Jane and Giles arrive

Sun 30/6/19 to Tues 2/7/19

On Sunday Jane arrived from the UK and Giles from Toronto. We spent the next few days doing the sight and avoiding those areas we decided had nothing to offer us!

I should point out this is not Jane

Below are some random pictures of this great city.

On Tues I took the opportunity to get the Mastervolt people, who are based in Amsterdam, to check out the electrical side of the generator. (The mechanical fix was sorted before I departed but couldn’t be fitted in time before I left). They gave it the all clear so hopefully I’ll have the genset up and running on my return to the UK. 

Of note during out stay in Amsterdam was a meal we had at the Brasserie Ambassade where were treated to outstanding service from Sergio and stunning food.  Well worth a visit.  Top notch. 

Bikes are everywhere in Amsterdam and, to the uninitiated, eyes in the back of your head would be an advantage! The Dutch mastery of the English language was ably demonstrated when I stepped onto a cycle path without due attention only to be reprimanded by a Dutch gentleman who shouted “stupid old fart” as he swerved to avoid giving me an opportunity to try out the Dutch medical services.

James arrives from China

Sat 29/6/19

James arrived at the marina from Shanghai at 0700. We ventured across to the city for a quick look around. To quote Bill Bryson we arrived just in time for the litter festival. This is a common scene first thing in the morning but the mess is soon cleaned by an army of workers who make the streets presentable in time the hoards of tourists arrive.

The "Litter Festival"

Having picked up another bike we set off to explore on 2 wheels.  What a eye opener. Just a few miles outside the city is beautiful countryside peppered with irrigation channels, quaint bridges and beautiful individually designed houses.  I highly recommend taking time to get away from the bright lights and experience the stunning vistas just outside the city. Broek in Waterland and Monnickendam are well worth the effort 

There are some lovely houses in beautiful setting as you head through North Amsterdam

Once out of the residential area open countryside provides for some stunning vistas

Broek In Winterland is well worth a visit (see above 3 photos). We found a lovely little cafe on the banks of a tiny canal for some well-earned refreshment.

From Broek we cycled to Monnickendam, a quaint seaside town with a vast marina complex and lovely centre.

We felt we deserved a good quality hearty meal so, after some research, opted for the highly recommended TDQ steak emporium. Don’t bother: bland steaks, over priced and poor service. As the night was still young and James didn't seem to be suffering from jet lags (one of the benefits of youth) we hit the town and ended up in a canal-side bar specialising in a wide variety of beers. First night madness ensued and today's blog ends here!

To Amsterdam

Thur 27/6/19

After having a coffee on Albert’s boat I headed off at 0920. There are 2 lock options to enter the Amsterdam-Rijnkannal and I opted for the smaller, yacht locks.  This turned out to be a mistake. A problem with the first lock gate meant it took 2 hours to negotiate both locks. There we also 2 bascule bridges prior to entering the Amsterdam-Rijkannal. Having until now used the larger canals and rivers this was my first encounter of the Dutch smaller variants. The bridge operators try to balance the needs of the canal users with those of the wider public on foot, in cars and on the ubiquitous bikes. The result was that we ended up with a queue of boats waiting for the bridges to open. It proved to be a bit of a faff trying to maintain station while being blown by the wind in a narrow busy canal.  Once  onto the Amsterdam-Rijnkannal the passage was easy, if busy with quite heavy traffic. 

It is not possible to book ahead at Sixhaven marina in Amsterdam but I called 2 hours prior to my arrival to see if there was space - there was. I arrived at 1500, later than I had planned due to the delay in the lock and was directed to a berth next to a large, brand new Sunseeker. Sixhaven is a small marina and is a tight fit for a 15 metre boat. I managed to birth without scratching the new gin palace and, breathing a sigh of relief, tied up and plugged in. The only minor downside of Sixhaven is that shore power is limited to 1300 watts/boat. This is not enough to run the oven, kettle or other power hungry devices. In theory nearly 6 amps should be available; however, the harbour master informed me more like 3 amps were available. A minor issue that we worked around.

Sixhaven is an awesome place: a small marina right in the centre of Amsterdam directly opposite the Central Station which is only a short, free ferry ride away. 

Between the 2 boats you can just make out the roof of the Central Station. Sixhaven really is "central".

There’s a great atmosphere and the amenities are of a high standard.The place gets very busy and it pays to arrive soon after 1200. As it fills up, boats of all shapes and sizes are rafted up, squeezed in and huddled together. This all adds to the ambiance. I love the place. As in all the marines I had visited, the harbourmaster was exceedingly helpful and a master at using the last piece of water to squeeze in just one more boat!

