May 1st 2019
Jeroen was feeling better so we left Gouda and set course for Leiden. Maneuvering out of the narrow box was a bit of a challenge, especially since the water depth was the same as the depth of our keel. Luckily we didn’t get stuck and within a few minutes we were on our way towards the first bridge.
This is going to be the day of the bridges. We are going to encounter 17 bridges on our route today, amongst them 3 train bridges. And these take some planning, because they only open a few times a day at set times for a few minutes before the next train will rush over. In this densely populated part of the Netherlands a train runs every 5 minutes, so the time window you have to pass is often less than that.
Incidentally the first two bridges in Gouda we had to cross were train bridges. But we had planned our departure time so we only had to wait 10 minutes until the opening, so we patiently moored at the waiting dock. Another sailboat was waiting there already. It was brand new, big and shiny and also a good deal faster than us because it sped forward after the bridge opened and was soon out of sight.
We passed a motorboat in the next stretch of the canal, adorned with flowers in cases and lots of potted plants, leisurely bobbing along and enjoying the scenery. At first we tried to keep up with the other sailboat so we could use the same bridge opening, but they were so fast that we soon gave up and plodded along on a more agreeable pace.
When the next bridge came in sight we saw that the other sailboat had already arrived there and heard them hailing the bridge over the VHF, asking them for an opening. Now unlike a telephone a vhf is ‘on’ all the time. You use certain channels for certain purposes or areas. If you want to talk you press the ‘push to talk’ button on the VHF and everyone else listening to that channel can hear you. So we heard the other sailboat requesting an opening. We also heard the reply. “Sure”, the bridge master said. “As soon as that other sailboat and the motorboat have arrived here too. And make sure you stick together, so we can let you all through at the same time and keep the openings nice and short.” The bridges here are 10 to 15 minutes apart, all operated remotely by the same traffic center. Therefor they know that this cluster of boats is in this specific part of the canal. So the other sailboat had to slow down to our speed, or actually to the speed of the motorboat who was even slower, which they didn’t like.
Our route took us trough the Gouwe canal and the river the Old Rhine. We passed through the city of Alphen aan de Rijn, and underneath the Juliana bridge. This particular bridge was going to be renovated in 2015. Two big cranes were positioned on a floating pontoon in the canal to lift the new deck in place. But during the placement something went wrong. Although it is still not clear what had happened exactly, on footage you can see the cranes starting to slip from the pontoon, and the two cranes plus bridge deck came crashing down on the city center. It was a small miracle that no one was injured or killed, only one dog lost its life. Four houses and buildings were completely destroyed, seventeen houses and building were so severely damaged that they had become inhospitable. And much more were less severely damaged, but had taken a fair beating. Knowing this makes it a bit ominous to pass underneath something that has caused so much havoc.
When we left Alphen aan de Rijn we encountered a bridge that wasn’t on the map. Quick research showed that this bridge called the Queen Maxima bridge has been standing here for two years now. And that’s weird, we’ve just bought a new Navionics map so it should be on there. But it isn’t. Okay, not 17 but 18 bridges to pass now.
We had to press on a bit, because one of the bridges just before Leiden closes from 4 to 7 during rush hour for pleasure crafts. We arrived just in time, at 5 minutes to 4. The bridge master was quite amused that we had made it just in time, giving him the opportunity to tease the already accumulating traffic that went over the bridge one last time before the rush hour break.
And then we were in Leiden. Leiden, like Gouda, is a city laced with canals and is one of the oldest cities with city rights in The Netherlands. Leiden has the oldest university in The Netherlands and was home to Rembrandt, the famous painter.
Just two more bridges to pass to reach the marina. When the bridge opened we had to move aside to let a big transport ship trough. That is when we saw only 1,50 meters on the depth meter! It was so shallow that we were ploughing through the mud. Quickly we gave more throttle to get unstuck, thick clouds of mud billowing up in the water.
After passing the last two bridges we moored in the Passantenhaven, a municipality marina in the middle of the city. The harbour masters we’re delighted that Jeroen grew up in Leiden, so we had an animated talk with them.
We went for a short walk through the inner city, which turned into a walk through memory lane. It’s weird to be in a place that you have known so well, as part of a journey through the unknown.
When we got back to the boat we were surprised with an unexpected visit from a friend who knew that we were arriving in Leiden late in the afternoon. We had dinner together, and shared an enjoyable evening talking about future sailing plans. He sails as well and is planning to sail solo to Denmark in August, so maybe we can meet up there!