2009 Round trip trough the Netherlands
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This year Henri wanted to sail to ports / waters where he had never been with the Orm.
He also wanted to visit old friends and hopefully also make new friends again.
However, a lot had to happen before the journey could begin.
The underwater ship had to be tarred, ship launched.
The stone ballast, the ship’s equipment, clothing, food and drinks had to be brought on board.
And finally the ship had to be rigged and made ready for sailing.
4/8 Departed from Broek op Langedijk.
The first day, Henri wanted to take it easy to recover from the many work of the past few weeks.
Via Purmerend direction Monnickendam.
It looked calm at the WV DE GEUZEN in Katwoude so a berth was requested.
The Orm was not only very welcome but Henri also fell in the cake with his nose, a birthday was celebrated that day.
5/8 The yard with the sail had to go down and the mast flat to pass under a bridge and a moment later to be put into the Grafelijkheidssluis.
The ultimate goal of this day was Marken, the old fishing village where the Orm had never been.
In the northern part of the harbor space was still available so that the Orm could lie alongside the quay.
When the ship was stuck, the harbor master came to inquire whether it was intended that there would be overnight.
After an affirmative answer to this, the harbor master said :
"Then I would not stay here, because I have to go and stack this afternoon, just lie there in that corner, there you are safe".
As always, the harbor master was right.
In the corner was a narrow triangular spot where the Orm fit exactly.
At the end of the afternoon the ships were sometimes four rows thick together.
6/8 Today was Almere’s goal.
Nice weather, but no wind or from the wrong direction, so do not sail.
Heading to Pampus, the old defensive work of Amsterdam, then under the Dutch bridge to Almere.
After two telephone calls, leave the Postbank card in the telephone booth.
Half an hour later the card was gone.
No need thought Henri, the police station is opposite the cell, he will have been brought there.
Not so.
The lack of a credit card would affect Henri throughout the entire journey, there are more and more petrol stations where petrol can only be refueled with a credit card.
7/8 The Orm had never sailed in Flevoland, so on the way to Biddinghuizen.
The lock in Almere is a modern lock, even with floating bollards, so that is very easy.
What went less well was that the engine and the rudder were regularly full of grass and reeds from mowing.
There were places where the rubbish was over the entire width of the water.
This should be better adjusted, with every outboard running on it.
The w.s.v. Biddinghuizen was almost finished with the renovation of their clubhouse and had a good berth.
8/8 The Kampersluis and Ketelsluis were not as modern as the lock in Almere, so they do not have floating bollards,
but there is always a staircase to easily change the lines while shifting.
In Kampen to the old familiar w.s.v. De Bovenhaven.
This is a quiet friendly port where the Orm had been many times.
An advantage is that the petrol station is next to the port.
But that did not happen this time, nowadays only a credit card could be used.
Then you have to wait until there is a car to refuel and the driver believes the story that you have money, but no card and is willing to refuel.
Henri felt like a beggar.
Further sailed to IJsselzicht te Veessen the harbour of Nol and Henny.
They also run the corresponding hotel restaurant with a terrace that really has a beautiful view of the river and the hinterland.
If one has time, it is certainly worthwhile to sail with the Cossack ferry to the other side of the IJssel.
9/8 Do not sail a day. Enjoy the peace.
10/8 In Zutphen the w.s.v. DE MARS was visited to get acquaintances to visit.
11/8 The harbor master of the w.s.v. de ENGEL in Rheden was kind enough to lend Henri his bicycle.
This allowed him to eat a delicious pancake with bacon in the pancake house Strijland.
12/8 In order to meet his old neighbor again, Henri approached the port of the w.s.v. VADA.
It rained that day, but because of the good care of the harbor master there was a warm dry place.
13/8 In 2008, the Orm took part in the Dorestad Herleeft event.
So Wijk bij Duurstede had to be put in to eat with the old friends.
14/8 Batenburg with its centuries-old ferry over the river Maas to Demen had never run into the Orm.
A good reason to do this. Fortunately there was still one berth free.
15/8 Let’s see how the Leukermeer has developed over the years.
A modern marina has been constructed.
There are few berths available to lie alongside.
Most places were occupied by Germans.
Sleep did not come much that night, there was a disco going on somewhere.
The music was very loud and was carried over the water.
When music finally stopped at 03.00 the party-goers came back to their ships, that too was accompanied by many decibels.
16/8 There are many marinas at the lakes around Roermond.
The rowing and sailing club MAAS EN ROER was chosen to spend the night.
This turned out to be a good choice because the eatery De Thuishaven served an excellent meal of fresh products for little money.
17/8 It was the intention to sail from here to Eindhoven because Henri’s old neighbors from Ede now live in the neighborhood.
But unfortunately they were keeping holidays in Zeeland themselves.
To avoid having to sail the side canal of Eindhoven twice, Henri decided to continue in the direction of Tilburg.
This city with its old Piushaven has a special appeal.
The Orm also took part in the MariVin event to preserve the Piushaven.
Unfortunately, the old friends were on holiday here too.
18/8 It was beautiful weather so a rest day was added.
The ship and its crew could use a clean-up well.
19/8 The w.s.v GEERTRUIDENBERG has been a permanent starting point for many years.
The couple Geluk who hold the scepter there have become true friends.
20/8 Robin, Henri’s son, had come to Geertruidenberg to sail with his father.
This day the Biesbosch was chosen.
The Orm had more often sailed in the Biesbosch but this day was a fiasco.
