We decided to stay another day at our anchorage. Although the day started glorious, the weather was going to deteriorate later on. And we didn’t really fancy sailing in bad weather, so we decided to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts and check for another weather window. And sure enough, early afternoon the clouds drifted in and obscured the sun, soon followed by rain. Maybe we’re odd people, but just as much as we like a sunny day in the cockpit, we love a cosy cocooning day in the saloon. So while the rain drummed on the hatches we listened to the audio book version of ‘Treasure island’ and dreamed of distant shores.
Finally the clouds were gone and the sun was back again! What a glorious day to spend at anchor.
The only downside of high temperatures and slow running inland waters is the rapid accumulation of blue-green algae, also known as Cyanobacteria. These algae are rather peculiar. They are the only single cell entities that can produce oxygen. In the early years of our planet’s existence there was hardly any oxygen. There were only single cell life forms like this bacteria and some didn’t even need oxygen to exist. Then these Cyanobacteria started to produce large quantities of oxygen by means of photosynthesis, like plants. The organisms that didn’t need oxygen diminished, while the Cyanobacteria grew in numbers. The steadily growing numbers of Cyanobacteria produced more and more oxygen, eventually enabling more complex life forms like humans to see the light of day.
So although we probably thank our existence to these algae, they can also cause us quite a lot of harm. In slow running waterways or stagnant lakes their numbers grow explosively when the temperatures rise, and they start to ‘bloom’ which you can tell by the greenish smears in the water, a bit similar like swirls of green paint. These blooms can produce toxins that can cause serious illness when you swallow them by accident.
So despite the heat we didn’t fancy a swim, with al the blue-green swirls of algae all around us. Maybe this is a sign that we should move North…
Enkhuizen Oosterhaven to anchorage Zuiderzee Museum: 1,1 nautical miles
After a really pleasant stay we left de Oosterhaven in Enkhuizen. Funny, if you like it somewhere it is hard to leave, especially if you have all the conveniences you need within reach, like shops, water and electricity. But we decided yesterday that if we wouldn’t leave today we probably would stay indefinitely. It is as if you’re losing your momentum. Once you’re moving it’s easy to keep moving. But when you stop, it becomes really hard to set the whole thing in motion again. It is a thin line, finding the balance between taking your time without rushing and keeping your momentum.
Checking if the Blauw bridge is open
It now sounds as if our next passage was a long one, but it wasn’t. We only motored 1,1 nautical miles to the anchorage near the Zuiderzee museum. There was next to no wind. The wind would be favorable again on Thursday and Friday, so we anchored here until we really leave. Somehow we find it easier to get started from an anchorage than from a marina. So we might not have gotten far but at least we are moving again.
It is really the last day in Enkhuizen. And since it’s the pre-passage day we had to do all kinds of chores to prepare for the next passage, like getting groceries, clean up the mess in the saloon and filling up the water tank.
Today is a typical example how a simple task on a boat becomes an afternoon’s work. We still had two full water containers, that we had filled a week ago. With the current temperatures isn’t prudent to drink that anymore, so we had to empty them first and refill them. That reminded us that we also needed to clean the bilge. There’s always a little puddle of stagnant water in the bilge, so you have to clean it once in a while. And the last time we did that, was in Middelharnis 3 months ago. The reason we thought of cleaning the bilge when we were refilling our water containers, was that we could empty the containers in the bilge, scrubbing at the same time, and then the bilge pump will pump out the water. This way we wouldn’t just toss the water overboard, but use it before we throw it away.
With a clean bilge we could progress to filling all the empty water tanks. Refilling a water tank isn’t that straightforward when you live on a boat. First you have to unroll the hose. But you can’t just pop the hose in your tank, especially not in high summer. To prevent that harmful bacteria end up in your water tank, you have to let the water run for a few minutes to flush the pipes and thus get rid of the stagnant water in which bacteria like legionella can grow. Usually you let it run until the water gets cold. So while we were waiting for the water to become cold, we thought we might use that water to clean the anchor locker while we’re at it. There is an outlet in the locker to dispose of excess water. But no water was coming out. Hmm…apparently the hole is blocked. Jeroen heaved out the anchor chain to see what was causing the blockage. The culprit was soon found. A clump of clay had accumulated on the bottom, blocking the hole. It was no mystery how that clay ended up in our locker. In all our anchoring adventures we had scooped up so much clay that this was bound to happen. We spent the better part of an hour prying all the clay out of the small hole. Two hours later we could finally refill the water tanks. There is nothing like an easy chore on a boat…
Today friends of ours drove all the way from The Hague to visit us. It was wonderful to see them again. It had stopped raining for a change, so we sat down in the cockpit, enjoying the delicious pastries they brought with them and exchanged stories.
Together we went to the Zuiderzee museum. By now it is the third time we’ve visited the museum in 1 month time. As if we can’t get enough of it. Besides, they have very tasty French fries there, which was actually the reason for visiting the museum this time.
One of the cool things about the Zuiderzee museum is that they smoke fish at the premisses to demonstrate the craft of preserving fish, and you can buy that fish later on. They have smoked salmon, haddock and mackerel, and it is really good, fresh from the smoker, even better than the fish from the fishmonger. We couldn’t resist and bought a smoked mackerel to eat for dinner later on.
