22nd March - 27th March 2015. Harwich to Hoek van Holland. Elburg to Blokzijl.

For a little change in our routine, we decided to catch the day ferry over to Hoek van Holland. We hardly sleep on the night crossing, and the journey is so short that the loud PA announcements start about 5.30am. We still booked a cabin and found this to be a pleasant compromise. We can stretch out, make our coffee etc and even bring a picnic onboard which means we don't have to eat the less than appetising ferry food.  Plus, we have a lovely view and there was plenty of activity on the water: ships of all sizes and cargoes plying back and forth between the UK and Europe.  For the last couple of hours, we also had glorious sunshine which continued on our car journey to Elburg from Hoek.

Waiting for the last freight to be loaded at Harwich.

We arrived at about 1950 local time and were utterly thrilled to find a lamp lit and the central heating on. What a lovely welcome and we were so grateful to our friend, Diederick, for taking the time to do that for us.

Next, we unloaded the car and, bit by bit, carried all our kit out along the pontoon and onto Pirramimma. This was quite some undertaking as the entire back of the Audi was jammed full of kit. We'd purchased a new teak table for the aft deck and we had also brought more crockery, cutlery, wine glasses, bedding, towels and galley equipment. Books for our onboard library, spare parts, new charts, tools and other engine kit, new (large) cushions for the lazarette on the aft deck, two deck chairs which we'd revarnished and cleaned over the winter. Food stores, both perishable and bottled/canned etc plus clothing for 3 weeks to cover pretty much every weather condition.

By 2200, all the kit was onboard and I was already stowing bits and pieces away in what I hoped would be the perfect location for them. We ate a very late supper and continued with  unpacking boxes and bags.  We pretty much fell into bed at about 2345. Shattered, as the day had started very early too.  Even so, there still remained a lot of work to be done next morning. We plugged away steadily and by 5pm, it was pretty much done.  You get the picture as to just how much kit we brought with us!  It was a little bit like moving house.

We had some bills to pay - the Webasto central heating had been serviced, the boat de-winterised, for example, so wandered over to Jachtcenter to deal with those.  And we also took some English ales to Diederick as a thank you for his kindness.  Caught up with other friends whilst we were at Elburg Yachting; especially sweet and beautiful Genevieve.

The sunshine was absolutely glorious, and it was warm enough to sit out on the aft deck with just shirtsleeves rather than bulky sweaters etc.  We were thrilled with our new teak table: it fits the area perfectly and is the perfect height and size too. Sunshine is great but it also brings dust and cobwebs into crystal clarity! I realised I'd best get the dusters and vacuum cleaner out from their winter slumbers.

New teak table, new cushions. Refurbished deck chairs.

The next day, Richard decided to undo some of my efforts re: a clean and tidy galley as he had to clear out various cupboards/lockers so he could fit the new Seagull water filter into the pipes for the galley tap. It will come as no surprise as to who got to clean it away again!

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Meantime, Diederick called to visit and told me about another British couple who had bought a boat from Elburg Yachting and asked me to keep an eye out for them and to say Hi if we saw them. About an hour later, they wandered over to Pirramimma and introduced themselves to us. We had a pleasant chat and agreed to catch up again before we left Elburg for our new berth at Lemmer.  Which we duly did, and over coffee heard all about their cruising plans for the coming year. 

Later that evening, we managed to sit out on deck to enjoy some evening apéros plus the inevitable bottle of Champagne to celebrate being back onboard Pirramimma.

The good life onboard Pirramimma.

We decided to leave Elburg on Friday morning for our journey to Lemmer and Pirramimma's summer berth.  The weather is becoming less pleasant and we have to be gone from this berth by Sunday evening or early Monday morning at the latest. So we ploughed on with all the cleaning and double checking of kit and engines etc.

On Friday morning, we woke early. I had to book passage through the sluis at the northern end of the Randmeren. We are travelling out of season (prior to 1 April) so brugs/bridges and sluis/locks have to be booked in advance. We wanted to lock through at 11am so I phoned at 0645 only to be told we could only lock through at 1pm. So that kind of put a spanner in the works with regard to our schedule. In the end, the lock was ready by 1230 and we were through by 1245. Very cold and very, very windy with gusting Force 7 on the nose as we motored across the Ketelmeer.  We ate soup and sandwiches on the way and arrived at Blokzijl at 1700. We moored up on a pontoon in the middle of the haven and made sure Pirramimma had all lines doubled up: there are even stronger winds on the way! 

Here we are, soon after we'd arrived in Blokzijl on Friday 27th March.

Vxx