On Wednesday 17 July, with Lady M‘s engine now running very smoothly, and with the weather forecast looking a little warmer (at least for the next week or so) we said our farewells to the mechanics at Grou and set off for Groningen (again).
Our plans for the next six weeks
With only about six weeks left of our motoring season, we had come up with a plan to navigate a clockwise circuit via Groningen, Meppel, Arnhem, Utrecht, Weesp, Harderwijk, Kampen and Steenwijk to take us back to Jirnsum by 25 August.
The total distance was about 595km (i.e. a comfortable average of about 100km per week), which we knew from experience would allow us time for bike rides and town and country walks along the way, without feeling like we were ‘hurrying along’.
The only downsides were: (a) that (for the second time in 7 seasons) we would be going ‘uphill on the Ijssel’ on the southbound stretch from Zwolle to Arnhem, and (b) that we would be re-visiting much that we had seen in recent years. Nevertheless, we would be seeing some great parts of the Netherlands, so in summary a small price to pay in the overall scheme of things.
We make a start, and the weather is looking good
That afternoon we arrived at Groningen’s Oosterhaven and said Hello (again !) to Christa the Harbour mistress, who had been so kind to us when we were stranded there for almost a week in mid-June.
We were, however, on a mission, and the following morning, having got some much-needed laundry done, we set off for Assen. We had hoped to moor in Assen’s industrial harbour, but became aware of potential problems from a nearby shelter for the homeless, and so decided to stay at the Marsdijk harbour instead – spacious (but without power and water) and only a 20-minute bus ride into the centre.
After a very enjoyable bike ride through wheat, potato and maize farms the following morning, we took the bus into town for the afternoon.
It was a lovely warm day.
This is Elaine dwarfed by a towering sculpture (of a pointer we think?) just outside the main railway station.
Our next stop along the Drentsche Hoofdvaart canal was Dieverbrug, a very small and picturesque village and home to the small Dieverbrug lock, one of three that we negotiated that day. Rather annoyingly, there was a lot of weed in the canal, and we had to stop a couple of times to clear the weed basket on the cooling water intake – unusual for Netherlands waterways. We scored a very peaceful mooring just downstream of the lock, and enjoyed some wonderful summer weather for a couple of days.
This is the downstream view looking back towards the Dieverbrug lock from our mooring.
The weather was just perfect for our stay, and we managed another bike ride through the beautiful forests and farmland in the surrounding area. We also came across “Hunnebed D52“, one of a number of prehistoric burial sites in the area dating from 3000BC to 2750BC, and marked by ‘dolmen’ – large flat rocks 3 to 5 tonnes each!
That afternoon we visited the nearby village of Diever by bus, and discovered a bustling weekly market in full swing. Returning the Dieverbrug it was ‘sundowner’ time, and so a couple of thirst-quenching ales at Dieverbrug’s own little tap-room adjacent to the canal.
An early’ish start on Tuesday 23 July as we continued south on the (still rather weedy) Drentsche Hoofdvaart, with a lunch stop in Meppel whilst we waited for the bridge-keeper, and we were moored up at Jachthaven de Kranerweerd in Zwartsluis by 2pm that afternoon – and very glad to be back into weed-free waterways.
We found time for another bike ride on Wednesday, then just a short run the following morning on the Overijsselsche Vecht down to Zwolle, where we found a quiet and sheltered box mooring on the western side of the city.
Zwolle is a lively and relatively compact city which we have enjoyed visiting at least twice in the last five years.
Here is a view inside the Van der Velde Book shop in Zwolle, which is housed inside a de-consecrated 15th century church. A delight to visit and to behold, and it has a great cafe too !
‘Uphill’ on the Ijssel (again)
We remained in Zwolle until 30 July in order to resolve some personal business, and then began our southbound (upstream) journey towards Arnhem on the Ijssel River. The current was running at 3 to 3.5km/hour, so we were only making about 8 to 8.5km/hour headway, arriving at Deventer after about 4.5 hours, where we decided to only stay for one night.
