Texel - Zaandam, Netherlands (23 September 2019)

We left Texel on Friday 13 September on what was a mainly sunny day with a light NE F2/3 wind. Our destination was Hindeloopen, broadly SE, but for the first 12nm we had to head SW or S along buoyed channels to the sea lock at Den Oever. Unfortunately we just missed an opening there so had an hour wait before we could proceed.

Narrow channels also being used by commercial craft

Seals on a sand bank en-route

Another beautiful Dutch barge passing us

In the lock at Den Over behind a tug pushing a big barge

Once out of the lock we were in the enclosed sea that is the Ijsselmeer. Here we turned ENE and had a brisk two hour sail arriving at Hindeloopen after 27nm just after 1900.
This is another very attractive village, originally a trading port when it was on the shores of the Zeider Zee. It is known for its decorative hand painted furniture painting inspired by Scandinavian styles seen by sailors. It also has very distinctive traditional dress. As it was Monuments Open Day in the Netherlands we were able to visit a few interesting properties over the weekend.

Narrow winding streets

The church tower noticeably leans!

Replica water height measuring station (originally 19C)

Traditional Hindeloopen dress

We also cycled around 20km to the town of Workum which is about 2km inland along a canal from the Ijsselmeer. Here we visited the Town Hall, sadly no longer used as such as Councils have been amalgamated. But there was a Council Chamber decorated in the traditional way with leather wall hangings. We also saw countless vintage cars passing through both Workum and Hindeloopen on the Saturday as there was a tour of Friesland rally taking place.

The historic harbour just below the lock at Workum

The town square, town hall on the right

One of many vintage cars on a Friesland Rally

As we cycled back from Workum we passed a thatched windmill, still working and a new building under construction. Apparently this has been deliberately built as an upside down house!

The thatched windmill

The upside down house

The following day we slipped our mooring early and had an enjoyable four hour sail of 19nm in a F4/5 W wind to the E coast and the town of Enkhuizen where we moored in the town harbour. We have been here twice before, once just as an overnight passage stop. Another town with a multitude of historic buildings, many of which are in previous editions of the blog.

The three herrings are the main part of the crest of the city

More beautifully maintained historic buildings

Wall painting of St George slaying the Dragon in one of the churches

On Tuesday 17 September, on a still overcast morning, we passed through the lock at Enkhuizen into the Markermeer and motored 12nm to Hoorn. We have been here before, in late September 2015 and I was delighted to revisit the excellent Dutch cheese shop that I found then! The weather was still unsettled but I was able to get a good photograph of the entrance to the old harbour in early morning sunlight.

The Hoofdtoren guards the entrance to the old harbour

The town centre has many interesting buildings, some of which lean at strange angles!

Part of the harbourside

These houses are definitely leaning forward!

Very impressive!

Cape Horn, the southernmost headland of southern Chile was first rounded in 1616 by the Dutchman Willem Schouten who named it Kape Hoorn after this city where he had been brought up. Another famous son of the city was Willem Bontekoe, a navigator and sometime skipper for the Dutch East India Company in the 17C who wrote a book about his travels.

Sculpture, "the Bontekoe boys", at the harbour entrance

We also took the opportunity to travel on the Hoorn to Medemblik steam tram railway. Apparently the reasons for it being called a steam tram railway rather than a steam train railway are down to Dutch regulatory niceties apparently too difficult to explain! But our train was pulled by an engine, albeit one originally built for Belgium and we did see some very interesting pictures of Dutch steam trams as well as one in the workshop.

Signal box - nb Tram Station

The engine and train at Medemblik

The harbour at Medemblik

Steam Tram in the restoration shed at Hoorn

The following morning was sunny with a pleasant F3/4 NW wind forecast for a SSE passage to Lelystadt on the E side of the Issjelmeer. As it happened the wind hardly reached F3 so we had the engine running at slow revs as well as all the sails out to maintain around 4.5kn for the 17nm. Although it has a population of 80,000 and is the capital of the province of Flevoland, the city was only founded in 1967. It is built on land reclaimed from the Zuiderzee and is named after Cornelis Lely the man who engineered the Afsluitdijk which led to the reclamation. We berthed in Lelystad Haven, which had originally been constructed in 1950 as an island in the Markermeer with its wooden barracks housing an army of dike builders. In 1955 they reached the mainland and a road linked the island. Gradually the land has been reclaimed. Having been built as a new town mainly in the last quarter of the twentieth century it is not the most attractive place. Cycling around part of it we saw some very unusual estate and house designs and the town centre was very plain. Andrea considered that it reminded her of Basildon.

Some of the more attractive houses!

Part of the town centre

Of slightly more interest was a replica of the Batavia which was completed in 1995. The original Batavia was launched in 1628 for the Dutch United East India Company (VOC). She sailed from Texel In October as flagship of a VOC merchant fleet of eleven ships including two men of war for protection. Her main task was to bring back valuable spices. In June the following year disaster struck and the ship was wrecked on the Houtman Shallows, a group of coral islands on Australia's west coast. The replica is afloat and adjacent to it is the shipyard where staff and volunteers work on the ongoing maintenance and run the museum. It is an interesting ship, but not fitted out as fully as other historical replicas (and originals) that we have seen. The presentation is also a little sketchy but it was worth a visit.

Batavia - top masts removed for renovation

Stern with scaffolding, also being renovated

Just one of many excellent carved figures

Andrea and friend!

The following morning we set off WSW back across the Markermeer. The winds were light, the main task being to work around a stream of commercial barges either coming from or going to the Houtnbsluizen (the busy lock linking the Ijsselmeer and the Markermeer at Lelystadt). Our 16nm passage to Monnickendam took us just over 3 hours. We have been here twice before in 2015 and think that it is a characterful place. Our main task though was to catch up on some domestic tasks, mainly washing clothes and begin to tackle the maintenance jobs required on the boat at the end of the summer. Whilst  in Monnickendam we had some warm and sunny weather and we did have time to spend around the town.

Typical narrow town centre residential street

The Waegh Hus, now an excellent restaurant

There is a network of small canals within the centre

We booked in for dinner at The Waegh Hus having been there before and we were not disappointed. Just behind it is the clock tower which houses the oldest still chiming carillon in the world. It is over 400 years old. There are about 200 carillons in the country and this is one of the most notable. There are shorter pieces of music on the quarter and half hours. That on the hour also features four knights on horses chasing each other around under the bells while a bugler blows a horn.

The tower

Close up, red knight appearing below the bugler

Part of the exhibition in the tower

The tower was opened to the public a few years ago and apart from being able to view the machinery there are exhibitions featuring old clocks and also the history of Monnickendam. Well worth a visit.
On Sunday 22 September we headed S and then W through the Markermeer, under a lifting bridge and through a lock into lock the centre of Amsterdam and the harbour at Sixhaven.

Heading towards central Amsterdam

Sixhaven- immediately opposite Central Station

It was a warm day, the temperature hitting 25C. We had plenty to do and managed to take down both sails as well as various other pre-winter tasks during the sfternoon.
The following day we made our last passage, just 5nm through the city, to be welcomed at Orange Nautical Services at Zaandam just off the N bank of the main canal. Here Whileaway will be lifted out and stored in a shed for the winter. We have stayed here before and they are a very friendly and professional outfit.
This year we covered  just under 1100 nm during the eleven and a half weeks that we spent on Whileaway. Our plans for next year include Netherlands, Belgium and France.