Nijmegen

IJssel-Pannerden Canal

Here the signs to proof that we went from the IJssel to thePannerden Canal and from the Canal on the Waal.

We found it both a little bit exciting because we had already heard so many stories about the Waal, the bustle and the biiiiiig ships. 

Pannerden Canal -Waal

Well it's  all true but it is very easy to navigate, just like on the IJssel you use the blue board a lot, only not on our own initiative but in response.

navigating between the big boys

Since not all the big boys take the inside curve it leads to situations in which we had to zigzag between others, as above, where the other ships alternating had the blue sign up. 

I know of course that there are big ships here, I've also seen them before but never this close and as I myself am on the water.  

All in all an exciting and fun experience.

they really are huge

 We are now two nights in the harbor of Nijmegen and continue Thursday to the Maas

Doesburg

Deventer-Moerdijk

As planned, we indeed left Deventer on Wednesday and went to Doesburg. Unlike planned, we have not left and are now, Sunday, still on the quay in Doesburg, simply because it is so nice here. Beautiful spot overlooking the river IJssel and behind us a beautiful little town.

looks like a privately owned mansion

remnants of a castle

The journey over here was very nice, all the stories about the landscape along the river IJssel are correct, not only the scenery is beautiful and there are many magnificent buildings.

We had various relatives visiting us and fortunately the weather stayed good most of the time.
Unexpectedly we got the question from someone who had read the article in the Schuttevaer whether she and her partner could come for a night. Although it was not our intention we decided that we could say yes because we had already decided not to leave before Saturday. After some back and forth emailing the appointment was made for friday afternoon.Our entire schedule seemed to get in jeopardy when suddenly our friends from Wartena turned up on the motorbike. They had announced that they would do so one time. In anticipation of our other guests we were talking, we got a gift from them and when we opened it it turned out that they were our official guests, it was arranged through a friend of them so we would not know. Well that was successful, the surprise was great, the joke was on them and the fun for us all.

we are small in comparison

We still have the idea that we own a large ship as a houseboat, not compared to the commercials, which is confirmed by family and friends who visit us. Sometimes we are corrected as another houseboat docks next to us, more than 10 meters longer and wider, and we are the little one.

Along the quay where we are moored Doesburg is renovated and ther is new built.

the wall along the quay

Where once factories stood there are today new luxury apartments. On the quaywall, also new, at various points white blocks are built in that as you might draw a line along them symbolize a wave. They also show the different water levels, measured daily at 8pm in the morning, in Jan / Feb 1995 when there were extreme floods. The difference in water level was 5 meters between the highest and lowest positions in that period.
The highest level was more than 4 meters higher than it is now and that's a lot of water!

Next to us a ship is moored that was built on the same yard as 't Majeur, Boot in Alphen a / d Rijn, but one year earlier. The owners have completely renovated and refurbished to look like the original, it is now a floating memorial and looks beautiful. They also have a copy of a book on that yard which we have repeatedly heard about but never seen. We now viewed the interesting pages and made a copy. It is nice to learn a bit more about the history of our ship.

Tomorrow we leave here and finally get to Nijmegen, by the end of the week we should be in Batenburg.

Deventer

 After our friends left we left for the quay in Deventer (far left you can see us), in consultation with a very nice harbor master we can stay a few days in this place. a prime location and very nice, especially since the first Sunday of August there is the bookfair in Deventer, the largest in Europe. We didn't know that but it was buzy an fun, right on our doorstep along the whole of the quay.
Saturday my mother visited us for the day, there are excellent connections from Deventer to the Randstad, which makes it a potential winter mooring (we gave the harbor master something to think about).
Because of the bookfair our children came for the day, very nice and both made good deals.

 Late Monday night  there was a terrible gasoil smell on the quay, police, firebrigade and RWS came to look, and so there was a hassle on the quay. Many neighbourghs on the street or leaning from their windows, despite the late hour it was still nice weather. With torches they searched water, the ferry was used to look on the IJssel and with a ladder they climbed on an abandoned fishing boat. To be sure Michel looked in our engine room, but we were not the cause. They have not been able to find the source but the stench got less. There is always something happening on or around the water.

From where we are we overlook a mill across the river and today we went to look there.
It is a functioning wood mill with its own sawmill, driven by volunteers. The wood floats is in the water from the IJssel waiting further processing and is left for 3 years in the water. Inside the original saw, powered by the rotating blades from the mill, is used for cutting logs into slices. Wonderful to see and lovingly restored and kept by the volunteers.

Tomorrow we leave here and go first to Doesburg, and the coming weekend we go further via Nijmegen.