Heel to Leukermeer (15th) to Nijmegen (16th September)
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15th September – A very early start (for us) today at Heel, up at 6.30 with engine running by 7.20 to get back out and cruising. The day began beautifully, the sun was out and it was nice and warm, but as time went on it got hotter and hotter and became extremely uncomfortable.
We knew it would be a longish day today, but neither Nicki nor I imagined it would be nine hours until we arrived at our destination at 4.30. Anyway, we headed out of our mooring as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the other boaters and were quickly back on the Maas and passing into Sluis Heel with its drop of almost 7 metres, continuing on through Sluis Belfeld (11+ metre drop) in the direction of Venlo, and from there onto Well where Leukermeer is situated.
On the way we came across a few car ferries crossing the river, and there were a LOT of big and even bigger cargo ships speeding past and towards us. And as if that wasn’t enough to contend with, as we neared Leukermeer the river became a sports arena – so many speed boats, jet skis, rowing boats, etc. zipping along causing even more wash than most of the commercials.
Arriving at the lake we made our way onto a marina pontoon, but having walked around the area for a short while we thought that instead of staying in the marina we would anchor up in the centre of the lake – our first use of the anchor in four years! Decision made, we took up the ropes and cruised back out into the lake, taking our time to find a spot we were happy with. We did have a few concerns, which included will the anchor go down, will it hold/work, how will Casper cope being unable to get to show to do his ‘business’?
Well, luckily the anchor did go down and we were able to relax with dinner on the stern, whilst contemplating our next challenge of getting Casper sorted out for bed.
So, when it was almost time to turn in for the night Nicki took him out on deck to see if he would ‘perform’, but he was NOT going to wee on the boat (so well-trained) despite walking him round the gunnels from back to front to get things moving, and despite lots of encouragement. So we went to bed with an attitude of “well, what’s the worst he can do overnight”.
16th September – After a good night’s sleep in the middle of Leukermeer, we woke in the morning to spectacular views across the lake, and to find that happily Casper had been a little star – as it turned out, the worst Casper could do was ……. sleep! What a good boy he was, no accidents at all.
As soon as we were dressed we moved the boat onto a lakeside jetty to let Casper off for a well deserved chance to stretch his legs and to relieve himself – one happy dog later and we were off again to Nijmegen.
Today turned out to be yet another long day, and once in the main channel the weather became fairly misty, so much so that we used our navigation lights for a time although the visibility was good. Our first lock was Sluis Sambeek with two massive chambers, one of 238.50 metres and the other a mere 142 metres!
Carrying on from the sluis the scenery was gorgeous, very green and lush in places, and it was looking like another busy day with plenty of commercials nipping about. On the way we passed what looked like a new mooring at Gennep so that’s been entered into the DBA database for the future.
Four hours from our start time we turned onto the Maas-Waal Kanal readying ourselves to enter Sluis Heumen with Nicki on the radio asking for permission to enter the lock … when we suddenly realised that it was actually an open lock! So hoping no-one had heard us and trying to maintain our dignity we moved on rather sharpish.
Next obstacle, Sluis Weurt. Another huge chamber of 260 metres which we were unfortunate to just miss out on, instead being instructed to go into the smaller (135m) chamber.
And then we were out onto the Waal and, oh my god, it seemed like chaos. Cargo ships blue-boarding and driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the river, plus cargo ships not blue-boarding on the ‘right’ side, smaller craft going up and down both sides and even in between! Not to mention a current against us of -4 which made steering extremely tough going for the last 30 minutes or so, but we made it to the harbour in Nijmegen and with great relief claimed our berth. Once we were tied up, Nicki took off with Casper for some exercise while I stayed behind and planned our next day’s travel and sorted out a few other odds and sods. (As it turned out, I decided we’d stay here for the next few days and wait for Bob and Jane to arrive in Nijmegen on 19th, rather than meeting them in Deventer.)
