Wall Art of Harlingen

In one of the old neighbourhoods of Harlingen, called de Lanen, the traditional game of Lanenkaatsen, Friesian handball is still  played. It is believed to be one of the oldest ballgames and its scoring is similar to tennis. The first team scoring six games wins the match.

The Harlingen Historical Society is sponsoring the placement of old advertisements similar to those that were once painted on the walls of old business establishments. Most of the establishments are long gone, but the buildings and their facades remain. These wall paintings are located throughout the town, in alleys and in shopping streets. The building in this photo is in de Lanen and once housed a tobacconist and an apothecary. Those businesses are gone, but the two hundred year old building lives on. It has seen some changes, including the former storefront being incorporated into the living accommodations. 

This old house is owned by Ferry van Bezooijen, the SRF ships carpenter who did Zonder Zorg's interior. He is in the midst of transforming the building into a Bed & Breakfast. This wall mural on the side of his house depicts Pirate cigarettes, once a popular brand name in the Netherlands. Embedded in the Dutch history are pirates and privateers and ships like the Flying Dutchman bringing home the loot. In these old advertisements, it was still acceptable to romanticize piracy as well as smoking.

The next time you are in Harlingen looking for a Bed & Breakfast, just keep your eyes open for a very large Pirate.

Schokland - An Island On The Mainland

I first came across this painting in 1975 in the Zuider Zee Museum in Enkhuizen. The Museum was much smaller then and to me this was one of the most fascinating exhibits. The painting was intriguing, filled with drama and tension as it depicted the last days prior to the evacuation of Schokland, then an island in the Zuider Zee.

Archeological excavations show that the island had once been part of the mainland and had  been inhabited 6500 years ago. Digs also show that 2000 years ago the area was starting to loose chunks to the sea. Gradually Schokland became a peninsula and then an island. During the ninth and tenth centuries, the inhabitants started building terps and dikes to keep the remaining land. By the nineteenth century the farmland on the island had disappeared and the islanders became fishermen. The reduced island was plagued by floods 

The small island was divided in two, with the northern part governed by Amsterdam and the remainder by Emmeloord. It was also divided as Catholic and protestant and they were strongly against intermarriage of faiths. With an ever shrinking gene pool and seventy-five percent of the inhabitants on welfare, the 650 inhabitants were evacuated by royal decree in 1859. The Schoklanders were moved to surrounding villages which had a mix of Catholics and Protestants.

The former island now houses a museum and the restored church and has parts of the dikes still visible. In 1995 it became the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Netherlands.

The angry Zuider Zee, to which the island once surrendered, has been replaced with a sea of potatoes. 

Leaving Lemmer

The day had a slow start and we needed to look for an internet connection. I had tried the library the day before, but it had a painfully slow connection. Today they didn't open until 1400, a strange hour, but perhaps a sign of the times. I had to ask several people along the way for the location of the library and was often met by a frown and a ponder. Obviously the library is seldom used nowadays and only by school kids, and then for internet service only.

We finally had to resort to look for a McDonalds and found one next to the highway. We had a cup of coffee and limited reception, but sufficient to post our blogs. On the way back to the barge we stopped at the local fish stand and had deep fried sole fillet on a bun. It was yummy and we were ready to head through the locks and down into Flevoland.

Between locks opening and bridge lifting, we turned the barge around and headed for the locks. We had to go through three locks in the afternoon and we are getting our practise for the French canals.

At the second lock, Michael was mesmerized by the tall blond lock master, she was stunningly beautiful. At this lock we left Friesland and when the locks opened we were in Flevoland. I was struck by the sculpture along side the lock; two masive steel feet walking along the cobbled stone dike. It wasn't so long ago that it was still under the Zuider Zee.

Lemmer Friesland

We stayed for two days in Lemmer, in the basin of the old city. We had been here before and enjoyed our stay again. We knew our way around in this easy going city and there was no need for our bicycles.

