April 2021 – part 1
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From Ketelhaven we passed through the lock onto the Ketelmere along the Geldersche Ijssel and then turned onto the Ganzendiep. This was 1st April and the lock keeper said that we were the first traffic of the season but that was probably because it was the first day of the season. After a couple of hours travel we moored up for another night and then on to the Zwolle Diep where we stopped at Genemuiden to re-supply in anticipation of a couple of weeks of isolation as we headed on to more remote locations.
At Genemuiden we moored up alongside the access road to the car ferry terminal,just off the waterway. I thought this was probably a mistake with potential disruption from the ferry and passing commercial traffic but hey it was free, and it was actually very peaceful, so win win.
All we did here was to get some shopping in, primarily because the weather wasn’t very nice, but also with everything closed we just didn’t bother exploring. Maybe next time.
In the morning, after a misdirect from the navigation software, we headed along the Meppelerdiep, through a lock and across the Belter Wijde lake and onto the Beulaker Wijde lake where we came across a mooring stage alongside a narrow strip of land (with just enough space for Casper to get off and explore).
As the weather was looking quite bleak for a while we opted to stay put for a few days – an understatement really as we had a real mixed bag of weather during our stay which included 40+ kph winds, heavy rain and even hail. Luckily it wasn’t too noisy at night although the ropes did creak a bit at times.
Still, it gave me time to work on a few chores – replacing a defective light strip, making an under-bed shelf to store the suitcases on and setting up a web cam to enable Bob to follow our journey if he gets bored. Anyway, after 5 nights the weather was forecast to improve, and we left our solitary mooring for pastures new.
So, with the winds abating we made our way along the Wetering and Kalenberger waterways. Some of the buildings fronting onto the waterway were picture book perfect, many of the properties were thatched as were plenty of the outhouses and boathouses. As we wound our way through narrow waterways through a village, we passed through one bridge where we had to pay a couple of euros into a clog lowered down to us – that always feels a little bit special.
We stopped for the night just short of Ossenzijl next to a cycle path that ran along peat fields, and then took a walk up to the town which turned out to be such a small place that I was surprised when I spotted a post office en route. As I needed some stamps I popped inside this seemingly small shop, and was a bit surprised to find that the post office was also the local supermarket – it barely registered as a shop but inside it was a bit of a tardis.
After a good night’s sleep, the next day we moved on to Tjeukemeer stopping briefly at Echtenerbrug to top up with water and fuel and also visit the supermarket. From there we moved on to Eiland Marchpole, spending the next six days there, pretty much on our own most of the time at this lovely spot. A walk around the perimeter only took about 15-20 minutes but it included large grassy areas, loss of bushes and scrubland, and a beach, and Casper loved it.
But we couldn’t stay there forever, so early on our final morning we headed out across the lake towards the historic little fortified town of Sloten. Today was probably the busiest so far this season, as we came across three commercial ships.
On arriving at Sloten we passed through a lifting bridge where once again we had to drop money into a clog as payment to continue through. Whilst there is a small canal going through the town center, we followed the main route around the town and moored up at a public mooring, before taking a stroll into the picturesque little town. Well, it only took about ten minutes to walk along the banks of the inner canal and to see the quaint little houses, and with nothing really open (due to lockdown still) and a chilly breeze there was little temptation to linger. Plus, we had to get back in time to watch Simran and Gurmeet get married today via an online livestream.
Looking just as quiet at night.
