Passing by Hindeloopen
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During a break in the rain, I hiked down to the Ijsselmeer, passing through lush wooded land. Then, all of a sudden I was presented with a wonderful vista of a superb beach, a wide swathe of sand and broken sea shells. The silvery, grey Ijsselmeer stretched away to the horizon, and most importantly it was relatively calm, far calmer than what the weather reports had predicted.
I returned, related this to Rex, and in no time we slipped our mooring and left Workum. Our first thought had been to call into Hindeloopen, but the conditions were such that we considered going further. The next logical base would have been Stavoren, and if we found conditions were still favourable we could push for Urk, both places we had visited before.
We pushed on to Urk, and as we approached we were constantly being doused in rain. Soon the lighthouse on the hill in Urk came into view through the murk, the highest hill in Friesland.
Ship off Stavoren
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As we made a long sweeping curve to enter the harbour from the southern end, the heavens really opened up. Rain swept us in sheets. We slowly motored up a narrow channel looking for a green tag that would indicate a box was free. Fortunately there was one waiting for us, and we slowly turned into it. The howling wind and torrential downpour made it difficult to communicate with Rex (did he have his hearing aids in I wondered?). This was an issue when it came to getting the bow the right distance away from the quay. With a great deal of cursing, we eventually got the ropes sorted, and we retired to the cabin like drowned rats, absolutely soaked through. There followed an exercise in finding where to hang dripping clothes up to dry.
Urk is a very old settlement, with written records of its existence dating back to the 10th century. While Urk endured, the conditions around it changed - the water body next to Urk turned from a peaceful sweet water lake, the Almere, into the Zuiderzee bay during the 13th century incursions of the North Sea, ravaged by storms and tidal waves. It finally was shielded from the sea by the Afsluitdijk built as part of the grand water management works in the Netherlands, changing the salt water Zuiderzee surrounding Urk to the less saline Ijsselmeer. Eventually, when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed, Urk lost its status as an island and became a part of the large land mass, but did not lose its access to the Ijsselmeer, which by that time was a sweet water lake again.
All through that time, as well as today, Urkers have been relying on fishing as a source of both food and income. It was not an easy life, hardening the spirits of Urkers, and made them one of the most traditional and socially, as well as religiously, conservative communities of the Netherlands, which is a trait lasting until today. Urk has also developed a unique culture, with its own dialect and folk costumes, in which Urkers take pride.
As we departed to the town during a later dry spell, we came across an old chap who was delivering ropes to his boat on the small marina. He advised us of the rate for the marina and we could post our dues to the harbour master through a letterbox on the quay.
Urk town was wet and deserted, not surprising considering the inclement weather. A restaurant provided us with adequate fare. The waitress spoke fluent English, and I used my usual opening gambit in asking where she had acquired it.
She went on to tell us, "I worked for a while as a secretary for the wind farm installers. The company was Siemens, and they employed a lot of British workers. Later, a film company were producing part of a film here,
Dunkirk, using the Ijsselmeer for some of the "sea" scenes. They employed me as a negotiator because of my knowledge of English and my looks. My main task was to convince the government officials that the film would not work without large explosions in the water. Of course explosions in the water were not allowed, but I managed to sway them."
The chatty girl then went on to try and convince Rex that if he smoked some weed, or ate it, it may help his back. Rex did not fall for her charms.