The weather has been unseasonably cold and wet, but yesterday the temperature rose and we sat outside on the aft deck. As we relaxed, we watched the lock open and close, the bridge lift and lower and the parade of boats passing by.  As we warmed in the sun with a glass of Manzanilla and some olives and almonds, a few sparrows joined us. Not far from our boat, a duck and her ducking were basking in the sun and some pre-teen boys were out fishing. 

I think all of us are ready for summer; the Lemmer mermaid seems to think so.

Elfstedentoch - Eleven Cities Tour

We cannot leave Friesland without mentioning the Eleven Cities Tour, which is a skating tour nearly 200 kilometres long. It is held as a speed skating match with 300 contestants and a leisure tour of 16,000 skaters.

The tour leads past eleven historical cities of the Frisian Province. It starts in Leeuwarden and goes to Sneek, IJlst, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker, Dokkum and back to Leeuwarden.

The tour takes place only in winters when the ice reaches 15 centimetres thick along the entire course. The last tours were held in 1985, 1986 and 1997 and all skaters must be members of the Association of the Eleven Frisian Cities; a starting permit is required. Skaters must collect a stamp in each city and at an additional three secret checkpoints and complete the course before midnight of the tour day. The finish point of the tour is on a canal near Leeuwarden called the Bonkevaart.

Since the Elfstedentocht is a rare event, when temperatures drop below zero for a few days, the country gets exited, and excitement intensifies as the temperature remains sub-zero. The day before the tour many Dutch flock to Leeuwarden to celebrate the "Night of Leeuwarden", a city-wide street party. 

There had been mention of skating the eleven cities as far back as 1760 and it is a part of the Friesian tradition. In 1890 Pim Mulier conceived the idea of an organized tour with the first one being held in 1909. The winters from 1939 to 1941 were severe, with the race being run in each of them. The 1940 race ran three months prior to the German Invasion of the Netherlands and had 3000 competitors who started at 05:00 on the 30th of January. The arrival at the finish of the first five skaters at 16:34 made the front page of the Dutch Newspapers.

The 1963 race was classified as "hellish" when only 69 of 10,000 were able to finish the race in -18ºC temperatures and a harsh eastern wind. The next race was held in 1985, and with the more than two decade gap, skates, clothing and training had advanced and changed. 

The 1985 race ended prematurely because of thawing and skaters were taken off the ice by 22:00. A skater named WA van Buren managed to finish. Prince Wiilem-Alexander, who had skated under that pseudonym is now King Wiilem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Van Buren means "from the neighbourhood".

Heeg, Súdwest Fryslân

We are safely moored in Heeg in Friesland. The weather had turned nasty and the lake turned choppy with many white caps. With the wind increasing through Force 5, we looked for shelter. Heeg was close by and we secured ourselves in the lee of the trees along the dockside in Heegerwâl, a passante marina.

In the early days of Heeg, the little town was surrounded by small canals and the land was slowly filled with fisherman's shacks with access only by water. The shacks became houses and with this, created a labyrinth of twenty-two small back lanes, narrow streets and alleys. 

The lake area is well known for its historic eel fishery with regular live export to London. The Hegemers had free moorage at the Dutch Landing on the Thames, not far from the Tower of London and the Billingsgate fish market. The trade was important to the locals of Heeg and they taught English in the local primary schools. The eel trade remained profitable till 1938. 

"De Syl" was the main business section of town for the eel trade. Eel merchant Anne Wiegers Visser lived there and was also a floating eel merchant in London. There were generations of sail makers on the street and in busy times the lay-out and cutting of their sails took place in front of the shop and spilled out into the street. The homes on De Syl were small, close to each other and near the water.  With no room for their gardens, small gardens were set up across the canal with small lanes between them big enough for horse and cart. The oldest standing house dates from 1699 and is named the Hellinghûs.

Across the canal from De Syl is an active shipyard. In the height of the eel trade, it had build hundreds of flat bottom boats such as skûtsjes and palingaaken. The shipyard has remained active for three hundred years. 

Today Heeg  is known for its water sport and boat rentals. The town is quaint and some grant old homes are still standing from days of the eel merchants.

