Wednesday 14 March 2018
Exactly four months since we arrived in Twellegea Marina, Amsterdam-Noord, my crew slipped the lines just before noon today, and then we stopped again at the bottom of the polder, approximately half a mile away, to top up my diesel tanks. We joined the main channel of the River IJ, heading East, went through the Oranjesluizen locks without incident, and waited for the Schellingwouderbrug to open for us, and another yacht that was heading in towards Amsterdam.
Apart from the air still being cold, it was a perfect Spring day: sunshine with a light breeze. They’re easing us back into cruising gradually, as the mainsail halyard is still attached to the stern end of the boom as a Winter topping lift, and the foresails are still bagged awaiting cleaning and repair. The crew didn’t expect to be able to actually sail to our first destination, Marken in the Gouwzee in the Southwest corner of the IJsselmeer, which is probably the largest paddling pool this side of the Caribbean. For most of the day we had less than three metres of water under our keel, and we’ve joined the dots by following the channel markers all the way here.
We almost completed the day unscathed, but lack of a centreboard coupled with an unexpected 
crosswind just as we came alongside the town quay in Marken has added another souvenir ding to my aluminium hull. The crew are both rusty and out of practice, but that will soon change.