After a great day together we waved our friends goodbye who went home late that afternoon. We returned to our boat and enjoyed our smoked mackerel while listening to travel stories.
Yet more rain. In between rain showers we hurried to the grocery store to get fresh food. When we went out we spotted Morten the goose who wasn’t making a lot of noise for a change.
He had discovered a neglected surfboard, tied to one of the docks opposite of us and has adopted it as his chill out zone. Like a cool surf dude he stood on his board, head held high ready for the big waves. Apparently he was happy with his new hangout, because he made a lot less noise than the previous days. But his happiness was short-lived. Around dinner time a man who lives in the opposite street came out his door and dragged the surfboard on the dock. Maybe he was annoyed by the noise and was hoping that by taking away the surfboard, the goose would go away as well.
If that was his plan, it didn’t work. Morten was not pleased at all. He paddled underneath the dock, angrily eyeing ‘his’ surfboard and honking like a maniac again. We also haven’t slept properly the last 3 days because of the constant honking, but we felt rather sorry for that lonely creature. He finally has found something that makes him happy and it gets taken away. Besides, since he had discovered the surfboard he hardly made any noise.
In the late evening we heard commotion outside and felt the wake of a speedboat rushing through the canal. When we peeked out the hatch to see what all the fuss was about, we saw rescuers from the animal ambulance trying to capture Morten. Apparently people had been complaining about the noise. But Morten wasn’t about to ‘come quietly’, as they say. They chased him with with a speedboat and people with nets on the banks for the better part of an hour. He was like Houdini, every time when they thought they had him, he eluded them and popped up somewhere else, paddling fast with his neck stretched out flat on the water. But he couldn’t keep it up forever and in the end they cornered him. The rescuers took him away with the ambulance to another flock of geese. Turned out it was a young goose, who somehow had lost its flock. He obviously couldn’t fly properly yet, otherwise he would have just flown away when they chased him. We won’t miss his honking, but we’ll sure miss Morten the surfing goose.
Our little hanging garden doesn’t need watering today
Okay. We take it back, whatever we’ve said or done that might have come across offensive. Because apparently the weather gods are angry because besides the rain they now have thrown in thunder and lightning as well. A typical day to stay in, shut the curtains and go back to bed. But when you live on a boat sometimes you cannot permit yourself that luxury. We had to go to the harbour office to recharge our budget card because we were out of shore power. In this marina you have to pay for each KWH. After you have used up that batch, you have to activate the shore power again with a budget card. And there was no money left anymore on our card. And since we really wanted a mug of warm tea, we had to brave the weather to recharge the card at the machine.
But we always try to look on the bright side of life. So we hop-skipped through the rain, imagining ourselves to be Gene Kelly while we were ‘Singin’ in the rain’.
What’s the matter with this weather? We have rain yet again. Are the weather gods angry with us? Is it climate change? To find an answer we bought the Enkhuizer Almanac, which has been in print since 1595. Almanacs like these were commonplace in the past. It was one of the few means of information people had about religious festivities, dates for markets and advise on the right time to do certain things like sowing or harvesting your crops. The oldest complete almanac found is the Babylonian almanac, dating back to 1500 BC. The Greek had them as well and the practice survived through the ages. In early medieval times the first ‘modern’ almanacs appeared, and some like the Enkhuizer Almanak have survived till this day.
The contemporary Enkhuizer almanac has the usual calendar with all the festivities, moon phases, and tide tables, but it also gives a prediction for the weather that year. Turns out it wasn’t angry weather gods or climate change. The almanac had already predicted a cool summer. So they’re sort of right, although they might have forgotten to mention the rain.
Again a very rainy day. Initially we had planned to leave today but we really didn’t feel like sailing the whole day in the pouring rain. And since we don’t have to, we’re not going to.
There’s someone else without plans to leave anytime soon. A solitaire white goose has arrived today here in the canal. He is continuously honking the whole time, as if he has lost someone. He sits right across the water from our boat, and is truly an image of misery. He (or she) is bawling his lungs out with so much force that his body lifts out of the water with every honk.
It’s unusual to see a lone goose. Geese are very social animals. They live in tight-knit groups, and choose a partner for the rest of their lives. They won’t even abandon a sick or disabled member of their group. If one goose due to an injury or sickness is forced to stay behind, some of the other geese will stay with that goose until he’s healed and they can all continue together. So something must have happened for this goose to be separated from its flock. Maybe his partner died and he’s overcome with grieve, or it’s a juvenile that has somehow lost the rest of the group.
We’ve named him Morten, after the white goose in Astrid Lindgren’s story about Nils Holgersson.
Late in the afternoon the rain finally stopped and the sun came out again. The dry spell allowed us to do a few boat chores that had been waiting. Because the next passage will be a longer one with probably slightly more wind than when we came from the IJsseloog, trailing a boat behind us might not be advisable. So we cleaned the inflatable boat, deflated it and tied it to the deck. Months ago we had bought a flag from the province of South Holland, and a KNRM flag. Every year at you can buy a KNRM flag, which is the Dutch coast guard, to support them. High time to put them up and show our colours, with our brand new just installed flagline.
