Our position is 52:00.67N 04:41.559E

Distance covered 32.7Nm

We had allowed 3 hours to motor the 13.5Nm from Willemstad to the road & railway bridge at Dordrecht, which has restricted opening times, so we left promptly at 10am. However we had not allowed for a strong tide sweeping us along in excess of 7 knots so in spite of having to cross a channel busy with commercial traffic, we arrived at the bridge in perfect time for the opening an hour earlier than planned, at 12.12.

Perfect timing on the bridge at Dordrecht. The rail bridge goes up vertically while the road bridge opens conventionally.

Motoring through Dordrecht

The downside of this was that the next bridge, only 3.5Nm away, didn’t open until 14.15 but, as we motored through Dordrecht, we anticipated tying up on the picturesque waiting pontoon and having a leisurely lunch. Arrival at the bridge presented a very different picture. Not only was there nowhere to tie up but we had to motor up and down for an hour and a half next to a really dilapidated industrial site!

Not the most salubrious place for lunch!

Open at last!

Eventually the time passed and we were able to pass through and into the River Maas. This is one of the busiest passages for commercial traffic as it passes through Rotterdam and to the sea at the Hoek van Holland so we were pleased when it was time to turn off under the Algerabrug and into the Hollandsche Ijssel, even though the chart plotter showed we would be passing over the land!

Should we really be here?

The last part of the days passage was uneventful but the most picturesque, passing many waterfront properties with imaginatively landscaped small gardens running down to the canal. At one relatively narrow point a small ferry passed from side to side turning 180 degrees every time so he could moor bow on. This manoeuvre took most of the space and I’d have thought the skipper was pretty dizzy by the end of the day!

I don’t seem to have taken pictures of any of the places with nice gardens

A more traditional windmill

We arrived at the Julianasluis lock at 18.00 and were pleased it opened immediately to let us through. We had to stop in Gouda as although we could have got through the railway bridge the 3 bridges beyond were closed for the night and there was nowhere to stop in between, so we headed for the YC marina in Kromme Gouwe, a small cut just off the main waterway and initially looking as if it only went to a cement works. It opened up slightly to reveal a narrow stretch of water with many moored boats and a very friendly harbourmaster, slightly overwhelmed by the arrival of 3 boats at once. We squeezed into a box right down at the bottom of the cut, hoping we’d be able to get out in the morning. The Halberg Rassey tied up alongside another British boat, not in a box – definitely the easier option!

Even the birds like to stop here

YC marina Gouda

Over the course of the day we did see a wide variety of vessels using the waterways. Below is a taste of this

An old steam tug

Barge with an alongside tow

A drilling rig boat

A mega yacht – not easy to pick out against the buildings

A car transporter

And this one is actually a building!