Falling asleep on the Amsterdam canals sounds very romantic. Until 6am when we were violently woken-up by the fast and frequent trains on the bridge nearly above our heads, and Mekicevica started to be shaken by the boat traffic on the canal.
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| Mekicevica waking-up on a canal in Amsterdam. |
With only a few hours sleep, a pretense of breakfast and lacking the comfort of a bathroom, we headed out of the Amsterdam canals and into the busy IJ. At least it was a beautiful morning and as usual with big cities, the bustling gives you a feeling of being part of something big. With all the shipping, ferries, and boat tours, there was no chance of sailing, so we motored to the Oranjesluis, under the Schellingwoud bridge and that is it. We are on open water with no more bridges and locks to negotiate for a while.
Only we feel knackered from the previous night and there is not enough wind to sail. So we pull immediately into the yacht harbour of Durgerdam for a rest.
Durgerdam has a of split-personality: part tourist town, part alternative suburb of Amsterdam, where people live in boats. In any case, the modest yacht harbour is very, very friendly.
It was sunny and warm and we spent the day resting, washing ourselves, Mekicevica, and our clothes. We also changed the head sail, from the river jib to Jenny the genoa.
Tomorrow we head into Markenmeer and a new chapter in this saga will begin.
