MV Dirona travel digest for Standing Mast Route 2020

Position: 52°23.03'N, 4°53.60'E

The bridge at City Marina IJDok lifting for us to depart just past 8am this morning. We were moored in one of the tightest spots we've ever been in, and working out in gusts to 25 kts was challenging. In conditions like these, we especially appreciate the reliable hydraulic thrusters.

We've had another wonderful winter in Amsterdam, but are looking forward to the next adventure. We'll be taking the alternate "Standing Mast" or "Mast Up" route to Haarlem and Leiden and through the southern Netherlands. After a few days' stop on Antwerp, we'll continue south offshore to the Mediterranean as weather permits.

Position: 52°24.26'N, 4°52.86'E

The huge Damen shipyard along the North Sea Canal.

Position: 52°24.68'N, 4°52.22'E

Four river boats of the German Phoenix Risen line moored for the winter along the North Sea Canal.

Position: 52°25.16'N, 4°50.09'E

Taets Arts and Events Park houses in a 19th-century industrial building.

Position: 52°25.18'N, 4°49.91'E

A giant-sized version of the famous "Dutch Kissing Couple" at Hempontplein along the North Sea Canal as we head west from Amsterdam.

Position: 52°25.33'N, 4°48.86'E

Looking south into Westhaven, one of largest of the several harbour areas that make up the Port of Amsterdam.

Position: 52°25.36'N, 4°48.68'E

Huge Albert Heijn distribution center along the north shore of the North Sea Canal. We've enjoyed being an Albert Heijn customer while in the Netherlands, particularly their grocery delivery service.

Position: 52°25.63'N, 4°46.60'E

Amerikahaven, another harbour area in the Port of Amsterdam. In addition to handling container shipping, Amerikahaven also is used to transship waste and to construct and store wind turbines.

Position: 52°25.67'N, 4°46.09'E

Dredger working along the north side of the North Sea Canal.

Position: 52°25.92'N, 4°43.12'E

Waiting at the Buitenhuizen Bridge for an opening. In the winter, requests must be made 24 hours in advance.

Position: 52°25.92'N, 4°43.16'E

At precisely our booking time of 10:00am, the Buitenhuizen Bridge opened for us to enter the Zijkanaal C that will take us south towards Haarlem.

Position: 52°25.72'N, 4°42.78'E

Boats moored at the marina Watersportvereniging IJmond along the Zijkanaal C.

Position: 52°25.31'N, 4°41.71'E

Waiting at the Brug Rijksweg for our 10:30am opening. Like the the Buitenhuizen Bridge, this bridge requires a reservation 24 hours in advance in the winter. But the highway is so busy that it will only be opened three times per day, at 10:30am, 2:15pm and 7:45pm.

Position: 52°25.22'N, 4°41.64'E

The Brug Rijksweg opened precisely on schedule for us at 10:30am. We can see why they don't want to open the bridge very often—traffic built up quickly way into the distance as soon as the road closed.

Position: 52°24.86'N, 4°41.01'E

The bridge at Rijnland Sluis opening for us to enter the lock.

Position: 52°24.78'N, 4°40.89'E

The commercial barge Grevelingen churning up the water as it exits the Rijnland Sluis ahead of us and into the Noorder Buiten Spaarne.

Position: 52°24.62'N, 4°40.50'E

The Boezemgemaal Spaarndam pumping station was built in 1844 with a steam-powered engine that used scoop wheels to move water. It is on the North Holland provincial list of monuments as a rare example of a very large paddle-pumping station.

Position: 52°24.27'N, 4°39.72'E

Modern housing complex along the Noorder Buiten Spaarne.

Position: 52°24.16'N, 4°39.47'E

The Schoterbrug opening for us after a few minutes' wait. This and the rest of the bridges through Haarlem open on demand and no reservations are needed.

Position: 52°24.01'N, 4°39.23'E

One of several striking modern floathomes along the waterway.

Position: 52°24.01'N, 4°39.23'E

Several river cruise ships moored just north of Haarlem.

Position: 52°23.87'N, 4°39.16'E

The commercial barge Grevelingen passing through the Waarderbrug.

Position: 52°23.80'N, 4°39.12'E

From a distance we thought this barge was full of bicycles, but it's recycled metal (a large percentage of which are old bicycles).

Position: 52°23.22'N, 4°38.94'E

The Prinsenbrug lifted slightly on the left to allow Grevelingen to pass. We passed through the rightmost section that is just starting to lift in this photo. Beyond, the rail bridge Spaarnespoorbrug already is open for us.

Position: 52°23.11'N, 4°38.69'E

The windmill De Adriaan has been a prominent feature in the Haarlem skyline for centuries. The windmill looks old, but was actually built in 2002. The original mill is is based on was erected in 1778, but burnt down in 1932 and was rebuilt 70 years later. Visible in the background at right is the St. Bravo Church.

