Finally, early in the morning of Wednesday, 15th June, we let go our lines and moved away towards the sluis gates. Having seen when we arrived that the pleasure craft sluis was closed, Crew was somewhat non-plussed to find we were directed into that sluis rather than the commercial craft sluis. There was only one other boat which followed us into the sluis, so we moved forward and threw our lines onto the excellent bollards. Theoretically, this should be the easiest of the two as the pontoon rises and falls with the water levels in the sluis. But we had taken the most forward position in the sluis and, unusually, Crew found it to be a bumpy ride at the bow of the ship. There was a sharp turn to starboard from our position as we left the sluis and we found very strong currents trying to push the ship to port. Fortunately both Skipper and Crew were quick to take evasive action and Pirramimma slid effortlessly out into the IJsselmeer.
There was quite heavy cloud cover for the crossing to Enkhuizen but no rain and it was surprisingly warm. Crew had the helm for the crossing, with an absolutely perfect angle onto the waves to ensure a smooth crossing.
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| Crossing the IJsselmeer to Enkhuizen. Video snapshot: Richard Hayes. |
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| We are going to head to port (left) of the land in this pic… Lots of masts in Compagnieshaven |
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| A view to the Zuiderzee Museum's fantastic working village. More on that later!
Crew had spent a bit of time researching where she wanted to moor in Enkhuizen as there's a choice of two large jachthavens: Compagnieshaven and Buyshaven plus 3 locations run by the town. Webcam watching had told her that the Buitenhaven, which is town controlled, was the place to be! She'd even chosen the very spot she wanted…
Once again, we were delighted the sun began to shine as we moved into the entrance to the town harbour and Crew was ecstatic to see straight ahead of her, The Spot, was available with plenty of space for Pirramimma.
Here we are; parked up in our little spot in Enkhuizen Buitenhaven (outer harbour)…
  
Even mid-week, the haven was quite busy with boats moored and a lot of activity throughout the day as boats came and went.
Crew was 'starving' by this time and could smell the enticing, irresistible aromas of freshly cooked kibbeling wafting across the harbour. We brought our haul of kibbeling back to Pirramimma and sat on the aft deck, enjoying our huge meal as well as warm, beautiful sunshine. A complete treat!
After lunch, we wandered over the VVV (Tourist Office) and made enquiries about the Zuiderzee museum and other attractions in town. Then back to Pirramimma to study all the brochures we'd collected. Again back to the VVV to purchase tickets to the Zuiderzee museum, including tickets for the ferry to take us there. It's only a short walk also but if there's a chance to go via water, then… Then we took a walk around the "Old Town", the Oude Haven, the Oosterhaven and around the town walls towards Compagnieshaven. Compagnieshaven has a chandlery so that was an irresistible draw for us too. Finally, we walked back into town and towards Pirramimma, stopping on the way to purchase our 'ticket' at the automated gizmo for 3 x nights stay in the Buitenhaven.
After our huge blowout on kibbeling at lunch and in spite of lots of walking around the town, we were still too full to consider an evening meal so opted for snacks as we settled down for the evening and to watch the boats in the haven. Next morning, we woke to glorious, glorious sunshine so sat on deck to enjoy our breakfast. Then off we went to catch the first ferry of the day to the Zuiderzee museum. This was such a memorable day for us and so I'll say it right now: If you EVER get the chance to visit this museum then grab it with both hands. It's fabulous. There are two parts to the museum: the recreated old 'working' village and the gallery located in the old stores buildings. Enkhuizen was one of the important towns associated with the VOC, or as we know it, the Dutch East Indies Company. From your history books, you will know and understand how important and wealthy this company was. Many of the buildings at the little working village are original to the site whilst others have been transported from other towns around the Netherlands. But it's possible to visit the Smokehouse and buy freshly smoked haring, or kipper, and eat them whilst sitting in the sunshine. You can visit the Cheese House, sample and buy cheeses there as well as watch a video on the workings of the Cheese House (essentially the fresh cheeses were matured in the house); visit the Sail maker, or the Cooperage where they still practise the highly skilled art of making wooden barrels for whisky etc; visit the building where another skilled craftsman hand makes brooms and brushes for all manner of uses. And so it goes. Fascinating! Here's the gentleman who was making the brushes. As you can see, you can also purchase these beautifully made pieces... 
Photo credit: Veronica Hayes
Looking across the village fields to the fish smokery...
Photo credit: Veronica Hayes
... where the Crew takes the opportunity to try out the freshly smoked haring. It was lusciously plump and delicious. The best she's ever eaten! 
Photo credit: Richard Hayes
Looking back at the Smokery, the pretty old windmill and the dike wall that keeps the village safe from the sea... 
Photo credit: Veronica Hayes
Making barrels in the Cooperage... 
Photo credit: Veronica Hayes
Here's the Butcher's shop... 
Photo credit: Veronica Hayes
... and the Cheese House... 
Photo credit: Veronica Hayes
There's a wonderful, old fashioned and fully working printers and the gentleman who was working there was kind enough to talk to us about his work and how the printer would have operated in times gone by... 
