Week 26 A Long Weekend
water
boat
campground
around the farm
history Eysinga
bus to Joure
I can't believe my luck as I'm writing this on the boat at 0630hrs on Sunday morning - I slept in... Boeke is curled up on my bed and Janny is still sleeping soundly - the strong winds of yesterday have disappeared- so it should be a quiet trip home. The extra Thursday night has made it into a long weekend for us - should do that more often.
Water Shortage
I remember that when I first came here I would often wonder about water storage - dams, reservoirs, for example. ie. there weren't any!
A day out quite often meant that we would visit yacht havens...plenty of water but not a dam in sight.
In 2018 we had water shortages and probably even more concern over the state of the dykes - they were drying out and there were teams of inspectors going around to check them.
Water concerns are being discussed again now with the current "heatwave" firmly on everyone's mind.
(after 2018, I learnt that the Ijsselmeer (formerly the South Sea) is the largest water storage - it is freshwater now behind the Afsluitdijk).
Just as an aside, I did a search for "water storage dams and reservoirs in Australia" - ie it is quite a thing in the "driest continent".
This from Trouw Newspaper on Wednesday
https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-economie/tekort-aan-drinkwater-dreigt-beloofde-voorraden-komen-niet-van-de-grond~b52e46ea/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.bsky.app%2F
Due to climate change, pollution and a growing population, the Dutch water supply is increasingly under pressure. In prolonged dry periods, such as this week, the demand for drinking water peaks the most and these dry periods are becoming more frequent. The water reserves for the future – called 'additional strategic reserves' – were intended to absorb the water shortages from 2030 onwards.
Two provinces, Groningen and Friesland, have not even designated locations, the study shows. Two others, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland, are already struggling with shortages before 2030 because they cannot build up reserves. Zeeland has almost exclusively salt groundwater and Brabant suffers too much from drought, which means that the groundwater is not replenished sufficiently when it rains.
Eight (of the 12) provinces now have designated additional water supplies. But that is not enough, because two of them, Drenthe and North Holland, will need the reserves before 2030 due to the growing thirst. In five of the six other provinces, the creation of the supplies is difficult due to conflicting interests and difficult administrative processes. Due to climate change and drought, the amount of usable water in some locations is also disappointing.
“The extra water supplies were intended for after 2030, but now we need them even sooner,” says Peter Salverda, supra-regional strategic environmental manager at Vitens, the largest water company in the Netherlands. Climate change is happening faster than the water sector had anticipated for years. “The problems are already there,” says Salverda, “but without these supplies it will become even more urgent.” Vitens fears that it will not be able to connect new housing projects in Overijssel and Utrecht. It has already had to refuse fifteen new connections from companies in Overijssel. In West Brabant, Brabant Water can longer connect new companies.
Due to climate change, pollution and a growing population, the Dutch water supply is increasingly under pressure. In prolonged dry periods, such as this week, the demand for drinking water peaks the most and these dry periods are becoming more frequent. The water reserves for the future – called 'additional strategic reserves' – were intended to absorb the water shortages from 2030 onwards.
Two provinces, Groningen and Friesland, have not even designated locations, the study shows. Two others, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland, are already struggling with shortages before 2030 because they cannot build up reserves. Zeeland has almost exclusively salt groundwater and Brabant suffers too much from drought, which means that the groundwater is not replenished sufficiently when it rains.
“The extra water supplies were intended for after 2030, but now we need them even sooner,” says Peter Salverda, supra-regional strategic environmental manager at Vitens, the largest water company in the Netherlands. Climate change is happening faster than the water sector had anticipated for years. “The problems are already there,” says Salverda, “but without these supplies it will become even more urgent.” Vitens fears that it will not be able to connect new housing projects in Overijssel and Utrecht. It has already had to refuse fifteen new connections from companies in Overijssel. In West Brabant, Brabant Water can longer connect new companies.
Around the farm...
Cucumbers are going so well that I had to add a new frame for them to climb on
Doing their own climbing...
On Thursday morning we pulled out some more of the old fencing - losing about 40% of the poles as they just simply broke off at ground level - hard to say what the difference is between them and those that remained intact and really quite solid...perhaps the quality of the treatment/impregnation?
By Thursday, the weather had cooled down a bit so we planned a "getaway" on the boat - we left home at 1500hrs and were under way by 1600hrs
...and arrived at our destination by 1830hrs.
