Week 22 - 7000 Flies a Day

Week 22

I had slowly forced myself back to work in the apartment...

...when Janny came and said "I have a cunning plan"...

"We'll take the boat to Oldeberkoop this afternoon and then tomorrow to Heerenveen with Mem on board".

Sounds like a plan...it took me about 2 minutes to clean up and get ready!

So, at Oosterwolde we turned the boat around - it's 14 metres wide and the boat is 11 metres...and with the bowthruster, a piece of cake!

We dropped the 1.61 metres at Oosterwolde

and then another 2 metres at Lock III on the Tjonger canal

At lock II, the bowthruster battery was empty! - all I had were some ticks and no action. The wind was up a bit but Janny just called out to some sunbathing teenagers on the bank to grab the line, which they did...

I guess it all sorted itself out - with running the motor and the solar panels doing the charging. But a bit if a worry, nonetheless.

We made it into Oldeberkoop 3 hours after leaving Oosterwolde. (14 kms, 3 locks)

Ben picked Janny up and I stayed with the boat (somebody's gotta do it!)

At about 0900hrs on the wednesday, Ben brought Janny and Rennie back to the boat and we headed off for Heerenveen...

Fairly large works going on just before the turnoff to Heerenveen. Literally thousands of poles driven into the side, leaving a protected section behind - for the waterbirds. The bank had also been reconstructed for a few kilometres.

Lock # 1 (with a Lockkeeper's story, below)

Not bad for 87! They had to rug up a bit against the wind.

Short stop for lunch

The lockkeepers story...at Lock # 1

Anyway, at this lock, the building housing some of the workings of the lock, had been renovated. The renovation included some waterproof impregnation of the brickwork. An unexpected side-effect turned out to be that the swallows' nests wouldn't stick - so they had to put up artificial nests for them. Apparently, it is not the normal "farmer's swallow" at this place, but a different sort with a white patch.

The lockkeeper went on to say that the swallow numbers are down this year - it sounded like he was very enthusiastic and knowledgable about the swallows - he was telling Janny and Rennie all sorts of things - I could make out most of it but at one stage I blurted out "what did he say?" - yes, they each eat 7000 flies a day! I wonder who is counting...?

(I think it might be the "house swallow" which I found by looking through The Farmer's Swallow Journal # 8 Friesland 2018). 

They had been nesting in and around the lockkeepers house in previous years.

Oldeberkoop to Heerenveen (24 kms 1 lock, 4 bridges)

The bridge at Mildam

Rennie enjoyed the trip immensely - so much so that we are planning that she comes to Dokkum on the Drachten-Dokkum leg. Hopefully in the next few weeks before we get back to full operations.

Thursday

Again, I dragged myself back to work. We found an old pit under the floor of the apartment. I knew it was there but had not thought about it for more than 20 years. We emptied it - mostly water but also some manure probably dating from at least 30 years before. It used to be a winter barn for the cows - all the manure ran to a collection pit for later pumping out.

So, we sealed it with silicone in preparation for pouring a "levelling" floor over the top.

We have also started back with day clients, a couple of days a week - maintaining the 1.5 metres even whilst having our cuppa.

Ben Back in Amsterdam

Sunday

We had packed the trailer and van during the previous few days - up early on Sunday morning so that we could get the free parking in the middle of Amsterdam.

It's a pretty unbelievable place for a young man to live - this is probably his best one yet - maybe he can keep it for a while. just so Janny doesn't have to drive in Amsterdam with a trailer on!

A couple of Ben's mates turned up to help...

Week 21 A Day (week) on the Boat

Week 21 

I found this on the BBC somewhere...

If your sole intention for starting a blog is to provide yourself with a platform and outlet to share your views and talk about anything you want to regardless of whether or not other people read or care about your content, then hobby blogging is evergreen and will provide value for you for as long as your interest in blogging just for the love of it continues.

Ben went to Amsterdam on Tuesday - hardly any people there...

A Day on the Boat

We picked Ben up from Heerenveen train station and he left us at the boat so that we could travel to Wijnjewoude with Robin and Joy - the first time we have done a trip with the 2 boats together.

We left Heerenveen on Wednesday at 0830 hours for the 35km trip.