Position: 52°23.04'N, 4°38.53'E

The commercial barge Grevelingen churning up water as the skipper navigates a tight corner. The ship was right up against the wooden barrier at right in order to make the turn.

Position: 52°23.04'N, 4°38.53'E

Grevelingen up against the side of the Catharijnebrug to pass through. Navigating a long barge through Haarlem looks really challenging.

Position: 52°22.91'N, 4°38.67'E

Dirona moored at the guest pontoons in Haarlem with the De Adriaan windmill visible in the background. We didn't cover much ground today, only 12 nautical miles, but after passing through nine bridges and a lock, we were ready for a break.

When we visited Haarlem last year, the idea that we could bring Dirona here through the inland canals seemed incredible. And it still feels pretty amazing to actually be here.

Position: 52°22.81'N, 4°38.47'E

Looking north to the Bakenessergracht, one of Haarlem's inner canals, from the bridge Gravestenenbrug over the main canal.

Position: 52°22.77'N, 4°38.29'E

A great lunch canal-side at Spaarne66 in Haarlem.

Position: 52°22.77'N, 4°38.30'E

While we were having lunch at Spaarne66, a huge barge passed through the canal just outside our window. It seemed impossibly large to get through the bridges and make the turn, but it slid through town without touching anything.

Position: 52°22.88'N, 4°38.14'E

Haarlem's main square, Grote Markt, with St. Bavo Church in the background.

Position: 52°22.85'N, 4°38.30'E

Looking to massive St. Bavo Church from the corner furthest away from Grote Markt. The church was founded in 1245 and the current structure dates from the 16th century.

Position: 52°22.85'N, 4°38.30'E

The sculpture AZ (a memorial for Lennaert Nijgh) by renowned Dutch artist Marinus Boezem. The city of Haarlem commissioned Boezem to create the memorial for Haarlem-born Nijgh, a notable Dutch lyricist. The first and last letter of the alphabet, A and Z, symbolize the medium used by writers and poets to create their work.

Position: 52°22.90'N, 4°38.22'E

Enjoying a drink at Fortuyn with a view to Grote Markt and St. Bavo Church.

Position: 52°22.92'N, 4°38.04'E

Looking east along Zijlstraat, one of Haarlem's many beautiful and historic streets, with St. Bavo Church prominent in the background.

Position: 52°23.24'N, 4°38.05'E

Crocuses are in bloom throughout Haarlem. We're still a month too early for the region's famous tulips though.

Position: 52°23.23'N, 4°38.19'E

Haarlem Station, where we arrived by train on last year's visit to Haarlem.

Position: 52°23.33'N, 4°38.55'E

Haarlem is full of historic buildings, but also some impressive modern ones such as this home along the canal Kloppersingel.

Position: 52°23.31'N, 4°38.62'E

Looking southwest along the Kloppersingel, one of Haarlem's many interior canals.

Position: 52°23.13'N, 4°38.71'E

At Spaarnespoorbrug, the railway bridge that we passed under shortly before arriving into Haarlem.

Position: 52°23.09'N, 4°38.61'E

This line ashore from a barge along the Haarlem canal looks like it's been there awhile. The line is hardly visible where it attaches to shore due to all the moss and dirt around it.

Position: 52°22.94'N, 4°38.63'E

This Egyptian Goose was quacking loudly alongside the canal. The birds are native to Africa, but have become established in Europe mainly from escaped ornamental birds.

Position: 52°22.91'N, 4°38.53'E

A fashion show runway is called a catwalk because the models walk somewhat like cats. We spotted a catwalk for real cats on the side of this house in Haarlem.

Position: 52°22.88'N, 4°38.26'E

A delicious dinner, with fantastic margaritas, at Popocatepetl The Mexican in Haarlem.

Position: 52°22.92'N, 4°38.35'E

The view behind us down the Lange Begijnestraat, with St. Bavo Church visible in the distance, on our way home from dinner at Popocatepetl The Mexican in Haarlem.

Position: 52°22.93'N, 4°38.64'E

Laurens van Zijp, who wrote an article on us in Motorboot Magazine last year, noticed we were in Haarlem and stopped by to say hello and to give us a hardcopy of the issue. (The article is posted here, with a rough English translation through Google Translate here.)

Position: 52°22.26'N, 4°37.33'E

We enjoyed the huge faucet outside W.A. Felix. Sadly it appears the business is no more.

Position: 52°21.85'N, 4°36.64'E

At De Voogt Naval Architects in Haarlem for a tour of the facility. De Voogt is the design and engineering center for superyacht builder Feadship.

Position: 52°21.85'N, 4°36.64'E

A model of the 266 ft (81m) superyacht Air, launched by Feadship in 2011 as hull number 682. The ship has accommodation for 12 guests in 7 staterooms and 21 crew, carries 46,230 gallons (175,000 L) of fuel and 10,300 gallons (39,000 L) of water, and is powered by 2 MTU 16V4000 M60 engines. If you're looking for a memorable vacation, Air is available for charter for "only" € 875,000 per week.

