"It is good to have an end to journey towards but it is the journey that matters in the end" Ernest Hemingway
This log covers September 9th to October 19th and it is a very special one. On October 19th we unload our final boxes and say Good-Bye to Tioga. There is plenty of adventure before then so read on!
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| X to X Arnhem to Monnikendam - final time on TIOGA. |
The rest of September and most of October are
spent in the Netherlands. What a beautiful country we experience as we visit
family and friends winding our way from Arnhem to Amsterdam and eventually to Monnikendam, where
we leave TIOGA with De Valk Yacht Brokers. It took us five years to get here, but
we have opted to sell her in Europe and eventually take a 747 home.
Saturday, September 9 to Wednesday, September 13th - Family fun
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| Local sail in the bay. |
After our warm welcome to Arnhem yesterday (see log 51) from Sheila's cousin Marjol and her son Sebastiaan, the next few days are spent just having fun with family.
Joel and Gerrit join in on a local dinghy sailing event with cousin Sebastiaan.
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| Sheila's cousin Rik and family visit on TIOGA. |
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| We visit Sheila's Uncle John in Almelo. |
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| TIOGA's new crew :) |
Cousins Sebastiaan, Bart and Paul plus some of their friends spend some time aboard TIOGA.
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| Happy birthday Sebastiaan |
We search out and buy a Swiss Army Knife for Sebastiaan's birthday...even got his name engraved on it.
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Sheila's cousin Rita and family with Chris.
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Photos on board TIOGA are very popular!
Thursday, September 14th - Chris's mom arrives from Canada.
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| Schiphol Airport Amsterdam |
Chris heads off today to meet his mom at the airport. She plans to spend some time traveling with us to Amsterdam. Thankfully Uncle John has loaned us his car while we are in the Netherlands.
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| Welcome Ann...Chris's mom. |
Friday, September 15th - Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem
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| Historic houses and windmills all about. |
Nederlands Openluchtmuseum Arnhem was designed to create a highly realistic impression of daily life for the average Dutchman over the past few centuries. There are over 80 historic houses, farms and windmills.
Fun Fact: The Netherlands boasts the largest number of museums per square kilometer in the world.
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| Friendly old guy |
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| Old water wheel for a mill. |
It is a museum where the people and their clothing are for a specific period in time and visitors are invited to join in on regular tasks. The grounds are amazing and the buildings so well preserved.
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| Cream can delivered by bike back in the day. |
We take the train ride around the grounds and generally spend the day exploring about. Some really nice photo opportunities present themselves.
Sunday, September 17th - Depart Arnhem - We will be back!
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| The three musketeers! |
Our time here has flown by but we need to get moving as fall is in the air. Even though we will be back before leaving Europe, it is still hard to say good-bye and so it is agreed Sebastiaan will travel with us for the day and we'll meet his mom Marjol somewhere down the river to pick him up. The three boys have once again had some great times together and we know they will miss each other. (see log 42 for prior adventures together)
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| Heading west on the Nederrijn. |
And so with Chris's mom (Ann) and Sebastiaan on board we head off on the Nederrijn hoping to be in Amsterdam in 10 days or so. The Nederrijn (aka Lower Rhine) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine River.
It is a busy navigational route with sophisticated huge locks. With Chris at the helm, we once again get through with no hitches.
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Lock is full and the bridge raises for us to pass.
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| Marjol and Sebastiaan send us off. |
Late in the afternoon we arrive at the small marina where we will drop Sebastiaan. Marjol is there and has made friends with a local on this sailboat. We drop Sebasstiaan and are energetically sent on our way.
Monday, September 18th - Making our way to Utrecht
We continue west along the Nederrijn and eventually onto the Amsterdam-RijnKanaal running north west past Utrecht. We stop along the side of the canal for the night and head out on our bikes for a quick glimpse of the city.
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| Biking along the Amsterdam-RijnKanaal. |
Wednesday, September 20th - Cool method of payment to Lock Keeper
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Bridge just beginning to raise - lights still red.
