13-15 July After researching Assen we decided that we really only wanted to spend a couple of hours there so we decided to not stay overnight, but to push on towards Meppel instead. Inner Harbour in Meppel So we set off on Thursday morning as soon as the brides opened and got to Assen by about 11:30, and had a cycle around town, and dropped into the local supermarket for extra supplies. We had a break of about 2 hours before setting off again. After Assen, there was one turn and then a long straight canal with a road on either side. About every half to 1 km was a small bridge. The bridge watcher managed 2 bridges and cycled between them. This meant that we were often waiting for a bridge to be opened, but the weather was fine and there was only a light wind so that was OK. We ended up mooring after 4pm, so felt we had done a good day's work. It was quite a nice spot except for the noisy road opposite. Howard was even able to get in some fishing before we had dinner on the back deck. Our count for the day was 16 mobile bridges and one lock with roughly 5 hours of cruising. On Friday we were expecting rain in the afternoon so were keen to cover as many kms as possible before the weather turned. The canal was a bit more windy and interesting but we still covered 9 mobile bridges and 4 locks before we moored just after the rain started at 2pm. It was a nice spot (apart from the roads), with horses in the nearby paddock. At the locks we passed, lock keeper has to close one gate manually and then walk all the way around to close the other gate - and vice versa as we leave the lock, so this too can be a slow process, but all the keepers have been nice and friendly. The locks here are only 27m long so we fit inside snugly with no room for anyone else. On our final morning we covered 7 mobile bridges (including one railway bridge that was left open unless a train was coming), and 2 locks. One the the last bridges into Meppel only opened on the hour and half hour for recreational boats, but did open for this big commercial - which wanted our mooring spot. Two recreational boats coming the other way and ourselves and squeezed through while the bridge was open. We had decided not to try for a mooring in the inner harbour as it would be a tight fit and hard to turn around, so we easily got a mooring in the outer harbour, which was less scenic, but also less busy. The inner harbour was packed out when we visited it later in the evening.
2 Comments
Steve
17/7/2017 06:36:08 am
Sounds like a good day. Did you get as far as Hoogersmilde?
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Deb
17/7/2017 08:19:41 am
We left Groningen Tuesday and stayed near Hoggesmilde on Thursday night, but we didn't leave the boat. We got to Meppel on Saturday morning.
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