Position: 52°21.88'N, 4°36.66'E

With Folkert Schoots at his Feadship office. Folkert is responsible for Business Development and Operations for Feadship's new Refit and Services division and also is the founding president of the Netherlands chapter of Young Professionals in Yachting, an organization of professionals up to the age of 40 working on land-based yachting businesses in the Netherlands. We'd met Folkert last year when he'd come for a visit and a tour of Dirona while we were in Amsterdam. Since we were in Haarlem, he invited us tour the De Voogt Naval Architects facility.

Here we are in Folkert's office prior to the tour, learning more about Feadship history and its business. The company was founded in 1949 by naval architect Henri de Voogt as an export association that originally included seven shipbuilders who shared the design and engineering support from de Voogt—the name stands for First Export Association of Dutch Shipbuilders. Currently only two shipbuilders remain from that consortium, Royal Van Lent and Koninklijke De Vries, who continue to share the design and engineering center De Voogt Naval Architects. We really enjoyed spending time with Folkert, learning more about Feadship and touring the facility.

Position: 52°22.64'N, 4°37.37'E

The huge Koepelkathedraal, built between 1895 and 1930, is the newer of Haarlem's two major cathedrals. The building has twelve towers of various sizes and a 213-ft (65m) dome.

Position: 52°22.72'N, 4°37.51'E

The Haarlem City Theater opened on this site in 1918 and re-opened again in 2008 with a striking modern renovation designed to mirror nearby Koepelkathedraal.

Position: 52°22.87'N, 4°37.79'E

A fun evening, with great beer, at Jopen's brewpub Jopenkerk in Haarlem. The brewery and restaurant is built inside an old church, with large stained-glass windows and soaring ceilings.

Position: 52°22.81'N, 4°38.54'E

The 203ft (62m) barge Eben-Haezer passing through the bridge Gravstenenbrug in the center of Haarlem, just south of our berth for the past two nights. We tucked over to the side to allow it to pass, then continued through the bridge.

Position: 52°22.78'N, 4°38.33'E

Waiting for the Melkbrug in Haarlem to open. The green and red lights indicate that an opening is in progress and will change to green only when we can pass. The lock operators cycle between the bridges in town as vessels pass through.

Position: 52°22.63'N, 4°38.39'E

The Langebrug opening for us to pass.

Position: 52°22.56'N, 4°38.53'E

One of several beautiful modern floathomes along the Haarlem canals.

Position: 52°22.31'N, 4°38.45'E

The double-bridge Buitenrustbrug partially open.

Position: 52°21.60'N, 4°38.24'E

The rowing and sailing club Het Spaarne along the main Haarlem canal. We'd passed a few rowboats already this morning and it looks like some more are set to launch.

Position: 52°21.60'N, 4°38.24'E

The windmill De Eenhoorn (The Unicorn) was built in the late 1700s and restored to working order in the late 1900s.

Position: 52°21.27'N, 4°38.14'E

Passing through the Schouwbroekerbrug. This is the final of nine bridges controlled by the city of Haarlem. In the busy summer months, to avoid having the bridges constantly open, recreational boats must pass through together as a convoy. The winter is a lot nicer, with plenty of space in the guest harbours and few restrictions on the bridges for recreational boats.

Position: 52°20.37'N, 4°38.37'E

Arriving at the Cruiquiusbrug with the Cruquius Museum on the left. The museum houses the world's largest steam engine, and was one of three pump houses built in the 1840s to drain Haarlem Lake. The pride of the Cruquius Museum is the working pump machinery. Once powered by steam boilers, the pump now is electricity driven for demonstration purposes. We had a fabulous time touring it on last year's trip to Haarlem and never expected we'd be bringing Dirona through the same canals. We were super-excited to be here.

Position: 52°20.30'N, 4°38.21'E

Traffic backed up on the Cruiquiusbrug as we pass through. We could see it backed up all the way around the corner in only a couple of minutes of road closure.

Position: 52°19.36'N, 4°36.70'E

Passing through the Bennebroekerdijk with the Bennebroekerbrug visible in the distance. From busy Haarlem we've entered a mainly rural area now.

Position: 52°18.64'N, 4°36.63'E

Barge running wooden stakes into the shore along the Hillegommerdijk to reinforce the shoreline.

Position: 52°17.34'N, 4°35.66'E

The Hillegommerbrug open for us to pass.

Position: 52°16.44'N, 4°34.67'E

Traffic backed up on the Elsbroekerbrug while the bridge is open.

Position: 52°16.32'N, 4°34.46'E

Commercial barges unloading just south of Hillegom.

Position: 52°15.82'N, 4°34.14'E

A portion of the hundreds if bicycles parked outside Fioretti College in Lisse.

Position: 52°15.37'N, 4°34.15'E

Passing through the bridge Lisserbrug.

Position: 52°13.90'N, 4°33.29'E

The winds have picked up to gusting in the high 30 knots as we pass through Lisserdijk. The windmill visible in the distance is Lisserpoelmolen, built sometime before 1820 and extensively restored in 2004.

