We paid our €7 bruggeld and slid into our spot at 1150 hours precisely. Very happy we chose to arrive a day early, as it were. We took the last available power port on the electricity bourne. We paid for 2 nights in port and can easily extend if we want to, or, need to.
After a restorative kopje koffie, we walked over to the Wilheminaplein. Our good friend, Petra, had told us there's a very good local produce market held there every Friday. The galley slave had advised that we were well provisioned and not to buy anything this time around. So we only purchased some freshly made stroopwafels. Mmmmm; the aroma was divine! And apparently they tasted divine too, according to the skipper. Skipper very sweetly purchased two bunches of exquisitely perfumed stocks from one of the flower stalls at the market. I adore their fragrance. We had a good look at all the stalls there and the produce was fantastic in freshness and quality. And price too. Definitely on my list of 'must do' next time we're in Leeuwarden on a Friday. Thanks, Petra!
Here's Fizz, the Moose, pretending to be shy (he's anything but), and peering through the flowers the skipper purchased from the market...
Lunch back onboard Pirramimma included left over Tandoori style chicken, a spicy Asian coleslaw, salad and some freshly baked bread rolls and butter. The skipper enjoyed a refreshing glass of beer whilst I sipped a glass of Sauvignon blanc. "Decadent" is our middle name.
Skipper and crew decided they should work off some of those calories, so we spent a couple of hours cleaning Pirramimma. She was pretty dusty from our time at the Marrekrite mooring. The galley slave made a satay marinade for a couple of pork steaks and later we sat on deck watching, and listening to, a group of very drunk gentlemen trying to moor their charter boat across the haven from us. Funny to begin with but we, and I think everyone around us, became rather concerned as they became very angry and aggressive towards each other. The haven breathed a collective sigh of relief when said boat decided to move somewhere else.
Dinner of pork satay, Asian style noodles served with a satay sauce on the side. It was rather lush. Again, we sat out on deck to enjoy the peace and quiet of the evening.
The next day, there was a lot more boat movement through Leeuwarden as boats scurried for cover from the storm that's brewing. Weather tracking is showing it will probably hit sometime in the afternoon rather than the evening as earlier predicted. Our friend, Petra, sent a warning message over Facebook with a snapshot of the area the storm was predicted to cover - pretty much all of the Netherlands and spreading over to the UK as well. I'd walked up into the Prinsentuin earlier in the morning and realised there were no free spaces left and that boats were already rafting up to other boats.
However, the early morning's weather was quite nice and we took the opportunity to head to Leeuwarden's rather impressive hardware store. Now THIS is a hardware store! It spreads over about 6 or 7 shop fronts and is truly an old fashioned hardware store where you can get anything you might need. But only when they're not closed for their summer holidays! To cheer ourselves up from this setback, we visited our favourite cheese shop in Leeuwarden and came away with 3 new-to-us cheeses, a variety of worst (dried sausage), smoked almonds, a bag of freshly roasted mixed nuts and a pot of their very good chilli spread. By this time, the weather was closing in; the first few drops of rain were coming down. It was nearly lunchtime so we voted with our feet and headed back to Pirramimma.
The barometer was dropping quite quickly now. We put a couple more fenders out and readied a couple more in case another boat needed to raft up against us. Double checked all our lines and peered anxiously at a darkening sky. Then we battened down the hatches. It looked like my tentative plan to eat out tonight was doomed.
At about 1630hours, the storm hit. And my goodness, "hit" is an accurate description. From almost no wind, Pirramimma was suddenly buffeted and rocked by blasting wind and rain began to lash the boat.
It wasn't long before it was nearly impossible to see through the rain at all…
Dining out was definitely off the cards. Instead, we enjoyed a rather low-key tapas style of meal.
Next morning, and the storm had passed through. The sun was shining. We ventured out on deck to find Pirramimma was covered in a fine coating of sand and shredded vegetation. But fortunately everything was dry so most of it was easily removed. Again, we walked into the Prinsentuin to access wifi. I wanted to check on Windfinder to see what was happening, weather wise, over the next couple of days. Walking through the Prinsentuin was a bit of a shock as there were a lot of big branches down in the park. Park maintenance staff were already cleaning up. Fortunately, I couldn't see any boats with any tree damage. By the time we returned to Pirramimma, boats were beginning to move. Lots of boats were beginning to move! Of course the storm has delayed people's plans by a day or so: charter boats need to return to base and folk who have to return to work were also in a hurry to get to their home jachthavens.
We waited until 1030 hours, then let go our lines and moved through the last 3 bridges in the Leeuwarden system. The sun was shining: what a picture the Prinsentuin presented as we passed to the north on our way to Dokkum.
Still a few boats left in the haven…
Looking back at the penultimate brug as we make our way north…
We were glad to be on our way again. Thanks again, Leeuwarden. We were grateful for the shelter you gave to us and Pirramimma.
Vxx
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