12 May 2014 Werkendam, Netherlands
13C Feels like 4C, says the weather app. I guess that's due to the 76 Km/h wind gusts that accelerate the rain squalls beating constantly at the saloon windows. So much for our Netherlands Summer in May! We are tied up in WSV Werkendam, a private club marina SW of Gorinchem hiding from the elements....again.
Our passage here from Amersfoort took us first to Weesp, one of our favourite stops that we first discovered on Burra Billa in 2011. Here we took the opportunity to travel by the excellent Dutch transport system to the world famous Keukenhof gardens. If you like colour and flowers, especially tulips, then this is your place!
The attractive little town of Weesp marks the northern end of the Vecht, a pretty river, narrow in places and on a clear day, sparkling with classical Dutch scenery. Sadly, during our passage this time it was dull and grey except for a brief respite during our evening stroll through the village of Maarsen where we'd tied up for the first night.
Along the Vecht
Next morning was very wet and we opted to stay dry by keeping our dodger up and leave the Vecht for the commercial Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal. We had planned to continue along the Vecht passing under the 15 bridges leading into Utrecht. These bridges have an air-draft of 3.25m and with the covers down, Sirius has a height of 3.0m. It would have been close but fun, given the curvature of the bridges!
Even in the smaller canals!
The weather worsened and traversing the busy canal became harrowing as large ships appeared out of the rain ahead and the strong headwind kicked up a chop, so once we had locked out and into the quieter Merwedekanaal we pulled into Nieuwegein, enjoying the quayside location and company of a few other boats.
We were here a few years back and it was packed!
It is always a hard decision to leave a comfortable mooring but these are canals after all and one can't get into too much trouble if only cold rain is the deterrent. Wind gusts on the other hand are a bit more challenging and once we were underway, navigating in confined spaces waiting for bridges to open required the skipper's full concentration. When the free tieup at Arkel came into view it was thankfully in a protected stretch of canalside and soon Sirius was firmly attached, this time with her lines tied to pegs driven into the bank.
We settled down to wait out the strong winds whipping the trees overhead but leaving us protected by the bank they stood on. Next day we were greeted with a patch of blue sky and less wind...time to go. After the wild night, Sirius was covered in leaves and assorted greenery as we headed out, past Gorinchem and through the large lock onto the Boven Merwerde kanaal. Suddenly we felt really exposed, we were motoring into a strong SW'ly on a wide open waterway crowded with grey monsters powering by in both directions. Rain sheeted down making visibility very poor but thanks to our iPad chart we found the entrance to the Steurgat kanaal and after transiting the Biesbochsluis, thankfully spun into Werkendam.
It's still very wet and windy but Tuesday or Wednesday looks a better forecast so this is where we'll stay until then.