Cruise Reflections: photographs and memories.

I guess most, if not all cruising folk do this during the down time between cruising seasons and we're certainly no exception. Jointly, and separately, we've been spending time looking through the many photos taken of our time on Pirramimma over the year and a half since we first saw her. Although come to think of it, I don't remember doing it so much when we lived and did our boating/cruising in the same country. Then it was easy to zap down to the boat yard or marina and do some work or just check over the boat to make sure all was safe and sound. I think the longest journey I ever had between boat and home was when I lived in Hampshire (England) and kept my little yacht in Chichester marina on the Sussex coast. And that was only about 1 hour and 30 minutes journey either way. Easy.

This time around, it takes between 12 and 14 hours each way from the moment we leave our driveway until we pull up in the jachthaven in the Netherlands. Another country; an hour and a half from home to ferry port; a ferry ride of 7+ hours; the inevitable and tedious waiting to board/disembark; customs and security either side; a two hour drive minimum from the ferry on the other side. Hardly insurmountable but frankly, not cheap when you do that 6 or 7 times a year and as return journeys too. Of course this is nothing compared to many of our friends who live even further from their boats - many live in either the USA or Australia or New Zealand with their boats kept in France, Belgium or the Netherlands. Or other parts of Europe. Quite some journeys, time and expense to say the least. 

So yes, already this winter has found us looking at photos and asking each other: "What was your favourite moment of this year's cruising?"  The answer for each of us has been that there has been no particular *moment* that was a favourite. Rather that ALL of it has been great, interesting, a learning experience, fun and just plain enjoyable. We hug the memories and cherish the good times and smile at the so-called 'bad times': we learnt a lot from it all.

Photographs and memories - in no particular order, with a few right back to the beginning…

The warm, cosy glow and atmosphere of Pirramimma's forward dining area. Crew checking into social media. Photo taken March 2015, Blokzijl haven…

Two young swallow fledglings perched on one of Pirramimma's davits. Mother was catching insects and feeding them. They squeaked with delight every time she fed them. June 2015, De Boarnstream haven, Jirnsum…

Pirramimma starts her journey to becoming ours. Here she is on her survey day as the tractor begins to pull her out from the hall where she was stored. It's quite strange to see her previous name! We were impressed with the thoroughness of the survey and happily recommend our surveyor to all who ask. Jachtcenter Elburg, August 2014..

I still get a kick out of cruising over a motorway! Coming into Harderwijk on our first cruise. October 2014…

Spakenburg haven, October 2014. Again on our first cruise…

Sunset on the Sneekermeer. September 2015...

The inner courtyard garden at Elburg Museum. It was gloriously warm in the garden and those roses truly had an exquisite fragrance. September 2015...

How Pirramimma's aft deck used to look. We've changed the eating and relaxing arrangements by removing the little swing table and adding a lovely teak table that will, at a push, seat 6 and certainly 4 in comfort. Taken at Elburg on our first viewing August 2014… 

Same day, but later that afternoon and another boat. We saw this one in Sneek. In spite of the gritted teeth smile, it was not an auspicious viewing. The first thing I did when looking around the saloon was to open a locker (cupboard) door. It promptly fell off its hinges leaving me holding a useless door in my hand and feeling somewhat tetchy taken aback! But that turned out to be a pretty good indicator of the build/finish quality of the boat so we walked away with some relief. It was however, a very useful comparison to the superb build quality and finish of our beautiful girl. Still taking notes for my records…

Pirramimma still in the crane slings but about to head out for the water-based component of her survey day. Elburg August 2014…

Some of our happiest moments and certainly most peaceful moments, have been spent at 'nature' (i.e. no power/water/facilities) moorings. This was one of our first on the Veluwemeer. We've been twice to this particular one and on both occasions were the only boat/people here. October 2014…

Another blissfully calm evening. Again, at Elburg in the early days…

And of course, as someone who loves to cook, I'm blessed to have a great galley that works so well for me. It's a pleasure to cook on Pirramimma and it's no surprise to learn that I have many happy memories of lovely meals together, lovely evenings and lovely friends we've shared some laughter and good times with. The Galley Slave at work. Blokzijl March, 2015...

