After traveling on the inland waterways, it’s time to make our way out to the open sea!
Highlights – the overview
We say goodbye to Wim’s daughters and sail back through the beautiful Dutch canals and lovely historic Haarlem…
And then we turn into the main canal that heads from Amsterdam to the North Sea…
The weather is wonderful, and we have a good day sail down the coast to Scheveningen, the port by The Hague, the heart of parliament for the Netherlands. There was a bit of a rolling sea, and we need to get used to the motion now that we’re in open waters.
The winds and weather aren’t forecast to be good to continue on, so we plan to go into the marina for a few days. Wim knows the harbormaster there and calls him to arrange the perfect berth for our stay.
With a few days to spend in the marina, we turn our attention to some projects…
And, it’s not all project work… we go on an adventure through the city center on our electric scooters! What fun the scooters are! We think they are so much better than just convenient transportation. It’s lovely weather and it is a nice 5km ride through downtown.
Our destination is a drug store where they sell the “Loveli” brand of skincare products. The store itself is beautiful! It’s 225 years old, full of old-fashioned cabinets and drawers, with gorgeous woodwork, and they have all the Loveli products we are looking for! Loveli is a local Dutch company that produces all-natural body and skincare products.
After Sher buys a bunch of Loveli coconut-scented products, we continue on to explore a bit of the city and see the parliament buildings.
We get back to the boat, stow our lovely Loveli products, do some laundry, and prepare to set off the next day on our first multi-day (and night) passage to Cherbourg France!
For more details and photos, read on in the Captain’s Log, below…
Captain’s Log (T+22 – 28) – the complete story
July 22 – sailing through the canals to Haarlem
After we’ve left the Braassemermeer we motor along the beautiful Dutch canals to Haarlem.
In the afternoon we arrive in Haarlem and many bridges have to be opened for us. There’s a convoy of around 15 other boats and that makes maneuvering and waiting for the bridges a bit of a challenge… But we get through the city without a scratch 😉
We stay for the night along a quay along the Spaarne at the north side of Haarlem.
July 23 – continuing through the canals
We move a bit further down the river and moor in front of a big supermarket to do some provisioning.
On the jetty, we clean and deflate the dinghy and store it on deck.
In the afternoon, we motor to Spaardam and go through the lock.
After that, we have to wait until 20:15h for the bridge in the highway to open.
We spend the night on the waiting jetty after the bridge.
July 24 – sailing out into open sea today!
In the morning, we motor to IJmuiden and enter the lock to the North Sea.
It’s always a special moment to see the doors opening and have a view at sea. A view at the horizon!
A feeling of freedom!
Bye-bye IJmuiden!
After we have cleared the breakwaters of IJmuiden, we set sail. It’s a lovely day with a light (5-10 knots) breeze from the NW. We head south so that’s nice a broad reach for us.
Because last night was windy, the waves are higher then expected with this light breeze and we roll quite a bit. We notice that we have to get used to the movements of the boat and we agree to have a day sail to the port of Scheveningen. Tomorrow, the forecast is a SW wind and that would be right on our nose. We decide to wait for better winds in Scheveningen, the port at the Hague.
The sea eases down during the day and with the current on our stern we sail gently into the port of Scheveningen at 1700h. Wim knows the harbor master and he arranges a perfect berth for us!
July 25 – a day in port for projects
A cloudy day with some rain showers. The wind has turned to the South as expected. So, we stay here and do some jobs.
In the morning, we draw the outlines for the pattern of the first cockpit cushion on the foredeck using the Sunbrella teal fabric. Then, we cut out the pieces with the heat rope cutter.
In the afternoon, there’s no rain so Sher does the maintenance on the last 2 winches.
Wim decides to pick up a hard job that’s on the to-do list for a long while: change the location of the starter battery of the engine. This requires some explanation:
Wim’s initial idea was to position the heavy lead-acid (AGM) battery midships. Heavy weights should be at the center of the boat.
The starter of the previous engine broke down 3 times in the 14 years it served. It was overhauled 3 times and never caused a serious problem. ‘Serious problem’ means: engine not starting when we REALLY need it: that means, to avoid a collision or stranding on the rocks or such!
So, that kept Wim thinking: why do car starters (which are actually the same kind of starters) function a car lifetime (20, 30, maybe 50 years for oldtimers) without a problem? Cable length! The starter battery in a car in very close to the engine. In Dione IV, it’s 5 meters away from the engine. That causes a serious voltage drop at these very high currents (600-800A). We notice, from the engine’s voltage gauge, that during starting the voltage drops to 8 volts (instead of 12). The starter motor has to generate horsepower to crank the engine. So, it increases the current to maintain horsepower. These currents get way to high for the starter’s windings and relay contacts so they burn.
In other words: the starter battery has to be close to the engine. And it needs thick cables to prevent voltage drop.
In Dione IV, we have 2 emergency batteries at a shelf at our midship’s bed. Distance to the starter is about 1 meter. They are the same as our starter battery (AGM 12v 90Ah). So, that would be perfect. Only, using the starter battery as an emergency service battery is against our principles. The starter battery must stay untouched to be able to start the engine at any time. But, since we now have the bow thruster battery as an emergency power supply, we could easily use one of the AGM’s as a starter battery. The other one would still be available for emergency, even for emergency starter battery. So, Wim leads 2 short (1-1.5m) 95 sq mm cables to one of those batteries. Easier said than done… The entire boat turns into a terrible mess while doing that… 🙂
But, in the end, we test starting the engine and the starter really sounds a lot happier!
And while everything is open, the engine gets a treat: some new metallic blue spray paint on bolts and places that were damaged during maintenance.
In the meantime, Sher starts sewing the new cover for the cockpit cushion.
July 27 – teal paint touch up and scooter excursion
In the morning, we mix a little bit of teal paint. Sher gives her Yeti coffee mugs a new layer of paint and Wim paint a few little scratches on the hull.
After that, we get on our electric scooters and drive to the city center of The Hague. It’s lovely weather and it is a nice 5km ride through the city. Our goal is a drug store where they sell “Loveli” brand products. The store is beautiful! It’s 225 years old and they have all the Loveli products we are looking for!
What are Loveli products, and why are we making a special trip to find them? Loveli is a local Dutch company that produces all-natural body and skincare products. Wim’s daughter Dione (Dione II) introduced him to their deodorant and he found it to be excellent. Sher needed to buy a new one and after hearing that they have many coconut-scented products (including the deodorant!) we looked up where to find it locally. They only sell in stores in the Netherlands, and being underway, nowhere we could have it shipped to.
Sher buys a bunch of Loveli body products and then we head to the parliament buildings which are nearby.
Back on board, we run the laundry machine and Sher stows away her lovely coconut things 🙂
This was our last day in Scheveningen. Tomorrow, the weather looks good for the next few days and we’ll head out to sea! Destination: Cherbourg, France!
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