It promised to be another tropical day again but with strong winds, so we might find some relief from the heat. We went for a stroll through the village, ate an ice cream and did some groceries. For the rest we tried to do as little as possible, in which we succeeded quite well.
Captain Fluffy comes to live again when it starts to cool down in the evening, and as usual he set off for his evening stroll. There was a patch of grass next to the marina which of course had to be explored and eaten. There were boats to jump on and people to meet. Most people that pass by don’t even notice that Captain Fluffy is a cat. You see them glance, walk on, double take, and then exclaim: “Oh it is a cat! I thought it was a dog!” Although Captain Fluffy likes most dogs, it is doubtful that he would appreciate being mistakenly perceived as one…
Makkum Prins van Oranje to Makkum Municipality Marina: 0,5 nautical miles
Since we didn’t want to be attacked again by swarms of mosquitoes we decided it was high time to move. Yesterday we’ve looked at the options to where we could go from Makkum, but the wind was quite strong and not really favorable for all the interesting options. We also needed to replenish our stocks. So we decided to try our luck at the municipality marina again, which lies next to the village center. We were hoping that most people would have left by now, and we would be able to find an empty spot. We refilled our water tank, paid the fee for the marina and said goodbye to the broker / harbour master. All set for the next passage which would cover a whopping distance of 0,5 nautical miles, a new record!
We were lucky. Most people apparently leave at 11, so the municipality marina of Makkum was indeed almost empty, and we could pick the best spot. The weather was tropical again. After we’d moored the first thing we did was building some kind of shelter for the sun with bed sheets and bath towels. Only one obligation left, paying the fee at the harbour office. After that nothing stood in our way to spend the whole day swimming, feeding the geese and turning doing nothing into an art form, taking an example from Captain Fluffy.
A tropical day. The initial plan was to do groceries today, but it was a 4 kilometer walk from the marina to the city center. We didn’t really feel like hiking that distance in the heat and then back again with bags of groceries. Besides, due to the heat the groceries would probably already be cooked when we would get back to the boat without even having been near to a frying pan.
We decided to do nothing at all. It was way too hot anyway. So we spend the day in the cockpit, which was luckily a bit shaded and took a swim from time to time to cool down.
In the evening we had hoped to sit outside and enjoy the evening breeze, because inside the boat it was still 34 degrees. But our plans were cut short. All of a sudden we were being attacked by a swarm of bloodthirsty mosquitoes. The lovely view on what turned out to be a sort of swamp has now become a severe nuisance, it obviously being a breeding ground for the nasty bloodsuckers. To hell with the view, we’re going to leave tomorrow.
Anchorage Enkhuizen Zuiderzeemuseum to Makkum Prins van Oranje: 25 nautical miles
It is time to really leave Enkhuizen behind us. In contradistiction to what we thought a few days ago, it isn’t easier to leave from an anchorage. But we’re easier inclined to leave from an anchorage because we have run out of a.water b.electricity or c.food. And today we really have to leave because we’re running out of water. We were in doubt whether we should refill the tank before we left or that it could wait until we arrived in Makkum. We chose to do it upon arrival because as usual we were on the late side again and set sail for Makkum.
We left the sheltered bay near the Zuiderzee museum and hoisted the main sail and unfurled the genoa. The wind was forecasted to be somewhere between 3 to 4 Beaufort, but in reality it was more like 2 to 3 Beaufort. The sun was shining abundantly so we turned on the autopilot and spent the day being pulled behind the boat in the water and lounging in shade of the genoa.
A refreshing dive
The speed of our boat was considerably faster than last time we did this jumping in the water thing. You can’t just jump of a boat if it has some speed. It goes a lot faster than you can swim, and the boat would soon be out of sight. So if you jump in you hold on to a rope which is tied to the stern of the boat. We jump in from the bow, and when you surface you see the rear of the boat speeding past, that’s how fast the boat moves. A second later you feel a jolt and the boat starts pulling you forward like a water skier. This time the pull was so strong that it costed a lot of strength to pull yourself towards the boat to get a hold of the swimming ladder.
Late afternoon all of a sudden the wind died. It was forecasted to turn to the west, so we figured this was the moment that the wind would turn. We tacked and changed course to anticipate the changing wind direction. But suddenly, before we even had set the sails properly, Booom! The wind banged in the sails with a force that almost knocked us from our feet and the wind speed jumped from 0 to 16 knots in just a few seconds. Luckily we weren’t dangling behind the boat at that time. The wind kept increasing and we shot forward like we were catapulted and sped over the water towards Makkum. We covered the last third of of the trip in just under an hour, whereas it took us six hours to cover the first two thirds.
Entering the channel of Makkum
When we tacked again to make the turn to enter the channel to Makkum the wind dropped a bit, allowing us to gently sail up the channel in stead of covering the last bit by engine. We had hoped to find a spot in the municipality marina, but what we saw on the way didn’t look very promising. We passed two marinas in the canal absolutely packed with screaming children, yelling men and hysterical women, smoking barbecues and loud music while left and right roaring speedboats sped past. Our spirits fell. This looked more like an Italian camping site than the peaceful marina we had imagined.
We sailed all the way to the end of the channel where the Municipality marina was. Our fears were confirmed. It was completely filled to the brim. We decided to anchor somewhere for the night and see if we could find a spot tomorrow. But we were a bit reluctant to do that, because we were almost out of water. Another thing we’ve learned. Never miss an opportunity to refill the water tank, because you’ll never know what you might find at the end of your passage. We could have easily refilled our tank in Enkhuizen, but decided against it. Stupid. If we would have taken the time to fill our water tank, we could have anchored without a care.
