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Sailing for the Lowlands Low - or Hippo in Nederland.

Based on the report published in DAN 55 with additional photos by Richard Stroud and Jim Hopwood

(Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version).

Despite the doleful warning of the popular shanty, our trip to the Netherlands was a great success, but it did have a certain "through the looking glass" quality to it. Our plan was to take a quick look at the Friesian lakes area before joining the Dutch Drascombe Association Ascension Day cruise in the Waddenzee.

Force ten winds on the first day gave us plenty of time to visit the excellent Zuiderzee Museum just across the road from Enkhuizen Marina. Here we learned that the Zuiderzee was formed 1000 years ago when the sea invaded previously settled farm land. By medieval times it was surrounded by thriving fishing, ship building and trading towns but frequent flooding was a problem. This was solved in 1932 by the Afluitsdijk which divided it in two. The northern tidal part is now known as the Waddenzee and the southern, freshwater part as the IJsselmeer.

Monday gave us a fast reach to Stavoren, another charming, well kept old town with a large fleet of traditional sailing craft. Here we went down through the lock into the canal system which links up a dozen or so lakes of various sizes.

Sadly Klaas Hoogerwerff was unable to join us as planned but the route he recommended gave us a delightful introduction to Friesland. We motored gently through woods and farm land….

…past traditional farmsteads - family at the front, cattle behind, hay above, all under one huge thatched or tiled roof….

….. working windmills……..

…..and well kept canal-side towns…..

…taking our pick of the many free public mooring places.

We re-entered the IJsselmeer at Workum and motored over a flat calm sea to Makkum, admiring a wide variety of traditional sailing craft.

Next morning the rally proper started when we went up through the lock and under the motorway bridge into the Waddenzee. (The picture actually shows the much smaller and less crowded lock at Harlingen, but you get the idea!)

The plan was to head for Vlieland but after a lunch stop in the lee of a sandbank, rising wind and sea prompted a retreat, under reefed foresails....

...to Harlingen, where we spent the night in complete shelter in what must once have been the town moat.

Next morning everyone was ready for the specially scheduled bridge opening - no "Drascombe Time" here!

We honed our Shallow Sea Drascombe techniques crossing the sands to the wilder, East end of Terschelling. Here we admired spoonbills and jack snipe and walked through lush grassland to the first of the mighty dunes which protect the Netherlands from the North Sea proper. In the evening an extraordinary, green phosphorescence lit up the water whenever it was disturbed.

The morning skippers meeting was conducted on foot before I, for one, was surprised at quite how fast the tide finally came in.

The fleet divided here. Guided by Chris in Olie, we took the flood towards the mainland, then joined several large charter boats taking the ebb towards Texel before cutting through a narrow gut to rendezvous with Michel and Eugene in the Amsteldiep.

On the last day, we sailed back to Enkhuizen in thick fog. But no sooner was the boat on the trailer than the sun came out for a final visit to the outdoor section of the Zuiderzee museum.

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	Force ten winds on the first day gave us plenty of time to visit the excellent Zuiderzee Museum just across the road from Enkhuizen Marina. Here we learned that the Zuiderzee was formed 1000 years ago when the sea invaded previously settled farm land. By medieval times it was surrounded by thriving fishing, ship building and trading towns but frequent flooding was a problem. This was solved in 1932 by the Afluitsdijk which divided it in two. The northern tidal part is now known as the Waddenzee and the southern, freshwater part as the IJsselmeer.
Monday gave us a fast reach to Stavoren, another charming, well kept old town with a large fleet of traditional sailing craft. Here we went down through the lock into the canal system which links up a dozen or so lakes of various sizes.
	Sadly Klaas Hoogerwerff was unable to join us as planned but the route he recommended gave us a delightful introduction to Friesland. We motored gently through woods and farm land….
…past traditional farmsteads - family at the front, cattle behind, hay above, all under one huge thatched or tiled roof….
	….. working windmills……..
…..and well kept canal-side towns…..
	…taking our pick of the many free public mooring places.
We re-entered the IJsselmeer at Workum and motored over a flat calm sea to Makkum, admiring a wide variety of traditional sailing craft.
	Next morning the rally proper started when we went up through the lock and under the motorway bridge into the Waddenzee. (The picture actually shows the much smaller and less crowded lock at Harlingen, but you get the idea!)
The plan was to head for Vlieland but after a lunch stop in the lee of a sandbank, rising wind and sea prompted a retreat, under reefed foresails....
	...to Harlingen, where we spent the night in complete shelter in what must once have been the town moat.
Next morning everyone was ready for the specially scheduled bridge opening - no "Drascombe Time" here!
	We honed our Shallow Sea Drascombe techniques crossing the sands to the wilder, East end of Terschelling. Here we admired spoonbills and jack snipe and walked through lush grassland to the first of the mighty dunes which protect the Netherlands from the North Sea proper. In the evening an extraordinary, green phosphorescence lit up the water whenever it was disturbed.
The morning skippers meeting was conducted on foot before I, for one, was surprised at quite how fast the tide finally came in.
	The fleet divided here. Guided by Chris in Olie, we took the flood towards the mainland, then joined several large charter boats taking the ebb towards Texel before cutting through a narrow gut to rendezvous with Michel and Eugene in the Amsteldiep.
On the last day, we sailed back to Enkhuizen in thick fog. But no sooner was the boat on the trailer than the sun came out for a final visit to the outdoor section of the Zuiderzee museum.