Douwe Egberts Coffee

Douwe Egberts was born in Heereveen in the Province of Friesland. He did not leave his mark as a great statesman, a navigator nor an artist, but he became famous for his coffee. 

The coffee tradition began in 1753 when store owner Douwe Egberts and his wife Akke Thysses open their little shop "De Witte Os" the white ox, in Joure Friesland. They sold coffee, tea and tobacco, originally only to the locals in the village

When the son, also named Douwe Egberts, entered the family business in 1780, he expanded sales and his family's reputation for great coffee beyond the village and into the region and later the whole country. The Douwe Egberts family and their descendants became the leader in the Dutch market for their teas and coffees. 

Since 1978 Douwe Egbert has been allied with the Sara Lee Corporation, and with it, stepped into the international market. Douwe Egbert now ranks among the three largest coffee roasters in the world.

Douwe Egbert coffee has also left is mark in every Dutch household with the introduction of "coffee points". Printed on each pack of coffee was a set number of points, and by collecting them, you could get free tea towels or coffee cups. The theme on the coffee cups varied through time. One of these themes was the colourful prints of Hindeloopen.  

Local Hindeloopen artist Harmen Glashouwer and his daughter Christien, designed the cup and saucers for Douwe Egberts's coffee point system. Harmen made an agreement with the coffee company that he is the sole person to sell these cups privately without Douwe Egbert points. 

We met Harmen in the fabric shop, which he had inherited from his mother. It sits next to his studio. Purchasing the cups and saucers was a much easier task than trying to pick some fabrics from an overwhelming and seemingly endless choice of colours and designs.

Fabrics of Hindeloopen - a Quilter's Delight

Like their wood carvings and painted furniture, the fabrics of Hindeloopen carry similar intricate motifs. I have a fondness for the traditional Dutch folklore fabrics and during our visits such places as Spakenburg, Marken and Hindeloopen, I sensed a strong Asian influence in the designs. 

The Dutch East Indian Company traded with Japan, India and Indonesia and brought back plaids from Indonesia, Chintz and paisley patterns form India and floral designs and silks from Japan. Japan was closed to the outside world, but carried on a trade with Holland, which did not promote their religions, unlike the Spaniards and the Portuguese. The Japanese influence shows up in the porcelain ware of Delft Blue, with its jars and vases of Japanese shapes and floral designs.

Japanese practical designs of peasant wear that designated its trades with aprons, headgear and bibs, made their way across the oceans and into the Low Lands and out to its rural provinces.  Smaller villages showed their own adaptations to these designs and gradually created their own identity. The mix and match of patterns, common in Japan, found it's way into the folklore patterns of the Low Lands. Lace also made its way up into the provinces and added to identity of the wearers origin or village.

Today the Hindeloopen fabrics are sought after by quilters for their patterns and colours. They are expensive, but well worth the price. I have already started my stash and will add to it along the way. 

What could be more appropriate in a 1908 Friesian skûtsje than the colourful folklore fabrics of Hindeloopen?

 

Hindenlopen Furniture

There was so much to see in this tiny city. We paused on one of the many bridges to view life on and around the old canals. Besides servicing the steady stream of tourists, the residents carryon their normal daily lives; there are lines of laundry drying outside, yards being swept and windows cleaned.

Inside the museum I was taken with the quality of the hand-made furniture and struck by the importance of the cradle. These were beautiful, practical and ornately painted in the Hindeloopen style. Most were low to the ground on rockers, which could also be placed on a stand during the day. At night the cradle was attached to a line which was hooked to a beam and then down into the bed cupboard. The young mother could rock the baby asleep from the warmth and comfort of the bed.

In this painting we see a well-to-do expectant young mother commissioning an artist to paint scenes on the cradle. An investment was made in a strong crib that would hopefully carry all of her children and perhaps then be handed down for her grandchildren. When Hindeloopen became a fishing village, the local women applied their own skills and brush work to the cradles. 

Through the economic change a style of painting had emerged, and with that, it has placed Hindeloopen into another trade; the tourist trade.

