13/14 July - Not quite cheesed off in Gouda

Wednesday 13 July continued at first with the strong winds and heavy showers which had persisted through the night. This gave a good opportunity to catch up on some reading. However, after 3 days without internet, the crew was suffering withdrawal symptoms, and the computers, we thought, were beginning to look like wilted lettuces, not at all helped by the wheelhouse being more steamed up than a Chinese laundry.



A damp tourist in Gouda




A family model bike



Later on, togged up for the cooler and damper conditions, we set off complete with netbook to see the sights of Gouda, have lunch and find a hotspot. Gouda, inside the ring of canals, is very picturesque, with a delightful selection of quiet backwaters, cobbled narrow streets, and a variety of  very interesting little shops full of quirky curiosThe market Square, where we had lunch, is very impressive, and just behind it is the largest church in Holland, a magnificent edifice with an amazing array of stained glass windows dating from 1604, We phoned Orange to find out why our “dongle” wasn’t working—it needed to be switched on by them to “roaming”.

Tom’s Top Tip for dongle users abroad: Make sure your pc is not set to automatic updates—at £3 per megabyte, it can cost you up to £20 before you make a keystroke!

The weather  was the key feature of Thursday 14 July,  “A Duvet Day”, all day, in port.  Plans for the cheese market were washed out and blown away by conditions which kept many boats in port and which pushed quite a few others in much earlier than usual. The wind was strong enough to blow over the bow pilot jack, which had become weakened whilst used as a stepping across handle by some of our out-rafters. In short, the little marina became completely over-stuffed, and your intrepid crew earned many extra brownie points (and a warming cappuccino) by going out in the wet to help turn around a small yacht which had been helplessly blown in to the cul-de-sac.

Magnificent masterpieces in stained glass

Amongst the other day’s highlights: Re-sharpening 25 pencils (note to self: why do we need 25 pencils?)

Today’s philosophical puzzler: Why do we save our money up for a rainy day when it’s too wet to go out and spend it?  (Answers on an email to westward.iow@hotmail.com).

Still, the forecast for tomorrow is much better…..