With a week of several days over 30 degrees we took it easy and stayed on the Markermeer, visiting Volendam, de Marker Wadden and Hoorn. We anchored most of the days with exception in Volendam because of some strong winds. During the day we swam a lot and took the dinghy ashore to walk, cycle and have some excellent dinners.
The Markermeer used to be sea, but is now a shallow fresh water pond. In the past few years they have made some artificial islands, called the Markerwadden. The whole area is a nature reserve, focused on creating an environment for birds. A part is visitable with your own boat or a ferry.
Volendam and Hoorn are some fishing and trade harbours, now focusing more on tourism. We rented a bike and visited Monnickendam, Edam, Broek op Waterland.
Our friends Henk and Carla (and their grandchildren) passed by with their sailboat Kairos, a Najad 45. Henk and me (Jos) had a company together some 20 years ago. Henk and Carla have done 5 oceancrossings, of which four on their own keel. Very helpful to learn from such experienced people.
Our final destination for now: Lelystad. With the experiences of the last 3 weeks we will do some last minor improvements and then she will be on display on the Dutch watersports fair ‘ Hiswa’.
Because of the size we didn’t dare to go in Volendam with JokerII last year… so next time we will🤩. Did you buy the different flavoured peppernuts? The cherry ones and coffee ones are addicting to me🫣…
Did you anchour in front of Markerwadden and leave the boat with the dingy?
In Hoorn we also stayed on anchour.
Dag Jan, in Volendam is de gemeentehaven heel ruim, de marina heb ik niet gekeken. Markerwadden zijn zeer de moeite waard en inderdaad, met de bijboot makkelijk naar de haven te varen. Pepernoten…nee die bewaar ik voor Sinterklaas.
My wife and I plan to sail from the bay of Biscay to the NL in the (near?) future. Such nice places! I’ll be following your posts to pick the best places to go!
Beste Jos, dank voor de rondleiding over jullie boot vanmiddag. Succes met de komende reizen, ik zal je volgen via de website. Met vriendelijke groet, Rik
Leuk om je te spreken Rik!
Hoi Jos,
Dankjewel voor je uitleg en veel plezier komende maanden! Was leuk 🙂
Irene