Page 40 to page 41

Page 40 to page 41

Sunday 9th July - to Lauwersmeer 13.7 nm


The provincial flag of Friesland is a gaudy affair with blue and white stripes and curious heart shaped red emblems. These are not in fact hearts but represent the leaf of the yellow water lily which proliferates here. We've seen enough of it, can't think why it never occured to me...

Pic 289 fresian flags in Dokkum may follow eventually

At Dokkum we are in pole position to photograph the euronating in operation. You'll see it once laptop is fixed.

Pic291 clog swings out, in go the euros and off you go.

More green fields, water lilies, Fresian barns, bridges and then finally a lock: we are out into the Lauwersmeer. Leaving the lock we see a farewell from Friesland, in our case it is soon to be farewell to the Netherlands altogether.

Pic 306

We motor gently up the lake and anchor for the night just off Lauwersoog at the top of page 41.

Comments

Post a Comment

We've set this up so anyone can comment - though we'll see your comment before it's published on the blog - please comment away!

Popular posts from this blog

Inland Schleswig-Holstein

Image
Wednesday 19th July to Thursday 20th July - River Eider inland Reasons to take the River Eider route to the Baltic: 1. It's easier to get to from Heligoland (in the right conditions). 2. You avoid travelling (and crossing) the River Elbe with all its traffic and strong current. 3. You avoid the massive ship lock at Brunsbüttel where we have heard of yachts having to wait as long as 4 hours out in the Elbe before locking in. There are some issues with the locks and they are not all operating. 4. There's no commercial traffic, till you join up with the Kiel Canal 5. Once in, it's more interesting to travel along a river with small towns to visit than 100km of straight ship canal. So, Tönning was our first town with its small harbour a feature in itself overlooked by houses and cafés. When the tide went out overnight we didn't see the mud, we just floated in almost no water.  On Wednesday we moved on to Friedrichstadt, just 10nm further on, a pleasant short trip with withi
Read more

Denmark. Mission accomplished!

Image
Thursday 27th July Schleimünde to Sønderborg - 18 nm The final leg to Denmark is achieved under sail. Goose-winged to start with (from 7.30am) then pole down as the wind veered.  9.45: into Danish waters, time for a new courtesy flag. White cross on red ground duly hoisted. 11am: tied up on Sønderborg quay, prime spot with great view of the castle (Slot). We left the east coast of England back in May with the aim of cruising "towards Denmark" and now we're here. Mission accomplished. We've travelled about 830 miles, mostly with the assistance of the engine, especially inland in the canals, but we've also had some great sails on the way. We've enjoyed visiting Kent, northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands including the Wadden Islands, the German Watten, Heligoland, Schleswig-Holstein and now we're in Denmark.  Sønderborg on the island of Als seems to be the current mooring place for the Danish royal yacht so we're in good company. We've still
Read more

Sussing out the Schlei

Image
Wed 26th July Laboe to Schleimünde via Kappeln - 28 nm Thank goodness for a better day! We set off out into the Baltic Sea.  Wind is 16kts from the North (of course) but at least it's sunny and dry. We don't sail all day but we do enjoy a few hours of peaceful zig-zagging without the engine before motoring into the River Schlei. This is it!  This is Bonify's new cruising ground.  From now on we're on the lookout for a winter berth. We want a secure boatyard where she can be lifted out in September, mast still standing, and covered up until we come back again next spring. We're looking at transport links, prices (of course) and also hoping to find a place we like the feel of. There are some big marinas out here which feel a bit impersonal - small yards are often friendlier places, much more our thing as long as they have a crane or hoist big enough for our 12 tons. Smaller places tend to be cheaper too. The River Schlei has a few places for us to check out, an
Read more