Position: 52°13.53'N, 4°33.07'E

Waiting on the siding before the Rijksbrug highway bridge. This and the adjacent Kaagbrug railway bridge only open a few times per day, and in the winter a reservation must be made 24 hours in advance. We arrived about a half-hour early for our 12:30 booking.

Position: 52°13.47'N, 4°33.13'E

Passing under the railway bridge Kaagbrug after the Rijksbrug highway bridge.

Position: 52°13.15'N, 4°33.42'E

The Feadship Kaag shipyard, one of two owned by the Van Lent family. The second is the newly-built Amsterdam shipyard. The yard produces about two ships a year of up to 100m in length. The brick house in the front is a museum and the small building to the right is a Michelin-starred restaurant, a likely benefit of being a Feadship customer.

Position: 52°12.67'N, 4°32.72'E

Windmill De Kok on the lake system Kagerplassen ("Kaag Lakes") just north of Lieden. The section through the lakes was the shallowest part of our trip along the Standing Mast Toure, with depths dropping to about 7.8ft, but possibly we were a little too far to the side of the channel. Overall the depths have been at least 10 feet for most of our time underway.

Position: 52°10.29'N, 4°30.93'E

Approaching Zijlbrug, the first of four bridges we'll pass through in Leiden before reaching the guest harbour.

Position: 52°9.70'N, 4°30.89'E

Red and green lights as Spanjaardsbrug in Leiden prepares to open for us.

Position: 52°9.67'N, 4°30.88'E

Nearing Sumatrabrug as we head down Oude Rijn towards the Leiden guest harbour.

Position: 52°9.67'N, 4°30.72'E

The River Princess, that we'd passed just beyond the southern end of the Kagerplassen, coming through the Sumatrabrug behind us.

Position: 52°9.67'N, 4°30.72'E

Navigating intimate Oude Rijn en route to the Leiden guest harbour.

Position: 52°9.69'N, 4°30.36'E

Schrijversbrug, our sixteenth and final bridge for the day, opening for us and the River Princess to pass. We'd only travelled seventeen miles today, but had passed through nearly one bridge per mile, and were ready to stop for the day.

Position: 52°9.64'N, 4°30.31'E

Finding a spot at Leiden was a bit of a struggle. The winds were blowing in the mid-20s and we first tried to moor near the western end of the guest harbour, but large pilings set off from the dock would have resulted in a several-yard gap between us and the dock, making getting on and off a challenge. So we tried to back into one of the slips parallel to Haven road, but we didn't have quite enough room to turn in the fairway to enter the slip. We then tried against the cement wall south of and opposite the guest harbour, along Havenkade, but found ourselves touching bottom in about 6ft of water.

We eventually called the harbourmaster, who directed us to the area near Ankerpark. We tried to moor alongside Ankerpark, but overhanging trees, pictured, contacted our rigging. We tried a gap in the trees a little further in, but touched bottom again. Our sixth attempt, opposite Ankerpark along Zijlsingel, was finally successful. We have no power or water there, but that's not a big deal and we're very happy to have eventually found a spot. We'll post a video of the trip from Amsterdam to Antwerp that will include our six dockage attempts in Leiden.

Position: 52°9.65'N, 4°30.35'E

Back in 2016, we started using a Synology DiskStation DS416 equipped with 4 6TB disks for just under 10TB of RAID-6 capacity as a file server on Dirona. It's worked out really well, but it was time to upgrade. The system still is running extremely well, but we had two disk failures within weeks of each other earlier this year, suspect the rest are getting close to end of life, and we'd like to have some additional capacity. We easily could upgrade the disks in the system, but for maintainability and security reasons, we don't want these systems to be more than four or five years old.

One of the items we brought back from our recent trip to Seattle was a Synology DiskStation DS418. Coming back with the DiskStation, we have four 16TB Seagate IronWolf disk drives for a RAID-6 capacity of 29TB. We've been transferring data between the two for the past week and this finally finished today, so we pulled out the old one (right) from under the salon settee and replaced it with the new one.

Position: 52°9.65'N, 4°30.35'E

Moored for a few days in Leiden opposite Ankerpark to explore historic Leiden.

Position: 52°9.69'N, 4°30.33'E

The bridge control station in the Leiden harbour master's office, where we went to pay for our moorage.

Position: 52°9.71'N, 4°30.29'E

Zijlpoort, built in 1667, is one of three original surviving Leiden city gates.

Position: 52°9.65'N, 4°30.04'E

Looking west along the Oude Rijn canal in Leiden.

Position: 52°9.59'N, 4°29.66'E

In 1889, Eduard IJdo opened a book and commercial printing business in this Leiden building that operated until 1962. (Boek-, kantoor- en handelsdrukkerij means Book, Office and Commercial Printers.)

