Gary Kirkpatrick

Artist and travel blogger.

Into Germany

by

To take a boat like ours into Germany, France, Belgium and the rest of the EU requires an operator’s license, called a Certificate of Competence, a marine radio certificate and boat registration papers, which are not used in the Netherlands to convey ownership so the Dutch national yacht association issues them. You also need proof of insurance. All this cost days of time in study, travel to exams, tracking of papers with delays in post caused by the pandemic. It cost more than $500. Imagine my disappointment when this was all we had to show for it:

german border
Homeowner has a borderline personality issue

Niente. Nada. Rien. Not even one stereotypical “papers, please.” All my duckies in a row and none to drink.

At least the ride to Haren, our first stop in Germany, is pleasant and uneventful if a bit slow due to the narrowness and age of the canal. The many bridges on the small canal opened automatically without us having to wait. The locks were opened promptly and easily managed.

Haren has a charming albeit modernized central pedestrian shopping area with masked shoppers in the stores and unmasked sitting at outdoor cafes and fast food shops. A Turkish kabob shop owner said hello as we walked past. Unfortunately we’d already had lunch. Peg got some vitamins from a helpful pharmacist. It seems like a relaxed and friendly place.

IMG_20200616_140929
In the downtown pedestrian zone

In Germany, unlike in Holland and France (places we’ve been on this boat or the last), you can only moor where it is expressly permitted. In Haren we saw an area on google maps where boats were moored and where the lock keeper in town said there might be some places. There weren’t. We ended up in the marina, where finally at 4 p.m. the harbor master showed up. He spoke a few words of English, enough to get us registered for the night. It’s a very nice spot just off the Eems River.

We spent the night next to a friendly Dutch couple but not near the older Dutchies we traveled with during the day. The next morning I filled the boat with water and prepared to leave. Peg returned the hose and happened to read the sign on the post, which I had not. The water was non-potable river water! So out came all 450 liters, which took 30 minutes, and in went a fresh tank, also another 30 minutes as we had to wait for the friendly Dutch couple to finish. Then we were off to Lingen.

The three locks we went through are enormous, built to handle the large barges we subsequently encountered. They all took us up several meters to the next level. The bollards are way too far apart for vessels of our size so both lines have to be looped onto the same bollard, ladder or pipe. Fortunately the rise is gentle but we did not know that at first so were a bit anxious. At the last of them we had to wait an hour while repairs were done. All required a minimum of 45 minutes to traverse.

IMG_20200617_150035
Peg looks at lock emptying after an hour wait

It was a lovely day, about 23c (72f) with hazy skies alternating with patches of blue. The cool breeze kept us quite comfortable even with short sleeves and shorts. There is nothing but forest, some bikers on the path waving as we passed, even some without children with them.

IMG_20200617_160946
One of about 5 barges we passed. It is just going under the bridge.

Finally we came to Lingen. Again we’d seen a mooring on google maps so we followed the enormous dredging barge being pushed very slowly by a small boat running at wide open throttle. We finally got into the harbor only to find that mooring is not permitted. Our navigation app only shows marinas and it showed the next one 4 km further along.

IMG_20200617_163232
We followed this slow moving mass into an old harbor

It was easy to find, but to make sure the app was correct I waved down a boater on a small sail boat motoring in the direction opposite to us. He quickly replied in German but we understood. The marina was just around the corner.

It’s an easy one to get into. There were all the Dutch and the one German boat we’d been seeing along the way. We slipped easily into an open slot and before long the very friendly harbor master came along to tell us a heavy rainfall was coming and would be so kind as to come to the nearby office now. We did and for a modest price we have all the services one can hope to find at these places – water, electricity, bathrooms that you can use (they were still closed in the Netherlands) and even a washing machine.

We passed a restaurant a bit before we arrived. It’s website says take out only. Even with dining in we would not suffer a bike ride in the rain to get there. There’s a hotel with a restaurant just a five minute walk so perhaps one or the other will be accessible to us if the forecast holds. But the next day we found a delightful cafe in the forest, where I am sure we saw Hansel and Gretel eating bread crumbs as they walked along hand in hand.

IMG_20200618_174413
the path to the cafe
IMG_20200618_173605
The charming cafe at the end of the path. It sits on the Eems River where it joins the canal.