Heading South

We left the shipyard behind and headed along the canals and through the bridges of Harlingen. We called the bridge master on our cellphone and arranged for five bridges to be opened for us. At our first bridge we waited for the bridge master to arrive, but instead of an old man, two hunky young guys showed up on their bicycles; they were the bridge masters.

They obviously loved their cycle job and were in good shape as they raced past us to halt the traffic and prepare the next bridge. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorists waited as the bridges closed and they did not seem to mind the delay as they admired the boat and wished us a wonderful vacation. Others waved as we meandered through their backyards. The last two bridges were next to each other, the road bridge and the rail bridge, and they were hauled up simultaneously. The hunks waved us goodbye and wished us a pleasant journey. There were no toll fees involved.

Out in the countryside, with cattle curiously watching us glide by, the bridges were getting smaller and lower. The lowest was 2.16 meters and we slid under it with a few centimetres to spare. The only ones lower were only a metre or so above the water, but movable, and we had to call for the local bridge master for their opening. The bridge masters are polite, courteous, helpful and they all seem to come with a sense of humour, some are even hunky.

We are now pleasantly moored in the town of Workum where we intend staying for two days taking in a few bicycle trips to nearby towns, supermarkets and fabric shops.

Have we mentioned that we absolutely love Friesland?

Goodbye Harlingen

With our skûtsje Zonder Zorg now looking her best and the refit completed, we are leaving Harlingen and heading south. We are pleased and delighted with the outcome and we are ready to start this new passage in our life, living aboard a barge and exploring the canals of Europe.

We have enjoyed our stay in Harlingen and on our way out we will be maneuvering through the canals of the old city. These are the same canals we have passed on cycle, in car and walking during the past two weeks. We are also saying goodbye to SRF Shipyards and to our time watching the restoration of other classic Dutch barges and the construction of new floating homes, boats and ships of all sizes and shapes. Each boat is so different from the other.

My compliments go to the shipyard and their tradesmen who have worked on our boat. We are impressed with their knowledge, skills and expertise. They were courteous and polite as they listened to our problems and concerns and then they quickly found solutions.

Most of the interior work was done by the ships carpenter Ferry van Bezooijen, a fellow sailor with an eye for detail. He understands the concept of small spaces and the need for easy accessibility to systems hidden behind panels. Cabinet doors unclip and panels slide out on tracks to quickly reach hidden machinery, wiring and plumbing. An almost invisible inspection hatch has been placed under the stairway and neatly finished with a flat latch. The stairway itself is easily removed without the help of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Today we begin heading south with a deepening fondness for our skûtsje Zonder Zorg.

SRF Shipyard

We are still tucked away in the shipyard, surrounded by haul-outs, hangers and cranes. Workmen are still busy in the engine room making their adjustments and tweaks with last minute latches on hatches  added. The last bit of touch up paint is being applied and our new spud pole is being tested with positive results. 

On our shopping list today were a few boat cleaning items, which entailed another visit to one of the local Marine stores. The marine shops her are much more like hardware stores and we are amazed at the normal pricing for boat related equipment. We needed a new boat hook, mops and scrub brushes and a Friesian flag for the jackstaff. This particular marine shop specializes in brass, bronze and steel hardware, mostly traditional parts for old boats. Most boats here are traditional and old, with more century-old than new.

Our cupboards are now arranged in a semblance of order, so that most things can be found. The forward part of the boat, which once served as the sleeping arrangements for the owners' children, now stores our empty luggage, cockpit umbrella and deck chairs.  Our clothes washer and dryer both passed the laundry tests and our to-do list is now much shorter. Eventually as we make our way along the canal system, we will need to look at window treatment and see what blind or drape solutions there are for our type of window. 

At sunset we put aside our concerns and our to-do list and relax with a glass of wine while we enjoy one of Michael's home cooked meals. This one was breaded filet of sole with green beans almandine, sautéed potato cubes and sliced Roma tomato with shredded fresh basil.

Tomorrow is another day. Cheers.

