Week 38 Winter approaches
Week 38
...ok, only Autumn, but winter enough...
Last Sunday, we drove down to Zwolle to meet Ben - he was there for a mate's 30th. It was 13 years ago that Ben left home (age 17) to live in Zwolle and attend University.
Zwolle really is a nice city - it was good to see a bit more of it.
As luck would have it, we had brunch at Bennies... (Horrors, luckily Ben never got got Benny).
Ben had picked up a hire bike from the train station - simply by inserting his travel card - as one does for other public transport.
Water Sports
In the Netherlands, a country rich in water, water recreation is a popular leisure activity. The 2024 Water Sports Survey shows that almost a third of the Dutch population aged 18 and older, or approximately 4.6 million people, participated in one or more water sports activities in the Netherlands in 2024.
About 55 % of people interviewed stayed in "familiar territory"
32% found that Friesland was the most attractive
87% thought that the nature/landscape was most important (ie in the top 3)
82% thought that peace and quiet was most important
Probably too hard to glean any information from the graphics, but the link is here...
https://waterrecreatienederland.nl/kennisbank/watersportonderzoek-2024/
A kajuitmotorboot is one like ours ie. with a cabin
In not so good news we had a reminder of why we take great pains to constantly look behind us, particularly on the Prinses Margriet Canal
On Monday, an inland cargo vessel collided with a private yacht (cabin cruiser) on a canal in the Netherlands' Friesland region. (Wartena). One person aboard the yacht was killed and a second was injured, according to local police.
At about 1430 hours on Monday, the Friesland police received an alert that the inland barge Spes-Vera had collided with a yacht on the Princess Margriet Canal, not far from the town of Warten. Initial bystander reports indicated that the yacht had hit the stern of the barge, then capsized.
Firefighters and other first responders flooded the scene in an attempt to rescue any survivors. The upturned hull of the yacht remained partially afloat, easing access, but this was not enough to save all aboard. A 69-year-old woman lost her life in the collision, and a 76-year-old man was evacuated to the hospital by emergency services.
An investigation into the cause of the casualty is under way, and the captain of the Spes-Vera has been questioned by the authorities.
The ship doesn't look particularly big in this case - but there are warnings aplenty about the "dood hoek" from the wheel house - a blind zone where visiblity is lost. The ship was empty, so even higher out of the water.
Meanwhile, back at the farm...(as winter approaches)
Outside Mum's back door...
Better than we had ever imagined...
We needed another "hoekpaal" corner post - so we started pulling out the last of the old fencing...
We had to measure the opening for the large gates...
It took more time getting these right...likewise for the small gate further up.
On Saturday I managed 10 metres on my own, and fitted the gate - but I quickly decided that is much easier with two of us!! Somewhere along this stretch is an electricity cable - but I can't remember exactly where...the next pole, probably.
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