Pirramimma in Sneek. Return to Lemmer via Sloten.

We left the little Marrekrite island at 1105 hours. Our route took us just over 4 nautical miles to Sneek from the island, and we cruised at a leisurely pace along the waterways and into the town. Once again, it's a delight to be on the move, albeit for such a short distance. Every corner we turn around brings a new vista to enjoy. To us, it's endlessly fascinating and enjoyable. No matter how many times we travel a particular canal, we always see something different. An hour and 15 minutes later we're safely moored, port side to, in the Koopmansgracht. Engine off at 1220 hours. What a lovely spot this is! 

For those who might not know, Sneek is a hugely popular and very busy boating destination and every August, Sneek hosts Europe's largest inland waterways sailing event. And, I suspect, Europe's largest inland party as well! Depending on what you read or who you listen to, over 10,000 boats come to Sneekweek every year. Translate that into spectators and crew members, and you have one heck of a party going on that week or so. 

Naive tourists that we are, we went to Sneek in August 2014 whilst Sneekweek was taking place. Just to see a boat, you understand, though it wasn't Pirramimma. And the town was HEAVING. We'd no idea what we'd let ourselves in for when we tried to negotiate our way through the town in order to make our appointment. We were 45 minutes late and I/we hate, hate being late for appointments. I wasn't especially well disposed towards Sneek for a little while after that!

So we were more than a little surprised at how quiet the town was when we arrived. But of course, a) it wasn't Sneekweek and b) we'd forgotten that towns are quiet on Mondays as many shops either only open in the afternoon or remain closed all day. Plus, it was lunchtime. And maybe the weather conditions of the past few days had altered some folks cruising plans. 

After three windy days on the Sneekermeer, we were happy to be in the shelter of this pretty little canal on the eastern side of the town. Just the one brug on this leg of our trip, the Oppenhuizerbrug, which you can probably make out aft of Pirramimma's stern in this picture. 

The photo below shows the canal south of us, with the next brug, Van Harinxmabrug, through the town's waterway system. It's a pretty little brug with some nice details in the ironwork. I saw lots of folk taking photos of it and perhaps it quietly vies with the famous Waaterpoort for attention. 

Believe me, these two photos show the town waterways in super quiet mode and it did not last for long! Boats started moving past as soon as the usual lunch time lull was over. By 7pm, the places aft of Pirramimma were nearly full and the places on the other side of the canal from us were similarly full. There's no mooring permitted in front of us as space is needed for boats to manoeuvre through the brug. There's also a narrowing bend in the canal just forward of us which you can't see in either of these photos.  

After lunch, we decided we'd check on the location for the VVV (Tourist office) and also see if we could find the Fries Scheepvaart Museum about which we'd heard great things and were keen to visit.  Turns out both are in the same building so that was pretty easy. Access, on the other hand, wasn't quite so easy as the street and footpath were closed whilst workmen erected scaffolding over the entire building facade. We walked on, crossing over the street and spotting an Asian restaurant next to the VVV and the museum. This was particularly convenient. The Galley Slave is on strike after producing a three course meal last night for our guests. The restaurant was quite close to our mooring space so we could return later for a simple takeaway to enjoy onboard. 

We continued on our way and made a pretty cursory exploration of the town - it was more of an orienteering exercise than anything. We walked down to the famous and very impressive Waaterpoort. We'd cruised past it in April so it was nice to see it from the other side, both literally and figuratively. 

The arch over the water shows a tiny bit of the canal leading out of Sneek to the south west. We passed directly in front of this in April. Looking at the Waaterpoort, there's a lifting bridge you can't see on the left hand side and behind the tree.

And here's the comparative photo taken from Pirramimma's bow as we cruised towards the other side of the Waaterpoort in April this year. Aren't the trees bare?! 

Anyway, back to this trip to Sneek… And a slightly different angle which shows a little bit more of the lovely wide streets in this part of town. 

This next photo is taken from within the building and is looking directly at the bridge I stood on to take the photo above. Probably about where that first little white car is...

The sun decided to come out when we returned to Pirramimma and we sat on the aft deck enjoying a cup of coffee whilst we discussed tactics for the next day and how long we'd stay here. The canal side mooring places are beginning to fill. What a difference some sunshine can make to a view! 

The havenmeester called for dues around 1800 hours. We thought €39 to be excellent value for two nights mooring, wifi, unmetered electricity and tourist tax for two people. 

Later that evening, we enjoyed a glass of wine, taking in the view from the aft deck. You can see how many more boats are now moored up for the night. 

