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In Amsterdam, near our marina, there is an old river cruise ship that is more than just a hotel or a boat.
It's both!
(side note: each letter of the sign is a rentable room!) |
But before we get to the Botel, let's go back a few days to where we had just left Elburg ...
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Holland is known for its old-fashioned windmills, but the new type are popping up EVERYWHERE.
We are allowed to sail surprisingly close to them. |
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| After an uneventful but tiring eight hours of sailing and motoring, we arrived in Lelystad. While we waited for the wind to ease, we dusted off the Bromptons to explore the town. The bike paths are quite extensive in Holland. Not surprising, I guess ... |
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If you hold your chin while looking at art, people may think you are cultured.
(Public art discovery during our bike ride in Lelystad) |
After a two night stay an a day of cycling the bike paths in early-spring conditions in Lelystad, we set off on a beautiful sunny morning bound for Amsterdam. But first, we had to negotiate the lock in the 27km long Houtribdyke which carries the road that connects Enkhuizen (North Holland) to Lelystad (Flevoland). This dyke also separated the IJsselmeer from the Markermeer.
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| Heading through the lock into the Markermeer |
The lock was straightforward, we were able to just hover until the lock gates opened and the bridge lifted and in short order we were sailing across the Markermeer on a broad reach. Once through the locks leading into Amsterdam, we motored through the city and pulled into the Amsterdam Marina.
It proved to be a very handy location with a supermarket around the corner and a free ferry to take us across the river.
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| Easy and quick walk or ride to the ferry terminal. We took our bikes, to do some exploring |
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| The ferry terminal - for foot and bike passengers. |
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| The Centrum ferry terminal is also the back of the train station |
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| Amsterdam is indeed the city of bikes |
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| Amsterdam of the tourist brochure! |
Feeling like true locals, we leapt upon our bikes to explore around the canals and quaint houses that the city is renowned for.
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| Not enough clearance for Chinook, sadly. |
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In a city heavily adapted for cycling, the car nuts will do almost anything to fit in.
This is a two seater! |
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| We felt quite safe knowing there was a police presence, too. |
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| As well as the traditional canals, Amsterdam has some very funky street art. |
With the weather chilly and an arctic wind blowing, we opted to spend the next day in the amazing Maritime Museum.
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| The museum is located in this white building and has more than a few historic ships in this little lagoon. |
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| We explored the barque Amsterdam (not an original name, but easy to remember) outside the museum building |
The Museum's indoor displays are a fascinating journey through the Dutch Golden Age and they house incredible displays on the evolution of charts and navigation instruments. The museum is housed in the old naval storehouse dating from 1656. It was built on its own island to house weapons, sails and nautical equipment. The building itself was well worth the entry fee to the museum!
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| No Rembrandts here, but many depictions of Dutch naval battles! |
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A 17th century chart of The Netherlands. It is hand drawn on hide.
Elburg (the red triangle down and to the left from Gelderlandt) is still a seaport! |
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| Marine navigation has come a long way! |
We were also fascinated by the Solebay Tapestries. There are six in total with two displayed in Amsterdam. They depict The Battle of Solebay. Hmm, yes, we'd never heard of it before either! It was a battle that took place in 1672 between the Dutch and the English-French fleet. The detail in the tapestries is extraordinary and they are huge! What amazing skill.
And who should be in town and popped in for a visit but Arriën and his son Felix! After a visit on Chinook, we popped into a favourite pub for a beer and to experience a typical Amsterdam pub - well outside the touristy area of course. We enjoyed fabulous tapas then wandered back along canals and over bridges to the ferry and the boat under clear skies and a bright moon.
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Sean, Arriën and Felix on the way to the pub:
we really do need to take more photos! |
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| After we had dinner with Arriën and Felix, we walked back to the ferry which us back to the marina where we left Chinook. Along the way, we took in the ambiance and lovely evening lights along the canals of the Centrum. |
It is nice to be on the move with Chinook again.
We are still not in the sailing groove yet (where it feels normal and effortless). We do not have our systems in place and everything where it should be aboard. Although we provisioned in Elburg, there were a few forgotten foodstuffs that we had to search out. Even after these two day-trips, we realized working items needed for sailing have not been taken out of their winter storage hiding places. We are having to work hard to handle the boat and sails due to having lost the familiarity we had six months ago. We are nervous in heavy traffic ... of which the river running through town (the River Ij) almost always contains.
The short jump to Lelystad and then to Amsterdam was a good shakedown before we cross the bottom of the North Sea to the United Kingdom. Having a few land-based days while we live aboard Chinook is building our confidence.
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