Settling in to our new Jachthaven. Looking around. A new name for the dinghy.

Oh, how good it was to wake up onboard Pirramimma and know we were in our new jachthaven! The first morning started off quite cool and grey but the clouds began to break up around 0830 hours, allowing the sun to shine and warm the aft deck enough for us to sit outside with our cups of coffee. 

Our view to 'our'  little town on our first morning at the new jachthaven.  Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

And this was the view I woke up to on the next morning. Taken at 0728 hours, whilst somewhat perilously hanging off the ladder down to the bathing platform, wearing PJs and balancing both the iPad and me as best I could without falling OB... pretty idyllic, isn't it.

Looking in the other direction, down channel towards Lemmer in the far, unseen distance.  Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

We spent that first day pottering around the boat, doing a few minor chores plus a sortie into town for fresh provisions before relaxing onboard and taking things easy. We were entranced by the view, entranced by the peace and quiet, entranced by the friendliness of the folk around us. Even Pirramimma looked happy to be here.  We caught up with emails, news and social media. Sitting outside on one of the benches here makes for a pretty good 'office'. 

Late afternoon sunshine for the Skipper as he catches up on the news and emails.  Photo credit:  Veronica Hayes

 

That's better! Sunshine on our girl but that cold, northern wind is still blowing.  Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

Despite the sunshine, the wind was still pretty strong and consequently the temperatures were pretty low.  Any thoughts of barbecuing and enjoying our evening meals outside were quickly put onto the back burner. 

Wind forecasts had taken a turn for the worse too. So over the next few days, we turned our attention to a multitude of chores that needed doing, and that so far, we'd managed to ignore.  Towards the end of our time in our marina in Lemmer last year, the starboard side teak decks were beginning to look a little green as they received the least amount of sunshine due to our position relative to the sun. And now when I looked closely at the port side and forward decks, I realised I could no longer put off the day of cleaning. Or days as they turned out to be. Everything seemed to be dirty again. The windows were filthy, the cream cabin tops had grey/black streaks from the rain and weather, the stainless steel railings and fittings were dull from the winter storage and the blue hull was coated with muck from both the journey here and various 'gifts' from birds flying overhead. There was a list of engine maintenance chores for the skipper to complete. And on my list for this trip was sanding down and re-varnishing the companion way door into the saloon from the aft deck. Both sides need work but the external varnish was my prime concern at this time. It was heavily worn in some places and I don't think had ever received any care or maintenance in the past.

It wasn't all work - there was plenty of time to enjoy the view, to chat to other folk at the jachthaven, to drink coffee and to enjoy the view a little more. We had some spectacular sunsets, even more spectacular storms pass by and over, a lot of rain and on a couple of mornings, some pretty heavy ice on deck.  Skipper tied a whole bunch of signal flags together in order to dress Pirramimma overall for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth's 90th Birthday, and we re-used them a couple of days later for Koningsdag which is King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands' birthday.  

I can't imagine ever tiring of this view from our aft deck. New, green reeds were growing up through the old by the time we left for home again. But I love this soft, golden colour of the old reeds even more than the fresh green.

Our view from the aft deck looking to the right. Nothing's as close as this as I'm using the long distance camera lens.

And the 'middle' view, as it were. Again using the long distance lens.

Finally, to the 'left' and again with long distance lens. All photo credits: Veronica Hayes

Pirramimma dressed overall to celebrate Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth's birthday.  Photo credit: Richard Hayes.

The first spectacular sunset we enjoyed in our new jachthaven. Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

Early mornings also provide some special images to treasure.  I took this pic from the open side porthole of our aft cabin at 0645 hours. Again, using the long distance lens on my camera. 

Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

Some mornings were bitterly cold. On sunny mornings before breakfast, I usually dry off the cream topsides, windows, railings and as much of the hull as I can reach. It's a job I love to do. But this time I had to retreat when I slipped on the icy teak decks. Brrrrrr! Ah well; some other day.

The ice on the cabin top is plain to see but the ice on the teak just looked like normal wet decking. Zing! went the Crew!!

One of the tasks we'd planned before we'd left home was to re-name the dinghy.  We both wanted to 'somehow' have our beloved little dog join us on all our future journeys with Pirramimma. So we decided to re-name the dinghy in her honour.  But we also knew we'd have a tough time emotionally, if we called the dinghy 'Minnie'.  She was always Minnie, we called her by that name, she knew that was her name; others knew her by that name. But when we talked about her between ourselves, we had always referred to her as "The Minn".  The Minn was always given first consideration when we made plans. So we decided we would give that new name to the dinghy; The Minn.  

