulling a brick or paving stone out of the ground near the foundation of a building and planting something – quite often hollyhocks. 

 As we went further into the older, more confined areas of the city, people had moved these ad hoc gardens further out into the pathways. 

The streets were barely a car’s width to begin with, and this would be further restricted by benches, large container plantings, and whole areas where the pavement stonework seemed to have been dug up and replaced with lush plantings of flowers. 

 In one case, there was even a tall streetlamp planted in the middle of the road, complete with grape arbor!

The streets had turned into courtyards and extensions of the indoor living space, no cars within blocks – they just couldn’t have made it in.  I can live like this . . . . . . . . .

Haarlem      7/13/2011     19:23

Frank, the former owner of our boat, came by for a visit this morning.  We finally got a tour of the boat from the systems perspective.  We have a lot of shore power outlets we were unaware of.  That’s good news.  It means that a fridge and an oven are definite possibilities.  He showed Bill how to use the Kabola heater, a real plus as it is starting to turn a bit chilly.  The weather has changed with a vengeance, chilly and wet and much more what I remember from past visits to the Netherlands.  We now have a better understanding of the solar power system, though it’s still not making a lot of sense.  I guess we’ll just have to keep an eye on that and learn by watching.  On the boat, we’ve been living from the Dutch supermarkets.  It reminds me of when we were first married and I couldn’t cook worth a fig.  Strange cans make it into a pot and we eat whatever comes off the stove.  We’ve found a few goodies:  the box of plain tomato sauce with basil from Albert Hein is a real favorite.  It’s tomato sauce that’s very fresh and light, and we can use it in innumerable ways.  Some of the canned soups aren’t too bad.  Once I get a handle on them and can start adding personal touches, they could be quite good and worth the storage space.  There are pre-baked vol au vent shells that would be quite usable if we had an oven to heat them just a bit before we served them, and they are not too bad at room temperature.  The “fresh” pasta at the supermarket, and especially at the Saturday market!!, can be good.  Of course we are pigging out on cheeses, and that with a fresh bakery roll and a slice of meat makes a simple and quite tasty lunch, and quite deluxe with a salad.  Other items are best unmentioned.  Given that we have limited storage, I think we’ll stick to what works.  Anyway, we’re starting to settle into something resembling a rhythm, and starting to feel like this is home. 

Haarlem     7/14/2011     17:50

Today could have been such a bust, and it wasn’t.  We had planned to do laundry – the laundromat never opened.  We had planned to take in an organ recital by an American musician, but when we needed to leave there was a heavy, driving rain that hasn’t let up all day.  We had planned to have a nice dinner at a restaurant we like very much, but again the rain made that an unattractive prospect.  We did get showers, even though the hot water machine ate my coins.  But in reality it was marked by some small but significant and positive events.  We found a very inexpensive and basic oven at what is the equivalent of a dollar store.  That gave us a lovely meal from whatever we had on board without going out in the pouring rain.  Ian stopped by to offer us a television they weren’t using.  We don’t need a TV, but for him to come down here from their barge in this miserable weather to offer was a supreme gesture of kindness.  Bill lit a fire in the wood stove, we’ve had a lovely HOT dinner, and we are totally content just to sit here with a cup of tea and a warm fire. 

On Our Way at Last

Lisse     7/5/11     8:00

Oh, my.  Yesterday was a good day.  It really had nothing to do with it being the 4^th of July, though I suppose there is some poetic something in that.  We left Leimuiden just before 9am and headed off for a “lengthy”  15k (that’s 9 miles in 2½ hours) trip to Lisse where the Keukenhof Gardens are a major attraction in April and May.  Very pretty little town, as almost all Dutch towns are.  Got through all three lift bridges tailing a convoy of other boats so we didn’t have to think too hard about how to deal with requesting the bridges to open.  Only had to dodge one ferry.  Everything easy as could be:  windmills along the side of the canal, cows grazing a few feet away as we went by, just lovely, peaceful, serene ---- right up till the moment when we were waiting to dock in Lisse.  Hmmmmm….    Talk to Bill.            The big triumph for the day was getting to a grocery store and buying disposable diapers!   ---Say, what?????     We’ve got a bit of water and oil still in the bilge that I really didn’t want to “just live with” and I decided the most efficient way to rid ourselves of it was to mop it up with disposable diapers.  Works a charm!! 