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Travel along the canals is peaceful and beautiful. When we pass bridges that need raising for us, we are amused to figure out the method of payment to the lock keeper. (see below)
As we get close to the bridge, notice the lights are still red, and the bridge begins to raise for our passage.
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| Lock keeper awaits payment. |
With the bridge fully open, the lock keeper has a small wooden shoe on the end of a fishing rod. The lights are now green for our passage.
As Tioga passes the bridge, Gerrit tucks a few Euros into the lock keepers wooden shoe. A grateful "Dank U Vel" (thank you) and on we motor.
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| Gerrit tucks cash into the lock keepers shoe. |
The canals are stunning to slowly meander along. Very different to observe from the water.
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Beautiful old barge boat
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There are also many stately homes.
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| Thatched roof home. |
Windmills are plentiful and so beautiful anytime of day.
Friday, September 22nd - Happy Birthday Sheila and finally into the Ijsselmeer-Hollands biggest lake.
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| Birthday morning: Joel, Sheila, Gerrit and Ann. |
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Back in the company of sail boats!
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After a lovely birthday morning, we are underway and excited to see the open water again. As we pass the final bridges, it is very evident we are back into sailboat territory.
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Motoring across the Ijsselmeer.
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The Ijsselmeer covers an area of 1100 sq. km making it the biggest lake in Holland. It used to be the South Sea until it was closed off by a man-made dyke called the Afsluitdijk. We are on our way to Marina Muiderzand where we have made rendezvous plans with Carlo and Merima from s/v Dominix, our log 51 travel mates.
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| Ready to launch the dinghy. |
We arrive in time for the boys to help launch the dinghy Carlo and his friend are setting out on.
We are planning on a day off here before tackling Amsterdam.
Sunday, September 24th - Hello Amsterdam!
We motor across The Ijsselmeer and navigate Tioga up the busy waterway that lands us deep in to the heart of Amsterdam and take a mooring slip at the Sixhaven Marina. It's a great location as a 5 minute ferry ride takes us across to Amsterdam Centraal Transit Station where we are so close to many of the wonderful attractions of Amsterdam. We waste no time and head straight to the Anne Frank house.
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| Anne Frank Monument |
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| Movable bookcase |
For more than two years Anne Frank and her family, along with the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer, lived in the tiny annex of the building where Anne's father, Otto Frank, also had his business. The doorway to the annex was concealed behind a moveable bookcase. The business personnel knew of the hiding place and helped the eight people hiding there by supplying them with food and news of the outside world. On August 4th, 1944, the hiding place was betrayed and all were deported to various concentration camps. Only Otto Frank survived the war. Anne Frank's original diary of the ordeals of their life is on display in the museum,
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One of many canals Amsterdam is famous for.
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We leave the museum feeling somber
but are soon enjoying the stunning canals lined with trees and boats of every size, many being homes for the lucky who choose (or can afford) to live-aboard in these magnificent neighborhoods.
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| Live-aboard boats are everywhere. |
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| Mini-van of bikes. |
We all have a chuckle as we admire this family bike equivalent to a dodge van back home. It has two kids car seats behind the main adult seat and a basket for carrying home the groceries...or another child. :)
Monday, September 25th - Dutch Canal Architecture.
