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The World Cruise of Veleda IV |
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To Amsterdam, April 26 to 29, 2000 With the sun coming up so early now, I am able to get Judy up and get on the water earlier. We left at 0755 April 26 from the tranquil mooring posts and continued up the canal towards Haarlem, after which the borough of Harlem, New York is named. Remember, New York was originally called New Amsterdam, when the Dutch bought Manhattan from the Indians for $24.00 worth of trinkets and settled it until the British took over. After several more bridges we entered the lovely canals through Haarlem. It seems to be a pleasant city with smaller canals branching off the main one, and many canal boats and house boats accommodating families living on the water. Here we found the eight bridges opening as we arrived at each of them except for the last one through the city. When we arrived at it, no standby light even. Then we heard a voice instructing us to turn around and go back to the harbour office at the previous bridge. Why? Had we gone too fast? Had we broken some other regulation? With trepidation we went back and alongside the office pontoon. When we went into the office, the lady did not know why we were asked to check in. However she asked which way we were going and if we had paid the harbour dues. Aha! There was still a fee here. We had read of it in our sailing pilot book, but since the book was over 12 years old, and at an earlier bridge-lock combination where it had told us to pay, dues were no longer required, we did not think this toll was still expected. No problem. It was only 10.60 guilders, and we were on our way. Haarlem appeared a pleasant city that we would have liked to have had the time to spend a few days visiting. Oh well, we can’t do everything we would like to and Amsterdam was beckoning. North of Haarlem we went through the Spaarndam lock which was indicated in our pilot book as requiring a fee. This time Judy went ashore to see if it still applied. It did. We paid only 5.00 guilders, and we were off to try to catch the next bridge which only opens three times daily. We wanted to catch the noon bridge otherwise we would have to wait until 2000! We made it O.K., and were able to get through the last bridge, Ophaalbrug, and into the North Sea Canal. Only 8 more miles of wide open tidal canal, no more bridges or locks, but with large ocean-going merchant ships plying their way to and from Amsterdam. We unfurled the genoa for a few miles of motor sailing into Amsterdam. As we got closer, the shipping was heavy, with tankers, merchant ships, pilot boats, high speed catamaran ferries, and the many cross channel ferries going into the main ferry and rail terminal in central Amsterdam. We passed these central ferries to get to the Six Haven Marina, on the north side of the canal, but centrally located to the ferry and rail terminal. As we wanted to take our dinghy Sprite through the Amsterdam canals, we wanted to be centrally located. It cost a bit more than the Aeolus Yacht Haven which is another kilometer beyond Six Haven. We felt that 18.00 guilders versus 12.00 guilders per night was worth the closer proximity. The fee included electricity, though there was a small charge for showers and laundromat. We spent an enjoyable three days visiting museums, exploring the canals, wandering the streets and enjoying the atmosphere. We visited the Anne Frank house and museum. It was well done. The original house is still there with a museum in the lower floors, and the upper floors preserved as they were when the family was hidden in the upper attics above the warehouse. We found all the museums in Holland extremely well done with displays in several languages, video presentations at different sections, again in different languages, subtitles or separate headphones with stations for different languages. I felt this museum had a multicultural agenda pushing the European Union Human Rights movement, more so than any of the Resistance museums we visited. Of course we had to visit the Marine Museum which we did by dinghy. They had a Dutch East Indiaman, well rigged, with a costumed crew in character who gave demonstrations of different shipboard activities, from hoisting onboard barrels of supplies by block and tackle on the yardarms, to firing the cannon. The officers’ and captain’s quarters in the sterncastle were an impressive sight. These ships were armed merchant vessels. Their gun decks did not break down into full-length gunnery platforms as they did on men-of-war; but they were heavily armed enough, especially when in convoy with other armed East Indiamen, to deter attacks. The museum itself was excellent. It traced the nautical heritage of Holland from dugout canoes, to the glory days of the 15th and 16th centuries, to the age of steam, up to WW II and present day shipping. Many large ship models, paintings of battles, and instruments and machinery of the maritime world were well displayed. It is a good museum well worth a day’s outing. Actually, we have visited so many marine museums that we are having a hard time remembering what we saw where. One painting we saw of a battle that we knew about was that of the bombardment and fire ship attack by Admiral de Ruyter on the Chatham docks which I had visited in England. It was a successful surprise attack destroying many British ships and the docks, followed up by an attack at Gravesend before quitting the Thames Estuary. One of the little things I noted in the painting were the high hills