Let's Stay
⇚ Thursday, November 12, 2015 / Stephanie / Exploration ⇛
At Enkhuizen, a ray of sunshine shone through the forward cabin's porthole just at the break of day. Already awake, I rose from our bunk to peek out the hatch, my usual morning routine. It was roughly 7:15AM and the harbor was ablaze with the sunrise; days were becoming incredibly short. Although we were rafted two boats deep onto the quayside, I was anxious to depart to continue toward our winter destination. I began breakfast. When the coffee was poured, and Brian meandered his way into the cabin, we hadn't yet noticed that our plans were about to change. Mist was pouring into the harbor from the IJsselmeer; rapidly we were engulfed in fog.
[caption id="attachment_2272" align="alignnone" width="683"]
Notice our neighbor, 'American Lady' quite an ironic raft-up![/caption]
No worries, it will clear...
We could no longer see across the harbor, never-mind finding the exit! 
No radar, no way! We had plenty of time to wait for better visibility, and so we decided to wait another day. Several boats departed late in the afternoon when the fog had not yet lifted. It was a Sunday, and people needed to return home to attend their Monday morning jobs. Several boats changed their plans, securing to the quay and choosing to depart via train and to return for the boat at a later date. We took a long, misty walk along the Westerdijk; the dike that surrounds the city and had during earlier days been used to keep the city safe from floods.
The following day, there was no sign of the other side of the harbor, it was still entirely fogged in! We asked the harbormaster if he had a forecast. He shrugged his shoulders, "There is no wind," he casually replied. He proceeded to inform us that the lock was closed to pleasure vessels. Alright then, just one more day...
Notice our neighbor, 'American Lady' quite an ironic raft-up![/caption]
No worries, it will clear...We could no longer see across the harbor, never-mind finding the exit! No radar, no way! We had plenty of time to wait for better visibility, and so we decided to wait another day. Several boats departed late in the afternoon when the fog had not yet lifted. It was a Sunday, and people needed to return home to attend their Monday morning jobs. Several boats changed their plans, securing to the quay and choosing to depart via train and to return for the boat at a later date. We took a long, misty walk along the Westerdijk; the dike that surrounds the city and had during earlier days been used to keep the city safe from floods.
The following day, there was no sign of the other side of the harbor, it was still entirely fogged in! We asked the harbormaster if he had a forecast. He shrugged his shoulders, "There is no wind," he casually replied. He proceeded to inform us that the lock was closed to pleasure vessels. Alright then, just one more day...2 Comments
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From Brian Grandjean on Nov 12, 2015
Thanks, Art! As the boats come in to tie up they ask when you are planning to depart. The boat or boats to the outside are very good about being present when the inner boat wants to leave. We have seen it done two different ways, the first is what we do when someone needs to get out. We untie and motor out into the harbor and wait for the inner boat to get underway, then redock in the hole they left. The second works by magic as far as I can tell, but is much much more popular, we have seen it done regularly. The boat on the outside runs a sternline beyond the inner boat to the dock (or boat) on the other side and unties their bowline and then use a little reverse to swing their bow out. It looks a little like a door opening, and the inner boat slips out at nearly full throttle as soon as the opening appears ( sometimes in reverse). The outer boat then tightens the stern line and swings the bow back in with a little bit of forward throttle. We have never seen any collisions occur during this process despite the close quarters and aggressive use of the engine. -
From Art Werner on Nov 12, 2015
Good morning, Love your website and beautiful pictures. What do you do when you are the inside boat and when you want to leave there are 5 or 6 boats tied up to you on the outside? Thanks, Art Werner Paupack Sailing Club