I had decided to go the short way on Saturday morning and return a different slightly longer way going back on Sunday.
BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
I have just returned from a two-day trip to Wijk bij Duurstede to attend the “Lekkodagen”. (Lekkodays)
Lekko is an international maritime term. It stems from “let it go” and is used on deck when handling the various lines and ropes. So the command “lekko for and aft” means the crew will bring in the bow and stern lines.
It is also a command that will get everybody’s attention on deck. It means there might be lines flying around. The Lekkodagen brings together a large collection of traditional tugboats. Wijk bij Duurstede is a nice little town with a very rich history, more about this later.
First I had to get there of course. I had decided to go the short way on Saturday morning and return a different slightly longer way going back on Sunday.
Only a 43-kilometre trip. And a route I had done before.
The official season when it comes to recreational boating sort of ends by September. What it means is much fewer yachts on the water. But also bridges and locks might have more limited operating times.
On this trip, I would go onto the Merwedekanaal with a long string of bridges, which almost all, need to be opened for Sirion. Normally these bridges start going at 06.00 o’clock. But now, weekend openings are from 08.00 onwards.
Not a huge thing.
So I cast off at 07.45 and made my way to the first bridge. Where I found a police car with yellow lights parked. I checked with the cop, and he told me he was waiting for a funeral procession, but he had no idea around what time they would be passing. At 08.00 I called the bridge operator on my radio. She was not aware of the funeral procession. She said, listen I don’t have anything on our schedule, so I am going to open the bridge for you.
As you can see from the images, the weather was pretty horrible. Cold and wet.
The next bridge is the train bridge of Arkel. It should open at 08.04 and is only 600 meters further up the canal. So as soon as Sirion went through the first bridge I called the train bridge operator on my mobile phone. Can’t call these guys on the radio as they are working the bridges remotely from Dordrecht.
Sure he said, the bridge will open in a few minutes. I was happy to see the lights go to red/green on both sides, indicating the bridge was being readied.
So the local train passed, but the bridge did not open. Then the lights go from Red/Green back to Red! I don’t want to call the operator too quickly. These guys usually work multiple bridges and locks at the same time. But after another train had gone past I decided to call him again. The train schedule was in disarray because of the bad weather and he did not get permission from the train operation centre to open the bridge. Eventually, after 45 minutes Sirion was allowed through!!
So after one hour, I had still only travelled 1 kilometre! This is the thing about travelling by boat, never be in a hurry.
As it turned out, this was going to be the only delay on this trip. For the next two days, all bridges and locks operated flawlessly, without any delay or much waiting time.
The next bridge I was not quite sure about was the “Bolgerijnsebrug”. Normally it needs to open. But I had seen a message in my planning app. I could not quite understand the message, but it appeared the bridge could be passed but with caution. Which became apparent when I got there. This is looking back at it after we passed it. You can see some major maintenance is being done. It is permanently open, but you can pass only on one side and at a reduced speed.
After a few more bridges that all opened up as soon as I radioed them, we got to the locks in Vianen. Also, the lock opened within 4-5 minutes and in we went!
Leaving the lock at Vianen, I turned Sirion starboard onto the river Lek. Here you see us passing the mighty Beatrixlocks. Huge locks, we passed them once when we brought Sirion home. This time we leave them to our port as we continue up the river Lek.
I sailed up the river Lek on my second trip on Sirion end of March, to the maritime festival in Kampen. See earlier on in this thread. There was a considerable current on the river Lek. About 4km/h or so. But today there was no current, none at all.
No surprise to see the huge vizor-sluice gates of Hagestein fully closed.
I called the lock operator and he told me he would get the lock ready for me. Took about 10 minutes and we were allowed in.
Here you see parts of the sluice gate complex a bit better. Check the earlier post and you will see the vizors fully open!
The lock lifted us some 3,5-4 meters. We were the only vessel in this huge lock.
Onto the river Lek. Some magnificent views. And as you will notice the weather had improved considerably too!
The point (ferry) at Culemborg.
Siron continues on this magnificent river!!
At around 13.00 hours Sirion passed the city harbour of Wijk bij Duurstede. It looked very promising!!
I moored at the WSV Lek en Rijn. Just like our home marina a club run entirely by volunteers. Excellent moorings and shore power cables are hidden under those large steel covers. Best toilet/shower facilities I have come across.
No harbour master was present. I had spoken to him on the phone earlier and had given me several possible berths. This marina works with the so-called on/off App. It is used by boats, but also campers. It used your location. It knows where you are, you type in how long and with how many people you will be staying. Next, it will provide you with shore power and it will mail you the WiFi code and access codes for the toilets and gates.
Works really well. I paid Euro 18 all in for a night stay for Sirion and me, power and showers.
After ensuring Sirion was tied off properly and secure, I walked over to Wijk bij Duurstede. About a 15-minute walk. Pretty, very Dutch scenery!!
Getting near, notice the three churches? Not unusual for Dutch villages/small towns to have multiple churches.
My first view of the Lekko event. Quite the sight!!
The harbour was choke-full with classic tugs!!
As per usual, a maritime event will also bring out the local Radio Controlled Model Boats Club!
This is a really nice model of the Smit Hunter. I sailed on her when she was still known as Happy Hunter and belonged to Mamoet!
More model tugs
Continue reading BHPian Jeroen’s post for more insights and information.