Bertha and Gerard have a delightful campground spot (with "room for a boat") about 30 minutes away by small boat.
They came to pick us up on Thursday evening and we did a small tour around the waters of Langweer -seeing things again a little differently...
Two balloons (spot the second one?) and a Marakrite Buoy that boats can tie up to - to have more of a "middle of nowhere" feel without any facilities. We buy a Marakrite flag every year - which allows us to use their (more than 3000) mooring sites in Friesland - and the buoys.
On Friday, we pottered around the boat - walking, cleaning- and I "went to the footy" (in my mind) - listening to the ABC without ads.
Then Gerard picked us up in his car to take us to have a look at their campsite... with their boat moored just in front. What a fantastic spot! I suppose I wouldn't swap the boat for it, but if that if that is your "thing" then I can't imagine anywhere better - especially with the boat to go with it.
The camping ground is part of the Eysinga Estate. The Eysinga family were "nobles" dating back many centuries. I did a Google search and also a Gemini AI "Deep Research" - it came up with a fascinating history - much too long for here - but I'll put it in another blog for anyone who might be interested.
One of the earliest recorded ancestors, Foockel van Eysinga, was born in 1380 in Bozum, Friesland, and had two sons with Aede Keimpes Jongama.
The Eysinga family has maintained a profound and enduring presence in Friesland for centuries, deeply interwoven with the region's historical and developmental fabric. Their influence spans across political, economic, and cultural spheres, establishing them as one of the most prominent noble families in the province. The family's rich legacy is tangibly preserved in properties such as the Huis van Eysinga in Leeuwarden, an impressive 18th-century city villa that now functions as a museum house, and the centuries-old Eysinga State in Sint Nicolaasga, which has since been transformed into a modern holiday park. These sites offer visitors direct connections to the family's past and provide a glimpse into their aristocratic lifestyle.
As wealthy landowners, the Eysinga family naturally maintained deep involvement in agriculture. A particularly notable contribution was their pivotal role in the preservation and breeding of the Friesian horse
So, centuries indeed.
One other item of note was that they eventually became nobles and very wealthy. They also had a grand house in Leeuwarden where they spent much of their time, particularly over winter. They were also very much into the Politics of the day (based in Leeuwarden) - thus ensuring that there were fewer obstacles to their increasing prosperity. ( I doubt that they would have even thought of creating an Eysinga Perfume, though).
The Estate includes forests - much of the swamply land having been drained and turned into farmland and forests.
Ron and Nettie introduced us to the card game "Shithead" - so we showed Bertha and Gerard - over a meal - and I could check the cricket scores...
Apparently, Shithead is a Backpackers game - the loser (shithead) is required to "make a cup of tea" or perform some other menial task for the others.
After a very relaxing afternoon, they took us home by boat - the waterway (aka ditch) is very narrow - (we couldn't use our boat) - I made an "African Queen" reference which fell on deaf ears :-(
They have had experience of doing this trip many times now - and apparently there is one stretch that they get attacked by horseflies - so we were armed with insect repellent and blankets....
and didn't see a one!
Back home...(at the holiday house)
...and farewell
So then we had Saturday and Sunday still to go. Seems like we had already had a nice holiday.
Janny thought to "catch a bus" to Joure - not so easy to do these days as there is no regular service - we could however, book one by telephone and it was surprisingly cheap - must be something to do with having to "provide the service".
We walked into Langweer and had lunch while we waited for the bus - it cost €2,50 each - the dog could be "free if it sits on your lap".
In hindsight, I'm pretty sure the driver had no idea where he was - he took us on a roundabout route to Joure that turned out to be quite interesting. With so many waterways and lakes around you really have to know the way - relying on bridges and in our case even a ferry (which cost the driver €2,70) So, with wages and fuel costs they made nothing on that trip :-)
On the return trip, later in the day, Janny managed to convince the new driver that he should go via Sint Nicolaasga - which he did and was able to drop us off almost at the boat! - in about 15 minutes.
We were all pretty tired by the end of the day - including Boeke, as we had walked almost 15kms! But it was another "good" day in the grand scheme of things...
From the bus station into Joure...
Now back home - to unpack, watch the footy replay and the cricket - it's raining quite a lot, so lucky we got home early.
Backed the boat in - easy to do with little wind
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