IJmuiden to Dover, September 2014.

 

Dear Friends,

We returned to where we started our Holland tour... In IJmuiden. We left Saturday morning from the Kornwerder locks and in a mystic kind of way (fog, no wind) made it to Lelystad (need to mention here that we and the boat became covered with little pesky flies, I mean it all was black from a thick layer of these suckers…ok they didn’t bite, but oh boy they left SV Lumina disgustingly slippery and dirty…). Anyway that is nature.

We had a great farewell lunch prepared by Dora, the fish was graciously donated by Anke en Dirk. Then the big and warm embrace with my parents… never easy indeed.

Bert went with us towards Amsterdam. After the Houtrib locks we even could sail and in the early evening we arrived. Working our way through the Oranje Locks towards the Java Island (where my brother lives)… it is prohibited to tie up, so we had an interesting touch and go deal going on… Bert got off and we went again into the heart of the city motoring towards IJmuiden (abt 18 nm). Pitch dark, some light rain and movement of large cargo vessels, just how we like it. We made to the locks and without a problem made it to the SeaPort Marina (again).. Tired and cold (hot soup) we tied up and after a hot shower, went to sleep. Sunday we spent on cleaning the boat, washing clothes and do some final shopping.

Monday morning early we left IJmuiden and headed for Dover. We made good mileage during the day, and so we passed the busiest part of the channel by daylight. Early the next morning we already saw the white cliffs of Dover again. We wanted to sail up the Thames River, but in hind side glad that we didn’t. It takes a lot of planning and careful studying of the tide tables to that, and besides all that, we couldn’t find any marina on the way that had room for us. So, Dover.

We stayed inside one of the two harbours protected by locks. The amplitude between high and low tide is almost 6 meters!

The next morning went by train to London… indeed London is calling…

Bug attack on the IJsselmeer…                              Fog, no wind (just bugs…)

 

 

Where are we?

 

 

Cheers

Pieter

A month in Holland. August 2014.

 

Dear Friends,

I have to admit, it took a couple of days to let it all sink in… Once, a distant dream now made real. It was truly wonderful to be able to welcome my parents onto Onda Boa, which they did on Monday afternoon (in order to reach the city of Lelystad, we had to endure torrential rains in Amsterdam, and more rain and winds (against of course) from Amsterdam to Lelystad, but we made it.

The day after their first visit, my sister Janty came over for a visit, and we relocated to another Marina nearby (Flevo Marina), for practical purposes. At this Marina is the official Raymarine, and Volvo Penta dealer, plus they have attached to them a sailmaker. So, we became a service customer as I had them repair the genaker, make a new mainsail lazy jack cover, had the Raymarine GPS repaired, and even had to lift the SV Onda Boa on the dry in order to replace two worn prop shafts…. All in all a well needed but very expensive exercise.

Some highlights of our stay:

· Sailing on the IJsselmeer with my parents on several occasions, priceless

· Celebration of my Dad’s birthday.

· My parents staying on board for a couple of days

· Visiting with some good friends (Sjoerd, Marjolein and Charley in Amsterdam), Alvaro who travelled from Rotterdam to Lelystad, Sandra and her sister all the way from Germany, Hidde and Nicolet, ChrisJan and family.

· The party, rebaptising SV Onda Boa, to SV Lumina by my mother, in the presence of family and good friends, Chris Jan, Loek en Nel, Jan en Annie, Kees and Rina

· Purchase and installation of a cool and compact washing machine on board

· Having my brother Bert over for a couple of days

· Having my other sister Anke over for a couple of days

· The big Island of Vlieland expedition, sailing from Lelystad to the lovely island of Vlieland (my parents dream coming true)

· We even made it into the local media (interview in the local newspaper)

· Some real good family time

· Dutch food including: smoked eel, fried potatoes with mayonese of course, old dutch cheese, real thick plain yoghurt, chocolate, Calve Peanutbutter, Bread, lots of it.. (Dora and I gained some weight)

· Visit to Amsterdam, including the Heineken museum, and the BullDog Café (if i remember well…)

· Visit to Rotterdam, Euromast etc.

Then it was time to go, the hard part, saying goodbye, never easy… But a great warm feeling of mission completed… returning to base…

 

Torrential rains in Amsterdam                                    One of the many locks….

 

The Dutch way….                                                  Flevo Marina Lelystad

 

Obviously Amsterdam                                       Also the dutch way… by bike

 

This is how you make it…..                                This is where you taste it (Heineken museum)

 

                                                                         A great new asset

One of Doras many talents….                           So cool…. Happy parents on board…

 

She still beats me (checkers)                           Good morning all…

Visit to Rotterdam..                                       … and the neighbours came to visit

 

Mom official                                                    Safe journeys Lumina (thanks Mom)

The guest at the party (thanks)                    Article local news paper

It was awesome…Mission completed…

Enjoy

Pieter

Dover to IJmuiden. July 2014.

 

Dear Friends,

We were about to cross one of Europe’s busiest shipping traffic lanes and we had to weave our way through this. Again the Comar AIS proved itself again to be one of the most important navigation tools on board. To make our day, fog was upon us. Not only was the busy shipping lane our concern, but also the existence of several windmill farms. The one at the Thorton bank we didn’t see (fog) but certainly heard it, as we came too close I guess.

Around midnight we made the crossing in front of Rotterdam Port, and armed with the AIS information, made it kids play.

Sunday, July 26^th 2014, we entered IJmuiden Port, and as Dirk had planned to be picked up by his brother, to rush by car to Germany to surprise celebrate his Dad’s birthday, we tied up nice and easy at Seaport Marina.

It was great to have Dirk along on this rather difficult and technical leg. So, once again, thanks for the support.

Then, we realized that my parents and oldest sister Janty, had come to meet us in IJmuiden, but they thought we would proceed directly through the famous locks. So it took some time and communication to be able to finally meet up. My Friends, what an emotion… So good to see them. We made it, with the SV Onda Boa sailed to Holland. Proud.

They couldn’t stay long, and we were going to see them again the next day, in Lelystad.

Under normal circumstances a piece of cake, to get from IJmuiden to there… but as it turned out… nothing easy at all…

Comar AIS at work… great aid

 

The long awaited embrace….                             A lot to talk about….

 

Seaport Marina IJmuiden…                                  Dutch welcome delicacy…French fries, mayonese and Heineken beer

 

Dutch greetings

Pieter

Why not?

Pieter with Pepper (the cute dog) and Lumina, his mami (laughing), was attacked by dutch TV:

Reporter: "why do you live on board a sailboat?"
Pieter: "uh.. why not?"



Hilarious. 

Welcome to the world of...

... tulips, potatoes, windmills, cheese, wooden shoes, bikes, sailboats,  unbelievable life below sea level, and much more, all is Holland.

This was the very short trip to Pieter's homeland, the Netherlands (also known as Holland, Nederlands, Países Baixos).

The very commom/nice way of locomotion is by bike and by boat. The picture below are of a real strange and smart bus, it's for tourists explore both the land and the romantic channels of Amsterdam. This could be a nice solution for Brazil's flood problems.