Jachthaven Ketelmeer – The Gray Route

Our little paradise

Back to the IJsseloog

June 22nd 2019

Ketelhaven Dronten to anchorage IJsseloog: 1,8 nautical miles

The weather forecast has predicted a tropical week, so we’re leaving Jachthaven Ketelmeer today to return to the anchorage at the IJsseloog. It will be great to spend the week there at anchor, where we can go for a swim if it becomes too hot. A last shower, filling the water tank and all the small water containers, and we were ready to untie the lines.

Doesn’t this look like a picture out of a fairytale book?

We had hoped that we would be able to anchor at the same spot we had anchored a few days ago. And as if it was meant to be, they had saved us a spot. We didn’t want to be too far nor too close from the embankment. It took a few tries to set the anchor, but after that we had the perfect spot again. We might be getting the hang of this anchoring thing.

We had expected the anchorage to be absolutely swamped because it was a Saturday, but it wasn’t that crowded at all. Later on it turned out that it wasn’t crowded yet because it was still early. During the day the channel slowly filled up and at the end of the afternoon we counted 19 other boats that we could see. But they will probably all be gone tomorrow evening, and we will have the place for ourselves again.
We watched the sunset in the cockpit, just like last week, and enjoyed the choir practice of the frogs. We were glad to be back in our little paradise.

Land dwelling exercises

Cycling to Dronten for groceries

June 21st 2019

We decided to stay one more day. There was still a bag with laundry waiting to be done and we were running low on fresh food. A quick search on internet told us that the nearest grocery store was 8 kilometers away. That’s too far to walk, especially the return trip with all the groceries. But fear not, the marina had bikes for rent that came with handy cycle bags.

The nearest town is Dronten in the polder of Flevoland, which is the largest artificial island in the world. The reclaimed island is just about 50 years old which you can tell by the newness of the buildings and that all the streets are very straight, as if they’ve been drawn with a ruler (which they probably did). After all the historical towns we have visited it was weird to be in such a new place. But although it all looked rather urban, the atmosphere was friendly and people took their time chatting with cashiers, promenading past shops and eating ice cream in the sunshine.

Cycle bags and backpacks filled with fresh foodstuffs we went back to the boat. We did another laundry and even got some work done despite the fact that we were dead tired; it seems that our poor legs aren’t used to land dwelling exercises like cycling anymore.

Strike a pose

Captain Fluffy on the catwalk

June 20th 2019

Anchorage IJsseloog to Ketelhaven Dronten: 1,8 nautical miles

We were running low on water and it was high time for laundry again, so we are going to leave the anchorage and head towards a marina. There are three marinas on either side of the island, and we chose Jachthaven Ketelmeer, a club run marina on the south side of the Ketelmeer.

The rain that was supposed to fall yesterday was now falling with a vengeance. Stupidly we forgot to close the forward hatch when the rain started, so our duvet and sheets were drenched. It’s a good thing we’re heading for a marina with a dryer…

Without too much difficulty we found a slip and moored with relative ease. It’s a bit weird to be in a marina again after 5 days at anchor. The boat moves differently when moored in a marina. When you’re anchored you always have headwind so the movements of the boat are predominately in the same direction, the motion is only magnified as the wind speed increases. But if you’re in a marina the position of the boat is fixed, making the wind the variable. The weirdest thing however is this subtle hint of land sickness when you get off the boat. It’s similar to sea sickness caused by the abrupt absence of motion. It’s a weird feeling, just as if the land is moving.

Captain Fluffy didn’t show any signs of land sickness. Clearly happy to be in a marina again, he jumped off the boat for a late afternoon walk and was immediately spotted by the harbour master’s wife. Captain Fluffy, always keen for attention, let himself be admired and posed gracefully for the camera as if he was working the catwalk.