Lovely little marina here in Lisse.  It’s a local boating club that has a few extra berths around the perimeter for passing boats to tie up to for a few days.  Water and electric included.  No WiFi though, which may become a priority with us at some stage.  We really need a reliable – and readily available – source of weather information.  Next, probably on to Haarlem in a day or three, depending on the weather.  Wind calmed a bit yesterday, making the exit from Leimuiden easier; it’s nearly non-existent right now, but that never holds for long.  Last we heard, rain for tomorrow.  So, we’ll see.   Tot ziens.      PS  --  And Carolyn, there’s even a brindle and white whippet living a few boats down from us!

Haarlem       7/7/11             12:00

Well, we made it to Haarlem.  And when we docked, we provided the locals with their lunchtime entertainment.  While finishing up with the lines, a nice Australian couple on bikes pulled up, took a look at the US flag, and we were off and running with our first boating friendship.  They have a 19m barge Lena just down the canal and have been here for a while with visiting kids.  Lots of good information.  Like, if we stay a week we get two days free.  OK with us!  That comes to under €50 for a week’s accomodations in the center of Haarlem, an old Dutch lift bridge (which we just passed under) just off our port stern (isn’t that nautical?), St Bavo Kerk and the Saturday market (yes!!, I’ve been waiting to finally hit a real market!!!) just over the other side of the canal, and carillons chiming the quarter hour.  Gee, life sure is tough.  For this, I guess I can put up with the locals laughing at our docking efforts and be quite happy about it.  Tomorrow is internet day.  Will try to get this posted with a few photos and a few e-mails answered.         

                                  View from our "Back Door"

16:25  Now I feel like we’ve finally gotten here.  We walked into the center of town this afternoon, sat in a 14^th century (give or take) city square, had a biertje and bitterballen, and just watched.  The first two weeks, we’ve been so busy getting the boat ready, learning how to handle her, getting everything ready.  It didn’t feel a whole lot different than just living day-to-day at home.  This did.  Wonderful. 




Haarlem    7/8/2011         20:07


Oh, my, Adam, eat your heart out.  We just got back from an early dinner, mostly because it's Friday and we didn't want to miss out because we'd neglected to make reservations.  Jill and Ian, the Aussies on the barge Lena, had recommended a restaurant in the city center.  Babbels.  Oh, my.  Was that good.  See:  www.babbels-haarlem.nl.  We are going to remember this for a good long while.  Meals here in the Netherlands are large enough that we don't intend to eat out too often, but this was exceptional.  We both ended up with mini mussel steamer pots baked with the food inside.  Bill had seafood in a cream sauce with a hint of crusty cheese on top, I had chicken livers with mushrooms, spring onions, etc., in a madiera sauce.  Each was cooked just to the point of perfection and not a second longer.  The side dishes were simple but exceptional as well, but we were so intent on the main course we probably didn't do them justice.  

Well, we made it . . . .

Leimuiden    6/26/11    3am

Well, we got here.  Boat looks OK.  Got kitchen area cleaned; today Bill wants to spend on boat obsessing about rust.  I’ll get the sewing on “sofa” and bed sheets done, change name of the boat on outside (and take 1^st photo with new name), and take down the last of Frank & Betty’s decorations (odd photos & plastic flowers are the last to go).  Need to do a superclean of the toilet area – yeuch.  Not looking forward to that.  Have been to IKEA for first attack and got off lightly as well as managing to put it on the frequent flyer card.  Twice to grocery story.  Note to self:  Bill gets cranky if hungry, FEED HIM.  Found WONDERFUL garden center in Ter Aan not too far from Kempers at Bart’s recommendation.  IntraTuin  GORGEOUS and CHEAP plants, they were even on sale 20% verkorting.  Makes Homestead Gardens look like a bad wannabe.  Got huge rosemary plant for -€5 and thyme, plus pot and dirt.  Really want to go back and get some other things, but Bill is resistant.  Got my old phone number to work and evidently retrieved about €45 in paid minutes from last year, got chip for Richard’s old phone so Bill has a phone too, and dongle for computer that we have yet to set up.  Will switch to using WaterVogel gmail address as primary to avoid getting charged for the volume of mail on Juno account.  Monday Kemper’s is having one of their guys come and translate the electrical panel for us and show us how to use a couple of other basic systems, then hopefully on to Jeannet’s after lunch.  Been chilly and have had no water (no electric to pump), no propane (tanks empty or low), no electric (can’t read the panel and don’t know how to hook up to shore power).  Heated water for coffee on wood stove, sleeping area is working better than expected, though not exactly a welcoming area.  Surprisingly warm down there after body heat kicks in and cheap IKEA comforters working well also.  Still got the dog that chases tiny rocks at Kempers so we can sort of adopt him now that Solomon’s gone.  -----Naah, too much terrier-----.  Forgot how astonishingly gorgeous flowers are in Netherlands, as well as how serene the countryside is.  As much as France beckons, this is wonderful too.