The current remained around 3.5km/hour during the following day’s motoring to Zutphen, where we decided to reward ourselves with a two-night stay. Zutphen is a small but very lovely, proud and well-maintained Hanseatic city with many historic buildings, with a number of sections of the old city wall still intact, such as the one in the photo below.
Zutphen is also home to the 11th century St Walburgis church and it’s amazing 14th century library (one of only five remaining in Europe) which we visited for the second time. It is a real step back into history as you enter the library through a heavy wooden door, exactly as it has been for the last 470-odd years – and a very great privilege.
Thursday is market day in Zutphen, so after yet another bike ride (we know how volatile the Dutch weather can be, so we are ‘making hay while the sun shines‘ – literally), we stocked up on some olives, mixed nuts and cheeses on the way back to the harbour, and then treated ourselves to lunch at a local cafe.
The final run upstream on the Ijssel to Arnhem on the morning of Friday 2 August was hard work, because the current gradually increased from 3.5km/hour to 4.5km/hour by the time we reached the confluence with the Nederrijn. What a great relief to turn out of the stream at 7.5km/hour and be lifted along at a mighty 14.5km/hour as we turned towards Arnhem!
Arnhem and heading west
We spent a couple of nights at the very friendly WSV Jason (Rowing & Sailing Club) and met with friends who had driven up from Belgium to spend a night with us on Lady M. Such a good time was had by all that we have not a single photo to show for it !
Departing Arnhem, the following few days were spent working our way westward along the Nederrijn, staying first at Wageningen (a rowing and motor boat club in a very peaceful rural setting), followed by Wijk bij Durstede (a comfortable and sheltered historical harbour overlooked by a working windmill).
On Saturday 10 August we were blessed with beautiful summer weather and had a very pleasant cruise continuing westward on the Nederrijn and into the Lek River (after navigating the ‘crossroads’ with the busy Amsterdam-Rhine Canal), and moored up for three nights in the peaceful harbour of Culemborg.
This is Culemborg’s City Hall which, from memory, we think was constructed in the mid-1400’s.
Interestingly (according to Wikipedia), Culemborg was, until the early 18th century, part of a fiefdom (or county) in the Holy Roman Empire, and was thus a ‘free-state’ and not legally part of the Netherlands !
To this day, the Dutch king Willem-Alexander remains count of Culemborg.
North from Culemborg
On Tuesday 13 August we started our northward journey, and avoided a section of the Amsterdam-Rhine canal by passing through the lock on the opposite side of the Lek River and visiting Nieuwegein, a small town we have not previously visited. We spent the night in Nieuwegein’s municipal harbour and did some local exploring on foot, before proceeding the following morning onto the Amsterdam-Rhine canal north to the Nigtevecht bridge and then onto the Vecht River.
Once onto the Vecht River we proceeded to a riverside restaurant named ‘Charley’s Diner‘ which we had passed by a couple of times in years gone by, and had promised ourselves to visit. It turned out to be an excellent choice for dinner: an American diner-themed restaurant complete with brightly decorated booths (reminiscent of the ‘Happy Days‘ TV show), and a main bar crafted from a 1961 Cadillac sliced length-ways. The food and service were of a high standard, and there were some fine tap beers and a small but quality wine selection. We were very happy to have been moored only 150 metres away – finds like Charley’s right next to a riverside mooring are certainly a rarity in our experience!
On a fine morning the following day we trundled the 5km further north to Weesp where we spent a couple of nights at WSV De Vecht, and met up with fellow-boaties Kerri & Lloyd who were moored not far away, and who also hail from our home town of Perth and are members of the Perth-based ‘Canal Capers WA’ group (https://www.canalcaperswa.com/).
Kerri & Lloyd accompanied us north along the Vecht River on Saturday 17 August to the small town of Muiden, with its double lock as the gateway to the Ijmeer, where Lady M and their boat ‘Sunrise‘ spent the night rafted-up at the very busy Jachthaven Muiden. This allowed the four of us to explore the little town and partake of coffee and apple tart (of course) in the afternoon, followed by sundowners on Sunrise and an impromptu dinner accompanied by some fine wine in the evening !
