Accompanied by brilliant sunshine we headed out a fair distance from the shore to avoid the weed, and set a course to intersect the channel leading into Amsterdam. Barge traffic was minimal since it was the weekend. A scattering of yachts was making the most of the day.
 Dutch Vessels on the Markermeer |
 Still Dredging on the Markermeer |
 Vuurtoreneiland Again |
 The Boat Rex Fell in Love With |
The young woman was over the moon with Rex's compliment, and she thanked him profusely. The old boy hasn't lost his magic touch. Soon we were passing a huge cruise ship berthed in the city, with a warship berthed in front of it. Not much traffic shared the North Sea Canal with us: a few barges, yachts and motorboats. Many people sat out on the banks, some fishing, and waved to us as we passed by.
Our next concern was getting our passports stamped at Ijmuiden before we left the country. We had an address and phone number for the Marechaussee from the last time we checked out here. We also remembered the border control officer telling us we could moor our boat close to their office and take a short walk to their office.
We found absolutely nowhere to pull into before the sea-lock, or after it. Nobody answered our VHF calls, the phone we had for the Marechaussee in Ijmuiden was no longer recognised, and Amsterdam Marechaussee advised we moor where we could and get a taxi.
We started to lose the will to live, and were left with no alternative but to temporarily berth in the Seaport Marina. We followed a yacht into the marina, a yacht whose maximum speed was that of a jellyfish. Rex flew into John Cleese mode, bouncing up and down in the cockpit gesticulating and rapidly going spare. The glass fibre jellyfish eventually turned off, and we proceeded to moor. I found a phone number on the internet to call, which I later learned was a general hub from which calls were diverted. They, in turn, connected us to the Marechaussee in Ijmuiden. I spoke with that team.
"No problem, sir, we will meet you in the reception. It will take us about 10 minutes."
Rex was ecstatic and almost doing a hornpipe around the deck. The Dutch people on an adjacent boat were giving him odd looks. Mind you they do most times.
In due course, after 20 minutes, a Marechaussee car turned up, and a smartly dressed woman and a young fellow got out to meet us. They were all smiles and polite. Apparently the Marechaussee had moved premises, and now resided in the DFDS building, complete with a new set of phone numbers! The passport formalities were soon dealt with, and the duo chatted with us about where we'd been, our favourite places and our next destination (they didn't automatically assume it would be England). Jokes were shared, particularly about Rex being given a month's leave by Meryl, and the couple took their leave to visit the reception. A very efficient, professional and charming pair.
We returned to Duonita, let our families and friends know of our imminent plans, and then 10.5 hours after our departure from Enkhuizen, we began the 27-hour North Sea crossing.
The outer harbour of Ijmuiden was rather bouncy, but we did spot a porpoise within the confines of the harbour. Once out on the open sea, a gentle swell greeted us. Visibility was not perfect as we glided under a cloudless sky towards a beautiful sunset. Ijmuiden and Zandvoort melted into a hazy horizon, and we crossed that magical threshold of losing sight of land.
We dined on a simple variation of spaghetti bolognaise as we skirted around the top of a wind farm before taking a south easterly course.
The sun lost its grip on our world and quietly slipped below the horizon. Behind us the sky became a cerulean blue sandwiched between a lavender sky and lavender sea. Wind turbines stood like silent sentinels quietly spinning their three arms. Ships at a nearby anchorage slowly lit up their anchor lights, silently affirming that life still existed on the darkening silvery expanse.
For a while our bow wave flashed a beautiful electric blue due to water bioluminescence. This phenomenon is usually made possible by algae suspended in water. Very reminiscent of fireflies, a wide variety of algae emit a certain glow when they are disturbed. Sometimes, the glow is caused by the tides, while other times it is caused by boats in the water or by moving fish. It isn't limited to just algae, it is also caused by marine plankton, also called marine fireflies. The plankton emits a glowing light that occurs when they are stressed. This action is used to evade predators and act as a defence mechanism. In very calm, deep waters, the glowing lights are visible when manually triggered. While on the beaches, the glow can be seen when waves break on the shore.
Moonlight glistened a silvery path for us to steer by.