Friday 17th June Ref: 2016/16
Fine day after a wet start for our cruise from Makkum to Bolsward along the Van Panhuyskanaal and Warkumer Trekvaart to pass by water under the big Kruiswaterbrug, spanning the A7 dual carriageway to enter Bolsward basin and then mooring up at the shady lime-tree lined staithe on a hot afternoon for a brief look around the town.
The night was marked by the huge amount of rain that fell but fortunately it cleared up by around 9am when I woke up Kathleen with her morning tea and then went out to walk Max. I did not take him very far in Makkum but he was relieved and exercised so that I could make the call for the preparations to be made for moving on.
Luckily, all of the showers that had been forecast had already happened for the rest of the day was warm and dry. I had timed our departure some fifteen minutes early as so we had to wait at our first bridge, Ophaalbrug, until the lunchtime closure finished but the time soon lapsed as we tied up and enjoyed our coffee and cake. A very small and interesting section of the Van Panhuyskanaal then greeted us and we were flanked by old moorings for retired cargo vessels, now being lived upon, on one side and by fields of dairy cattle on the other.
We cruised on via several bridges that opened until we turned left on to the Warkumer Trekvaart and on past the small settlement of Tjerkwerd and on towards Bolsward. I was impressed that the large A7 dual carriageway trunk road traffic was stopped immediately for both bridges to be raised so that we could cruise through to the Bolsward basin, where there were lots of boats moored and additional mooring spaces available. We stopped first at the 15m free zone usable for taking on water and so filled out tanks before moving further down and tying up under the impressive row of lime trees that lined the sides of the canal.
There was unrestricted 6amp electricity and I also managed to immediately connect to Wifi via my KPN-fon arrangement. Max was a bit restless and so we took him with us to the centre of Bolsward to look at the shops and complete a few chores. We were further impressed with the size of the high street, the big City Hall; both bearing witness to the past importance of this Hanseatic Town.
26-30 degC, 45-29%RH, 1004/5 mb pressure steady, good viz, sunny intervals but warm, F2, with a 2-8kn WSWly light breeze
