Tues 25/6/19

Prior to leaving the UK I had planned on running along the coast to Amsterdam; however, having departed sooner than expected I now had time on my hands so decided to take the rivers and canals inland. I left Roompot and headed in the direction of Dintel.  Being in no hurry I set 1450 RPM and cruised along at 6.2 kts in bright sunshine and a hot temperature. We passed through the large Krammersluis without incident but had to wait at Volkeraksluizen for a while before entering so I tied up onto the waiting pontoon and had lunch. These 2 sluices have separate locks specifically for yachts so they don’t have to share the much larger locks with commercial traffic. That said, even these “smaller” locks are big and attract some very large barges and river cruise boats, as was the case when I went through. 

Looking at the marina options I decided to bypass Dintel and head for Willemstad. I called the new marina, Jachthaven De Batterij, and had my first experience of mooring between post to which you tie up. This is a fairly common method of mooring in Holland. My helpful neighbour greatly assisted in the process. He also informed me that Holland had suffered a massive breakdown in the mobile phone network the previous day - this explained why I couldn't contact anyone at Roompot! 

Approaching the town from the marina

This windmill has been converted to a stunning house

The quayside

Dutch humour

Willemstad, what a great place. A stunning small village with traditional windmill and lovely buildings. It even has an exceptionally well equipped chancellery where I bought the necessary charts for the remainder of our adventure. The only down side was my choice of restaurant. I ate at the Rosmolen, situated on a tree-lined avenue in a great setting. The calamari starter looked and tasted like it had been reheated several times and despite my best efforts I could not eat it. The prawns in the main course were hard and flavourless. 

Inedible calamari

The waitress didn’t seem in the slightest bit concerned when I said I had not enjoyed the meal. I would not recommend eating at the Rosmolen.  My friendly neighbour, a local who knows the place well, sucked in his breath when I told him of my experience. He too, would not recommend the place! One restaurant aside, I love Willemstad. It’s well worth a visit.