Adventures on the Canals of France ,Netherlands and Germany: September 2008

Holland 2008

What a great time we had in Holland. Roll on 2009

Kuikhorne - Friesland
We left Courlis at the Eiber’s Nest Marina for the winter. We spent a week working on the boat in the shed and were able to rent the lovely apartment and spent the evenings recuperating in comfort. Hans and Gitty Moses have a great marina with fantastic facilities.

Courlis is now on hardstand until we arrive back next April.

It is very easy travelling Holland by boat with fantastic places to see. We suggest you look up the internet to find out when festivals, etc, are on for the region you are going to visit.

We found bike riding very easy. I have an artificial knee and it was no hassle getting around by bicycle as there are bike pathways everywhere. There is a fabulous bike tour through the eleven cities in Friesland and very good maps are available.

The bus system is very good and we often caught buses to other towns away from the canals.

There are a lot of places either on hardstand or in a hall to leave the boat for the winter.

Tall Ships - Den Helder

Tall Ships - Den Helder
Our journey now was in the car and we crossed the Afsluitdijk a 32 k drive between the Isjelmeer and the Wadden Zee heading for Den Helder where the Tall Ships Race for 2008 finished.

We had a room in a little hotel right opposite the wharf and spent the day walking around the various wharves where the ships were moored.

There were many ships of every type moored in port to welcome the boats in.

Almost 100 took part in the race and what a great day to see so many sailing ships in one place. We didn’t know a brigantine from a clipper or a Schooner or a????? but it didn’t matter.

We walked around amongst a forest of masts and ropes.

Many were open for visitors and the atmosphere was great with shanty choirs singing in the background.

On Hardy's we had a good time sipping Australian wine.

The next day we walked around the wharves again and met Liz and David whom we first met back in June on our first visit to Den Helder, they came back to see the ships also. Once again we tried out the food at the stalls around and had our first Olibollins, a bit like an old fashioned donut.

In the afternoon we walked down to the dyke and found a place amongst the hundred thousand other people there to watch the sail past of the tall ships. While we waited we were entertained by the bands and shanty choirs.

What a fabulous time we had watching these marvellous ships sail past.

Soon it was time to head off to Schipol Airport and back home.

Fierljeppen Contest Winsum - Friesland

We had heard from two sources of the sport Fierljeppen. Oliver told us of a fellow he met on a train carrying a large pole who told him it was used for a sport which developed from the days when farmers pole vaulted across the small channels on their farms as they went about their daily jobs.

Boat owners Carol and Terry who we met in Joure told us of the interesting outing they had watching the Fierljeppen contests in a small town they visited near Sneek.

We were in Dokkum when we asked the tourist bureau if they knew anything about the sport and found out that the Championships were being held in Winsum not far from Leeuwarden the next week.

What luck, we were going that way to pick up Diana and Arthur who were coming to visit us.

The next Saturday found the four of us on a bus to Winsum wondering what we would see. What great fun it was.

THE ARENA consists of a grandstand opposite a sand patch and a channel of water. There is a 50 metre run up onto a small jetty against which a 13 metre long pole standing in the water rests. The contestant measures where he will grasp the pole,
runs, then jumps as high up on the pole as they can reach.
As the momentum sends the pole heading across the water they climb as high as possible so they get a longer distance when they jump into the sand.