Janny usually keeps a rough log and writes things on the chart - like "grumpy bridge-keeper" or "push-button to open bridge".

Left Heerenveen 0833
Hooibrug 0905
Poolsbrug 0946
Warrebrug 1001
Enter Turfroute 1015
Rolbrug 1037
Terwispel 1112
(Bridgekeeper 0646063331)
Overtoom (Bridge) 1130
(a lock and several bridges in Gorredijk - last at 1223)
2 self service bridges
lock Lippenhuizen 1320
lock Wijnjewoude 1400
Klein Groningen 1500

We actually made pretty good time - Robin's boat has a 100hp motor and so I was worried that we would be too slow - so I moved it along a bit, sitting on 1600rpm (about 7-8kph) for most of the way. We normally sit on about 1400rpm as we potter along - but when we stopped, I was abused for travelling too fast!  It seems that Robin does his own pottering at about 1100rpm to get about 6kph.!! So, thereafter it was all at a more relaxed pace...

It's passing us!

 Jacoba

Johanna

The lock at Gorredijk - this is the lowest point in the Turf Route 

From wikipedia

For the benefit of peat extraction and the transport of peat , the canal was started to be dug near Gorredijk in 1630 and the end point was reached after 200 years. Peat extraction gave the Stellingwerf area an economic impulse and peat bog villages with trade and industry were created, such as Appelscha aan de Vaart, Ravenswoud and Haulerwijk. Many Frisian peat workers populated the new regions.

From Gorredijk ( Opsterland municipality ) the canal runs along a number of hamlets and villages: Haneburen , Vosseburen , Hemrikerverlaat , Wijnjeterpverlaat , Klein Groningen (here the canal makes a right angle and the municipality of Ooststellingwerf starts ), Moscow , Donkerbroek , Oosterwolde , Appelscha and ends in Smilde .

In 1974 there were plans to close the canal. Father van Ulden took the initiative to protest against the closure, which ultimately succeeded. A swing bridge is named after him in the center of Gorredijk. As a result of this action, the De Nije Kompanjons Foundation was established with the aim of maintaining the Opsterlandse Compagnonsvaart.  (It has now been taken over by the various local governments with the aid of federal funding).

We had some lovely weather at Klein Groningen (Wijnjewoude) so we pumped up the SUP board...

I managed to stay dry, even if a little more than awkward!

On Thursday, we said goodbye to Robin and Joy as they were heading off to Meppel.

But, it turned out that they had to give 2 days notice to travel that way because of the Carona restrictions The lockkeeper arranged it all for them but it meant that they had to stay 2 days in Oosterwolde - about 8kms away.

So, they asked if we wanted to join them - which we did - a little under 2 hours travel time on Friday afternoon - after I had spent the morning on the mower. It was the first time we had been to Oosterwolde, as we usually turn off before then to head back to Heerenveen.

The lock at Oosterwolde (Nanningaverlaat) has a  1.61 metre rise - so we have gone up about 8 metres. Robin and Joy will rise another 4 metres before leaving the Turf Route after Appelscha.

Nine locks are in operation between Gorredijk and Appelscha. This is because Appelscha is about 12 meters higher than Gorredijk. All locks are operated by hand. In Gorredijk, Oosterwolde and Appelscha, the small bridges are also operated by hand. Most large bridges are electric, although a few are turned by hand.

The following locks are located in the Opsterland Compagnonsvaart (downstream from Appelscha ): Damsluis , Bovenstverlaat , Stokersverlaat , Fochteloërverlaat , Nanningaverlaat , Wijnjeterpverlaat , Hemrikerverlaat , Vosseburenverlaat and Sluis Gorredijk . The drainage lock at Donkerbroek is not included.

In the Opsterlandse Compagnonsvaart there are no facilities for pumping up the water. All the water that flows through the canal comes from the area itself. At very low water levels, extra water can be let in from the Drentse Hoofdvaart .

So, that was our week. Ben looked after the farm, Beppe and the animals - and picked us up on Sunday afternoon. We think we'll head back to Heerenveen on Monday or Wednesday and then prepare for a trip to Dokkum - before we get fully back to work.