My view from the dining table looking aft up into the saloon. There have been a few, minor changes since the pic above. November 2015…

Another nature mooring earlier in the season, though this one is on the outskirts of a little village…

Still it was a delightfully peaceful evening with an absolutely stunning sunset later on…

Another glorious day in paradise! Urk haven, September, 2015…

The Skipper does a great job with the Cobb BBQ. Galley slave hurries to provide the necessary refreshments...

 

We cruised a total of 464 nautical miles between leaving Elburg in late March, 2015 and returning at the end of our cruise on Flevoland in late October, 2015. That's nearly 860 kilometres of relaxed and comfortable cruising. We are blessed and grateful for every moment.

Vxx

Merry Christmas.

Season's Greetings from Suffolk, England!

I hope that whatever you're doing or wherever you are on Christmas Day, that you have a relaxing and peaceful time.  

Merry Christmas to you - may it be the best ever.

Vxxx

Winter Planning: Thoughts on our first Cruise in 2016.

Yesterday's weather was very much the 'stay-indoors-by-the-fire' kind so I spent a bit of time thinking of some options for our first cruise next year.  That cruise will be the delivery trip from Elburg to Pirramimma's new berth and jachthaven sometime in mid to late April. No particular date fixed as yet but I expect it will be about a month later than her trip to Lemmer via Blokzijl this year.  Fair to say that I hope the weather will be much kinder to us this time!

We really have 5 options to choose from, though one of those options is the same trip as last year, viz: via Blokzijl and Vollenhove etc.  But I'm discarding that option for this time around as I think the waterway is so lovely it deserves more time to be able to really enjoy the scenery and the little towns and harbours. Ideally, I'd like to do that as either an early or late summer cruise for a couple of weeks or more. Maybe as the perfect cruise to enjoy with friends onboard. Maybe next year; maybe not.

So that gives me 4 workable options to choose from. Time to get the charts, guides and the almanac out for some further in-depth planning. 

Option 1 starts in a very similar manner to this year's delivery cruise by heading across the Ketelmeer towards Schokkerhaven and then turning to starboard into the Ramsdiep. Turn to port again just before Vogeleiland and head up as if towards Vollenhove. Diverge before Vollenhove by turning to port and entering the Noord Oost Polder at the Voorstersluis and brug. This means we would be taking the inland water waterway via Marknesse and Emmeloord before heading north towards Lemmer. We then exit the northern end of the polder at the Fries Sluis before turning to starboard and cruising back through Lemmer centrum. The cruise continues on via the Prinses Margriet Kanaal before we arrive at our home port. Here's a very rough guide to that journey. (The arrows in the charts following only give a very general guide to the journeys to be taken so please don't think they're fit for navigation purposes!) 
For Option 1 please follow the red arrows...

Option 1.

Option 2 is pretty much the reverse of our return trip to Elburg at the end of September this year. But this time I'd like to spend a bit more than one night  at Urk. And then of course we continue on through Lemmer towards our new home port. Follow the blue arrows this time...

Option 2.

Option 3 once again starts in a similar fashion to our trip in March via Blokzijl and sees us crossing the Ketelmeer and heading to starboard along the Ramsdiep. But this time, we continue in an easterly direction towards Zwartsluis. We take the north arm via the Meppelerdiep before veering to port and the Beukersgracht and heading to Giethoorn. Then up to Steenwijk before turning to port again and following the Kanaal Steenwijk Ossenzijl. From Ossenzijl we retrace our March trip again via Echtenerbrug and the Tjeukemeer, the Prinses Margriet Kanaal etc. 

Prime objection to Option 3 is that the Giethoorn/Steenwijk/Ossenzijl component would be combined with the Blokzijl/Vollenhove component of the previously mentioned but discarded fifth option. It really would make for a lovely circular summer cruise.  Follow the purple arrows... 

Option 3.