Leimuiden    6/28/11    16:15pm

Went from chilly to miserably hot and humid awfully quickly.  In 90sF last two days and ALMOST wishing for air conditioning.  So much for it being cooler near the water.  Wasn’t expecting this until we got well into France.  Now I also understand why boat bloggers are so erratic with their entries.  You really do not have reliable internet coverage here.  We [Bill] bought a dongle to keep us connected, but we can’t get it to work and it’s been 5 days without contact with our usual world and the people in it.  Have phoned Richard, left text messages for Adam and Amy, and all other messages have not gone through.  (Sorry Carolyn, I tried!!)  Have spoken to Richard a couple of times, but he doesn’t have international calling on his phone so we’re really isolated.  Also, it takes a lot to upload photos, so even when we get connected we won’t be sending a lot of them.  Maybe wait till we have WiFi connections through a marina, but even that doesn’t seem to work so well, we should have it here but don’t.  Saw Jeannet yesterday, and got a phone call from Rob today.  He’s stopping by with a bike from Jeannet and to visit/see the boat, so perhaps he can get us through the last of the dongle hookup.  At least Donald from Kempers came yesterday and we worked out what the electrical systems were.  Found a deck wash pump we didn’t know was there.  Saves Bill from hauling water out of the canal/lake/marina basin with a tiny bucket to wash the boat.  She [the boat, AKA Bird] does look much more presentable clean.  Changed the name yesterday with the makeshift stuff brought from home.  Looked pretty crummy, but again better once the boat was cleaned off.  Spent at least 4 hours, perhaps a good bit more, hanging off the side of the boat with a scissors and a roll of Gorilla Tape masking out the former name, then had to position the precut letters I’d done at home.  Had on a self-inflating PFD, Bill rigged a climbing harness that was supposed to keep me from falling in.  Must have been a sight; I was too busy working to notice.  Did take photo of boat with new lettering, so maybe that will make it in.  Spent this am bailing water out of the forward bilge.  [First had to FIND the hatch to the bilge, that was a day’s work in itself!!!]  Bilge pump doesn’t cover that area.  We’ll have to keep a close eye on it, but we’re hoping it’s just a bit leftover from the winter.  Bill said the scaling on the rust we found last year wasn’t near as bad as he had remembered.  Funny thing that:  Sun comes up here about 4am or before so we’re up and working.  6-8 hours later we’ve done huge amounts of work, but then we’re exhausted so we crash and end up feeling like we’ve wasted the day because after noon we’re too tired to do anything.  If we try to do something as simple as shopping for groceries, we just get cranky and even more exhausted.  Night doesn’t fall till nearly midnite, so you really have a lot of daylight hours that leave you feeling you haven’t used them well.  Hmmmm.  Only another day or so with a car, so have to make the most of it tomorrow.  Shopping with Bill is really no fun; he poops out way too easily.  But he does scrub boats and bail bilges well, so maybe I’ll keep him.

Leimuiden 6/29/11 – 11pm

Well, last nite Jeanette said that really hot weather never lasts more than two days, then you have a big storm, and it gets cool again.  So far, she’s right.  Thank God!  Today started stormy and gloriously cool.  Had planned to start the day by taking the boat out, but the weather was rough so we decided to go to the next things on the list.  Especially get the dongle working.  Went to Kudlestaart just down the road to the other Kempers marina and did boat shopping.  Not much, just a new fender, some maps and updated water cruising Almanaks, a fire extinguisher.  Did discover a 24v refrigerator:  SUPER tiny (think 2 shoeboxes), as expensive as a very, very nice, good sized kitchen unit, and that didn’t include installation.            OK.   That hurts                 Went next door to the fiets (cycle) shop and got a few things.  Big purchase, the bike shopping basket I’ve coveted for decades!  Also learned that there are protective bike covers for leaving your bike outside called bike pajamas [fietspyjamas!!].  Yup, you can even say it with a straight face after a while.  Actually went into a shop later in the day and asked for one for Jeannet’s bike. 