Position: 52°9.51'N, 4°29.65'E

Hooglandse Kerk in Leiden dates from the fifteenth century. It still functions as a church, but is also used for other purposes such as concerts and conferences.

Position: 52°9.52'N, 4°29.57'E

Burcht van Leiden was built in 11th century for defensive purposes atop a man-made 9-meter hill at the confluence of two Rhine river tributaries, the Oude Rijn and the Nieuwe Rijn.

Position: 52°9.55'N, 4°29.55'E

Looking north across Leiden from Burcht van Leiden.

Position: 52°9.50'N, 4°29.49'E

Many of the restaurants along the Nieuwe Rijn have installed barges in the waterway to extend their outdoor space.

Position: 52°9.55'N, 4°29.45'E

The Wall Poems of Leiden was a project between 1992 and 2005 that funded the drawing of 101 poems on walls throughout Leiden. Some have since been lost, but most remain and are fun to encounter when rounding a corner.

Position: 52°9.58'N, 4°29.42'E

Carving of items being weighed on the facade of the Waag ('weigh house'), established in 1658, where goods were weighed and checked in order to levy taxes.

Position: 52°9.59'N, 4°29.45'E

The view west along the canal De Rijn. The wide canal starts directly west of the Burcht van Leiden, carrying the joined flow of the two Rhine river tributaries, the Oude Rijn and the Nieuwe Rijn.

Position: 52°9.64'N, 4°29.45'E

The Hartebrugkerk church in Leiden was completed in 1836.

Position: 52°9.88'N, 4°29.05'E

The windmill Molen De Valk houses a working windmill museum where you can walk inside to the top of the structure.

Position: 52°9.96'N, 4°29.01'E

At dramatic Leiden Centraal to take a train trip to Amsterdam for the day to tour the new Feadship shipyard there.

Position: 52°23.35'N, 4°50.33'E

We've passed through Amsterdam Sloterdijk station many times en route to Schipol Airport and other destinations, but never stopped here.

Position: 52°23.29'N, 4°50.20'E

A good lunch at Grand Cafe Hermes near Amsterdam Sloterdijk station.

Position: 52°23.55'N, 4°48.98'E

With Folkert Schoots, who took us on a tour of the incredible new Royal Van Lent shipyard in Amsterdam. This new facility is part of the Feadship group, a world-leading superyacht builder. The drydock building in the background can accommodate ships up to 525 ft (160m) long. While we visited, two 70m+ ships were inside, the innermost under construction and the outer one in for a refit. Pictures aren't allowed inside the building, but more on the construction of the state-of-the-art facility is in the latest issue of Feadship's PILOT magazine. We had a fabulous time touring the facility, viewing the beautiful ships, and learning more about how Feadships are built. Thank you Folkert for a wonderful and unique experience.

Position: 52°22.94'N, 4°50.36'E

On the train back to Leiden after a really educational afternoon at the superyacht builder Feadship.

Position: 52°9.60'N, 4°29.33'E

Tasting the wares at Stadsbrouwhuis ("City Brewery") in Leiden.

Position: 52°9.44'N, 4°29.60'E

We stopped in at Gaspare Ristorante Pizzeria to order a take-out pizza and shared a glass of red wine while we waited. It ended up being a fun stop—we talked at length with the proprietor, who brought us a delicious tapenade sampler to enjoy with our wine. The pizza was excellent too.

Position: 52°9.71'N, 4°30.22'E

leiden's 17th-century city gate Zilpoort, viewed at night on our way out to dinner.

Position: 52°9.70'N, 4°30.24'E

An excellent meal at Iraqi restaurant Tanoor in Leiden, named after the traditional Iraqi flatbread pictured at left. It was delicious.

Position: 52°9.66'N, 4°30.35'E

Dirona moored at Leiden.

Position: 52°9.65'N, 4°30.35'E

Davin Bremner, who grew up in Seattle but now lives in Leiden, contacted us after passing by Dirona and noticing home port of Seattle on the stern. Davin's profession of conflict resolution has taken him throughout the world and he eventually settled in the Netherlands. We had a wonderful time meeting him and discussing each other's travels and our shared history in the Pacific Northwest.

Position: 52°9.66'N, 4°30.01'E

The Leiden guest harbour. Finding a spot here was a bit of a struggle. The wind was blowing mid-20s and the first location we chose, alongside in the foreground, had large piles holding us a bit more than a meter off the dock so we decided to go into a tight spot but one that looked good, next to the blue-hulled sailboat. It was super tight and, with the wind, it was too difficult to land in. We're not sure if we would fit but suspect not and there was an open 20m spot on the opposite wall by the bright blue car at right that looked easy. We went over there and were stuck on the bottom about 2m from shore. That wouldn't work either.

We called the harbor master, who recommended an alternative location a short distance away from the harbour. About 3m from shore our super-structure contacted trees preventing us from getting closer to shore. We found a gap in the trees and moved the boat sideways but ran out of water a couple of meters before shore. The sixth location has no shore power but it does have space, does have depth, and so we took it.

