Log date: 19 aug. 2020
Route: Stellendam – Roompot
Chart: https://boating.page.link/zsFjbEkTyghKpDCZA
Time: 06:30 – 19:30 ( 13h )
Distance: 46,7 nm
Average speed: 4,5 knots
Wind: 0 – 20 knots
Weather: [ ] Rain, [ ] Fog, [X] Sunshine, [X] Cloudy
Visibility: Great
Temperature: +20 C
After a few nights in Stellendam we spoke with a kind gentleman on the same jetty as us we decided that it was time to go the slightly longer canal route instead of the ocean. A lot more to see and way more fun with the locks.
They say “the early bird gets the worm” so we left early with the company of a rising sun. Calm and nice for once. We motored along and had our breakfast on the canal. For those who haven’t been down here I highly recommend you to either sail/motor here or just rent a boat to explore the amazing and crazy huge canal system. So much to see and so little time.
In the afternoon we reached our last lock and by then we found some wind and was able to sail for a few hours as well. It’s a special kind of feeling to heel over and do above 6 knots on flat water.
When we entered the lock we pretty much did what we usually do, took it slow and steady and in the name of Covid-19 we also keep the distance to the boats around us. That’s when we met the lockmaster…
“Met” might not be the correct word a more accurate one is “experienced”, beside being super talkative he was also really fond of Tetris and made it his lifework to squeeze as many boats as possible into his lock while shouting instructions from above the lock. Really fun experience.
He shouted to us to move forward so that he could jam pack the lock with boats. When we did then we also had to move to a new set of recessed bollards and when we did Mia tried to stop the boat by pulling the line that she just attached to one of the bollards, the thought was good. If you’ve been on a boat or anything else that floats for that sake you’ve probably experienced that if you put any kind of force on a boat you get a counter reaction, this time it was the stern swinging away from the wall of the lock right before I was able to attach my line. The lockmaster shouted “She made a mistake, she pulled the line!!” #funnyguy
Long story short, everything went well and even if it wasn’t a personal record the lockmaster managed to fit 11 boats in the lock. There might have been room for at least one more 30-35 feet boat more. No celebration cake from him today.
The rest of the trip went well except for some engine issues, stupid cooling system. Sometimes it just gives up and refuse to expel the saltwater from the exhaust with boiling within a few minutes as a result. Tony is getting better and better at troubleshooting things heeled over. 🙂
We finally found our way to the Roompot marina just as the rain started pouring down. Happy us for once!