The sun was shining on the Thursday after we arrived. The wind had dropped away and it seemed like the perfect day to re-launch the dinghy. We had a very low key and emotional re-naming ceremony.  Crew couldn't speak at all and so the Skipper had to carry out the task.

Skipper removes the old name stickers and prepares new ones. Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

 

New name complete. Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

Re-launch.  Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

May God bless The Minn, keep her and all who travel in her namesake, safe and sound. 

A little later in the week, the Galley Slave experimented with making fresh cheese in the microwave. It was deemed a success and we enjoyed it for lunch in various guises over the following days. 

From fresh, organic/bio milk to luscious fresh cheese for lunch! Photo credit Veronica Hayes.

Sadly, the weather decided to take a turn for the worse. We retreated to carrying out some of the 'indoor' chores which included engine maintenance for the Skipper and sanding that wretched companion way door for the Crew. 

Skipper changes the oil filters in the Perkins engine. Photo credit Veronica Hayes

Looking at the image above, you may well ask what all those empty plastic bottles in the background are for... containers that will be needed when Skipper comes to replace the engine coolant.  Perkins state this should be done on a mimimum 2 yearly basis if using other than their own branded coolant or 3 years if using their own brand. I think most folk don't ever bother to change engine coolant.  And it's likely they'll get away it with it too.  But it's worth reading what happens to coolant and the various 'preventative' additives it contains over the passing years....

Crew, meantime, was on the aft deck sanding the door down. The security lock/handle on the door is a wonderful thing but too complicated for this little black duck to remove, so it was masked up to prevent any scratches whilst sanding took place.  More sanding needed first.

Beautiful wood makes sanding a pleasure.  Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

In the end, the handle was too complicated for anyone to remove so it stayed in place and was freshly masked for each and every application of varnish and in-between sanding.  A little something to look forward to when it comes time to sand and varnish the internal aspect of the door! Hopefully, the door will look almost as lovely as the wooden hatch handle above it, which was one of last year's little projects. 

Good friends called to visit soon after these tasks were completed, so we gladly put the working day aside to chat to them over cups of coffee and tea. As always, it was good to catch up and hear their news and plans for the coming cruising season.  

Meanwhile, we too were trying to make plans to get some cruising in for this trip. So far the weather had been too windy, stormy or just plain awful for most of the time.  We were also having further issues with a coolant leak from the Webasto heating system. We'd had the unit fully serviced, plus two separate repairs to this same wretched leak whilst the boat had been laid up over the winter.  It seemed that despite this, nothing had really been solved, or fixed.  We decided to take the boat back to source, the De Boarnstream boatyard, at the first opportunity.  Weather forecasts for mid to late in the coming week were looking fairly good. Navigator began her planning.  

Vxx

Return to Pirramimma. Elburg onwards to Lemmer and Fryslân.

The car begins to fill up with all our kit in readiness for our first trip to Pirramimma and the Netherlands for 2016. I love this build up before our trips: piles of 'extremely important' items begin to appear in our sitting room, bags are packed and lists, lists and more lists are made. It's exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time and those lists become our daily rituals as we cross items off them.

Still lots of room for all the rest of our kit! Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

Up at 0500 hours and out the door by 0615 hours as we thought there might be some delays on the roads to the ferry port. Once again we were fortunate to enjoy a lovely sunny crossing to Hoek van Holland. No breeze to speak of either, so it was flat calm. Our cabin looks both forward and to starboard (right) with large windows so we can take advantage of different views on the journey. I'm currently knitting another large throw - this time for the Skipper and the journey gives me a chance to knit a few squares whilst enjoying a glass of Prosecco. Just the one; two is too much as Winston Churchill said. At least, I think it was Winston Churchill!! You can correct me if I'm wrong. :-) 

Knitting to pass the time! Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

Just as we were approaching Hoek van Holland, we noticed that the ferry changed direction and was beginning a rather large circling manoeuvre.  Shortly after this, the ferry Captain announced that the ferry had a fuel leak which, together with only having one bow thruster working, meant he needed to lose speed quickly as he had called for a tug to escort us into harbour and to help us berth against the harbour wall.  Our arrival time was somewhat delayed as a consequence but it did make for some extra interest as we watched the tug carefully manoeuvering us into our berth. 

