We left Alblasserdam about 10.30 to a nice surprise in the weather department – it was meant to be windy and raining but in fact it was sunny and no wind, much niceness!
Today was definitely a day of not wanting to watch….. Before the first bridge, we noticed we were about to sail underneath electricity cables. They looked high enough and they were meant to be 65m high but they certainly didn’t look like it at all!
The first bridge (Brienennoordbrug) had 23m height clearance and even from a distance it didn’t look like we’d fit under. As we got closer Paul slowed down a bit and refused to look up! We cleared it fine but it was a hairy moment going under! To say our heart was in our mouths is an understatement.
On route we saw this huge ship moored inland a bit from the canal. At first we thought that there was a small harbour type thing that it was in. Eventually we realised that it was actually an office building that was designed like a ship. Including bridge structure, lookout posts the lot. Neat huh!The giveaway is the fire escape that runs up the entire building. We wondered what the company in the building actually does. A shipping company perhaps?
Entering Rotterdam
Please excuse the meteor in the picture! This is the new telephoto clip on lens I have bought for my IPhone. It’s rather cool and has this inbuilt meteor function, unless of course you switch off the flash!
The next bridge was Koninginnebrug and we had to wait for this to be lifted for us. There was no signs apart from the name on the bridge. We tried calling on the VHF but no response (that we could understand). Eventually after about 20 mins of floating around (there was nowhere to tie up) we decided to call the marina we were going to and they gave us a phone number 00 31 10 485 79 00. This number goes through to the control room that controls 11 bridges locally, including the bridge a couple of hundred meters on that give us entrance to the marina. So they lifted both for us. Apparently they have had a lot of technical issues the last couple of days!
City marina has lots of shops, bars and a big supermarket that is open 365 days a year. However, it is pretty souless, no wifi (as NOT advertised) and not cheap by Dutch standards. But, that said, it is well maintained, big, secure and has all the facilities you could want.
Cost: 28 euros
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