Our main complaint has been the difficulty of obtaining information about free moorings. We can not find detailed charts nor an almanac and apparently these do not exist. None of the free places we passed along the way were on the app and none were suitable for small craft, lacking docks and bordered with rocks. We are allowed to moor there but you’d be hitting the small rocks that line the shore. Perhaps you could moor up to a barge that was there for the night. However everyone we talk to says not to worry, there are plenty of places along the way. It would be nice to be able to plan a bit more however.

Cruising in Drenthe

by

Peg writes:

On the Hoogvart, between Hoogeveen and Nieuw Amsterdam, we are in the deep countryside of eastern Netherlands, passing through a very prosperous-looking area with many large farms. In the first photo, you will see a very large roof. This is because the barn is attached to the house, as is the custom in rural areas. In the second picture, a good example of how well the farmers seem to be doing here, you’ll see on the left a large Palladian-style double door. It is the carriage/wagon entrance to the barn.

peg3
peg1

There are 20 bridges on this canal, most of them about two feet above the water level. We have our very own bridge master, who opens each bridge as we arrive, closes it after us, then speeds past us along the road in his car to the next bridge. Makes one feel important!

A brugemesiter (bridge tender) stays with you as you proceed through the sequence of bridges assigned to them. The boaters try to go through together, meeting on the docks to make arrangements. They try to limit the amount of time the bridges stay open, as vehicles use the bridges. On major canals, several bridges are managed from a central location with cameras at each bridge, so the brugmeister sees when he needs to open a bridge. There is a phone number or VHF radio frequency the skipper can use to request an opening. At every bridge there is a red/green light. Red means nobody knows you are there or that a barge is coming from the other side and will smash you to smitherines if you are in the way) red WITH green (like in this photo) means the bridge is getting ready for you (so you know somebody somewhere has seen you), and green means OK to go NOW. Out of courtesy boaters try to move through as quickly as they safely can.

peg2
peg loops bollard
102596771_10158463902113331_8158462315689646433_o

Almere to Meppel

by

May 27, 2020

After a week in Almere Buiten we’d modified our plans given changes in the plans of visitors- they are not coming. So instead of going to Belgium we are back to our original plan: take the canal to Berlin. It’s a 600 kilometer cruise. If we are not pushing the throttle to the max we can cruise at 10 kph so it will take us about a month at a reasonable pace, and given we’d like to enjoy the beautiful German countryside other boaters have told us about. But first we must get through the border, as of today still closed. Germany has experienced a bit of a bounce after they started to relax restrictions so we wonder if the June 1 date will come and go with a fence keeping us in Nederlands. We depart from Almere Buiten to saunter towards the border in the hope of finding a welcome mat.

99425289_10158424778848331_6791918207943835648_o
The lock in Ketlehaven

We arrived a Ketlehaven in a bit of a storm so spent the night at the lock. We passed through the next mornig, a 5 meter rise, then proceeded to get a bit confused about how to get to the Issel River which will take us to Zwartesluis. There is a good mechanic who should be able to solve the Mystery of the Suddenly Not Working Solar Panels, which had been quite effective in the sunshine we were enjoying in Almere.

mepple boats
Meppel’s port area

We were unable to see the yellow markers along the shore and given that there are no channel markers we elected to go the longer but safer route. It was a pretty nice day, a bit gray but low winds and no rain. It was a pleasant ride to the shop. They said they were quite busy but would try to give us an hour. They gave us three the next morning. The friendly mechanic found corrosion inside our 24 volt panel’s junction box. The panel is about 15 years old so this is no surprise and confirmed my suspicions. We simply disconnected it and rewired the two 12 volt panels to produce 24 volt and we were getting amps flowing into the battery, more than enough to run our refrigerator.

comng tinto meppel

Our next stop Meppel, another ghost town, with two old windmills and nary a soul on the street. However there are chairs piled outside some of the restaurants, and a bar had employees looking as if they were getting ready for business. Nederlands is set to allow restaurant service as of June 1 and given the 0 growth rate in cases, I think there is a big party coming.

mepel windmill
One of three windmills in Meppel
IMG_20200526_190400

Pandemic measures in Netherlands

by

May 25, 2020

The measures taken in Netherlands are comparatively mild compared to Spain and places with severe outbreaks such as NYC. Restaurants are still closed except for take out, and we have seen few of those so far. Most stores are now open with long looking lines in front of a few as they limit the number of shoppers. The people are keeping a distance as they wait so its hard to judge the lines without actually counting and finding out how long the waits are.