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| Tall skinny canal houses. |
The history and distinct architecture of the Amsterdam canal houses is wonderfully weird and unique. They are extremely narrow structures with death defying staircases and large windows to reduce the weight. Back in the 16th century, Dutch citizens were taxed for many things, including the width of their houses and thus the oddly proportioned houses were born as they were cheaper to build. Most of these homes were also fitted with a "hoisting hook "(see picture below) and if furniture or goods couldn't fit up the narrow staircase, they were brought up outside and in through the large windows - another reason the windows are said to have been built so large. Apparently the canal houses are also built tilted forward to prevent structural damage when raising heavy furniture. No one wants a sofa smashing through the bedroom window :)
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Hoisting Hooks on the top level of these canal houses
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6:06 pm - Rijsttafel - Dutch word for Rice Table |
Traditional Indonesian Rijsttafel - Rice Table
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In no other country outside Indonesia can one find Indonesian food, spices and condiments as easily as in the Netherlands. When Indonesia declared independence from the Netherlands on August 17th, 1945, it ended some 350 years of control. Due to the two countries' colonial history - too complicated to get into here - Indonesian food is available everywhere. Ann is leaving us tomorrow so she treats us all to a Rijsttafel - Rice Table. Wow, what a delightful meal and experience. Thanks for taking the time to visit and travel with us Ann!
Wednesday, September 27th - Aalsmeer Flower Auction (Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer)
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| Buyers in an auction room |
We hop the train to Aalsmeer to visit this Dutch flower auction since it is the largest flower auction in the world! The Auction building is the fourth largest building in the world covering 775,000 square meters or 200 football fields...ginormous to say the least. It came into being in 1910 in two Aalsmeer pubs and today more than 60% of the global flower and plant trades pass through this Dutch flower auction. From a Monday to Friday, 43 million flowers and 5 million plants are sold every day with the help of 35 auction clocks and more than 2600 employees from 44 different countries.
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| Crates of flowers are everywhere. |
This truly is organized chaos with crates of flowers zooming everywhere to process the orders in the auction room.
Fun flower fact: The Tulips the Dutch are currently famous for are not from the Netherlands at all - they actually came from Turkey in the 16th century.
Amsterdam is filled with world class museums and amazing history which we dabble in but we have mainly chosen simpler ventures out and about where we just enjoy the local sites like this little barber shop. The scissor in the cobblestone street says it all. One never tires of the old stone buildings.
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Just a beautiful old building and street.
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Saturday, September 30th, 2006 - Good-bye (Tot Ziens) to Amsterdam.
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| The last lock on board Tioga! |
We leave Amsterdam and use the sea locks of Ijmuiden to get into the Markermeer, a large freshwater lake in this maze of dams and locks that were constructed to keep the sea water out. This is the last lock and motor passage before Tioga's mast goes back up in Jachthaven Waterland, Monnikendam.
Sunday, October 1st, 2006 - Beginning to pack up Tioga
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| Beginning the huge task of packing up Tioga. |
Once landed in Monnikendam, we find out we have to wait until October 5th to get Tioga's mast back up. Once her mast is up, the plan is to take her to De Valk Yacht Brokerage (Jachtmakelaar) where we will leave her For Sale :( While waiting for our turn for the mast raising, we begin to pack up Tioga. It is shocking how much stuff you can accumulate on a boat in 5 years, and now the decisions as to what comes home and what stays.
Thursday, October 5th, 2006 - Mast Up
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| Tioga's mast ready to go up. |
After almost 4 months of no mast traveling by motor north through the canals of Europe, it is our turn at Jachthaven to get Tioga's mast back up and make her a sail boat once again. Jachthaven has special mast cranes for boats with masts up to 22m (67 feet) so Tioga is good at a mast length of 18 meters (55 feet). Here Chris has finished the final unwrapping of our mast and is getting cables and lines ready for the crane to come in. Tioga is already tied in place and ready for her mast.
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Sailboat again.
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Everything goes according to plan and soon Tioga has her mast up along with the main stays secure to keep it in place. Now it's up to us to get all the other lines and halyards back in place.
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| Tioga haul-out. |
Since we are in this fantastic facility with all the amenities a sailboat owner could ever want, we decide to pull Tioga out of the water and clean / repaint her bottom. The last time we did a haul-out was back in Turkey so it is much needed.
Monday, October 16th, 2006 - Selling bikes
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| Bikes Sold |
We are living onboard Tioga while she is on the hard during her haul-out. We climb up and down a ladder to get on and off as she sits on the hard. Chris is busy with the boat bottom maintenance and Sheila and the boys work on the inside packing. Though it is bitter sweet, we must sell our bikes. We hope this lovely lady gets as much joy out of our bikes as we did.