Fri 28/6/19

A day used to clean the boat, do some minor jobs and stock up with food and provisions before the clan arrived. I hired a bike from the central station in an attempt to fit in with the locals. I got some relief from the cleaning duties as these welcome visitors arrived.

Wed 26/6/19

I departed Willemstad at 0810 and headed for the the turn off into the locks that lead from the Lek onto the Amsterdam-Rijnkannal. Holland makes good use of its network of rivers and canals with commercial traffic be a very common sight. 

Lek is a busy river but an easy, enjoyable route. Swimmers, canoeists, jet and water skiers all share the river with the commercial traffic and seem to coexist in harmony.  The Dutch are renowned boat builders and below is an example of the top end on offer at "Oceanco" that I passed en-route.

I called ahead to WSV de Peiler to book a berth and was met by the Albert Van Heijst, the harbourmaster who directed me to the pontoon. I was tied up by 1430 - a short day. Albert and his enthusiastic team could not have been more helpful.  He loaned me a bike which allowed me to visit Helsdingen and Vianen - a large town with a pretty, historic pedestrian centre.

A "free" bike loaned by the marina

One of the wonderful buildings in Vianen

Another one....

I saw these sheep in a field during my ride. I can't recall seeing anything like these anywhere else.

On returning to the marina, I ordered a beer and was joined by Albert who told me of his forthcoming trip to the UK.  

A well-earned beer with Destiny in the background

Albert's Linssen

Albert has a Linnsen yacht and the manufacturers organise an annual trip for Linnsen owners looking for travelling companions and an adventure. (I wonder if Elling has considered such a thing. I will raises this with them. There seems to be little in the way of formally fostering community spirt across Elling owners). This year 12 Linnsens are planning to travel to the east coast of the UK. I hope to meet up with them and reciprocate some of the hospitality they showed me.

De Peiler is a community run marina and the cheapest I’ve experienced on my travels. At €22.25 it was outstanding value and is well worth a visit. It has a small, welcoming restaurant/snack bar/club house where I ate my evening meal. In the morning, Albert showed me around his Linssen Grand Sturdy, introduced me to his wife Else, and plied me with coffee before I departed at 0920. Fond memories.

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.

A BIG birthday worthy of a trip to the Netherlands

Mon 24/6/19

I departed SYH at 0400 on my first long solo trip with Destiny. The family and friends were all due to meet in Amsterdam on the week of 30 June in reverence to a significant birthday Jane would be celebrating in early July. As ever, things didn’t go exactly to plan.

Being summer, I thought it might be safe to assume that we would have settled weather and light winds. I therefore planned to leave on Thursday which would allow a day for the crossing and another day to transit to Amsterdam. This was not to be and the only weather window showing light winds in the North Sea was Monday. I duly set off.

I’m still experimenting with RPM vs speed options and on this trip I decided to cruise at about 8 kts. This would give a journey time of about 12 hours - a comfortable balance between eating up the miles, fuel consumption and the need to stay alert.  2000 RPM gave about 8 kts through the water at a fuel rate of 15 ltrs/hour. The tide in this part of the North Sea runs predominantly across the direction of travel: first in one direction and then in the other. At both ends of the trip the tides can be a help (or a hinderance if you get them wrong). I covered the 101nms to the lock at Roompot in 12 hours thereby averaging 8.4 kts. 

The route across the North Sea has to take into account a number of wind farms, Traffic Separation Schemes and other potential hazards. The AIS shot below show a large number of vessels used to support one of the large wind farms. Although toted as one of the busiest traffic areas in Europe, my crossing was not unduly troubled by other vessels.

The winds were light, no more than 11kts, and the trip uneventful other than at about 10 nms out from the Dutch coast the boat became infested with flies! The whole boat was covered in them and a large number got inside before I could close all the windows and doors. Bizarrely they appeared very sluggish and quickly started to die off. For the remainder of the trip I became adept at swatting the torpid beasties. The carnage left a fair bit of debris which I vacuumed up.

The sea locks in Holland can be huge and Roompotsluise is no exception. Single handing the locks proved straight forward: tie off at the centre cleat to hold the boat in place, hook on a bow line, then a stern line, leading both of these lines back to the centre of the boat. Next untie the centre line before the sluices open and stand in the centre of the boat to work the lines. Having a Yachtcontroller helps keep the boat in position until all lines are held. One other boat entered the lock with me, a sailing yacht, whose crew spent the whole time squatting flies!