A quick detour to a supermarket to stock up on fresh goodies for breakfast in the morning, including freshly squeezed OJ - such a treat! We continued our journey towards Elburg and Pirramimma, enjoying an easy drive along the motorway and finally arriving at approximately 1950 hours in the waning light. Pirramimma was berthed in the new section of the jachthaven which clearly was incomplete as there were two temporary power bournes with masses of cables snaking their way to boats various. Excepting Pirramimma which rather bizarrely wasn't plugged into shore power. Richard wasted no time in sorting that out and we continued to unload the car and carry all our kit onboard.  

Suddenly at about 2010 hours, we were plunged into darkness.  We thought that 'somehow' we'd shorted the whole system so poor Richard spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to work what had happened whilst I continued moving kit. Eventually, he gave up and helped with the rest of the unloading. Boat system batteries were, happily, fully charged however so we had lighting and more importantly, fridge and freezer operating. At least all the fresh food we'd purchased on our way here was going to be safely stored in the fridge.


Once all the important stuff was unloaded and packed away, the bed made and a snack on the table, we decided that we'd had enough for the day so poured a glass of wine for me and a glass of beer for Richard.  Lights out by about 2300 hours. 

Next morning, the power was still off and remained so until suddenly, sometime after lunch, it rather miraculously turned itself back on again. 

The day was warm, sunny with cloudless blue skies above - unpacking continued.  We enjoyed catching up with lovely friends - and also catching up with wifi connections as it appeared there was none available in the new haven area. Ditto water was only available via a long, long, long hose from the old haven water points. But despite the teething problems, I do believe it's going to be very lovely when finally finished. We decided to BBQ that evening and enjoyed a spectacular sunset display. Then at about 2010 hours, the power went off again.  At least this time we knew it wasn't anything we'd done. But irritating to say the least. And weird.

Sunset Elburg style. Photo credits: Richard Hayes

By the second day, the weather had changed to cold, grey, wet and windy. Forward weather forecasts were pretty up, down and all over the place for the coming week so trying to work out a good weather window for our journey onwards from Elburg was a little difficult. Essentially the forecasts were changing dramatically every 12 hours or so.  Whilst we weren't in any rush to leave Elburg, we needed to book a hire car for the two-car-shuffle, so a little advance stability would have been useful.  Eventually we decided on moving the car on Friday, booked the hire car and crossed our fingers.  Saturday's weather was predicted to be horrible (and it was) but Sunday was looking 'good to go'.  We spent the few days in-between doing some chores, shopping, sight seeing, walking a lot, eating ice creams and chatting with friends. 

And yes, we did discover 'why' the power was going off: the temporary bournes were powered by a very large generator that only seemed to be turned on when some guys restoring a large wooden yacht needed to operate their power tools. Sometimes the generator continued to run till 2010 hours and sometimes it was turned off before that. Fortunately we could run our own generator to run the boat heating system - it was pretty darn cold without it! And I became tired of trying to find someone to talk to about it.  Better to just get on with life and stop sweating the small stuff.

We visited the Alfred Vogel gardens which are located on the outskirts of Elburg... too early in the season as you can see from the photos but we will return in the summer by car and look forward to seeing it all in full growth.  There was lots of work taking place and we chatted with the head gardener for a little while about the garden and Elburg. Utterly charming gentleman.  Entrance to the garden is free and it's very well laid out with lots of signs etc, a couple of signed walks of 1km and 4km plus exercise spots, seating at picnic areas etc. A lovely detour.  Google Alfred Vogel if you want to find out more about the man and the plants he used to create a health care business that's still active and still producing excellent products.

Alfred Vogel garden.  Photo credit:  Veronica Hayes

Alfred Vogel garden.  Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

 
Earlier that day, we had driven to our new marina to tell them to expect us to arrive with the boat on either the following Monday or Tuesday but the office was closed at the time so we added a new fender to the wall of our berth and contented ourselves with wandering around and taking a few photos. 

Pirramimma's new berth; ready and waiting!  Photo credit:  Veronica Hayes

And the view over part of the inner haven.  Photo credit:  Veronica Hayes

On Friday, the two car shuffle went smoothly and we were quickly back onboard Pirramimma, feeling relieved that finally we would be moving her on to her new berth.  Just one more day to go! 

Saturday was spent making sure that the boat was fully prepped and ready to depart by 0900 hours.  The Roggebotsluis opens at 1000 hours on Sunday mornings and Navigator wanted to be there in time to catch the first lock-through.