We've never worked so hard to dock a boat but that's one of the joys of having a boat that really isn't a canal boat doing canal cruising. We'll post a video of the trip from Amsterdam to Antwerp that will include our six dockage attempts in Leiden.

Position: 52°9.50'N, 4°29.51'E

A fun lunch at Einstein overlooking Nieuwe Rijn. The restaurant is full of references to the famous German physicist, who was a regular lecturer at the Leiden University.

Position: 52°9.42'N, 4°29.08'E

Leiden University was established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, and is the oldest in the Netherlands. The university achieved international prominence during the Dutch Golden Age, attracting scholars from around the world, has produced sixteen Nobel Laureates, and currently is ranked in the top 100 universities in the world.

Position: 52°9.43'N, 4°29.09'E

Hortus Botanicus, established in 1590, is oldest botanical garden of the Netherlands and one of the oldest in the world. We were hoping to view some it's famous and historic glass houses, but the facility was mostly closed due to high winds. We were able to explore the modern glass house pictured, which featured carnivorous plants such a the Venus flytrap.

Position: 52°9.44'N, 4°29.29'E

Viewing an exhibit on the Mayflower pilgrims at the Pieterskerk in Leiden. The Pilgrims who arrived in the New World in 1620 aboard the Mayflower set off from Plymouth, England but actually originated in Leiden. We've now seen their landing place Plymouth, USA, their embarkation point in Plymouth, UK and their origin here in Leiden.

Position: 52°9.42'N, 4°29.42'E

Baggage is a memorial to the Jews of Leiden who were forcibly taken from their homes in in 1943. 270 later died in concentration camps. Stone suitcases such as these are spread throughout the city, representing the one suitcase each victim was allowed to take with them.

Position: 52°9.86'N, 4°29.18'E

Windmill gears near the top of the windmill museum Molen De Valk. Visitors can climb up all the way to the top of the inside and the windmill still operates when the wind is appropriate. We had a great time exploring the historic structure and learning how it operated.

Position: 52°9.68'N, 4°29.35'E

Reconstruction at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave of the Leiden University anatomical theatre, that in 1594 was one of the first anatomical theatres in Europe. We had a fun time touring the museum, which focuses on historical scientific instruments, mainly from medicine, physics, and astronomy.

Position: 52°9.70'N, 4°29.37'E

A great FLIR camera exhibit at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave. Here James opens his coat and you can see the heat underneath.

Position: 52°9.76'N, 4°29.41'E

Enjoying a drink along the canal Oude Vest at Holle Bolle Gijs after a big walk around town.

Position: 52°9.56'N, 4°29.41'E

A good dinner with great atmosphere at the extremely popular restaurant Waag, built inside Leiden's historic weigh house.

Position: 52°9.51'N, 4°29.41'E

Leiden's 16th-century city hall, Stadhuis, looks especially dramatic lit up at night.

Position: 52°9.66'N, 4°30.32'E

Schrijversbrug opening for us exactly at 6am. The next five bridges are open between 6:00 and 6:45, then closed for rush-hour until 9:30. We're getting an early start in the hopes that we can get through them all and not be delayed for a couple of hours.

Position: 52°9.68'N, 4°30.37'E

Our forward floodlight illuminating Sumatrabrug in the distance as we return out Oude Rijn after passing through Schrijversbrug.

Position: 52°9.16'N, 4°31.32'E

Leiderdorpsebrug opening for us at 6:14 on a beautifully calm morning. Three bridges down, and a half-hour to do the next two before they close at 6:45m for rush hour.

Position: 52°8.92'N, 4°31.41'E

Rhijnvreugdbrug opneing at 6:18am. Only one bridge left, but it's three miles away and we need to be there by 6:44am, so it will be close.

Position: 52°7.80'N, 4°35.26'E

Green light to pass through Koudekerksebrug at 6:44am. We made it just before the 6:45am deadline.

Position: 52°8.34'N, 4°37.78'E

The next test was whether our information was correct and Maximabrug really wasn't closed for rush-hour. We arrived at 7:04am and it opened quickly.

Position: 52°8.52'N, 4°39.38'E

Red and green light as Albert Schweitzerbrug prepares to open at 7:16am.

Position: 52°8.26'N, 4°39.78'E

Light rain falling as Julianabrug opens for us along the Hoge Zijde.

Position: 52°7.75'N, 4°39.76'E

Sleepy Rijnplein shopping square at 7:30am.

Position: 52°7.75'N, 4°39.76'E

Passing through Alphensebrug in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn.

Position: 52°7.55'N, 4°39.77'E

Swaenswijkbrug opening just south of Alphensebrug.

Position: 52°7.24'N, 4°40.09'E

The windmill De Eendracht in Alphen aan den Rijn was originally built in 1752 in Zaandam East and was moved to its current location in 1897. current location in

Position: 52°7.08'N, 4°40.43'E

Moored to wait for the half-hourly opening of the Gouwsluis road bridge.

