In the month since our last update we have traveled from Alkmaar through fourteen small towns and villages to our most north easterly destination, the city of Groningen. Internet access has been mostly non existent and it is good to be able to plug the computer in here.

Leaving Alkmaar and after an overnight stop in Purmerend we found ourselves in a very narrow canal with a speed limit of 6 km/hr (3.75 mph). The bridge tender from the first bridge had to hop on his bicycle to open the next two bridges and then we had two small locks to negotiate into the village of Monickendam, which lies on the Markermeer, part of the body of water that used to be the Zuider Zee, or South Sea as opposed to the Noord Zee or North Sea. For centuries storms caused massive flooding and breaching of the dykes in all the towns around the Zuider Zee but the technology was not available to close it off. Besides all these towns and villages depended on fishing for their economies and some were major importation ports for the Dutch East India Company. In 1932 they finally completed the two dams that created the Ijsselmeer and the Markermeer and also ruined the fishing industry. Over time the water has changed from fresh to salt and all the fish died. Although the economies never recovered to former times, most of these villages are thriving on recreational boating and tourism. Up to now we had seen only a few sailboats, but all is different on the Ijsselmeer where it seems to be at least 90% sailboats. The big surprise was how many of these were of traditional design; gaff rigged, flat bottomed with leeboards, steel or wood hulls and lots of varnish. They range in size from 5 to 70 meters. Every day and especially on the weekends they are out sailing. There is almost always wind and in the shallow waters there can be a very nasty short chop when the wind is out of the northern quadrants, not at all suitable motor vessels like ours, designed for inland waters. From Monickendam we visited the fishing villages of Marken, Volendam and Edam (also cheese!) by bicycle and then north to Hoorn and Einkhuisen by boat. Marken is a perfectly preserved village that until 1960 was isolated on an island. There is now a causeway that connects it to the mainland. The old harbor in Hoorn is the most beautiful place we have moored, surrounded by old buildings and traditional sailing boats and Enkhuisen has the Zuider Zee museums. The indoor museum traces the history of the fishing and import industries and has movies and photographs of the storms breaking the dykes before the dams were built. The gem is the outdoor museum, a recreation of a seventeenth century village using original buildings relocated there and restored. There are canals, a windmill, craftsmen and a working harbor. On the day we visited there was a traditional music festival and the sun was shining. We spent all day there.

We were lucky to get a good weather window and crossed the Ijsselmeer to the very small village of Stavoren in perfectly calm seas. We were then in the province of Friesland, the land of lakes joined by mazes of canals. It was beautiful country and we stopped in or bicycled to many villages. We have been in the city of Groningen for more than a week. Groningen is called the Amsterdam of the north but, unlike Amsterdam, not many tourists make it up to here. It is a university town ringed by canals and is very lively. This week there has been a music festival with bandstands erected around the central squares. We spent the first few days working on boat chores, including ripping out the refrigerator and replacing it with a larger one that works more efficiently and doesn’t leak propane gas into the bilges. On two separated days we took the train and busses to visit interesting places north and southeast of here. Also our friends from Delft came to visit us for three days and we all enjoyed the city, the music festival and an art museum.

The weather has been cool, wet and windy this past week. All along the Dutch have been telling us that warm days and sunshine are unusual for this time of year and is really should be cool and raining. We hope that the weather back in Seattle was pleasant for the 4th of July weekend as often it is not.

On Monday we will begin our journey south out of the province of Groningen, through the province of Drenthe along the “turf route” and back into southern Friesland. We will do a little circular tour of picturesque villages and then head for Amsterdam where we will probably spend a few weeks.

That’s all for now,

Patricia and Colin

M/Y Fiesta