Sunday dawned bright but cool.  We were both wide awake before the alarm went off.  Breakfast on deck, showers and ready for action.  Skipper ran up the engine and we reversed smoothly out of the berth and were moving down channel shortly before my goal of 0900 hours. We arrived at the sluis just before 1000 hours and so were indeed able to make that first lock-through of the day.  We still hadn't decided whether or not to stay overnight at Urk on our way to Lemmer.  The weather was going to play a part in that decision and with conditions changing, we decided to just play it by ear. In the end, it was such lovely cruising at that point of the journey with the boat was just eating up the miles. We were enjoying being back on the water with our girl so much that we opted to bypass Urk and continue straight onto Lemmer.  It was a hard decision as Urk was bathed in sunshine at the time but we can come back there another day! In the end, that turned out to be a good call as heavy clouds began to march towards us and the wind began to strengthen. 

Cruising towards Lemmer along the NoordOost Polder. Clouds building! Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

 The wind also changed direction to beam-on from port side.  This meant we were now in a rolling sea which was a little uncomfortable as apart from heading in a diagonal direction away from land, there was no option but to ride it out and change down a gear. And keep going! No problem for either the crew or the boat, just a little tedious.  By the time we were approaching Lemmer, we could see rain bearing clouds passing over the town and the weather was downright cold and windy. It was a relief to turn to starboard towards the town and have a following sea rather than a roly-poly side on affair. We had a small wait to get into the town sluis and watched a yacht in front of us as they firstly caused a fair amount of hassle for every other boat in the sluis, then as they nearly managed to hang the boat up because the crew completely failed to watch proceedings or to tend to the lines as the water level dropped in the sluis.  Pirramimma's Crew, who was forward and watching the shenanigans, could hardly believe what she was seeing - it was like a slow mo replay of similar proceedings when we left Lemmer last year . Anyway, we all managed to extract ourselves from the sluis and I suspect there was a general sigh of relief when the yacht's skipper decided to peel away and moor in the first section of the haven.

We found a nice, quiet little spot in the main haven and sorted ourselves and our lines out before heading over to pay our dues.  Which we couldn't do.  The automatic machine only accepts debit cards that are not aligned with the Visa or MasterCard systems.  No power either for the same reason.  We were told we had to wait for the woman who would come to the boats around 1700 hours and she would arrange all for us.  Which she couldn't.  Turned out there was also a problem with the power bournes near us. No other spaces in the harbour so Skipper told her we would be running our generator for a short time in the morning. No problem. 

After all this, the sun decided to reward all of us and came out in full strength. We sat on deck and watched the boat movements backwards and forwards through the haven.  It was good to be back in Friesland/Fryslân!

Sunshine in Lemmer; looking back the way we came into the haven. Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

Galley Slave recommended a meal out in town that night so in due course we wandered across the bridge and enjoyed an excellent meal at Pizzeria La Gondola.  It was super busy and the staff, service and food were excellent. Lots of choice on the menu: not just pizzas and it's won a place on our 'must return' list.  

Windfinder was predicting further deterioration to the weather for the next couple of days with winds on Monday showing between 30 and 45knots; stronger on Tuesday. We could easily have stayed in Lemmer until Wednesday but both of us were now keen to reach our new jachthaven.  Next morning, the sun was bravely shining through the building clouds, but the wind had already picked up as you can see from the image below.  We wandered over to the excellent supermarket in Lemmer and stocked up on fresh food items before enjoying a quick lunch on the aft deck.

Wind picking up. Clouds a-coming!  Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

The sun came out again as we moved away from the haven wall and slowly moved through the next two bridges to exit the town system.  We cruised past our old jachthaven, taking a look to see how few many of the boats from around us last year had returned. 

Once we turned into the Prinses Margriet Kanaal, the wind decided to increase to gusting around 40 knots and temperatures duly dropped even further. A turn to port into the channels leading to our jachthaven and, praise be!, as we turned to starboard to make our approach to our berth, the wind gods listened to the prayers of Crew and the wind lessened considerably. Skipper slowed boat speed even further and we turned our bow to port again to move slowly into our berth. Hand signals from Crew to Skipper to indicate distance from our bow and the berth wall whilst Crew readied lines to throw. At this point, with the wind coming from our starboard side, Crew was positioned on starboard to throw the lines and was rather shocked to see a large set of wooden steps positioned against the wooden post she had to lasso. But she managed to snick the line down between the steps and the post on the first throw, before firmly tying the line off and then throwing the port side lines, tying that line off and moving aft to help Skipper with the aft lines. Absolutely top job by the Skipper bringing the boat into her berth without touching and then in keeping the boat rock steady against the wind so Crew could do her work.

We were 'home', safe and sound.  

Pirramimma tucked up, safe and sound in her new berth. Photo credit: Veronica Hayes

It was lovely to receive a very warm welcome from our new havenmeester as he cycled past us a little later.  We were very, very happy.