Two days in Ijmuiden have been spent recovering from the long passage and preparing for the next leg by the huge North Sea Canal to Amsterdam.
We checked our insurance and discovered belatedly that we weren't covered for inland waterways of Holland. Called the insurer by mobile and rectified it.
Nic had to phone Ofcom to get them to update our VHF radio licence so we can use it in inland waterways. Aargh. More humdrum stuff.
We had to check the height of the mast known as the 'air draught'. It's surprisingly important when the lifting bridges only clear up to a certain height of mast! How do you measure your mast? That set us thinking.
In the end Nic measured one rope that goes up to the mast and back, measuring it metre by metre while pulling it through.
The answer is 45 feet which is fine for us to get through the Standing Mast route from Amsterdam to the south of Holland. Phew.
Along the way we took a bus into the unlovely edges of Ijmuiden. We looked long and hard at the sea lock which we will pass through tomorrow and the open vista of the canal stretching away. (See photo.)
We walked to a fish restaurant near the pictured trawler dock and had passable cod and chips. But the rest of our walk around the alleged old town was disappointing. Dull housing schemes and zero cafes or shops. The bus back was all too welcome.
Roll on Amsterdam.
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