The years have passed - 4.5 years and counting
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| Growing up in Tioga's cockpit :) |
Back when we first set out on this incredible family adventure and had no idea how it would all turn out, we took a picture of Joel and Gerrit in this exact location of Tioga's cockpit. They were so little! We hope they will always cherish these years on board Tioga. Such a different lifestyle to grow up in. Though they may not even remember many parts of our travels, it has made them who they are.
It was something unpredictable - but in the end is right - I hope you had the time of your lives (lyrics by Green Day)
Tuesday, October 17th - Relaunch of Tioga
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Bottom paint complete.
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Less than two weeks on the hard and Tioga has a nice clean and repainted bottom. She is looking good as the hoist puts her back in the water. These are big lifts and she looks rather small even though she is just under 40 feet (13 meters)
3:32 pm - On our way to De Valk Yacht Brokers
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| Final swinging in the rigging : |
As soon as Tioga hits the water we are out of Jachthaven and make the short motor over to De Valk Yacht Brokers. Though Tioga has no sails yet, the boys are on the foredeck swinging in the rigging like old times. This is their last time as once Tioga is on the De Valk docks, she will be for sale and we will be making the final push to vacate her.
Wednesday, October 18th, 2006 - Mailing boxes home to Canada
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| 2 of 19 boxes mailed to Canada |
When we first started packing and deciding what to take back to Canada, we actually called a few moving companies to see if that was an option at all. They all asked the same question. How big are your couches? They couldn't grasp the idea that we were moving off a sailboat (furniture was attached) and needed to get personal possessions into a crate and shipped to Canada. Oddly enough the best option turned out to be standard size cardboard boxes dropped at the local post office. Over the course of a few days we make numerous trips to get all 19 boxes mailed. We hope they all make it safely to Canada :)
Trusty Teva Sandals - worth their weight in gold
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| Best shoes ever for the sailing life. |
Being back in a northern country in October has meant we have had to reacquaint ourselves to the concept of socks and shoes, something we haven't worn in years! We are unsure how many pairs of Teva sandals we wore out over the years, but they were such a great choice for the sailing life. They were worn constantly in and out of the water. These sandals have walked a zillion miles and they will be retired here. They sadly won't make the trip to Canada.
The Last Supper with crew from S/V Dominix
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| Carlo + Merima w/ Anastasia and Isabella with crew of Tioga. |
Before we officially leave Tioga, we are invited to dinner on board S/V Dominix with the Dutch family we have traveled and spent time with since our meeting in Turkey. Over the years we have had so many dinners and wonderful gatherings on board so many different boats with people of all nationalities. People who have experienced the cruising life understand the concept of squishing in to small spaces and literally crawling over one another to get to your spot or go to the bathroom. We believe 11 people in Tioga's cockpit is our record. These sorts of gatherings will be dearly missed and forever cherished.
5:10 pm Thursday, October 19th, 2006 The final family picture on board Tioga
The past few weeks have been crazy busy but the time has come to step off Tioga's deck. This boat has been our home for almost 5 years. She was sturdy and kept our family safe through some unbelievable winds and storms. We have had more family adventures and time together on this boat than most people can imagine. We are happy to have given Tioga the freedom to do what she was built for...to travel the world and sail blue waters.
5:13 pm - the final load leaves Tioga
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| Good-bye to our trusted S/V Tioga. |
This cart made a lot of trips from Tioga's slip to our borrowed car. 19 boxes mailed, our luggage packed and donations left at the bin. This final load in the cart is the most precious cargo of all :)
We all make a final salute to Tioga and then walk away.
Good-bye Tioga - Forever In Our Hearts
That was a jam packed log to say the least! Join us in our final Log 53 where we land back in Canada after a bit more galivanting around Europe.
