October 8th, 2009

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Oct 8 So-Long D-dam and hello again A-dam

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

My brother in law, Herman,  stopped by to-day and he got the motor working again after adjusting the valves. I attempted to do this my self but it was a little more than my un-technical brain could follow. Yesterday the communications between me and Heino and the weather  short circuited and nothing was accomplished on the engine. But I did get to visit, in the evening with Marinus en Leni Hoogendoorn on their floating home, the “Glisando”. They were loading for Mannheim Germany in the Amsterdam harbor. The beam of their Rhine barge is 10 feet longer than the 30 ft length of “Fleetwood” and I forgot to ask the length but it is about the length of a football field. Their living room is bigger than most American homes in the 1 million range plus. I stood in awe. They run this enormous vessel just the two of them plus their 18 year old son. We talked about the way it might be possible to tow Fleetwood and it could work.  But I may need to reconsider the timing, I had planned to do this next year fall. But that is when the river level is at it’s lowest. I may need to look at the Spring early summer of 2011 or plan to leave already in early August 2010. The weather to-day made the trip from Durgerdam, through the locks into the Amnsterdam harbor very enjoyable. The engine runs well. It must have been mainly due to bad injector(s). I am laying again in the Houtmankade just like the way in last August. But now I am just with one other yacht. In August we were a convoy of 13 boats. The routine is the same, wait for the 2 a.m. main railway line bridge to open and then at the Schinkel end the main highway bridge in the Amsterdam the Hague expressway. The one boat next to me is from Gothenburg, a 52 foot Swedish ketch, “First Love”, Lars and Marrianne and as it turns out they are good friends of A.J. and Marita on “Acapella”. I spent a good time with them in South Africa, they were with me on my 70th birthday when I went on a tour of the S.A. wine country. They also made the best pickeled flying fish “Maatjes” with the accompanying Linien Aquavit, in Trinidad. Lars and Marianne are on their way to the Mediterranean. Small World, the international cruising fraternity…