bordering the Chatham area. When I was there, the hills were not as high as indicated, but then, considering the flatness of Holland, perhaps any half decent hill would appear a mountain to the Dutch. We also enjoyed the Amsterdam Museum which gave a good historical development of the city from the early settlements on the banks of the Amstel River through the dams constructed, the land reclaimed, and the canals utilized in the growth of the city. That is the origin of the name Amsterdam, the Amstel dam. The dam became a center of the community and many buildings and fortifications were established on them. The main downtown area that in other cities would be called "town square" is of course called "The Dam". The Resistance Museum we had to rush through in an hour, as it was near closing time. Again, a very good museum showing life in Amsterdam from before and during the war, and during and after Liberation. An impression I am getting as we tour the various resistance museums in the Scandinavian countries is that the response of the people was not a simple matter of black and white, heroes or villains. The museum asked the question "What is Resistance?" Many mayors of various communities stayed in office to try to help their citizens as much as possible within the context of their duty. To resign would mean a new administration more sympathetic to the enemy. When does civil administration and enforced cooperation with the occupying forces become collaboration for personal or community benefit? When does non-cooperation become resistance, resulting in persecution personally or of the community? Thirty percent of the mayors could not remain in office because of what they were expected to do, and their only recourse was to resign, after which they would have to go underground, as they then were considered enemies by the occupation forces. Of course, they were replaced by more Nazi-sympathetic administrators. The museum also showed the effects of the Allied defeat at the Arnhem Bridge, which delayed the Liberation from winter of 1944 to May of 1945. The Netherlands were subject to horrible famine and disease as a result, especially as the occupying forces were, in retaliation, clamping down on the resistance movements, taking reprisals on the citizens, and deflecting almost all food to their forces instead of to the civilian population. It was a very thought-provoking and moving presentation. On April 28 there was a big party in all of downtown Amsterdam as it was Queen’s Night, the evening before the queen’s birthday, with street parties all over. The next day there was a giant flea market in the same streets, where individuals set up stalls, blankets, and kiosks to sell anything and everything. We wandered around and people watched. A big party, but not intimidating. We felt quite safe roaming around the city in the early hours of the morning. The dinghy tour of the canals was enjoyable. We did a bit of shopping, locking Sprite at different locations to search out some chart shops as we needed Danish charts for the next leg of our trip. There were many liveaboards on the barges and boathouses along many of the canals. It would be interesting to live and work in downtown Amsterdam from a barge. I wonder what kind of taxes they pay and what services they get? I have not seen so many bicycles since I was in Japan. There are bicycle lanes beside the sidewalks and when walking one has to watch out not to stray into a bicycle path. There are even special stop lights for cyclists with green and red cycle images. Trains and ferries also have special facilities for them. It is interesting and risky getting off the ferry as both cyclists and pedestrians are rushing off together on the same stretch of pavement, or cobblestone as the case may be. Bicycles are prevalent all over the Netherlands as the land is quite flat and easy to cycle around. There are special sheds and racks for them at railway and bus stations. I also noticed that not all of them are locked up. I am surprised at the number not locked. Honesty? I remember over in Japan, that the Japanese are very honest, except in two areas of life, bicycles and umbrellas. If they were not locked up people would help themselves to them and leave them in some other part of town, or use them to get home after a night out. At the marina we met a crew from a Dutch sailboat who came over to visit us and invited us to their vessel. We indicated our difficulty with E-mail, and since they had mobiles and laptops an attempt was made to help us send out some. I prepared a disc with what I wanted to send out just in case I was not able to get on-line through their mobiles. We tried, but my computer was not compatible with their mobiles, and my mobile was locked from any other sim cards that we tried to use. Ultimately I left the disc with them and they sent the E-mail out for me a few days later. Thank you Frank Buys, Jan and Maria Van Lent, Maarten van den Bosch and Neptune III. We found the people in the Netherlands very friendly and helpful. This is another of the pleasures of the cruising life,- all the nice people we meet. We left Amsterdam in rain on April 29, and while motoring eastwards towards the Markermeer we saw the new clipper ship Amsterdam, a luxury sailing clipper that was featured in the Marine Museum as part of Amsterdam’s new image. It had the nice lines of a classic clipper, with all the modern navigation, instrumentation, machinery and amenities of a cruise ship. This was a fitting departure from Amsterdam. |
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