It Ain't Heavy, It's My Brother

I have just bought my second Brother sewing machine, this time for Zonder Zorg to accommodate  the European 220 volt systems. I had bought one previously to share between Sequitur and home, both wired to 110 volts. 

The sewing machine weights 7.5 Kg and is small and light enough to fit into my carry on bag. In our past commuting from Vancouver to South America, taking it through the security machines at various airports was amusing. With most female operators at the X-ray machines there wasn't any problem. With male operators, my bag moving on the conveyor belt would come to a sudden halt, followed by  back and forth motion for further scanning and frowning. I normally helped them out by catching their eye and making needle and thread gestures. This was acknowledged with a smile and a nod and my bag moved forward again. 

In the mid-1950s my two elder sisters pooled their funds and bought a Brother sewing machine, which had been newly introduced to the international market from Japan. Prior to that there had been some sturdy older brand names around like Singer, which my mother owned. Her portable Singer came with a wooden dome case and a manual wheel; it was rather heavy. She later had it converted to electrical as small conversion kits made their debut. The kit came with a small motor, a belt to hook onto the wheel and a foot pedal, but the machine remained basic with only one forward stitch. Any attachments for these machines were very expensive and needed to be purchased separately.

The Brother Sewing Machines have come a long way since the Yasui Sewing Machine Co. was established in 1908 in Nagoya Japan. In 1954 they became the Brother International Corporation.

They entered the market with a relatively inexpensive sewing machine with several selectable stitches, including zig-zag, and they came with bobbins and button attachments.

My sewing machine has already made a few pillows for onboard and I marvel at the little bag with all the free attachments. I look forward to sewing aboard as we pass through areas where small fabric and sewing shops still exist.

The Art of Window Cleaning

We are still in the shipyard and the sun has again appeared after a heavy rainfall. The boat and the windows are dirty from all the dust and grit generated by the yard from the comings and goings of the workmen. 

I thought I'd give my Dutch window cleaning genes a try. I have seen the ritual of window cleaning in Harlingen; it is not much different from the one I saw in Amsterdam. The Dutch all seem to love cleaning windows and it is almost like a religion. Once a week they appear with bucket, stepladder and cloths and thoroughly clean the windows, inside and out. They even take time to wipe the frames and sills. Maybe there is a window cleaning contest going on that I am not aware off.

The last time I cleaned boat windows was onboard Sequitur in the Patagonian canals. It was in the middle of the summer, and I was dressed in foulies cleaning sleet off the windows as we entered the Furious Fifties. I now prefer doing it in sunshine on the canals of Europe.

I must admit that the windows are smaller and fewer in number than the ones I was accustom to in Vancouver. My houses in Deep Cove and on Vancouver Island both had two stories, and there I called in the window washers. 

On Zonder Zorg the windows are easily reachable and it is lovely to look through clean windows. I will join the Dutch in the ritual of cleaning all the windows once a week, at least while the barge is in the Netherlands.

Oude Jenever

One of our welcome-aboard gifts from SRF shipyards was a bottle of Dutch Jenever from Friesland. There are spelling variations, another common one is Genever, and it is also referred to as Dutch Gin. It is the origin of what the Brits corrupted to Gin.

It is believed to have been invented by a Dutch chemist and alchemist named Sylvius de Bouve in the late sixteenth century and was first sold as a medicine. It became a popular beverage in the seventeenth century because of its distinct flavour. Because of the lack of refined distilling techniques, the spirit was unpalatable, so herbs and Juniper berries were added to mask the flavour.

There are two types of Jenever, oude and jonge; old and young and the difference is not a matter of aging but of distilling techniques. Jonge Jenever has a rather neutral taste, like vodka with a slight aroma of juniper. Oude Jenever is smoother and more flavourful, with stronger aromas and malty flavours. Oude Jenever can be aged in oak barrels and its malty, woody and smokey flavours give it a resemblance to whiskey. Different grains, such as barley, wheat and ryes, produce different tastes.