We have not had to wait to enter any supermarkets. The Albert Heijn requires everyone to have a large cart and limits the numbers of those. This makes it easier to keep apart but you can still pass in the aisles as they have not made the aisles one way affairs. Others allow you in with a hand basket or none at all.

The buses, trains and airports (there are just two) require masks. There is no other requirement for masks nor for gloves. Newly arrived visitors are told to self-quarantine. There is no monitoring nor provisions made for supplying visitors and most hotels are closed if for no other reason a lack of business. Kukenhof, with hundreds of acres devoted to tulips attracts tens of thousands of visitors who pay a hefty price to see the fields and eat poffertjes, small puffs of pancake served with powdered sugar, a national treat. The flowers bloom in April so there were no visitors.

On the way to Dronten. The next day the weather soured, cuttting our journey short.

Boating is allowed but with only household members on board, the same being true for cars. Sailing schools have just been allowed to reopen. The youngsters are trained in groups to sail using very small craft. Other sports activities are resuming with restrictions. We have seen no groups of bicyclists in a country whose many bike paths are especially filled on weekends. Public sanitary facilities are closed, including laundry so we are required to use our tiny machine that has no wringing capability and hope for sun to dry things.

The virus hit the southern part of the country hardest, apparently spreading during March festivals. As elsewhere nursing homes were hit hardest.

Germany has experienced a bit of a bump since reopening measures began so we do not know if they will reopen the borders on June 1. we shall saunter that way in case they do.

Back on the boat in Netherlands

by

May 18, 2020

From a masked airplane ride from Madrid we proceeded to the masked train ride but not before a perfunctory interview upon debarking the KLM flight from Madrid. They did not keep the virus questionnaire at the end of the 30 second interview. That saved time helped us make a perfect connection to the train. Train schedules are much reduced here probably due to reduced ridership. We appreciated the fortuity, not just of the timing for the train but for how well the journey had gone given the uncertainty we faced. Our good forture continued even to the gate at the marina. We’d been give the wrong gate code although I’d asked a few days before. The resident harbor master saw us from his boat and opened it for us with his remote control. We could not know if anyone would be there to greet us aside from the 90+ year old who is, or was until now, the only one allowed to live aboard.

Once off the train we removed our masks. There were few people about and none masked and none close so we posed no mutual risk the entire 1.8 kilometer walk from the train station. During the next few days we had no need to get close to anyone other than chance encounters in the supermarket aisles. The public facilities at the marina are closed. No showers, toilets or laundry facilities. Their little restaurant remains shuttered.

For a few days we went about cleaning the boat deck and other exterior elements. It was a wet winter so the deck was green with algae. Then it was getting the heater to work. Nighttime temperatures were close to freezing so having a bit of heat in the morning is helpful. We do not run it at night as the heater runs off of diesel fuel so if fumes enter the living area you can suffer CO poisoning. One of the bikes would not shift gears so I had to mess with it. Then there was trying to remember where things were stored and how we did things last year. It took a few days before we left on Saturday.

By 0930 on Saturday the skies were sunny with a slight breeze. We turned the boat around to make departure easier from the narrow space and headed down the canal from Dronten towards Almere, about 40 km. Everything checked out ok as we went but then about 20 minutes later I noticed that the engine was running hot. I checked below and things were steamy so we floated in the canal while I figured out what had gone wrong.The hoses were all intact, the water pump belt was still entact, and the pump that circulates canal water through the engine’s heat exchanger was working- that’s the first thing you check before you depart. I decided to restart the engine and add coolant. The temperature came down and remained at the proper level for the rest of our journey. I concluded that the thermostat must have been stuck in the closed position. We ordered a new one and a spare belt.

Otherwise we had no issues along the way and after two days of sunshine our solar panels have kept our batteries almost fully charged the entire time. After a few days more these stopped working. I exhausted my diagnostic skills trying to find out what happened.

In Almere we had our first visitors. Our long time friends Kees and Ada, whom we met on the Eem in the village of Eemdijk in 2000, have two daughters. Marcella and Bart in turn have two daughters. They came by for drinks and snacks at 1700. It was just our second visit with anyone since March 9. On the deck we can keep a good distance. Inside it’s another matter so no one was allowed in. We joked and recounted stories for a few hours and even then, the sun showed no sign of tiring out.

IMG_20200517_180746
Bart, Jessica and Charlotte on the deck of Viking. I gather Bart does not like photos! He’s so easy going though.