Position: 52°6.90'N, 4°40.35'E

Train crossing the Alphen aan den Rijn railway bridge. The bridge opened for us once the train had cleared.

Position: 52°6.81'N, 4°40.30'E

Passing over traffic on the Alphen Aquaduct.

Position: 52°6.81'N, 4°40.30'E

Containers stacked in the Alpherium Terminal. The barge terminal, a satellite of the Port of Rotterdam, was opened in 2010 to reduce road traffic into Rotterdam from the Alphen aan den Rijn area. A particular focus was Heineken, whose largest brewery worldwide is located only 6.2 miles (10km) away here, compared to the 52 miles (85km) trucks would otherwise have to travel between the brewery and Rotterdam.

Position: 52°5.98'N, 4°39.83'E

Rows and rows of greenhouses south of Alphen aan den Rijn. We're not sure what's growing, but massive numbers of tulips are exported from this part of the Netherlands.

Position: 52°5.18'N, 4°39.72'E

Tucked over to the side to allow the barge Leendert-Angelina to pass.

Position: 52°4.80'N, 4°39.68'E

The small house on the right in the village of Boskoop has a serious lean.

Position: 52°4.48'N, 4°39.61'E

Red and green light signalling that the opening process has begun for the on-demand bridge at Boskoop.

Position: 52°3.92'N, 4°39.52'E

Passing the commercial barge Nicolaije.

Position: 52°2.66'N, 4°39.58'E

The Hefbrug ("lift bridge") at Waddinxveen opening for us. Most of the on-demand bridges opened for us as we approached and we didn't need to radio the operator.

Position: 52°1.59'N, 4°39.96'E

At the Amaliabrug highway bridge.

Position: 52°1.18'N, 4°40.89'E

The twin Gouda Railway bridges open roughly every two hours. We arrived at 9:30 and had to wait an hour for the next opening at 10:27.

Position: 52°1.18'N, 4°40.89'E

The tug Geertruida Van Der Wees passing under the Gouda Railway bridges. It looked like an awfully tight fit, and there was inches to spare. As the tug passed, the skipper called out that he'd seen our YouTube videos.

Position: 52°1.19'N, 4°40.89'E

Green light, visible at far left, for us to pass through the Gouda railway bridges at 10:27.

Position: 52°0.17'N, 4°41.64'E

Entering Julianasluizen behind a commercial barge. The lock takes us from the Gouwe canalized river into the Hollandsche IJssel river. The lock, completed in 1936, is a national monument.

Position: 52°0.12'N, 4°41.62'E

Wooden beams at the waterline in the Julianasluizen allow barges to slide along the wall without fenders. But they are difficult for pleasure craft as our fenders, even floating at the water line, tend to ride up on top, similar to in the Kiel Canal.

Position: 51°55.14'N, 4°34.76'E

At the Alegra Barrier, a storm-surge barrier built as part of a the Delta Works protection system following the disastrous North Sea flood of 1953 that killed 1,836 people in the Netherlands. The barriers will drop down to block the waterway and prevent flooding on extremely high tides. Our 9.1-meter air draft is just a bit too high to pass under the 8.5m barriers, so we need to wait about a half-hour for an opening of the bridge and lock at right.

Position: 51°54.14'N, 4°34.50'E

You just never know what you're going to see out on the water. This is the Ark of Noah, a biblical museum completed in 2013 to teach people the historical events of the Great Flood, Creation, and the Judgement in the Old Testament.

Position: 51°53.16'N, 4°37.27'E

The huge Royal IHC facility at Kinderdijk. The company supplies equipment, vessels and services for the offshore, dredging and wet mining industries.

Position: 51°49.83'N, 4°40.16'E

The striking new head office of Fokker Technologies, a Dutch aerospace company. The company has a nearby factory in Papendrecht.

Position: 51°49.62'N, 4°40.14'E

Sculptures alongside the river Noord.

Position: 51°48.75'N, 4°39.06'E

The Verkeersbrug Albasserdam has a 12m clearance, so with our 9.1 m air draft we can pass under without an opening.

Position: 51°48.17'N, 4°38.05'E

Lots of barge traffic visible out the window and on AIS as we approach the intersection of the Oude Maas and the Dordtsche Kil waterways.

Position: 51°47.91'N, 4°37.31'E

Dutch Harbour, appropriately in the Netherlands, but a long way away from the one we're more familiar with in Alaska.

Position: 51°45.99'N, 4°37.53'E

We have a couple of knots of opposing current, visible in the water sweeping past this buoy.

Position: 51°45.29'N, 4°37.59'E

We moored for the night on a recreational guest berth just south of the city of Dordrecht. Even though this was a simple side-tie with plenty of room, it was certainly in the top five of the most difficult dockings we've ever done in Dirona. Winds were blowing unobstructed across an open field directly onto the side of the boat, blowing us off the dock. The wind speed was steady 25 knots with gusts to 35. This is one of those times when we feel lucky to have continuous-duty hydraulic thrusters.

