We woke up early to a very different day - cloudy and mercifully cool thanks to northerly winds. By 0730 we were at the first lock and bridge praying that there would be a body to operate it at that early hour. That body responded promptly and in perfect English when we called on VHF.
Off we went on an odyssey of northern Netherlands, amid intensely green fields and sleepy villages. We wound through wiggly river bits and straight canals, past windmills and numberless old barges sporting their lee boards like little wings (which do the job of a keel digging into the water, in these flat bottomed giants). See picture of one of the biggest in Groningen.
We lost count of the bridges...but looking at our bible of the 'Staande Mastroute' I reckon we have done forty bridges between Leeuwarden and Groningen, endless jilling around waiting for bridges to be prepared, red lights to turn green and the sudden charge forward as the bridge is raised or swung. (See pic)
At last we arrived in our target town of Groningen..earlier than expected and moored Sirena IV in the friendly Oosterhaven marina where she will lie snugly for a week as we fly to Scotland to be with Nic's mum.
After washing the boat free of dead insects and washing our own clothes we sat in the sun on the breezy canal side to have a dinner of Dutch delicacies, washed down with beer and gin.
Tomorrow is train and airport and hotel. A different world to our little nautical bubble.
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