We left after a leisurely morning fitting our new 12v media player, which is most definitely the Mutts Nuts, and then having a stroll around town before leaving about 1pm, bound for Middelharnis which is somewhere new for us. We couldn’t find out much about the place so we are kinda taking pot luck.
We travelled with a little bit of tide down the Spui river into an area of water called the Harringvliet which we pretty much just crossed over to enter the canal that leads to Middelharnis.
The weather has cooled right down now to a reasonable 20 degrees, so being in a town is no problem. We arrived about 3:30. Middelharnis is a pretty looking town a few miles down a canal. Depth is no problem there seemed to be at least 2.3m. At first the harbourmaster said there was no room for a boat our size, then changed his mind and said we could raft alongside a big motorboat. As we were turning round and sorting ropes and fenders, he then changed his mind again and pointed us to a box mooring.
Went for a walk early in the evening to find the Albert Heijn supermarket. As its Sunday tomorrow it wouldn’t be open so got some provisions. Had planned to eat on board but on the way back to the boat we discovered an ‘eat as much as you want’ Chinese so went in! Sat down and was told how the ordering system worked and then discovered we couldn’t just get a jug of tap water for Paul, but had to buy a bottle, probably small, each time……. But at 4.40€ each bottle we told them we didn’t like being ripped off and walked out! Back to plan A then, Kath cooked onboard and we had ‘drink as much as you want’ water and wine instead!!
There is plenty of restaurant choice in Middelharnis Greek, Italian, Chinese, Turkish (kebab) and of course Dutch. All within a couple of hundred yards.
Stayed here Sunday as well and found another English boat which Paul got chatting to in the morning. Went for tea and a chat in the afternoon on theirs, then we had to leave as Lucy was getting ratty (due to no afternoon nap) so invited them to our for evening drinkies. They’ve been sailing in Holland for 35 years and come over from Spain, where they live, for 3 months every year. It was good chatting to them as they gave us advice on other places to visit. They also advised us never to reverse into a box mooring – not only good advice where your rudder is concerned but you get a much better view sitting in the cockpit as well.
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