Enkhuizen

Fri 30th June – Edam to Enkhuizen under motor 14.2 nm


Grey day, warm, no wind. Black skies all around but we somehow stay dry. 
Just before Enkhuizen there is a great dyke across what used to be the Zuiderzee and we lock through from the Markermeer to the Ijsselmeer. This too has a dam further out so it's also a lake (Meer) not a sea (Zee).

These dams have saved lives and protected property and land from the storms but they just about did for the fishing industry which used to proliferate here - the lakes are fresh water now and the main industry is tourism. Villages which used to have maybe a hundred wooden sailing boats for fishing now have just a few for charter, known here as the brown fleet for their brown sails.


Member of the brown fleet of ex-fishing, now charter, sailing boats enters the Krabbergat Lock astern of us


Second time lucky perhaps lassoing the little bollard on the right?



Quiet night on board in Enkhuizen attempting to eat up a fridge full of food that hasn't been called upon for days.

Saturday 1st July - Enkhuizen

We decided to stay put for another day as it was blowing north east and didn't relent all day. 

 The social whirl starts up again as our friend Rob van Swol arrives and takes us out for coffee. Then when he goes off to Hoorn on a shopping mission we wander round the various marinas and harbours of Enkhuizen looking out for our ideal next boat. We're unlikely to manage to sell Bonify whilst we're on the move like this (though I do have some fliers made up in case anyone is interested) but there's no harm in looking. We leave the cheque book behind on the boat just in case.
One reason we've had a relatively quiet time of it here (so far) is that some of our friends from here are in the UK right now on their boats. Not just in the UK but in our own home sailing area! Rik and Celeste sent me a photo only yesterday of Rik knocking on our front door “Nobody home?”


Rik at our house playing with the door bell - it doesn't work anyway and we certainly won't hear it from here. It's not a small size front door by the way, he's just a tall man. Photo sent by Celeste.

Our turn comes when we walk around the harbours and send our own doorbell shot by Fred's barge. He too is in Harwich at the moment.
Fred lives here...but...
Someone else with a view of the brown fleet


We plan another quiet evening on board but it is much enlivened by a visit by Maud and Freek, lovely to see them,  and then Rob joins us again too, bearing gifts of pilot books. As a professional mariner he has access to navigation material which has been superceded by later editions but is still more up to date than ours. Thank you Rob!!



Something was funny








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