East to Naarden, and our final visitors for the season
On Sunday morning, after yet another morning bike ride (the weather is just too good not to ride), we set out across the Ijmeer in convoy with ‘Sunrise‘, under the Hollandse Bridge into the Gooimeer, and a zig-zag south to get into the well-camouflaged harbour entrance of Jachthaven Naarden, where we were destined to pick up our daughter and her partner later that evening – our last visitors for the season – who would accompany us as far north as Steenwijk.
Our daughter Sophie and partner Ash arrived a bit later than expected that evening, and were very pleased to settle down, unpack, relax and enjoy some refreshments after their flights (Sophie from Spain, and Ash from Australia) – needless to say, it was not an early night.
Monday morning was a late start, followed by breakfast and a walk into the star-fort town of Naarden to explore the history and architecture. With Kerri & Lloyd, who were moored right alongside us, there were six of us for sundowners that evening, followed by plenty more travel tales and our plans for the trip to Steenwijk, from where Sophie and Ash would take a train to Hamburg (Germany).
On Tuesday 20 August we again set off in convoy with ‘Sunrise‘ and had a pretty good 4-hour run north-east along the Gooimeer and Nuldernauw and across the Wolderwijd in good weather to our turn-off into the town of Harderwijk, where ‘Sunrise‘ left us to free-camp and we continued into the town moorings, where we just managed to get rafted-up before the rain came tumbling down. The town was quite busy. More walking and exploring, followed by a pretty good dinner at ‘Dikke Dirk‘ (which translates as ‘Fat Dirk’s‘ !) and nightcaps on Lady M, listening to the rain on the roof and windows.
The following morning we departed the harbour at the first bridge opening (09:00hrs) and rendezvoused with ‘Sunrise’ just beyond the aqueduct, from where we traveled again in convoy the length of the Veluwemeer to the town harbour at Elburg. We found a DIY city walking tour map at the local tourist office, and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring history and architecture in this very attractive and historic fortified town.
We stumbled upon the Staadsbrouwerij Vos (Vos Brewery) on the walk back to the harbour, and rewarded ourselves with some very tasty and thirst-quenching ale before dinner back on Lady M.
Departing Elburg and heading north on the Drontemeer the following morning in convoy with ‘Sunrise’, we entered the Reevesluis (lock) along with quite a few other vessels, only to be told there was a mechanical fault with the gates. The weather was fine, and we spent the next hour chatting with our temporary new ‘neighbours’ while the technician was called and the necessary fix was completed.
On our way again, and a short cruise across the recently-opened Reeve canal took us into the Ijssel just south of Kampen, where we were lucky to score a comfortable mooring at the WSV De Buitenhaven which is just on the northern edge of the old city. At this point Kerri & Lloyd were continuing their journey on ‘Sunrise’ towards Meppel via the Ganzediep, so there were some frantic waved farewells as we slipped into the harbour and they carried on up the Ijssel.
Needless to say, lots of walking and exploring the city of Kampen during the afternoon (as we do !). Everything seems to be quite busy – it is still school holidays – but we managed to get a dinner reservation at ‘Herberg De Bonte Os‘ (the ‘Inn of the Colourful Ox’) and what a good choice it turned out to be – sumptuous food and friendly service!
The weather on Friday morning was 25 to 35km/hour winds, and rain was forecast, as we departed Kampen and took the opportunity to top up with fuel at the Kampen bunker station a few hundred metres downstream of the harbour. A quick calculation showed that our fuel consumption had improved by almost 25% as a result of the reconditioned turbocharger and the new injector nozzles – Great news !
About 5.5 hours of motoring via the Vossemeer, Zwartemeer, Beukersgracht and Geithoorn takes us to the municipal harbour at Steenwijk, from where Sophie and Ash will walk to the station the following morning. It was a rather cold and windy trip, and the Steenwijk harbour was surprisingly busy, though room enough for Lady M for one night.
Our farewell dinner was home cooked because the weather that evening was not conducive to wandering into the town, and also because unfortunately we have found Steenwijk to be a bit of a ‘backwater’ which does not boast any particularly inviting restaurants ! Possibly we have not looked hard enough, though we doubt it.
