From Rotterdam we are travelling north through the inland canals towards Amsterdam. The trip to Gouda is quite short – after passing through a couple of locks and bridges we tie up in the yacht club marina by lunchtime and head into the city. Gouda (pronounced something like Khowder) of course is most famous for it’s cheese – Thursday is market day, but we just missed it. But the cheese museum was open and we were able to taste (and buy) a little of the vintage Gouda cheese, which had a lot more about it than the bland versions we get in English supermarkets. Gouda is also famous as being the birthplace of Erasmus, the 15th century scholar and philosopher (but that is also claimed by Rotterdam) and for having the longest church in the Netherlands (also claimed by Leiden!). It is a lovely old town with lots of ancient buildings around the large market square.
Heading north from Gouda, we enter into narrower canals. At times it feels like we are travelling down a high street in a small village, or following a main road. A few minutes later we are crossing huge bulb fields and passing enormous glasshouses. Then we meet a huge container barge heading in the other direction and can barely squeeze past.
The other major obstacle is the bridges. We are now following the ‘Mast Up’ route, so all the bridges on this route open, but not necessarily when you want them to. Railway bridges tend to open to a strict timetable, others ‘on demand’, and nearly all operated remotely these days . Convoys of yachts tend to form when they have been waiting for a railway bridge, and if the bridge keepers are on the ball, they open the bridges as the convoy arrives. In reality we usually have to wait for a few minutes at each bridge, trying not to run into the boat in front or get blown onto the shore. There are usually waiting posts we can moor up to, but it’s likely that as soon as you have ropes on, the bridge starts to open. The whole process can get quite stressful.
Next stop is Leiden, an ancient university city that’s twinned with Oxford, and has a lot of bicycles even by Dutch standards. Leiden stands on the Oude Rijn (or Old Rhine), which is really just a canal today, and is criss-crossed by smaller canals. We arrive on Friday afternoon, and it seems to be the end of the university term, very busy with much celebrating going on. There are the (now usual) old buildings along the canals and a lot of waterfront bars and cafes in the centre. Leiden is also famous as a centre for publishing and printing – several of the old 17th century buildings on the canals have ‘Boekhandler’ written on them – which I suppose is what I am these days!
North of Leiden the canal opens out into a huge meer – very reminiscent of the Broads with shallow waters and reed lined banks. There are lots of small boats out on the water, including several parties of scouts in their standard issue, steel hulled sailing boats. As we get back into a canal we see more and more glasshouses, nurseries, and what are probably bulb fields – although of course not in flower in July.
Our last stop in the canals is Haarlem – the Netherlands city rather than the New York District – which is buzzing on a Saturday night when we arrive. Our mooring is on the river wall, right in the heart of the city and it turns out there’s going to be a concert in the adjacent side canal, the entrance to which is directly opposite our mooring. At 7pm we are treated to the spectacle of lots of posh dayboats queuing up to enter the canal, loaded with passengers, picnics and copious alcohol.
Haarlem is a lovely city, with a huge market square surrounded by restaurants with tables and seating outside. And of course there is the requisite ancient ‘Stadhuis’ or city hall, and ‘Grote Kerk’ (literally ‘great church’).
And so our trip is coming to an end. We travel the last few miles north through the canal very slowly, with long waits for the bridges – although it felt quite powerful to have the main A9 motorway closed to allow us to pass through! We finally reach the Nordzee Kanal, which leads from the North Sea through to the Ijsselmeer – we could turn right to Amsterdam, but home is calling so left to Ijmuiden and the open sea.
