(Mis)adventures in Holland – Part I “Then why are you in Holland?” is the puzzled response to our declaration that “No, we don’t have family, nor do we have friends, in Holland.” The Dutch just don’t understand why my husband and I are spending four months cruising the rivers and canals of the Netherlands. But then, neither can we. We were supposed to be in France! Our adventure began with the TV cooking show Rick Stein’s French Odyssey. There was Rick, cruising on a barge on the Canal du Midi, extolling the virtues of French wine and regional cooking. The scenery was stunning – a barge silently gliding along a beautifully calm canal, grassy banks lined with plane trees and water dappled by the sun’s rays streaming through the leaves – an inspiration for artists, poets and foodies alike. How romantic and idyllic was that, and really, there was absolutely nothing to stop us from following in his footsteps, we said to each other. Our internet research led us to blogs of other couples who spend either months or years cruising the rivers and canals of Europe. We got a sense of what it’s like
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by Sharlene Coss to cruise long term on a boat (small and cramped) and what the costs associated with living in France were (the exchange rate is going to kill you). But, our enthusiasm remained undaunted and we started seriously planning the trip and looking for a boat. It didn’t take long (if you don’t count the number of nights Phil was on the computer until 3 a.m.) to discover that: a) the best boat to buy is a Dutch steel cruiser; and b) the best place to buy a Dutch steel cruiser was in Holland. Not a stretch, grant you, but that’s essentially how we ended up spending the summer in Holland: two retired Canadians who have never driven a cruiser much less owned one were now embarked on the adventure of a life time. Our hunt for a boat began on the way from the airport to our hotel which was very near a boat broker – Jachtmakelaardij in Dutch. In this new age of online commerce, “buyer beware” needs an addendum – “buyer beware of pictures on internet sales sites.” The first boat
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was disgusting – so different from the pictures on the internet – we almost cried. If this was an example of what our budget could afford, we might as well go home now, we thought. Many miles in our rented car and several boat yards later, we found our little gem. Calypso was love at first sight (for me at least – but let’s not go there). Ten metres long, 3.3 metres wide and eight tons of solid steel – our new home on the water. It needed a few adjustments to make it perfect – the shore power connection we installed immediately and a shower will be put in over the winter while we are back in Nanaimo. But before one casts off, one should really know how to drive a boat. Knowing how to dock and/or avoid solid and moving objects is also helpful. We hired a British ex-submariner to teach us the basics and we soon set off on our own. Nothing like a little real-time practice to get the juices flowing! Our first encounter with a lock’s closed gate was a little scary. We were