So that leads us on to Option 4. Here we follow our course back to Urk, staying in the Urk haven for a couple of nights before heading north towards Stavoren and the Johan Friso Sluis. I rather fancy a couple of nights staying on the inner side of Stavoren. We visited the town by car earlier this year and thought it was lovely. There's a good selection of moorings available just on the eastern side of the town. Then the cruise continues in a north easterly direction along the Johan Friso Kanaal towards our new home port. Black arrows point the way...

Option 4.

I think at this moment Option 4 is my preference but if it's blowing a hoolie and/or there's a wind against tide issue on the IJsselmeer then it might not be so nice. The boat is more than strong enough to cope with bad weather as she is Category B and the crew are also strong enough. But frankly, who needs to bash through rubbish conditions if you don't have to. Not this little black duck! Been there; done that. The other point about Option 4 is that if the weather is absolutely atrocious then we can always turn it into Option 2 and head up via Lemmer. Or stay in Urk for a bit longer. 

However, that's what weather forecasts are for! And I'll be watching them pretty closely come the time. 

Obviously it's impossible right now to say or even guess which course we'll opt for when the time comes. All of these options will be enjoyed over at least 3 days with some overnight stays 'somewhere' along the way. And with plenty of choice for these overnighters, we can probably make that particular decision at the time. 

Unless, of course, it's a weekend and the sun is shining. In which case I'll need to book in advance if we want to stay in, say, Urk haven. This lesson I learnt on our trip from Lemmer to Elburg in September this year. Sunshine = busy on the water = busy in the havens and restaurants!

Next up in my planning schedule is to spend some time on the internet to investigate towns and havens along the various routes. And oh yes, that means I'll be investigating all the restaurant choices as well! Then more time checking the Almanac for all the necessary information on brug/sluis/haven etc. Then making lots of notes for my own reference and planning; my little notebook is becoming a really useful reference manual.

Half the fun is in the planning and the dreaming! Happy days, my friends.

Vxx

Weather or Not, Christmas Approaches.

The weather has been totally unseasonal here in our little neck of the woods. Quite often it's been warm enough to go outside in shirtsleeves with no sweater or coat required. We've enjoyed some gloriously sunny days interspersed with some disgustingly wet and muddy days. 

Today however, the wind is cold, biting and from the North. Perhaps Winter is finally here.

I hope we will have some snow falls over the Christmas period. I love that sharp white crispness - the air always seems cleaner and the fields look so beautiful with their covering of snow. Despite, or perhaps because of, a lifetime of Christmases in warm or hot climates Christmas still seems so much more special when it's snowing. I love hot sunshine and sea breezes, but at Christmas give me some snow please!

Winter view from our cottage - but no snow so far for us in 2015.

In other parts of the UK, folk have suffered dreadful destruction to their homes and disruption to their lives with the horrendous flooding wrought by Storm Desmond. Many have had to cope with more flooding within a week of the last lot. We have been blessed, and very grateful, to escape any flooding and to escape the very worst of the destructive winds too. 

Here in our little country cottage, the last week or so has mostly been about trying to sort out medications, painkillers etc and the correct dosages for our lovely girl. The first lot of meds were beginning to cause some unpleasant reactions and so we rapidly changed them to a new formulation.  Fingers crossed, we seem to have a good balance for her right now and she is relaxed and happy. Her hind leg is worse/weaker but that doesn't seem to faze her at all. I guess animals just 'get on' with things. So many folk, either here or on FB etc, have sent messages of support and positive vibes for her. Bless you - each and every message has meant a lot to us.  Here she is…

Is that my supper I can smell? 

We spend quite a lot of our time in our Snug during this time of year. It's a perfect description - the room is just that: cosy and snug. We have a lovely old inglenook fireplace with a wood burning stove which warms the house beautifully. Of course the house is centrally heated as well! But in winter, the wood burning stove really is the heart of our home. 

All our charts and maps of the Dutch waterways are overwintering in this room. Perfectly located for planning and dreaming of our summer cruising to come.

