This was the last cruise of the 2022 season and it was fitting that it took us back to where we started the Baltic adventure in the spring of 2019.
Our plan was to meet our friends Jesse and Samantha at the Kiel Canal; however, the weather forecast made a very strong suggestion this was not a good idea as we would get pinned in there for a week. Alternatively, we decided it would be best get across the open section along the German coast on the North Sea before the front came thru. With an early start, we stopped in Cuxhaven to fuel up then made a 112 mile dash from the mouth of the Elbe to the island of Borkum.
Once inside at Borkum we were pretty well protected all the way down to Amsterdam. Jess and Sam were in Ireland attending to boat they sailed from Alaska to Greenland thru the Inside Passage a number of years ago. For them it was a 4 hour drive to Dublin, a plane to Hamburg, then a 5 hour train ride to meet us in Groningen, Netherlands…hell of a day. We enjoyed a few days in this charming city climbing bell towers, visiting museum and enjoying the food and catching up on each others adventures. Marcia had accidentally fed the built-in vacuum on the boat a sock and clogged the system. Naturally, Jess took this on as a project and within a short time recovered the sock much to Marcia’s joy.
Leaving Groningen, we were in the canals of Holland which was a completely new experience for our Blue Water friends. They quickly learned the routine of locks and drawbridges. We made a stop in Sneek and encounter a fleet of turn of the century sailing rigs that have become popular racing boats. From there, it was on to the picturesque city of Lemmer with its narrow canals thru the city.
On to Amsterdam crossing what we used to call the Ziderzee, it’s actually the IJsselmeer. We docked at a new marina in the North End, an industrial area being converted to a new community. This is the city of canals, ferries and bicycles. We enjoyed several days of wandering around visiting museums, shop and just strolling the street sharing the experience.
After a week, Jess and Sam had to leave to get aboard s/v MickMak in Mexico and head off to round South America. Dan and Marcia got back on True East for the last cruising of the season as we headed back to Sneek where our boat will spend the winter.
In the spring, True East will be loaded on a freighter and shipped off to Fethiye, Turkey where we start another adventure on the Aegean Sea.
Click on the photo to see the album of this trip