We're tied off heavily as usual, with our big one-inch lines, and the dock looks strong and well-constructed, so we'll sleep well tonight even in the big winds. The winds continued to pick up over the night and touched on 40 knots.

Position: 51°45.29'N, 4°37.59'E

Every three months, or more often if needed, we vacuum off the reusable air filter on the main engine. Larger dust tends to build up on the outside of the filter. Every couple of years, we clean the reusable filter with air filter media cleaner and then re-oil the filter using the K&N Filter Cleaning Kit.

Position: 51°45.29'N, 4°37.59'E

Every six months, we drain off the bottom bit of fuel from our large RACOR FBO-10 fuel transfer filter and check for water. Here you can see the fuel has no water in it but there is some evidence of tiny black flakes, likely rust from time in a storage tank before we got it. Another possibility is asphaltenes. These are heavier components from diesel that can fall out of solution. Storage tanks can accumulate heavier components over long periods of time. Neither is a problem as long as it only is there in small quantities—they filter out easily. Our primary concern is water in the fuel and we've only seen that twice in ten years. Generally, even when buying fuel in less-developed countries, we find the quality of the diesel we get is pretty good.

Position: 51°45.29'N, 4°37.59'E

Moored for the night just south of the city of Dordrecht. We're on a recreational berth within a commercial barge harbour right off the Dordtse Kil waterway. The harbour is basically like a highway truck stop for commercial barges, who are allowed to stop for up to three nights (recreational boats are only allowed to stay for one night). We loved the spot, with its view to the passing traffic in the Dordtse Kil.

Position: 51°45.03'N, 4°37.84'E

The tide has turned and we're now running in a one-knot positive current in the Dordtse Kil instead of yesterday's counter-current. At 1721 RPM, we'd normally be doing around 8 knots in still water.

Position: 51°42.42'N, 4°34.92'E

The Shell Moerdijk petrochemical complex just beyond the intersection of the Dordtse Kil and the Hollands Diep rivers. The facility was built in 1970 and, spread over 2 sq miles (500ha), is one of the largest chemical complexes in the Netherlands. The factories have an annual capacity of 5,000 tons (4,500 kton) and process naphtha, gas oil and LPG into chemicals for the plastics industry.

Position: 51°42.38'N, 4°34.73'E

Cooling tower at the Shell Moerdijk petrochemical complex along the Hollands Diep.

Position: 51°41.98'N, 4°27.10'E

Traditional windmill, d'Orangemolen, and modern wind turbines at the town of Willemstad. The historic town received city rights in 1585 and is known for its well-preserved fortifications.

Position: 51°42.21'N, 4°25.73'E

Modern wind turbines along the Volkerak where it joins the Hollands Diep.

Position: 51°41.62'N, 4°24.06'E

Entering the yacht chamber at the Volkerak Lock. Vessels that cannot clear the fixed 18m bridge above us must use the commercial locks to the east. The Volkerakdam, built between 1957 and 1969, is the fifth project of the Delta Works protection system put in place following the disastrous North Sea flood of 1953. The Volkerak Lock will take us out of the rivers and into the freshwater lake Volkerak.

Position: 51°39.50'N, 4°12.10'E

A Rijkswaterstaat patrol boat sped towards us as we passed through the lake Volkerak. We were expecting a boarding, but they continued on. Rijkswaterstaat is the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and their patrol boats mostly are doing traffic management.

Position: 51°39.91'N, 4°9.82'E

The sailing vessel Moustache exiting one of the two recreational boat chambers of the Krammer Locks at Phillips Dam.

Position: 51°39.90'N, 4°9.65'E

Passing through the Krammer Locks with the Rijkswaterstaat patrol boat we saw earlier. After riding through the recreational locks with us, they went over to the south side and returned to the Volkerak through the commercial locks.

Position: 51°39.92'N, 4°9.31'E

The 4.3-mile (7km) Phillips Dam, another Delta Works project, was completed in 1987 along with the Krammer Locks. We've passed through from the freshwater Volkerak to the saltwater Oosterschelde—it's been four months since Dirona was last in saltwater, when we passed through the Stevinsluizen in the Afsluitdijk dam.

Position: 51°27.52'N, 4°0.48'E

Moored inside the wall at the Hansweert Locks at the south end of the Zuid-Beveland Canal. The area is filled with commercial boats—pleasure craft are only allowed to moor here if there is no space at the Wemeldinge marina at the north end of the canal. Since their pontoons were removed for maintenance, we were able to stop here. We much prefer this location with its great view to the commercial traffic in the canal.

Position: 51°27.52'N, 4°0.48'E

A couple of hailstorms passed through shortly after we moored at Hansweert.

Position: 51°27.52'N, 4°0.48'E

Watching from the fly bridge as the 291-ft (89m) cargo vessel Wilma enters the Hansweert Locks. We really enjoyed watching the traffic pass through.