Photo: Veronica Hayes

Inevitably, my mind is turning to our Christmas meal. For the past few years, I have cured a side of salmon to make the classic Scandinavian dish, Gravad Lax.
The picture below shows the start of the curing process. I like to add pink peppercorns to the curing mix - it looks pretty and gives a nice flavour to the salmon. It's easy to do and has the added benefit of being prepared in advance making it a snip for the galley slave on the day.

It's a snowy scene on the Gravad Lax preparations!

We adore Gravad Lax! And we love the traditional mustard dressing and the sweet/sour pickled cucumbers that go with it. We also enjoy fillet of beef for our main course. Last year I made a massive bowl of béarnaise sauce to accompany the beef. When I say massive, I do mean massive. About 1 litre or so of the stuff. Not quite sure what I was thinking of at the time, but I can say that after an hour of whisking egg yolks, herb-infused vinegar and butter together by hand, I was wishing I'd made a simple red wine sauce instead!

This year, the Gravad Lax will once again feature for our first course. But we're going to ring the changes for our main course as I'm going to reprise the delicious Hot Smoked Duck Breast recipe we enjoyed on our wedding anniversary. We'll go traditional again with a Christmas pudding for dessert. 

On Christmas Eve, we will decorate the tree and our home. And we'll be opening a bottle of Champagne to toast absent friends and each other. 

Of course, I'll be hoping for a sight similar to this one… the south side of our garden overlooking the pond with icicles dripping from the thatched roof. All beautifully enrobed with a covering of pristine snow - such joy! 

Vxx

News from the Winter Fireplace.

It's nearly a month since we returned home to England following 2015's final cruise and our subsequent trip to Rotterdam to meet our friends. 

A few days before we arrived back home, we'd received a concerned email from the dear folk who look after our beloved dog when we're away. She (the dog) had been suddenly struggling to get up and was very, very weak on her off-hind leg. The knee joint just didn't seem to be working and she could hardly use the foot properly. Long story short: she has a bone tumour in that leg and the prognosis is not good. She's 14 1/2 years old and to subject her to radical and traumatic surgery is not on our list of good, or even kind things to do.  She is currently very happy, waggy-tailed, cuddly, eating well and generally enjoying life still. And for as long as that remains, then we will continue. She has a great Vet in whom we have complete confidence and we're working as a team to look after her.

Here she is, back in summer this year. Still looking about two years old...

She is still demanding to be taken on walks - just that those walks are now very, very slow and entirely at her pace. Mostly they are major 'sniff fests' which she has always delighted in. We don't go very far at all but she enjoys it which is all that matters right now.

Our focus is now firmly on her, and so plans for some jaunts to warmer climes over the winter period are on-hold for the foreseeable future. 

We are maintaining a positive outlook - or at least trying to maintain a positive outlook. For her sake as much as ours. As a consequence, we're still dreaming of our boat whilst Nav/Tour Director is looking at various options for our cruising plans in 2016. 

I guess that I'll be doing a little bit more blogging about stuff going on here over the winter although I also guess we won't be going far for the foreseeable future. And I think I'll be writing some more blogs about Pirramimma: maybe some more photos of our cruising this year and maybe about a couple of minor maintenance tasks I've completed over the past 12 months or so. As well as, of course, those cruising options for next year. 

Meantime, all positive thoughts for our beloved little girl would be gratefully appreciated. Thank you.

Vxx

Next Season's Cruising in Friesland: A New Jachthaven Berth for Pirramimma.

But backing up a little, here's some history: 

This summer season, which was our first in Friesland, we kept Pirramimma in Lemmer. It was one of those last-minute decisions due to not being able to berth her in Elburg, our first choice, for the summer.  

Well of course we couldn't keep her in Elburg - it's a hugely popular location and the jachthaven had only a small number of berths for boats of Pirramimma's dimensions. And they'd been booked up long, long, long before we completed the purchase in September, 2014. 

