Netherlands Trip - Lauwersoog      14th June:

    There had been an almighty blow through the night. The nearby wind turbine was being repaired. Nelson, aka Rex, pulled us round the table, and over coffee we discussed the impact of the gales outside our cosy home. The issue about passing through canals in a blow was that when it came to gilling about at a bridge waiting for it to open, the wind would push us to one bank. Duonita's lack of a bow-thruster would make it difficult to hold her steady. In our marina, the windage on masts alone was heeling boats over by 10 degrees, which could cause the top of a mast to clip a bridge and become tangled up in the canals. On the other hand we knew that the sands of time were passing on. But common sense prevailed, and with heavy hearts we agreed to stay put for another day.

    Today would be a chill out day. After showers, I willed myself to wash a fermenting compost heap of clothing. An hour after loading I checked progress; the heap was still washing away in its machine. Half an hour later, the machine still sat on the same setting in its cycle. Hmmmm.... I pushed and pulled the cycle indicator, then crash, wallop. Ugly grinding noises strained from the beast, and the cycle indicator had moved around to the next setting. I watched in silence, and the one-eyed monster sat silently, gazing unblinkingly back at me. I turned to leave, and the wretch smiled, belched, and resumed into an unknown part of its cycle. Was it going through a menopause? I don't know, but I could swear if smiled as I left to visit the toilet block. I called in on the way back. The demon silently mocked me, its dial indicating it was done with me. I quickly extracted my severely washed togs, still with suds on. Had the creature had the last laugh? To exorcise the evil spirits, I quickly transferred the damp mass to the dryer. One all perhaps.

Wartime Bomber Engine outside the Chandlers

Meryl and the Orange Funnel

    I stopped off to watch the coot chicks on my way back to the boat. They were normally around a tall bed of reeds, parents plus six fluffy balls. The number of chicks seemed depleted the previous evening, but no, they were all safe and sound, cutely chirping away, signalling their constant hunger to mam and dad.
    The next few hours were spent deciphering the anomalies of Duonita's electrical circuits. In tracing one fault, we managed to put together a picture of the electrics and why certain other anomalies existed. Meryl, who was engrossed in knitting, endeavoured to understand the obsession of Dutch and German women, who seemed to devote every spare moment to cleaning their vessels to within an inch of their lives. Rex thought it was a good idea; Meryl raised one eyebrow, enough to shut Rex up. I kept out of it.
    Later, we walked up and over the dike, and visited the commercial docks on the other side. The whole basin was brimming with trawlers, and on land, stood a multitude of fish auctioneers, fish processing businesses and fish transport companies. A fair sprinkling of seafood restaurants occupied the area too. In addition, there was an excellent chandler, capable of meeting the needs of vessels ranging from small yachts up to large trawlers. Rex was in his element when he found this, and headed straight in. Chandlers to Rex and are as DIY stores to me. For some inexplicable reason, Rex bought yet another funnel, a charming orange one. "It is what it is," some folk collect stamps, some funnels.

Lauwersmeer Sluices

     This area of Lauwersoog is a fishing port, a marina, the ferry landing and a large parking garage where the island travellers can put their vehicles away and that's all there is. Lauwersoog did not exist until 1969 when the dam to close off the Lauwerszee, a former inlet of the Waddenzee, was built. Just as with the Delta works in Zeeland, an artificial island was constructed for building the caissons to close the dam, which became Lauwersoog. That explains the suffix "oog" in its name, an ancient word for island in Dutch.
    We walked through the dock area, climbed back up to the top of the dike, and crossed over the sea lock, and headed towards the three massive sluices of the Lauwersmeer lake. The sluices were built to allow draining away surplus water from the hinterland after the closure. In the Lauwersmeer area, with a size of about 90 kmē of which 20 kmē still consists of open water, exist agricultural domains, nature reserves and recreation areas, together with a huge military drill site. The combination of nature reserves and manoeuvres with tanks and heavy artillery seems to be peculiar, but nevertheless the whole area was granted the status of National Park in 2003, just like Schiermonnikoog.

    The dike stretched out before us, and we took the opportunity to walk along it, a broad, high dike, capped along its length with a narrow field, steadily being cropped by herds of sheep and lambs. For some reason, all the sheep we had seen so far in this land had never had their tails cropped. On the lower southern edge of the dike, the H. M. Gebrandywei road allowed vehicles to speed along between the Lauwersmeer and Waddenzee.

    A fierce wind howled across the Lauwersmeer, raising up white horses as it did so, and then shot up over the dike. We kept ourselves to the sheltered northern side of the dike. Above the Waddenzee waterline, the dike had been lined with asphalt and chippings. A granite block apron protected the dike at sea level.

Calmer Evening View of Lauwersmeer from "Het Booze Wijf"

    Across the Waddenzee, the low-lying panorama of Schiermonnikoog swept the horizon, the white and red lighthouses on the western end being clearly visible. Compared to the choppy Lauwersmeer on the southern side of the dike, the sheltered Waddenzee side was relatively calm. I'm sure the tables would be reversed most of the time.
    The Schiermonnikoog ferry was spotted leaving the island, and we watched its long meandering course that had to be taken to return to Lauwersoog.
    On our return to Duonita, we found the old man and his large boat who had set off to Copenhagen three days ago. He and his wife had got as far as Borkum, where they received a call advising them that his wife's mother had passed away. We gave him our condolences, and left him to go about his business in peace.
    Later in the day, the wind eased off a tad, and we discussed the latest weather forecasts. A window of opportunity would occur in the morning, in which we could make a dash to Dokkum before the next weather front arrived.