I will do the full write-up of being a harbour master after my next full week stint, which is scheduled for the first week of August. More to come
BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
I have taken Sirion out for two trips. The first one was just a little trip to Sliedrecht on the river Merwede. Sliedrecht is the worldâs âdredgingâ capital. Dredging was just about invented in Sliedrecht. To this date, many companies involved in designing, building, and operating dredging material around the world are located in Sliedrecht. There is also the Dredging Museum, featuring an impressive collection of models and exhibits. I visited it a few years ago with my son Thomas. Very interesting.
So Sliedrecht hosts, every other year, a so-called âbagger-feestâ. Baggeren is the Dutch verb for dredging; âbaggerâ is essentially the mud you dig up when dredging.
I had never been, so I thought I would go and see. I could have taken the bicycle; it’s only about 15-16 km from here. But of course, it is more appropriate to arrive by boat!
Some of the sights along the canal have featured in an earlier post already.
These guys are still here:
Remember I wandered about these âSwedishâ looking ferries? Well, I found out that they are built here and are destined for Sweden!
The marina in Sliedrecht is fairly large. But I had not checked its details carefully enough. The harbourmaster can only be contacted between 19-20.00 hours. So I should have called him the night before. Luckily, their website listed some other phone numbers as well. So I called, no problem, they said. Take this or that berth. Which I did.
This event is spread over the harbour area and the main streets in the town centre. Around the harbour area, it is mostly local companies that are displaying their products and services, and also trying to recruit and get folks interested in working for them.
As you would expect of any street festival in the Netherlands, there will be a few market stalls displaying typical Dutch stuff, in this case, fried fish, and Eels!
Next time, I will need to bring the grandkids. There was a lot to see and do for kids.
They could learn to tie all kinds of nautical knots.
Change the tire on a car, with a BIG torque wrench, very cool!
Drive various cranes.
Visit and explore all kinds of vessels.
You had to be over a certain age and height to be allowed to go for a wild ride on these RIBs.
Lots to see and do!
I wandered into the city centre, which is about 100m from the harbour.
There were at least three podiums, with bands playing, kids performing dances, playback shows and so on. Nice to see everybody enjoying themselves.
The weather was not that great. Wind and only about 17-18oC °C, but at least dry. Most Dutch take the approach; it’s July/August, summer, so Iâm wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. No matter what the actual weather is! And it being July or August is no guarantee for summer weather in the Netherlands, unfortunately.
Another Dutch tradition, âpoffertjesâ. These are small, thick pancakes. They are served in portions of 8-10 pieces with a thick layer of powdered sugar on top.
There have been various public campaigns over the last few years to use sunscreen liberally in order to prevent skin cancer. This is a market stall of the Dutch Cancer Society where you can get free sunscreen. In fact, these days at festivals and in some touristy spots, you will often find public, free-of-charge sun screen dispensers.
This might be of some interest to our members: A car roll-over simulator!
If you ever find yourself in your car, upside down, how do you get yourself unstrapped and not hurt yourself in the process? Because you will be upside down, strapped into your chair as well. Well, they teach you how to do it in this contraption. You get some instructions, next they roll you over, and you can put it all into practice. I have done it, pretty cool and very useful, just in case, you never know!
Video:Â Link
Another car-related demo; The fire brigade was out in force with boats and various of their fire engine. Kids could sit in the cab, fit on helmets, use the hoses to spray water and so on.
But the fire brigade is also the one that comes to the rescue of trapped people inside a car wreck. So they did. Simulated, but a real wreck nevertheless. It’s very interesting how they rip a wreck apart in a very methodical way, all to ensure maximum safety for the person(s) inside! They had stuck a guy in there, who kept yelling at them every time they tore off a bit of the car; Stop doing that. Do you have any idea how expensive that is? I’m going to sue you for damaging my car! It was hilarious. But the sad truth might be, they might have encountered people like this for real in such a situation as well.
After about two hours looking around, I walked back to Sirion.
It was still early in the afternoon, and I decided I would take Sirion back home a slightly different way, through the Dordtse Biesbosch. I have explored this little channel before, but never from this direction. I also used one lock I had not been through before.
Some very nice, tranquil scenery.
This is how this scenery rolls by as Iâm at the helm.
Here we are back on the mighty river Merwede. I had noticed this barge with tractors and huge trailers full of hay before. It seems the farmer owns land on both sides of the river. He moves his tractor and trailers back an forth both sides all the time.
Nearly home again. Last bit of Merwede, before passing the Merwede Locks and onto the short ride up the river Linge to our marina.
I have just come back from a three-day trip on Sirion as well. About 240 km of sailing. I will be posting about it in the next few days or so.
Jeroen
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