Den Bosch DBA rally
0
0
On Tuesday our guests, Janos and Rachel, arrived at Weesp and then on Wednesday we set off for the DBA rally in Den Bosch (‘s-Hertogenbosch, which is called Den Bosch these days, lies in the province of Noord-Braban, and was home to it’s most famous resident, Jheronimus Bosch), aiming to get there for the start of the rally on the Friday. It was quite a distance to cover so we chose to travel down the main Amsterdam Rijnkanaal. This is long and straight and very busy with commercial traffic. We made really good progress and decided to skip our planned stop and head for the next one. This was a bit more of a gamble as there were no alternative moorings within that area. However, we made it to Tiel (one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, first mentioned in a document dating back to 855, where Tiel is referred to as “Dioli”) on the river Maas after cruising for 7 hours, although we did have to moor up next to the pump-out station (but it was not as bad as that sounds). Tiel itself was lovely and the sun was out so we had our evening meal outside.
Coming through the last couple of locks was a bit interesting. They said we could go in with the commercial barge but it turned out that there was a bit of an overlap with our bow and their stern. It worked out OK but it did not feel that comfortable.
We arrived in Den Bosch on the Thursday to find most of the other 26 boats already in place. Everyone was really pleased to see us and we rafted up next to the barge JoNi at our designated slot.
Den Bosch had quite an interesting underground waterway that was fully restored about thirty years ago and a few of us went on one of the boat trips, hoping to get an English speaking guide but alas no. Nevertheless it was still entertaining. For a wedding, a bride can even take the trip on this route to the registry office.
We spent quite a bit of time in a couple of local bars. Great beers and ornate decorations. The DBA had organised several get-togethers in the form of group picnics, an evening barbeque with several members manning various barbeques and a rope throwing competition, and an organised tour of the town – all very enjoyable and interesting.
