Week 35 Like Ships in the Night...

 

Week 35 mostly in Dokkum

Frank and Pam

Ron and Nettie

David and Janice

Dokkum Festival (estimated 125,000 visitors)

Dinner

Dokkum - Heerenveen 7 hours windy

The eel boat

Music

BBQ

Relaxing

back into it

Goodbye

Amazing story of Le Chateau in St. Georges Motel

We're back at work on Monday 8 September as I sit down at lunchtime to write this. I've totally lost track of days and dates, so I will rely on my photos to jog my memory.

We left Cheryl at the station and went straight to Dokkum the next day - Wednesday.

Ben came home on Sunday, so we had to pick him up - we had a couple of nights at home catching up on bookkeeping and a few other things - and then off to Dokkum again - with Ben.

He was able to keep up with his work and then Janny took him to Heerenveen - off to Amsterdam again to pick up a new laptop from yet another employer.

Janny and I had days of seemingly "doing nothing" but we filled the days in with walking, shopping, eating and cooking...

Walking around the bulwarks...

Humble meatballs and spaghetti...

I again managed a banana cake with the Omnia oven...

Then Ron and Nettie arrived and a bit later (English) friends of theirs, David and Janice. Other (Canadian) friends couldn't make it because they are trying to organise residency here.

Ron and Nettie rode their bikes to Ameland! for a couple of days - staying at accommodation under the name of "Friends on the Bike"

https://dutchreview.com/culture/friends-on-the-bike-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work/

Origins of Friends on the Bike foundation

Friends on the Bike was started by Nel de Blécourt and her husband Hijbo in 1984. It began when Nel placed a call to fellow cyclists in the Arnhemse Koerier, looking for people who would be interested in offering comfortable and affordable accommodation to her and her husband.

At the time, there was usually only a choice between a pricey hotel, a youth hostel, or a tent at a campsite. More than 80 people responded to her call. And just like that, the Friends on the Bike was born.

After 35 years, the addresses have risen from 80 to more than 6,000 guest addresses, with more than 95,000 registered and active ‘Vrienden op de Fiets’ in 2020.

We had been closely monitoring the comings and goings of boats - and just at the right time we could manage to get the 3 boats together - although I did have to wake one German guy who had moored on the outside of Houtrib - he wasn't happy as he was still sleeping at 0845hrs - I do love being an early bird!

We had a steep stairway to climb, but it was doable and close to the toilets and the town.

The local council mow the slopes with a  remote controlled "spider"

The Festival officially started on Thursday - with a bit of music here and there and some rehearsals. It is a nice atmosphere as it builds up.

On Friday morning, I drove back to our place to pick up Frank and Pam - who had driven up from their Chateau in France ! Yes, Frank often asks how did a Noble Park lad end up here? - a real life Chateau in France.... more later about the Chateau - but I may have to grill Pam for some more information - it seems such a fascinating story.

One of my highlights was going aboard a palingaak - eel ship, which was moored amongst a few other wooden boats/ships...and we were given a brief history of the eel trade with London.

Dutch ships had permission to moor for the trade - apparently the spot is still there, known as Dutch Wharf..

https://www.palingaak.nl/historie/

right click translate gives it in English

In 1364, Jacob Dirkszn from Zeeland petitioned King Edward III for permission to use his eel sales profits to purchase woolen cloth to take back to the mainland. Dirkszn argued that he had imported large quantities of Dutch eel into London, to the city's great advantage, but that he was not permitted to export English gold or silver.

The most famous plague epidemic, the Black Death, occurred in the 14th century, between 1347 and 1351. Trade from Holland and Zeeland probably started after that.

By 1450, so many live eels were already being sold that ships must have been used in bunschepen (bunships). In Holland, bunschepen, or waterships, are mentioned as early as 1339. One of the reasons for anchoring in the river during this period also indicates that traders were likely to have sailed the Thames in winter on waterships in the mid-fifteenth century.

The ship we saw was a replica - taking 5 years to build using original documentation for the construction - it must have cost quite a lot - using French Oak - and such wonderful craftmanship. The watership refers to the holding tanks which were constructed to allow water to flow through - to keep the eels alive. 

In later years, the ships could not go up the Thames because the water was too polluted.

The history refers to Old Billingsgate Fishmarket - where the "Dutch Mooring" was located. Last used in the mid 1930's, I think.

And there was music...and lots of people - a record crowd of 125,000.

Lots of boats and ships to see

This working ship was passing through...only just

The brown metal poles are used to hold the ship in position when it is working - they are driven into the bottom of the canal as anchors.

6 of us went out for dinner on Friday night...

Saturday evening was a BBQ on our limited patch of ground...

Our niece Ryanna lives in Dokkum and just happened to roll up at the right time - with her son Taede...Ron was in charge of cooking.

More music for some and then suddenly it was Sunday morning and time for us to head off back to Heerenveen.

It was a 7 hour trip with a short pit stop for Boeke. It was nice and sunny but very windy - which gave me pause for our eventual mooring in Heerenveen.

I decided to drive in rather than back in because of the wind - which meant that we didn't have our nice off ramp.

But the stuff was soon loaded into the car and we were off for home - and a last dinner with Frank and Pam - I had recently been disappointed with our local, but we tried it again and it was fine - ribroast with blueberry sauce - so they are forgiven.

The house looked like we had simply abandoned it a week or more ago - and so we had!

Janny and I had to find our usual routine again on Monday morning - (this morning, but it seems like ages ago already).

We said a sad farewell to Frank and Pam - all over so quickly - hence my title of passing like ships in the night, but luckily we did have some time to be treasured.

I reckon it might take a month to tidy the house and catch up with other jobs...but I have been spoilt over these last few weeks with Cheryl and Alexander and now with Frank and Pam and Ron and Nettie - and certainly a lot more boating than last year!