During the spring, Rex and I discussed once again pursuing a month-long adventure in continental waters during June It had been a long time since we did a thorough explore of Friesland during 2013. With that in mind we decided to revisit north Friesland, an area that we had become strongly attached to.
In May we carried out a shake down trip in local waters, which involved giving Duonita a good workout in order to iron out any issues that may arise. Nothing serious arose and we were pleased that there are appeared to be no water leaks aboard the ship.
Our initial plan was to sail to Ijmuiden, chosen because we wanted access across to the Markermeer, and we understood how we could get our passports stamped in the marina there. Once in the Markermeer we would make our way up through the Ijsselmeer and Waddenzee to Harlingen, our gateway into north Friesland. From that lovely town, we would travel along the Van Harinxmakanaal, the major canal artery from which we could explore this pleasant land. We'd decide on a route back down to the Ijsselmeer later in the trip.
As it turned out, we did not opt for taking Duonita along the Van Harinxmakanaal, we just used Harlingen as a base. Our journey back to Amsterdam involved travelling down the entire length of the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, a stretch of water we had last covered in 2015. The actual route taken can be examined on the route link. How the story unfolded can be revealed by following the diary link. Read on to discover how we fared.