On the way back through the channel we saw another marina, the Prins van Oranje Makkum. It only had a sign with its name on it, but no VHF channel or phone number to call which is unusual. We decided to dock at what looked like a reception dock to ask if it would be alright if we stayed here for the night.
We had just tied ourselves to the dock and had got of the boat to search for the harbour master, when we saw him already coming towards us. It turned out he wasn’t just a harbour master but a yacht broker with a small private marina. Normally he didn’t accept guests, but made an exception for us because, as he put it, we looked like good folk. He showed us a berth where we could stay and soon we were safely docked in a quiet marina with a lovely view. What a day.
No wind but plenty of sunshine with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius. Captain Fluffy was lying immobile on the floor because of the heat. We tried to create some shade by making a crude tent with bedsheets above the cockpit. It actually helped quite a bit. Pleased with our makeshift construction we spend the day learning to play new songs on the guitar and ukulele.
The wind had increased even more. But because the cockpit is always on the leeward side when you’re at anchor, you don’t feel the cold of wind so much. So although it was a bit rocky, it was actually quite nice to sit outside in the sun. We spent the day enjoying life at anchor.
Late in the evening we noticed that we were running low on water. And there is nothing more anoying that having no water to make coffe in the morning. Time for a nightly escapade. We stealthily rowed to shore again to fill a couple containers with tab water and took a shower while we were there.
The wind hadn’t died down, but at least the sun was back. We quickly adjusted the position of our solar panels and within no-time the batteries were full again. Within a few hours we had collected more power than in the last 3 days. All the computers, tablets and phones were powered again, so although the sun was shining we spent most of the day inside to catch up with work.
A squall had drifted over with with thunder, lots of wind and heavy rainfall. No sun, which was unfortunate because the last two days were also heavily overcast, so we were running a bit low on power. A dwindling battery capacity meant we couldn’t charge our devices. The batteries of our computers and tablets were already empty, so we couldn’t work anymore. It didn’t look like the sun would make an appearance today. The downside of being a digital nomad is that we need a computer or tablet and an internet connection for work, so we had to think of something else to recharge our batteries. Of course we could go back to the marina, but we didn’t want to go back anymore. If we go back we might never leave again once we’re safely moored in the Oosterhaven.
You might have heard the theory that if you run your engine for half an hour, your batteries are full again. Same with your car, if you have jump-started a car after a flat battery, you need to drive for a while to charge the batteries with the dynamo, otherwise you need to jump-start it again the next time. Apparently it also works with boats.
We decided to put the theory to the test. We started the engine and checked the charge level of our batteries so we could check the progress. After half an hour of running the engine we had only gained 3% more. Hmmm…it apparently takes longer than 30 minutes. We decided to leave it running for another half hour, and in the meantime made ourselves a delicious warm lunch with toasted pita breads stuffed with ham and cheese.
Suddenly we noticed that the landscape was moving. Since landmasses do not tend to wander around the obvious conclusion was that we were staring to drag. And quite severely, because the wind was blowing pretty hard. Luckily our engine was already running to intervene. We quickly went outside, hoisted the anchor, moved forward again and reset the anchor.
Glad that we were able to fix the problem so fast we went back indoors again and continued our lunch. But when we looked outside we noticed that we had started to drag again. And by now it was also raining a tantrum.
We quickly went outside again to reset the anchor in the howling wind. Totally drenched we returned inside, and could finally finish our lunch. It seemed like the anchor is holding this time. We had shut down the engine as well, because we didn’t want to risk dragging a third time. It hadn’t worked anyway. All in all this adventure had only generated 5% more power…
So what had we learned from this all?
1. Running the engine whilst stationary to charge batteries doesn’t really work. The yield is not worth the diesel and the noise.
2. Running the engine to charge batteries could dislocate your anchor and cause you to drag.
Our conclusion: Don’t charge batteries with your engine while at anchor.
Our little boat in the bay at the Zuiderzee Museum
No rain, but no wind either today. We wanted to go to Makkum next, but the passage to Makkum is 24 miles which would take more than 12 hours with just 3 knots of wind. The passage will have to wait.
But that’s quite okay, because there’s something we still wanted to do. We are anchored in a sort of little bay that is enclosed by the Zuiderzee museum. From our anchorage we can see many docking piers extending from the museum. So we were thinking, what if we would row to one of those piers, got off the boat, buy one of those delicious smoked mackerels and row back? We can smell the smoked fish from here, which is extremely tantalizing.
Although we also considered this expedition last time we were anchored here, the appraching storm prevented us from realising our plan. But now is the time. We’re hungry and we’re going to get some fish. Without a minute to lose we jumped in our inflatable dinghy and rowed to the shore.
Drop off by dighy
Carmen debarked to get the fish at the museum, while Jeroen paddled back to one of the docking piers. Triumphantly with a bag of smoked mackerel we returned to our boat. A successful expedition!
Delicious smoked mackrel
In the evening went to shore again to sneak a shower. We do not have a proper shower aboard. With a water tank that can only hold 100 litres showering is not a good idea anyway. With our small tank we would need to refill the tank after every shower, which is especially inconvenient when you’re at anchor. So we stealthily rowed to the marina and had a nice warm shower. We feel like real pirates now.
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.