Then the great expedition to figure out how to make the dongle work.  Eventually wound up in Aalsmeer, found a computer/cell phone store where we bought more bytes and were directed to the Indian restaurant next door for free WiFi so we could engage in the lengthy set-up process without using up all of our “free” bytes.  We think we’ve accomplished that.  But who knows.  Turns out the Indian restaurant is the best I’ve ever eaten in, much better than anywhere I’ve been in the States.  For reference:  Himalaya Huis, Marktstraat 32 in Aalsmeer (www.himalayahuis.nl).  Got money transferred to cover our bill here, very reasonable by US standards, so we’re evidently ready to go.  We’ll see how the weather holds out.

PS  --  It’s just coming up midnite as I finish editing this and the sun has barely set.  The night time here is absolutely gorgeous.

Leimuiden   6/30/11   22:30

OK, got a route set for our departure, only about 2-3 hours, depending on bridge openings.  Did manage to collect all the information I needed about the route, including the phone numbers for the bridges that will have to lift for us, in one place.  Will be heading for Lisse, home of Keukenhof Gardens.  Beyond Lisse, there are three, I think, bridges that I can’t find the phone numbers for, only VHF.  Don’t got no VHF.  Well, we’ve got one, but it doesn’t have required upgrades and it’s not registered so shouldn’t be used, I don’t have the required license to use it, and it doesn’t work anyway.  I am very pleased that we replaced both the Water Almanaks.  The current information is much more complete and significantly more useful than even the last version.  Anyway, if weather isn’t bad tomorrow am, we’re out of here. 

I/We have realized that we will definitely have to modify the three day rotation schedule of the couple from Scotland we met in France 2 years ago.  For us it will be more like:  1 day traveling, 1 day crash and burn to recover from traveling, 1 day boat work, 1 day housekeeping, couple days being tourists, and 1 more day for internet.  The most efficient way to make use of the internet appears to be to use it only occasionally, but when we do to run the bill up over the €4+ max daily charge and just pig out on internet that day.  There’s a good probability that will be Friday, for a variety of reasons.  That would make it more like a week for every stop rather than 3 days.  I truly do like living on the boat, it’s getting the uncooperative thing to move from place to place that seems to be the irritant.  I just have to remember how we talked ourselves into this:  “We’re not stupid, we can learn.”  --If we don’t get killed in the process.

Leimuiden  7/1/11    10:00

             I don’t’ know whether to be totally impressed with myself, or have a heart attack on the spot.  We’re STILL in Leimuiden.  We decided that to be safe we needed some docking and maneuvering lessons, especially after our battle with the wind yesterday.  Just got off the phone with a gentleman who is coming tomorrow at 1pm to teach us.  This will be fun – evidently he’s got no English.  The heartstopper is that I managed to call him on the phone, explain what we wanted, and arrange a lesson, all in Dutch – and very fast and somewhat idiomatic Dutch on his part as well.  After that, I think I deserve the day off.  I know I need it.  If anyone from Dutch class is following this:  Hey, it works!!  (Tomorrow’s lesson will be the real test I guess.)  If our teacher Pat sees this:  THANK YOU!!!!!!!  (Now, can someone please remind Bill how to change a bicycle tire?)

Leimuiden    7/2/11   15:25

Yes, we are still here.  Just finished a wonderful boating lesson with Tom Schneider.  Evidently he does speak English, quite well, he just didn’t realize on the phone that I did.  Oops.  Exhausting because of the level of concentration needed, but very very helpful.  Feeling a lot better about our plans to leave on Monday.  Also very encouraging because we learned more about our new boat from Tom:  he is impressed by how well she handles.  Oddly, every Dutch sailor/boater who has spent time on her has volunteered the same comment.  Guess we got a good one.  Good handling, good engine, nice solid little boat.  Not the prettiest thing on the water, but she’ll do quite nicely, thank you.


-----Dongle is not playing well with photos. Will try to add later, best to just get this on the net while I have the chance. Tot ziens!!