There are countless ways to serve it and many traditions for drinking it. The flavour is something to get used to, but in the meantime, I like the look of the terracotta bottle; perhaps that is a good place to start.

Flowers and Plants

It seems that our days in the shipyard are finally coming to an end. There has been a flurry of activity with parts, boxes are workmen in every room, hatch and trapdoor.  Light fixtures are being installed, drills are going and the carpenter has completed his work with magic. Our tiny bathroom has become functional with hooks, racks and a mirror. It is starting to feel like home.

Our deck space is limited at this time as the back deck is missing a large hatch and workmen are still working below in the engine space. They did manage to instal a bracket for our little cockpit table and when it gets warmer it will have an umbrella.

Most barges, skûtjes and larger boats show off with an assortment of plants and flowers; some even have small gardens in pots. Others grow herb gardens indoors. My stubborn Dutch garden genes have refused to kick in, but I can handle a few flowering plants on deck and will buy my herbs at the supermarket.

In Zonder Zorg's bow is our anchor winch, strong and sturdy and beside it my first boat plant. My watering bucket is also ready to go; the Dutch have told me that canal water is excellent for plants.

IKEA.nl

How can one not visit IKEA when moving aboard a boat or into any new home? Today was our third visit to IKEA in Groningen, an hour's drive from Harlingen. This is a long drive for most Dutch, but being from Canada, we find the distance not that far. In Vancouver we are accustomed to visiting IKEA either in Richmond or Port Coquitlam, both about fifty minutes from our False Creek home. Familiarity is what we like about shopping at IKEA. With the layout in the Groningen store being almost identical to those in Vancouver, there is no need to ask for directions; one can find the cafeteria and always close are the washrooms. Check-out is the same, with some self-serve lines, which we choose. We have already been trained by IKEA Vancouver.

The main purpose of our expeditions to IKEA were to find items to organize our small space aboard, with hanging rods, hooks and trays. The Europeans, who are accustom to living small spaces, seem to have a flair for well designed, multi-purpose, practical and visually appealing pieces. In the hardware department we found some handsome drawer and cupboard handles and other fittings for our tiny galley, all with reasonable price tags attached. 

Light fixtures were next on our list. We had been searching locally for the past three days for small wall-mounted fixtures. We found some fixtures close to the shipyard, but their prices were €80 and up, and we needed ten. At those prices, we had carefully unpacked each item for a closer inspection to see if they contained platinum, but found only chrome, metal, plastic and glass. This visit to IKEA was well worth it, as we found some stylish lamps for the boat also made with chrome metal and glass, at less than ten percent of the cost. 

At the entrance to IKEA are some rental delivery carts at €2.50 per hour. You can get your fifty cent ice cream cone and pedal your loot down the bike path, unload and most likely be back within the hour. Assembling the furniture will take a bit longer.

Clogs

Clogs can be traced back as far as 1367 and it is most likely they originated much earlier. They are still worn as daily foot wear. During the wet and cold periods on the farms in the Netherlands, clogs keep feet dry. Modern replicas of the iconic shape are made in rubber for rainwear and in warm fabrics for slippers. Colours have also changed from basic yellow with red trimmings to street scenes, flowers, blue and white, polka dots and cow patterns.

For the fabrication of clogs, a white polar wood is used from trees that are specially grown for this purpose. For the perfect pair of clogs, fresh wet wood is cut into square blocks, carved and then smoothed into the right shape.

In the past the smelter in IJmuiden supplied industrial clogs to their employees as safety gear, as it was the only footwear that could stand up to a splatter of red-hot molten metal without burning worker's feet. Custom made clogs were also produced in the days of dyke building to serve as fulcrums in lifting stones with crowbars. New techniques in dyke building and the modernization of melting-furnaces have meant these types of industrial clogs are no longer produced.

Along with the traditional yellow with red clogs, villages were recognized by their own unique colours and patterns. Then there are the chip-carved bridal clogs, a true work of art, plain in colour with intricately carved designs. The suitor will present the pair to his loved one as a proposal of marriage; if she accepts them she will wear them at their wedding. 