Photo credit: Veronica Hayes
You will also find a steam driven laundry, an artisan sweet shop which had queues of children waiting outside whilst others came out from the shop with their bags of sweets, plus perfectly preserved but now vacant homes you can visit and read about the occupations and lives of their former occupants. And a very busy and clearly popular brasserie to obtain refreshments, a quaint little coffee house by the side of the little canal, a small, working shipyard plus folk making fishing nets too - and much more than I can tell you about here. But here are few more scenes from this wonderful village...        Our final scene from the village was this distance shot of a gentleman riding his bicycle with a cart attached, selling his vegetables and other goods...  All in all, we spent about 5 hours in this little museum village and we would both happily return again to savour the sights and learn more about its long past glory days. We walked along the main sea wall and headed over to the other part of the Zuiderzee museum, located in several magnificently restored old VOC store houses. This museum took the form of an art gallery with many, many paintings of boats, people and water. On the ground floor is a marvellous collection of restored boats of different sizes and uses - from pleasure craft to working craft. Then when we'd had enough, we walked back towards Pirramimma and again took the path along the sea wall around to the Buitenhaven. We found an excellent fishmonger on the way: Galley Slave made a note to return and purchase some fresh fish. Crew also found an artisan icecream shop and made her own notes about that. Later that evening, we were treated to a magnificent sky spectacle as a storm built and approached the town. Fortunately, it missed us but Crew managed to take a wonderful sequence of photos as the clouds massed in front of us... here are a few shots of the spectacular clouds formations and light. Photo credits: Veronica Hayes      The following day was hot and sunny. We were looking forward to catching up with the beautiful bride, Willeke and another friend, Corrine, later in the day as they were joining a group of Dutch women to spend the weekend cruising the Waddenzee on a couple of classic barges. Crew managed to mess up their arrival times having thought they would be arriving around 1730 hours so we were somewhat under prepared when they arrived around 1530 hours! Ooops - but bless them, they happily joined us onboard for a beer and a coffee. Plus lots of chat and laughter. Thanks to both of them for making the effort to visit us and for ignoring the fact that we were both dressed in boat working clothes. Galley Slave decided that she needed to visit the fishmonger and purchased some fabulously fresh sole for dinner that night. It was sweet and delicious. Over the next couple of days, we explored more of the town and walked the Vestingwals - the old fortification walls surrounding the town. On Saturday morning, we walked into the shopping area and joined the throngs of people window shopping, buying fresh bread, flowers and sitting in coffee shops whilst relaxing and chatting. We'd also been keeping an eye on the weather forecasts and know that on Monday, there will be a particularly nasty patch of weather heading our way. We decided to leave Enkhuizen early on Sunday morning to make our way to the town of Medemblik and the Regatta Center jachthaven where we will hunker down and let the weather pass through. Saturday night, the evening before we left, was very busy in all the jachthavens at Enkhuizen and boats were rafted up to each, three and four deep, in all the havens. It was also party night and the town was busy with everyone enjoying another warm summer's evening. We had two yachts raft up to us but fortunately they both intended to leave at 1000 hours the next morning which would give us a leisurely couple of hours to cruise north to Medemblik. Crew was cooking a lush pork and aubergine Thai curry which caused both yacht crews to sniff the air appreciatively as they made their way around our forward decks and into town to find somewhere to eat.   Next morning dawned bright and sunny, we waited for the two yachts to move away and then let go our own lines. Skipper slowly cruised us past some other lovely friends who were moored across the haven from us. We waved, said our Goodbyes and exchanged good wishes for onward journeys. Leaving the harbour entrance, Skipper turned the boat to port before handing over the helm over to Crew. It was Sunday morning so lots of other boats were also leaving the town and heading onto other destinations. The weather remained sunny but the wind and waves picked up a little. Pirramimma had the bit between her teeth and we enjoyed a fabulous cruise to Medemblik. On the way, we were passed by this beautiful passenger ferry as she took her passengers from Enkhuizen to Medemblik.  Photo credit: Richard Hayes But here's our view of Regatta Center from our aft deck, taken soon after we had settled ourselves and the boat into her berth...  Back onboard Pirramimma we made ourselves presentable for our dinner reservation before wandering over to the outside terrace to enjoy a cold beer and glass of wine.  The menu here at this restaurant is very much Italian/Mediterranean inspired and the food was quite outstanding. Chef definitely knows what he's doing. We opted for seafood for both our starters and main courses. So good!    Two very happy, very full people wandered back to Pirramimma to enjoy a night cap before retiring for the night. Sadly, neither of us seem to be able to manage to eat three courses - the desserts sounded divine! But the weather was changing as the promised nasty weather made its way towards us. The barometer was dropping fast and it was cold on the aft deck. Crew and Skipper indulged in a nip of whisky each before retreating to warmth of the Webasto heating below decks.  Next day, we woke to this...  ... and we spent the rest of the day listening to the rain and watching the wind whip the IJsselmeer into an extremely unpleasant place to be. We were extremely grateful to be safe and warm. |
Loved this and have read it twice. I think the best sort of story is a true one and this is like the type of book I loved as a child, except it's adults on the adventure.
ReplyDeleteI visited this part of the Netherlands as a child in 1960 and had such lovely memories of it. The Great Dane and I went back in the early 80's and again at the end of the decade. Perhaps it's time to go back again! I loved the stormy sail, the sunny and quiet berth, the food......and the drink. Had to smile at the Japanese whiskey because there is some in our drinks cupboard. Kibbling - nothing like it, eaten with the fingers at the open air market beside the sea. Such a lot here that I enjoyed, especially your photos - gorgeous sky shots.