Next morning, we visited the Fries Scheepvaart Museum, taking a quick detour via a chandlery on the way to the museum. (We seem to find it impossible to resist any chandlery for some reason.)  Do check out the museum if you get a chance to do so - entry fee was only €6 p/p and included the first cup of tea or coffee free. This maritime museum is well laid out and is huge! It's spread out over about 6 adjoining canal buildings.  The museum focuses on local seafaring life: there are displays of beautiful silver and porcelain, ship models, paintings, navigational instruments, displays on ice skating including a lot of information, various trophies and medals relating to the Eleven City race. Plus, of course, a display about Skûtsje sailing/racing. There are some excellent displays giving insight into the lives of some of the wealthy local families as well. 

There's a lot to see and take in. So if you do visit this excellent museum, be prepared and take a break in the little courtyard garden if the weather's nice. 

This model is of a very important little ship - it's De Groene Draeck which is owned by Beatrix, the former Queen of the Netherlands. A very pretty little ship it is too. It's a shame but we have yet to see it despite the boat and its owner visiting Lemmer a couple of times this year. Perhaps another time. 

 A little idea as to the scale of the model…

This model is of a Cantonese "Flower Boat". It's carved from ivory and is from the collection of a Captain in the Dutch East India Trading Company from the 18th century. The attention to detail in this, and all the other models in the museum, was extremely impressive and beautiful.

I tried and tried to get a good photo of the amazing model of the masted ship in the background, but it was just too dark for the phone.  You'll just have to go and see it for yourself!

However, I did manage to get another photo of another ship - you'll probably recognise this one. Fairly serious contortions required to be able to get the shot.

These took my eye. They're kliken (spelling?) and they sit on top of the tiller arm of old Dutch barges. They represent the area or province or even the builder of a barge - a bit like an individual flag. All are hand carved and painted. Some barges, such as De Groene Draeck, have carvings of animals or birds, mythical or otherwise, instead.

Obviously these photos are just a 'taster' of the variety of displays in the museum. 

Later on, we were treated to another lovely sunset. This photo shows the bend in the canal in front of Pirramimma, and which I mentioned earlier. And there are double reds showing on the brug lights. That's it for through-traffic in the canal for the night now. 

Galley Slave decided to cook a large pan of ratatouille for supper on our second night in the town. Served with some basmati rice and a green salad, it was delicious. Ratatouille is such a useful dish for using up any vegetables which may be languishing in the fridge. 

We stayed a total of three nights in Sneek, and hardly scratched the surface of the town as far as exploring and discovering its secrets is concerned. We enjoyed browsing some of the lovely shops, made a few purchases, ate a couple of delicious artisan ice creams and sat outside for lunch at De Walrus on our last day there. We walked and walked but I realise that there's so much more to see than we managed on this visit. Next time!

The following day, Thursday, we left Sneek and headed back towards Lemmer. Windfinder was not saying anything very nice about the weather for that day. Our original intention was to call into Sloten and spend a night there first. The weather predictions were pretty spot on, sadly. It was cold, raining hard and very, very windy plus water conditions were fairly bumpy and confused with all the wash from the commercials travelling that day. 

We left Sneek at 1035 hours and pulled up at the same mooring space in Sloten that we stayed at in April. Crew jumped off and onto a disconcertingly rickety pontoon to make fast the boat. Definitely not as we remembered it. In fact, over the course of the summer, many of the wooden posts in the water were quite rotten and some had almost rotted completely away. Added to that, the mooring rings were nearly pulled out of the pontoon so we certainly did not feel especially safe and secure in these windy conditions.  Some serious maintenance work required over the coming winter, methinks. We stood on the aft deck and monitored the conditions for some time before deciding to stay for a little while to break up the journey. Engine off at 1355 hours.

Over the next couple of hours, the weather did not improve at all, if anything, appearing to worsen. Our plan for an overnight stay was abandoned and we left after a late lunch, which we ate below decks in the warm comfort of the saloon and the Webasto heating. Engine on at 1620 hours, and we continued back to our home berth in Lemmer. With two options for the journey back to Lemmer, we decided to retrace our wake before turning south to starboard and back onto the Prinses Margriet Kanal. I imagine we'll be using this particular route through the Wâld-sleat and the Hjerring-sleat a lot next year. 

As we approached the turn to port off the Prinses Margriet Kanal and towards Lemmer, the wind dropped and the rain changed down several gears from drenching downpour to merely a light drizzle. Crew was extremely grateful.  Skipper eased us back into our own berth, crew secured the lines and engine off at 1750 hours.  We were pleased to be 'home', albeit for a short time.