Cruise to Dokkum Pt 1: Marrekrite mooring. Meeting friends in Dokkum and a windmill tour.

The sunshine continued as we made our way out of Leeuwarden and moved onto the Dokkumer Ee, the waterway that leads to the town of Dokkum.

Leeuwarden outskirts.

The Dokkumer Ee is a beautiful waterway to cruise and I'm sure we will return very soon. The countryside began to open out as the Dokkumer Ee swept around to the north east. 

Looking back towards Leeuwarden. In just a very short distance, everything has changed dramatically.

Pretty little houses and cottages dot the waterside. 

Arriving at the town of Burdaard, we were confronted with double reds on the brug. Lunchtime break! We pulled over to the wachtplaats and made fast. Jumped off Pirramimma and took a walk along the water. By the time we turned back, we saw the brug operator returning to the control panel. We motored through and were confronted by another brug with more red lights. After about 15 minutes, we saw the brug operator from the first brug cycling past us. He controls both bridges and has to juggle the flow of boats between the two. A bruggeld of €3.50 covered both brug. We cruised on for another mile or so before deciding to pull over for the night. Surprisingly, having passed a number of other Marrekrite moorings along the way, all of which were full, we were the only boat on this mooring until we left the following morning. We spent some time on deck just watching the parade of boats. Far more yachts on this waterway as it's part of the Standing Mast Route. Lots of German flags, some Belgian flags but just a couple of British red ensigns. 

As the evening progressed, the water traffic ceased, leaving us to enjoy this beautiful scenery. 

Galley slave produced a delicious meal of Turkish spiced chicken, basmati rice served with a spicy lemon, chilli and green olive salsa plus Greek yoghurt on the side. 

We moved from the mooring at 1000 hours the next morning. The clouds from the night before had fulfilled their promise and it was raining heavily. And it continued to rain heavily for the next two days. The wind kicked in as we approached the outskirts of Dokkum. Rain, very windy conditions and a tight space for manoeuvring whilst we waited around with 3 other boats for the bridge to open. Then had to wait at the next bridge too. Turned out to be the same arrangement as Burdaard and one bridge operator controlled the two bridges, cycling between the two. With the heavy traffic, the whole process took an age. I felt sorry for the poor man - he has a full day ahead of cycling backwards and forwards in this downpour. Bruggeld of €5 which covers the all the Dokkum bridges.

After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing from a yacht that had ran aground thus taking up lots of space, we eventually settled into position directly below one of the two windmills in Dokkum. Built in 1862, named 'Zeldenrust' and still a working mill. It opens to the public when the wind is blowing. It's possible to climb up through 4 flights to watch the milling process. 

We were moored directly beneath the windmill and had a ringside seat for all the comings and goings to the town. And happily, the wind dropped back a little.

We were delighted when friends, Sheila and Paula, turned up on their bicycles and hailed us from the bank. We'd cruised straight past them in the rain on our journey into Dokkum but hadn't seen them or their boat, Papillon. Once we'd settled our lines and plugged into shore power, we all sat on Pirramimma's aft deck and chatted over coffee and stroopwafels. It was good to hear all their cruising news! After they left us, we trudged our way through the rain to the havenkantoor to pay our dues. Not entirely sure as to how long we'd stay, we paid for just two nights. We thought €25.40 to be excellent value for 2 x nights, 2 x people tourist tax, electricity, water and wi-fi included. Plus, we had prime position in the haven below the windmill with a great view thrown in. The next morning, Sheila and Paul arrived onboard Papillon and happily, were able to pull into the space in front of Pirramimma. They kindly invited us to join them for evening apéros onboard Papillon. Next evening, we returned their hospitality. So much laughter on both occasions as we caught up on each other's news. 

A fun couple of hours onboard Pirramimma with Sheila and Paul.

On the morning of the third day, we decided we would stay in Dokkum for a further 2 nights. The rain had stopped so it was perfect for explorations a little further afield. And now the rain had finished, the wind also increased a little which in turn meant the windmill above us opened and its sails began to turn. We grabbed the chance and visited in the early afternoon. 

In the photo above, the miller keeps a close eye on the final product. The flour was wonderful. Fine textured and the mill was filled with its warm, sweet aroma. 

I hope you are able to get the impression of the speed at which the sails were driving the mill machinery. 

Pirramimma seems a long way down! 

I couldn't resist the chance to buy some of the flour from the mill. This is pancake flour. The jar of chutney was also irresistible with its 'bloody hot red chilli' ingredients. We enjoyed some chutney with our sandwiches the next day. Pancakes for breakfast one morning maybe!  

Vxx