After a week in Almere and a complete change of plans, we headed back to Dronten before a stop in Hasselt and then Zwartesluis (Black Lock) to try to find help with the solar panels. After that we hope to cross into Germany to start the 600 km voyage to Berlin via canal. It’s a beautiful route that takes a few weeks if you push hard. The borders with the Netherlands are still closed in both directions.

Traveling Through The Tomb Called Madrid

by

We’d been trying to catch a flight to the Netherlands from Valencia since April 21 after our Egypt plans fell victim to the Unwanted Visitor. At the end it became clear that even when flight offers resumed Ryan Air, the only one offering a flight, could not attract sufficient passengers. Too few Valencianos want to go to Amsterdam or anywhere else in Europe as long as the tourist attractions are closed, and few would want to or be able to go even if they were open. After 5 cancellations we learned that KLM was flying daily from Madrid. So could we get to Madrid?

The regulations stated that motivation for travel between provinces in Spain had to be “urgent necessities.” One of those is to return home. We were returning home for almost half the year so thought that would be sufficient reason but who do you ask for confirmation? There are no travel permits so you are subject to the discretion or whim of the enforcing agent. That made it difficult to evaluate the risks.

We went to the train station twice, the first time without finding a Policia Nacional, the police agency responsible for enforcement. We’d learned who to ask by an employee at the immigration where foreigners go to petition for residence. He just happened to be standing there when people came by for information. The agency is closed however. On our second effort we found two Policia Nacional. Peg explained our story. Both policeman said that with a ticket out of the country in hand we should not have any difficulties. They were right. Our trip to Madrid was uneventful. No one even asked why we were traveling.

We left a few days later and were not challenged by anyone until Barajas airport. There we were simply asked for our tickets and allowed to proceed. The airport was practically empty. There were perhaps 100 people on our nearly full flight, masks obligatory. I doubt we saw more than 20 people not on that flight on the way to the gate and all wore masks except one employee. It was so empty the security personnel found a way to take my backpack apart.

Check in area at Barajas. All that was missing was the flowers, 10:30, May 2020

In Madrid nearly everyone wore masks. There were gloves and antiseptic at the entrances to supermarkets just like in Valencia. Few people were out — it was an eerie quiet. It was also eerie not finding any hotels open. We learned this after we’d already booked our flights. We expected a few places. Were it not for Airbnb we would have been sleeping on the street. Madrid city government said a few hotels that were open for travelers but did not give their names and none of the sites we tried had any on offer.

Our small two bedroom place was at street level. In ordinary times we might have found it a bit noisy as the Spanish are out at all hours. Not this time.

As we sat at the gate when the plane arrived, immigration agents and Policia Nacional were there and each passenger had to produce documents. One person was detained, however we are not certain if he was deported. We heard the agent say you could not come to Spain for tourism.

Our flight was perfectly normal other than we had to sign a document listing symptoms of the Corvid19. If you had any marked ‘yes’ you could not board the plane. It said so right on the document. It asked for your last name and, I think, date of birth. Agents checked the document at arrival and told us we had to self-quarantine for 14 days. It took about 30 seconds. That’s it.

As we proceeded, we noticed few people wearing masks other than on the trains. Restaurants are not open unless they offer takeaway. No gloves are provided at the entrance to supermarkets. If you use a basket employees wipe them at the cash register. In grocery stores each person is required to have a cart even if you are together. People are keeping a safe distance. These are not southern Europeans so they probably keep a safe distance naturally a good deal of the time, being more careful to wait or go around groups. There are far fewer people going about. All stores are open but restaurants remain closed unless they offer takeaway.

  Next:  at the marina

Portrait of a Teenage Girl

by
Sold Acrylics on paper, 60 x 80 cm

I did this portrait following as closely as I could Rembrandt’s approach to portrait painting.   However he used oil paints and I use acrylics.  Blending with acrylics is problematic as they dry so quickly so you have to paint afresh where planes join, although retarders help.  His models were in person whereas I use photos, as do most of us given the hours and hours it takes to paint a portrait.  Some do a combination of a sitting during which they take photos and work from them later.  In the British national portrait competition they had a model  and all the artists worked from photos while the sitter could move around freely and talk to the interviewer.  Not all photos are professionally done so the lighting is not easy to deal with, as was the case with the photo I used here.  The subject was in a snow scene, cheeks red here and there from the cold and hardly any shadows from the diffuse lighting.