Strijensas

Due to bad weather and worse forecasts much of the English gaffer fleet is gradually making its way home going inland through the Dutch canals. In company with Barbara on Moon River we seem to be a bit ahead of most. After a peaceful night at Kaag we motored down the canals to Alphen aan den Rign. Here there is a rail bridge that is supposed to lift but is undergoing repair. There is no way round it so once we got to it we tied up to the bank nearby to wait. Sadly D had run out of time: there was too much at home that either she or one of us had to do, so she left the boat and got home by train in a few hours. It will take Dave and me a good bit longer.

The rail bridge was fixed at 6am today and we got up early to go through on the first opening. There followed a day of motoring into strong head winds through Gouda, Dordrecht and many miles of Dutch countryside reclaimed from the sea and used for productive farming.

We have now got to the  open water of Hollandsch Diep. We were tired after a long day and so put into the little harbour of Strijensas.I have never been in this harbour before. It was small and very crowded and I was quite anxious about entering it in Bonita with a strong crosswind and no realistic plan B.
However with Dave wielding the boathook we eventually managed to back her into a box berth.
We felt we had definitely earned supper in the excellent restaurant attached to the marina.

Most boats today have aerials, anemometers and other unfriendly hardware at the masthead. The traditional burgee provides a much more comfortable resting place.