Cruise to Jirnsum. Pottle visits Grou. Another Celebration.

We arrived at De Boarnstream following another sunny and gentle cruise down the Prinses Margriet Kanal, past Grou before turning to starboard and the jachthaven. At 1545 hours we were in a nice berth and after sorting lines and power, the crew jumped off and went to the office to pay harbour dues and to pay for the oil filters we'd ordered from Wierd Kramer at De Boarnstream. Thank you, Wierd, for all your help! It was good to be back and good to enjoy a long chat about the happenings since we were there last. Nice to hear they're so busy with a lot of orders and boats in build. 

It's a lot sunnier today than the last time we were here in June!

And Pirramimma is in a nice sunny berth in one of the passentenplaats.

Fresh provisions were at an all time low causing the galley slave to become fractious. At 1700hours we jumped into Pottle and headed upstream past Jirmsum and made our way to Grou. There was supposed to be a supermarket in Jirnsum but the online info for opening hours showed we'd not make it time. 

The trip to Grou was lovely - such an attractive little waterway! The Jumbo in Grou also benefits from its own dinghy park; free for one hour. The rear of the store faces onto the dinghy park and water - if you dawdle, it's about a 2 minute walk around to the front of the store. Does it get any better than that? Yes, it does because then all you have to do is push the trolley back to the boat, unload all your purchases before taking the trolley back and collecting the deposit. Perfect! 

The other thing we needed was more fuel for Pottle. We only had a scant 1/4 tank left and we wanted to do a lot more exploring whilst staying at De Boarnstream. Back into Pottle and onto the big passentenhaven in Grou. However, it was now nearly 1830 hours so the fuel berth was closed and the havenmeester was not to be found. We couldn't see any other fuel berths around the town or haven areas. So back to Jumbo to inquire if there was a fuel station around. YES! There's only 1 fuel station in Grou apparently, but the good news is that it's only a couple of hundred yards from the front of the Jumbo store. We arrived back at Pirramimma at 1940 hours and the galley slave swung into action again. We sat on deck whilst the good old Remoska cooked a delicious meal of chicken, sweet potatoes and red peppers which we ate on deck an hour later. 

Having decided to stay a further two nights at DeBoarnstream, we jumped into Pottle next morning for a visit into Jirnsum itself. And to shop at the Accent supermarket. We'd noticed last night that there was a small FOC dinghy park just in front of the building. Again, it was gloriously sunny and a very hot day. 

It's a shame as the Accent supermarket is not only closed down, but all the interior shop fittings have been completely stripped out. We decided to take a walking tour of the village but there was nothing really to see, sadly. The village has been 'bypassed' by a new road, so as is often the case, the little village has "died". But please don't let that stop you from cruising down this little waterway; especially if you have a dinghy or are able to cruise under the low bridges. It really is delightful.

However, the jachthaven had a gentle 'buzz' going on with all the boats that were there. It's a very friendly place and it was lovely to see all the folk chatting and laughing together.  We had a busy afternoon onboard, catching up on chores. Richard fitted a new oil filter in the generator whilst crew attempted to catch up on the accumulated washing mountain. During the day, the temperature had reached 35C in the main saloon on Pirramimma. Late afternoon shadows provided some cooling moments for dogs and humans to enjoy.

Looking the other way, we could enjoy the soothing, gentle sounds of the wind through the reeds and trees. Utterly peaceful and very relaxing.

The next morning, the crew continued her ongoing (but hitherto unmentioned) battle with the spiders. Daily tasks include cleaning and drying all the topsides to take advantage of the morning dew on deck. Every night, the spiders enjoy pooping on the cream cabin top and currently appear to be winning the fight. Crew is miffed. 

Whilst Richard worked on cleaning some of the canopy covers, further attempts to conquer the washing mountain take place. This time crew cheats by using the large commercial washing machine and dryer in the haven facilities. Sorted.  It's 31C in the saloon and we jump into Pottle to find an ice-cream or two. We end up finding some in the little shop at the RFU haven next door. Next we zip across the Prinses Margriet Kanal to take a look at the hotel/restaurant close by. It's jam-packed with folk enjoying lunch and cooling drinks by the water's edge. We add it to our list of places to try when we haven't just eaten an ice-cream. We continued along past and cruised the peaceful back-waters nearby; poking Pottle's nose into as many little hidden havens of peace as we could.

The galley slave decided it was the perfect evening for a barbecue - we sat on deck to eat our meal, enjoying our last evening at Jirnsum for this trip. Later that evening, we watched as these two hot-air balloons floated overhead. 

Next morning we had quite a few farewells to say as we'd made new friends in the jachthaven. Lots of smiles and good wishes with the hopes of meeting up on another occasion. Engine on at 1130 hours and we reversed gently out of our berth. Turned to starboard again onto the Prinses Margriet Kanal, under the huge railway bridge and south to Lemmer. 

We arrived back at our home berth at 1445 hours: it was busy on the waterways and busy in town. It's breezier and cooler too. This weekend we have a birthday onboard to celebrate. Galley slave was asked to prepare the smoked salmon and avocado starter we'd enjoyed for our anniversary and to marinate some king prawns to be BBQ-d. Apparently the birthday person enjoyed their day and also the meal. After dinner, we sat on deck sipping Cointreau on ice, again a perfect evening. 

Next day we headed back to our favourite little chandlery and purchased more bit and pieces for Pirramimma. Most of it to replace/upgrade existing items onboard. A couple of fenders, chain, 'nuts n bolts' various. Then we detoured to our new jachthaven for next year as we have recently been allocated a specific berth there. We know exactly where it is and don't really need to check it, but do so anyway. Who can resist; certainly not us! Additionally, we've had a new insurance broker recommended to us, so we whizz into town for a chat and to ask for a quote. 

Our last couple of evenings onboard means the galley slave needs to clean out all the perishable food from the fridge and freezer. Satay pork steaks and organic/bio sausages combined brilliantly with basmati rice, greek yoghurt, satay sauce and trimmings various. Serendipity.

Final orders onboard include the usual things: cleaning, packing, loading the car. Afterwards, we sat on deck for the last time on this trip. We drank a toast to our lovely boat and reflected on this, our longest time so far on Pirramimma; our longest cruise to date on her. She'd performed beautifully and we'd been extremely comfortable. We'd made some lovely new friends and caught up with 'old' ones. We are so very lucky and hugely grateful for all these blessings. And now, there's the next trip to look forward to. 
See you soon!
Vxx