On Saturday morning we were all ‘up with the lark’ so to speak; Sophie and Ash with a train to catch at 08:30 and a walk to the station before that; Elaine & Tim targeting a mooring nearby the ‘Rufus Sailing Club’ (not far from Joure) with about 5 to 6 hours motoring to get there, and a forecast major storm-front arriving around 3pm that afternoon.
We farewell our visitors, and make a final dash to Jirnsum
Farewells, hugs and kisses at 07:45 saw Sophie and Ash striding out for the station, and 15 minutes later we were motoring on the Steenwijkerdiep towards Ossenzijl on a foggy and drizzling morning. We made good time to Ossenzijl, and through Drieweg Sluis and Echtenerbrug, then took the ‘shortcut’ across the Tjeukemeer then via Scharsterbrug onto the open water of the Alde Wei, by which time the wind was over 30km/hour and increasing.
We found ourselves a solid ‘Marakriet’ mooring about 150m from the ferry opposite the Rufus sailing club, by which time the wind was getting pretty boisterous! Five fenders on the lee side and four mooring ropes, and we abandoned any thoughts of visiting the sailing club for an afternoon ‘bevvy’ and settled in to wait for the storm front to arrive. We didn’t have long to wait . . . !
Lady M is a solid vessel, and we comfortably sat out the front as it passed over. The wind and almost horizontal rain was eventually replaced with a steady overnight rain – and it became surprisingly peaceful. What an experience on our last night on the open water before returning Lady M to our winter berthing at RFU in Jirnsum in the morning !
The following morning, despite quite pleasant weather, we made another early’ish start (before 8am) due to the forecast increasing winds later in the morning, and we were safely moored up at the RFU marina before 10:30.
The end of an era for our travels on Lady M
And so ends our final season of travels on our lovely Lady M on Sunday 25 August at RFU.
We had decided earlier in the year that we would put Lady M up for sale at the end of this season, in the hope of finding a replacement boat of similar length but with an open cabin (OC) sedan configuration. The reduced draft, air-draft and beam of the OC configuration will allow us to visit France, as well as to explore some of the smaller waterways in the Netherlands and Germany which have been inaccessible to Lady M due to her rather comfortable dimensions.
The following couple of days involved cleaning and de-cluttering, putting bikes and big items into storage, and getting Lady M especially prepared and ready to be photographed and advertised the following week.
It is the end of an era for us and our lovely Lady M.
We have come such a very long way from those first nervous days in April 2017 when we were learning the very basics of boat handing and mooring. We have also made some worthwhile and practical improvements and upgrades to Lady M, so that she is more comfortable and better-suited to navigate the inland waterways with her next owner.
Having completed our chores, on Tuesday 27 August we motored the short distance from RFU to the nearby city of Sneek, and delivered Lady M into the capable hands of 4Beaufort Yacht Brokers who will be managing the sale process from their marina in Sneek.
The statistics for this season
As in previous seasons, here follows a summary of our season statistics for those of you who like to see the facts and figures.
- Fuel consumed: 607 litres
- Engine hours: 126.2 hours
- Fuel consumption: 4.8 litre/hour
- Distance motored: 1,078km
- Average speed (Incl idling time): 8.5km/hour
- Cycling distance: 766km
What’s next ?
“What’s next ?” we hear you say, and that is a very good question.
Lady M will remain on sale at the marina in Sneek until early November, after which she will be sailed back to the RFU marina, serviced and placed into the storage hall for the winter.
In the meantime, we will continue our online search for a suitable replacement, which may or may not be found in time for the 2025 season, bearing in mind, of course, that we do need to sell Lady M in order to pay for her replacement.
It is our intention to continue with our travel blog in our future boat, however, in all reality that is not likely to be until the 2026 season. In the meantime, Tim does have plans to complete another lengthy mountain bike ride in May 2025 which we hope to publish on the blog as another “two-wheeled adventure” post.
In the coming days we will make a brief post to provide a link to Lady M‘s sales profile.
We thank you all for your loyalty in following our blog and inspiring us with your feedback and comments, and we wish all of you happiness and good health until we are back on the waterways (or on two wheels) and publishing our blog once again.
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