Posts In The “Netherlands” Category

Enkhuizen, Netherlands

Enkhuizen, Netherlands

Enkhuizen, Netherlands received city rights in 1355 and, as a Dutch East India Company harbour, was among the most important cities in the country. The city once bordered the saltwater bay Zuiderzee, with sea locks to protect the harbour and adjoining canals from flooding. The completion of the Afsluitdijk dam in 1932 transformed the Zuiderzee…

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Terschelling, Netherlands

Terschelling, Netherlands

Even in the Netherlands, a country of cyclists, the island of Terschelling is known for its extensive and diverse bicycle paths. It was a great landfall for us after the 160-mile run across the German Bight from Cuxhaven, Germany. After a fresh seafood lunch in town, we set of on an afternoon bicycle trip that…

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Germany to the Netherlands

Germany to the Netherlands

On our run from Germany to the Netherlands, we’d hoped to exit the German Bight on the border at Delfzjil and take the sheltered Netherlands canals through Leeuwarden to Harlingen. But the least depth through some of the waterways is an optimistic 1.9m, too shallow for our 2.1m draft. So we instead returned to the…

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Harlingen, NL

Harlingen, NL

Our main reason for stopping in Harlingen, NL was that it was convenient for picking up our new tender en route to Norway. Harlingen worked out splendidly for that purpose, but it also was an excellent stop overall. We enjoyed the city’s many waterfront restaurants and made several interesting side trips, including a tender trip…

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Afsluitdijk Dam

Afsluitdijk Dam

The 20-mile (32km) Afsluitdijk dam, completed in 1932, protects the Netherlands coast from flooding and provides an important source of freshwater by transforming the saltwater bay Zuiderzee into a freshwater lake renamed IJsselmeer. The dam also provides an important road link between the provinces of Friesland, where Harlingen is, and North Holland. An easy bike…

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Harlingen Canals

Harlingen Canals

We set of from Harlingen just past 7am on a warm and sunny day to test the new tender on a longer trip and to enjoy the inland canals. After passing through the sea lock, we spent several hours touring the narrow and shallow inland canals, passing through small towns and alongside old-style Dutch windmills….

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Harlingen Harbors

Harlingen Harbors

After Boot Akkrum delivered our new tender, we went out on a tour of the Harlingen harbors to get the new Honda 50 broken in quickly. We found a lot there—Harlingen businesses include Dutch shipbuilder Icon Yachts, several boat yards with focus on the offshore oil industry, and barge offloading facilities. Below are trip highlights…

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London, UK to Harlingen, NL

London, UK to Harlingen, NL

From London we made a 267-mile run to Harlingen, NL to pickup our new tender before continuing on to Norway. We spent a peaceful night anchored at Stangate Creek near the mouth of the Thames before making an overnight run to Harlingen so that we would arrive in the morning on a rising tide. Except…

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New Tender for Dirona

New Tender for Dirona

Tender selection on a small boat can be complex. Big tenders don’t fit and it’s more challenging to make multiple tenders work without giving up prohibitive amounts of deck space. Finding the “just right” compromise can be challenging. Back in 2009, we bought an AB 12VST and have used it for the intervening 9 years….

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