Busy canal in Sneek

To go to previous part click here or to go back to the beginning of the trip click here
After 5 days in Sneek, we were glad to get moving again. When we first arrived in Sneek, we grabbed the first mooring available, which was to the east side of the town.

We did not want to backtrack now, so our planned route to Lemmer was through the centre of Sneek towards the south west.

This took us through 3 bridges and a very narrow canal which was quite congested, but rather fun.

Sneek – Waterpoort

After the last bridge, we passed the old Waterpoort, or Watergate.

This is one of the few remaining structures from somewhere around 1500, and quite spectacular.

Shortly after leaving Sneek we passed through another tiny but picturesque town called Ijlst (or Drylts to give it the Friesian name).

Also very narrow and congested – rather like being in a road with cars parked on either side, and someone has to give way every now and then.

And another busy section through Ijlst 

Once clear of Ijlst, we were on a long straight canal called Wide Winnaerts.

After an hour, at about 1215 we had an enforced
lunch stop at the Osingahuizenbrug, just outside the tiny town of Heeg.

For such a small place, there were at least 3 marinas here, but we wanted another open or wild overnight place.

Buoyed channel on Hegermeer

After Heeg, we entered the Hegermeer, and as we were heading along the buoyed channel towards Sloten, we spotted an ideal looking spot on the island in the middle of the Hegermeer.

With some trepidation I went hard-a-starboard (or hung a right, to put it in non-nautical terms) and out of the buoyed channel!

Trepidation because the depth on the chart was not a lot more than our draft.

Mooring spot on the Hegermeer

Anyway, we approached very slowly. All was well, but at the berth, there was only about 30 cm under the keel!

Which also changed the handling characteristics of the boat somewhat, so it took a while to get alongside.

It was a beautiful spot on the lee side of the island, with grassy banks and a very basic ablution block not too far away.

Red sky sunset on the Hegermeer

A great view across the Hegermeer, where the Dutch were out in full force in various types of sailing boats.

There seem to be lots of sailing schools in the Netherlands, and particularly here in Friesland.

Since leaving Sneek the weather had definitely been deteriorating. That night there was a beautiful sunset with a red sky.

Chart with route from Sneek to Lemmer

There is a saying – Red sky at night – sailor’s delight! Well it didn’t work this time, as that evening, the heavens opened.

There were a few smaller yachts over-nighting in the same place, and a couple of them had rigged tents on the grass. We did not envy them trying to cook and make supper!

We were very grateful for our generator, hot water, and the comfort of Shangri La.

The next day was a Sunday, and the weather still damp and dreary, so we decided to relax and stay there another day.

In the afternoon, the sun came out and it turned into a lovely day. We got chatting to a couple of other boat people walking
their dog.

Windmill in Sloten

I am continually amazed at the number of dogs and even cats on the boats.

We explored the island a bit and found blackberries growing wild. We picked two big bowls full, and used them in our breakfast
smoothie in the morning!

The next morning, we carried on along our winding route, across the Hegermeer, through Woudsend, across the Slotermeer, through Sloten, across the Brandermar, Groot Brekken and into Lemmer.
(see the chart above)

Double banked in Lemmer

We did have another enforced lunch stop just outside Sloten.

Bridges and locks dont operate between 1200 and 1300 hours, so its often quite convenient to take a lunch stop as you approach a town about that time.

We arrive in Lemmer just after 2.00 pm. Surely there would be plenty of space available!

Leaving Lemmer centre via Lemstersluis

We went through the Zilroedebrug, paying Euro 5 bruggeld, and although the bridge man said there was space, we could not find any alongside anywhere.

We thought we would have to pay another 5 Euro to come out again, but the bridge guy said it was fine to double bank alongside other boats.

There was friendly Dutch couple right there who were happy for us to tie up alongside them. So we double banked stern to bow.

The beach at Lemmer

There is a certain etiquette about double banking. One wants a certain amount of privacy, so mooring up bow to stern helps, and also makes it easier to walk across the forward part of the boat closer to the quay, which is what one should do, and thus avoiding walking through their living area.

Lemmer is a rather small town. It used to be a prosperous fishing village on the Zuiderzee, but since the building of the Afsluitdijk, the town has to rely on tourism and boating for income.

The shore power was quite expensive here, and the ablutions were not the best. So we did a bit of shopping for provisions, had a meal up the road, and the next morning motored through the town, out through Lemstersluis, and around to a marina which had good electricity, good wifi/internet as well as washing machines!

Being on the edge of the Ijsselmeer, there were many more sailing yachts here as the Ijsselmeer is a
favoutite sailing location.

The wind was still blowing quite hard. It was quite a tricky berth to get into, but we were getting much better at boat handling now.
We did see a German couple on a chartered sailing boat making a dog’s breakfast of getting into their mooring! 5 attempts with a couple of heavy bumps along the way.

While the washing machine was doing it’s stuff, we took a blustery walk along the nearby beach, and had a beer at a local restaurant.

Next – Lemmer to Urk (to go there click here )

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