Although large, the Dutch locks are easy to work

What is apparent from the moment you approach the Dutch coast is the scale and ingenuity of the engineering required to keep the sea from encroaching on the land.  

Some seriously impressive engineering

View from my birth in Roompt Marina

Having successfully negotiated the lock I aimed for Roompot Marine a short distance away. This is where I remembered that European marine radios are set up differently to those in the UK.  The marina frequency, channel 31, doesn’t exist on my radio. No problem, I had called the marina to book a berth prior to leaving the UK, I tried to call them. Every time I dialled a number I immediately got the engaged sound. I even tried calling the UK without success. I concluded there must be something wrong with my phone.  I was rapidly approaching the marina so decided to enter unannounced. I found a berth and tied up 12.35 hours after I set off.

The marina staff and fellow birthers we’re extremely friendly. It helps that everyone in the Netherlands speaks excellent English. Unfortunately the food option was a choice between eating in a “buffet hall” on the adjacent campsite or the restaurant in the marine. I opted for the later having done a cursory inspection of the former. By the time I arrived they were taking no more booking. I retired to the boat and had a snack. Having sorted out the route options for the morning and picked up more dead flies I retired early to bed. 

Generator Working Again - at last

Following the failure of the Mastervolt genset during our Scottish trip, when we returned to base I set about further investigating the problem.

The generator had worked faultlessly until that fateful day when it fired up and then stopped, pumping what I thought at the time was smoke into the engine room. My preliminary investigation found the insulation on the top of the DDC (Digital Diesel Control) box - the electrical gubbins that controls the generator - had partially melted but I could see no other signs of damage or what might have caused the problem. Access to the LHS of the generator is tight and the sound shield further restricts access. However, there is a panel in the third cabin which allows sight of that side of the genset. On removal, this is what I saw:

In the centre of the picture you can just make out where the exhaust elbow has come away from the exhaust manifold. The sound shield, on the right, is resting again the wall of the engine room and needed to be removed; however, the frame that holds the shield in place prevented the shield's removal.

This is a view from the top of the generator looking down on the detached exhaust elbow. In order to gain better access I removed the front and top of the sound shield frame which facilitated full removal of the sound shield. Result: much better access. I also removed the engine bay vent ducting - a large flexible pipe that sits above the generator - and the expansion tank. Access was now good and the offending parts could readily be removed.

It transpired that the 4 studs that should have been attached to the exhaust manifold had pulled out of the alloy flange. It appeared they had only been inserted to the depth of 3 screw threads and, over time, as corrosion took its toll the alloy of the manifold could no longer support the elbow. The local marine engineers milled the flange flat to provide a suitable surface for the gasket and fitted new studs. The result is shown below.

Unfortunately, this work was not completed before the departure date for our trip to Holland (blog to follow) so once again I set off without a generator. The Dutch still have Mastervolt dealerships whereas the UK doesn't. Legacy equipment is now supported by Fisher Panda and trying to get someone local who was knowledgeable about the generator was becoming irksome. Although I could see no visual damage to the wiring I asked some Mastervolt engineers to look over the generator whilst we were in Amsterdam. What I had feared was smoke resulting from burnt wiring turned out to be a mixture of exhaust gas and the molten DDC insulation.  The Mastervolt folks confirmed this and gave the generator a clean bill of health. Or at least as best they could without seeing it run! On return to the UK, the now renovated parts were replaced and it was time to give it a test run. 

All renovated and back together

The generator fired up without hesitation but the output voltage, at 204V, was lower than the 210V minimum required for the set. A bit of investigative work pointed to the capacitor being faulty. The capacitors were tucked away in the depths of the DDC but could be accessed without too much trouble. 

The 2 old capacitors 

I sources new capacitors on line and fitted them. You can just see them in the second picture below tucked into the bowls of the DDC.

Time for a test run. She fired up and produced a very health 224V. Success. I have since run the generator several times and she is back to working like a dream.

As an aside, I thought I'd replace the air filter (below) whilst I had the opportunity. I tried Fisher Panda but I'm still awaiting a price and availability! I sourced it online as a Mastervolt spare and it came in at 53 Euros (plus tax and delivery). I found the exact same filter sold as a car spare for £5 (plus tax and delivery). A good example of the mark up applied to marine goods! Happy days.