Leimuiden 09-01-2011 14:13
We’re back where we started the trip. It is surprisingly nice to be back somewhere familiar.
Today’s was a good trip. Only a couple of hours, only two bridges to lift, water as calm and smooth as glass, no wind. The only problem was the Leimuiderbrug where we arrived just in time for a 15 minute wait. It was good practice for loitering/trying to wait and keep still in one place. That can be a surprisingly difficult thing to do on water. In a car, you just stop. I’ve always thought about driving a boat as similar to driving a fully loaded semi trailer truck on a frozen lake bed in the driving rain and the wind pushing you every which way. Not a lot of control at times.
Kempers was ready for us and apparently happy to see us. We headed into town for our first real exploration, and to our surprise discovered pretty much everything we need within a 15 minute walk. Apparently, they’ll even be hosting a sea chanty festival in the next week or so. The weather forecase has cleared for the market next Tuesday and all seems well here. Guess it’s time to get down to the time consuming process of boat work, getting this boat ready for the winter, and deciding what we want to have done as far as improvements go. Will report back when we know. Till then, best to all . . . . 
Today’s was a good trip. Only a couple of hours, only two bridges to lift, water as calm and smooth as glass, no wind. The only problem was the Leimuiderbrug where we arrived just in time for a 15 minute wait. It was good practice for loitering/trying to wait and keep still in one place. That can be a surprisingly difficult thing to do on water. In a car, you just stop. I’ve always thought about driving a boat as similar to driving a fully loaded semi trailer truck on a frozen lake bed in the driving rain and the wind pushing you every which way. Not a lot of control at times.
Alphen a/d Rijn 08-29-2011
Alphen is turning out to be better than we expected. We’ve moved on from our original stop, stopped here only for a day on the way to electricity and internet, and have just stayed. We walked into town yesterday and weren’t too impressed, but today took a different route and had a completely different experience. When we pulled in yesterday, we discovered there was only enough room for 3 boats, and we actually had to block the terrasse of a little café, Café Biljart “De Heul”.
We spent some time, and money, in the café to hopefully generate good will and discovered a rather lovely, if low brow, local pub. Great location for cold beer. Bill used their applegeback and coffee as a reward to himself for checking the batteries. In northern France, it would be called an estaminet. There were a lot of the big cargo barges going by, and one truly gorgeous old boat.
Stocked up on supplies as we don’t know how far we’ll have to go for them once we get back to Kempers.
We spent some time, and money, in the café to hopefully generate good will and discovered a rather lovely, if low brow, local pub. Great location for cold beer. Bill used their applegeback and coffee as a reward to himself for checking the batteries. In northern France, it would be called an estaminet. There were a lot of the big cargo barges going by, and one truly gorgeous old boat.
Stocked up on supplies as we don’t know how far we’ll have to go for them once we get back to Kempers.
Alphen a/d Rijn 08-26-2011
We left Uithoorn this morning as we had been informed that there was a party scheduled for the square where we were docked. Hope it went well, but it poured all day and most of the night. We didn’t make our original goal in Alphen, stopping somewhat in desperation
at a free mooring on the NE outskirts of town just to have a place to get out of the driving rain and find a way to escape the cold.
This was our first experience traveling in really poor weather, and Bill has “discovered” the meaning of “shakedown” cruise. When you’ve finished cruising, you check how badly you’re shaking, and just how down and depressed you are by your performance that day. We are on the edge of a small man made lake, and we’ll just have to see how the weather treats us before we decide to move on.
at a free mooring on the NE outskirts of town just to have a place to get out of the driving rain and find a way to escape the cold.
Uithoorn 08-24-2011
We’ve got moorings today right on the market in the little town of Uithoorn on the Amstel. All my information says that moorings are restricted to much smaller boats than ours and only then for a couple of days, but they seem happy enough to take our mooring fees and just let us stay. It’s been a lot quieter since the kids went back to school, and the rules are a lot more relaxed. We’re a short walk to the town center with facilities, and the showers here are free and just a few steps away.
Amsterdam 08-22-2011
We’ve enjoyed Amsterdam, perhaps more this year than last. Saturday we made it to the two markets near the Noorderkerk in the Jordaan district. Great fun. Bill didn’t get too stressed by the confusion, and we got some provisions. Took one day to go to Doorn and visit Jeannet. It’s been a disappointment that we haven’t seen more of her this year. We’ll have to make more of an effort to remedy that before we leave. Monday we went to the market along the Albert Kuipstraat. That was really a revelation. It is not the typical market, but rather a long, L-O-N-G street of very small shops that expand their space by moving out into the streets, and it’s done every day but Sunday. I didn't expect to enjoy it much and was definitely surprised. There is WONDERFUL spice and cooking odds-n-ends store, a nice yarn and sewing supplies place. Nothing upscale, but very useable. Good price on used bikes, where we might just go next year when we decide what we’re going to do about buying. It’s very much the kind of place used mostly by the locals, and as such the prices are much more reasonable that what we’ve seen so far. Jeannet has mentioned a Handbag Museum a couple of times, so on a rainy day we spent some time there. Small, but very cute and unique. They even had some purses in lace, though the bobbins they had on display were English. We’ve also made several trips to “the Bookstore.” It’s the “Schrierstoren“ or crying tower, built in 1480. It's an old tower building near the waterfront/harbor where women used to stand and cry as their menfolk went to sea for who knew how long and who knew if they’d return. It’s one of the monuments they always take you past on a tour.
For us, it’s “the Bookstore.” The level slightly up from ground has a café/bar that isn’t too bad and has a lot of atmosphere. The top two levels house a nautical bookstore and map/chart emporium that claims to have been there since 1730. It has the most complete selection of books, guides, and maps pertaining to our projected travels that we’ve seen anywhere. It’s a bit awkward to find the first time, but after that it’s a joy. We’ve purchased pretty much all the information we need to head south next year, and now that’s only a lot of work to deal with Belgian VHF regulations and the paperwork we’ll need for the border crossing. That may be complicated enough to keep us in the Netherlands next year, but to date the plan is to head south and probably end the summer in France. We’ll see. Seems a bit early to be planning next year, but . . . .
For us, it’s “the Bookstore.” The level slightly up from ground has a café/bar that isn’t too bad and has a lot of atmosphere. The top two levels house a nautical bookstore and map/chart emporium that claims to have been there since 1730. It has the most complete selection of books, guides, and maps pertaining to our projected travels that we’ve seen anywhere. It’s a bit awkward to find the first time, but after that it’s a joy. We’ve purchased pretty much all the information we need to head south next year, and now that’s only a lot of work to deal with Belgian VHF regulations and the paperwork we’ll need for the border crossing. That may be complicated enough to keep us in the Netherlands next year, but to date the plan is to head south and probably end the summer in France. We’ll see. Seems a bit early to be planning next year, but . . . .
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