I was broken hearted very disappointed when we heard the news but our kind friend, Diederick, told us about some other options he thought might be useful and where we might stand a chance of being able to find berths still available. And Lemmer was one of those options. Some online research showed the town had quite a few jachthavens so on a cold, grey and very windy October day we jumped in the car and headed off to Lemmer.

At the time, we wondered what on earth we were doing as we seemed to be taking the boat further and further north. And to colder and colder climes than we'd originally intended! Would we ever see the sun shine and feel its warmth on our backs? To top it all off, everyone was telling us 'They speak a different language in Friesland, you know'.  WHAT???  I'm only just beginning to learn a few words of Dutch and now you tell me I need to learn another language…

I could, no doubt, be heard mumbling and muttering to myself as we drove along the motorway.

By the time we arrived in Lemmer, the wind was having a fine old time of it. We drove through the town and found our way to some of the jachthavens on the IJsselmeer side of the town. At three of them, we could see at a glance that the berths were too small for us. No matter: the wind was making such a racket through the yachts' rigging I hardly felt inclined to want to stay at any of them. We drove on to the end of the pier and found another large jachthaven but were unable to find anyone to talk to. We hung around for a little while but were driven back to the car when heavy rain began to fall. But at least many of the berths were big enough for Pirramimma. I made a note to phone them the next day if we were still looking. 

At the next jachthaven, a little out of town on the north side, we found the havenmeester in his office and we were grateful when he said, yes, he did have a space for us. Just one space left, so be quick with your decision! We promised we would return before the end of the day as we still had another couple of places to check out. At the next haven, we pretty much received 'short shrift' from the havenmeester who just laughed at us when we inquired. And that was also Okay with us: now we know all we need to know about you! The final jachthaven was a bit of a riddle as we were completely unable to find the havenmeester despite being directed, one by one, to several buildings he was 'definitely' working in. I guess after that, it was pretty much 'Fait accompli".

So. There we were. All sorted via one way or another. Phew!  We drove back into town to look around and see if we could find some food. It was now after 3pm and we were famished. 

Lemmer Centrum and the haven. Looking North.

Lemmer Centrum again. Looking South and some blue sky makes an appearance though not for long!

After a snack lunch, we walked around the town to get our bearings - and liked what we saw! Then we drove back to Elburg feeling more confident that we would have some pretty good cruising locations to visit in 2015. 

But during the course of the 2015 summer, we realised just how noisy the jachthaven is. It's right next to a major road that carries some heavy traffic at all times of the day and night. It also turned out that the berths on either side of us had been dedicated to charter boats berthing. And that wasn't such a happy thing as sadly, a lot of those folk have no idea how to handle a boat - charter companies have no requirement for experience and don't provide any training, basic or otherwise. There were other issues but here is not the place to discuss them. Enough to say that very early on in the season, we decided to move for 2016. 

We won't be far from Lemmer and that's a good thing as we still like the town very much. Plus, it's extremely convenient for our journeys to and from Hoek van Holland. 

So, where will we be?  Here are some pics of our new berth and the surrounding area. In the first photo, imagine Pirramimma in the space where the lovely traditional Dutch aak is berthed. 

There's a lovely view aft over open farmland...

It's quieter for one thing. And it's a much smaller and much friendlier place, too. Sure it will be busy in summer cos that's how it is Friesland in summer. Our berth is bigger and access is easier. The last one only had about 1 metre manoeuvring space which is not a lot of fun in a strong cross wind. Again, doable, but who needs it!  Plus, it's not next to a very busy and very dusty road.

Looking either way from where the above photo was taken…

Looking towards Lemmer in the distance...

Looking towards the Havenkantoor and the little town.

This next photo was taken in April, 2015 when we were still trying to secure a berth here. It was taken just outside the havenkantoor building and you can see the windmill and the outskirts of the little town.  We can either walk into town or take our dinghy, Pottle, into town should we want to. There are some lovely restaurants to choose from so I imagine we will be doing that quite a bit.

Lovely sunshine in a lovely little location. The Skipper looks happy too.

I'm looking forward to being able to post more photos and information in due course when we move Pirramimma there in 2016. 

Vxx