Wed 29th May – The end of the canal!

We had originally intended to go out of the canal system to the open sea at Lauwersoog in order to reach the Frisian Islands – and on Tuesday evening it looked like this …

… but by Wednesday morning it was blowing force 5 to 6, so we decided to complete the journey through Holland by canal.  The countryside is flat and low-lying, but very green and restful and the canals are sometimes lined with trees.

We saw some modern Dutch eco-houses with lots of solar panels and grass roofs …

… and both traditional and modern houseboats …

Several bridges are often operated by one person, who has to close one bridge, then cycle to the next.

We had time for a cup of tea …

… while waiting for the bridges to open in Groningen.

There are loading bays on the canals to allow the big commercial barges 15 minutes to load or unload the family car, which is normally parked on the back of the barge …

At last we reached the final lock and bridge at Delfzijl …

… one final look back at the canals …

… and we are out to the open sea.

In retrospect, we’re pleased that we traversed the whole of Holland, from the South West corner to the North East tip, through the canal system – with our mast up via the ‘Staande Mastroute’.  At times, the canals were barely deep enough for our 1.95 metre draft and we did a bit of ‘dredging’ through the soft mud.  We certainly feel we got a thorough impression of what Holland is like.  The trip took us 3 weeks and 2 days, although we did have one or two rest periods (such as the trip to Rome and a few days in Amsterdam).