This year there was a special kind of weed, 1 cm wide, that was stuck to the bottom.
Sailing the Orm had a nice trip, but when the ship landed in a wierveld the rudder broke and became uncontrollable ( for the construction of the helm see : Viking facts ).
So the outboard motor was started to make the ship steerable again.
The algae, however, proved so tough that the engine got stuck on it.
The third possibility to get ahead with a viking ship is rowing.
The two men with difficulty managed to get the ship out of the seaweed.
Unfortunately, the Orm stuck a bit further back into a wier field.
So leave the Biesbosch as soon as possible and return to Geertruidenberg.
21/8 The spare rudder was mounted on the ship.
Beautiful weather, a good breeze from the west.
The two men decided to go sailing.
Robin had often driven over the Moerdijk bridge by car and wanted to see him from the bottom now.
Then loosened the line of sail from the sail to the yard and the ship jumped forward.
The eight shots of the sail well put and almost without having to use the rudder, the Hollands Diep was finished.
Then the Bergsche Maas to Heusden.
The wind was blowing more and more and the weather forecast was bad, so it did not sail any further.
The trip back to Geertruidenberg on the engine took a bit longer.
22/8 First to the old town of Heusden, where a bunker ship is located, to get petrol.
Then the Dammed Meuse.
Here the fastening rope broke from the (spare) rudder.
At the w.s.v HET ESMEER near Aalst the Orm was warmly received and a quiet mooring was guaranteed.
The rope piece was cut off the rope and a new grommer ( Turkish knot ) split into the rope.
Then the rope from the inside to the inside by the rudder, through the rudder, through the skin of the ship and inside on the rafter.
All in all a decent job of over an hour.
Then a well-deserved beer and a good meal in the renovated "Schippers Inn".
23/8 The Orm was at 08.00 in front of the Wilhelminasluis.
( Two red lights (lock is not operated ).
Henri did not know that it was Sunday, so the lock was only served at 10.00.
The lock in Gorinchem opened immediately before the Orm.
Sailing the famous convoy on the Merwedekanaal.
At the locks in Vianen and Nieuwegein the lock was just open on the other side so there had to be waited for a while, always nice to have a chat with the other skippers.
In Niewegein was moored in the passers-by port PLETTENBURG.
The next day two trainers would come.
24/8 As mentioned, the underwater ship was tarred this year.
That was done in a shed of a fellow Henri.
So it was only logical that he and his wife would spend a day with the Orm.
Today it would go over the Hollandse IJssel to Hekendorp.
The lock present there, under the road, is unique in its kind and is still operated by hand.
It was a beautiful sunny day, sailing in a beautiful landscape, so everyone had enjoyed it.
25/8 Over de Dubbele Wederik to Nieuwerbrug.
From there on the Oude Rijn to Alphen aan den Rijn because :
Firstly during an earlier visit to the w.s.v Alphen aan de Rijn it was clear that it was a quiet harbor with nice people.
That turned out to be the case again, because the duty-keeping harbor master and her husband did everything in their power to make Henri as pleasant as possible.
Second, the Orm had participated in 2003 in the fifth lustrum of the rowing club Alphen aan den Rijn.
It would be nice to meet the organizer of that event once again.
Cees came on board in the evening with an ear lamb.
26/8 With Cees at the helm of the Braasemer and the Kaag to the ring canal of the Haarlemmermeer.
Because he had to work again in the afternoon he got off in Lisserbroek to go back by bus.
The Orm could sail on the centimeter under all bridges in Haarlem, without operation.
Yet it is not fair that people still have to pay a transit fee.
The final goal of this day was Spaarndam.
The great wish of Henri was to spend the night with the Orm in the lock chamber of Spaarndam.
Not only because this is the oldest lock in the Netherlands, but also because the daughter of an old colleague lives there.
The lock is normally no longer operational.
But because this year work on the large lock in Spaarndam is being carried out, the story went that the old lock was being operated again.
This would therefore be the chance to fulfill the wish.
But what turned out, the lock was only operated on weekends and not everyone was happy with this, it disturbed the peace.
If one likes peace and a nostalgic square, the cars should also leave here.
On working days the lock was closed and no exception was made to let the Orm in.
The Orm had to choose a berth outside the lock basin.
Of course this was a big disappointment.
Fortunately, the warm welcome from Angelique and her husband made a good impression.
However, what made the overnight stay in Spaarndam really unpleasant was the piled up duckweed.
It had been a few days of southern wind, the large lock was less open due to the work, it had been hot weather for some time.
All reasons why all the duckweed from the Spaarne in Spaarndam was heaped up.
But this was not just duckweed, it looked like paint.
When a piece of rope came into the water it was immediately green and could not be cleaned.
And stink that it did !
That was not nice to be able to sleep in that smell under a piece of tent cloth.
27/8 As always, when the Orm was home, it rained.
Due to the work on the lock, two hours had to be waited for operation.
On the North Sea Canal it is always a nice sight to see the hydrofoil from Amsterdam to IJmuiden ( fly ).
Hereafter, Nauerna was reached quickly.
A sign with the new 06 number of the lock was missing, so it took a while before the lock was operated.
Via the Nauernase Vaart to De Woude.
As has been the custom for years, as the last stop, it was created here to consume something.
Now it was only a short distance to Alkmaar via the North Holland Canal and the Alkmaar-Kolhorn Canal to Broek op Langedijk.