Today, most clogs are produced for the tourist trade but some are still used on the farms. Here at SRF in Harlingen we regularly see a few shipyard workers wearing them. Because they are so durable, they can outlast their owners. Some retired ones are turned into flowerpots.

Friesian Waterways

We took our skûtsje Zonder Zorg for an outing into the heart of Friesland to test her new systems and her performance. The canal system is extensive; it is the largest interconnected lake area in Europe and has excellent facilities, beautiful villages and towns and quiet rural pastures. We didn't have far to go to reach the outskirts of Harlingen; within a kilometre we were in the countryside. 

We are new members of "De Marrekrite", a recreation group that provides 3,500 free mooring spots at 285 locations throughout Friesland. At a cost of twelve euros per year, it provides a burgee giving free moorage and map to all the locations. The marshlands are loaded with birdlife and livestock. It is a delight to see sheep grazing so close to the water; there is no need for fences to keep them, the canals and ditches do it.

The bridges on the side canals are low and fixed, but with our 1.95 metre height, we are able to easily glide under them along with other small boats. We found an idyllic mooring spot just large enough for Zonder Zorg's length. It was a well kept area with a few boats in a wilderness setting beside a bicycle path giving access to a quaint village. We stayed for two nights passively testing our remote capabilities and relaxing. We have a few more items on our to-do-list to be addressed before we can seriously begin working our way through the rest of the Friesian waterways.

Ship's Art

In seventeenth century Netherlands, during the trade with the Far East, tall ships, galleons and barges filled the harbours. The more prestigious and successful the trading ships were, the more heavily decorated they were with wood carvings and paintings. From a female torso at the bow sprit to heavily decorated sterns, the decoration included the ship's name and home port hand carved and painted. Lions, crowns, eagles and other symbols were creatively displayed, some were even gilded. Carved boat embellishments were also prominent much earlier with the Greeks, the Romans and the Vikings.

Our skûtsje Zonder Zorg came with its own art work. The frame around the doorway and the ruder klik were hand carved by an elderly Friesian lady. She might be gone, but her hand carved work remains on boats still plying the Friesian waterways. Our skûtsje's previous owner's last name was van der Zon, which means from the Sun. The artist created this whimsical carving representing the water cycle from the sun to the sea. It is light and cheery and we decided to keep it. After the refit the frame no longer fit and the scheepstimmerman adjusted and repaired it. It is again in its rightful place on our skûtje as a welcoming entrance.

The klik on Zonder Zorg's tiller has a traditional shape and its single breaking wave was carved to compliment the art at the entrance. Some Maritime Museums have large collections of kliks, and among the wide variety of depicted symbols we have seen are flowers, fruit, animals, birds, fish and shields.

Although a dying art, there are still carvers around that specialize in ship's art. With the thousands of antique boats, ships, barges and yachts still afloat in the Netherlands, the demand for it remains and the craft is kept alive.

The Dutch Bicycle

The Dutch had fallen in love with bicycles more than a century ago and the love continues growing today. Most are comfort bikes used for daily transportation, shopping and just getting around. There are no helmet laws and bicycle traffic lanes are a standard part of street planning. Seventy percent of daily journeys are in the seven kilometres range. There are laws requiring houses to have a bicycle shed and there are bike racks in front of all shops. Bicycle parking lots are large and common and there are even parking barges on the canals.

The first Dutch bicycle manufacturer began in 1869 and this was followed with some fifty factories and hundreds of brands. Over the decades, many failed or were absorbed by more successful companies. The three major ones that remain today are Simplex founded in 1887, Gazelle from 1892 and Betavus since 1904.

Among the current statistic on bicycles in Amsterdam is that 490,000 free wheeling feisters cycle two million kilometres every day. Amsterdam has 220,000 cars and 550,000 bicycles. There are 400 kilometres of bike paths within the city and there are free bike ferries to the northern parts of the harbour.

Throughout the country, there are countless of bicycle shops selling new and used bikes. Many are also repair shops with most of them very busy. We found such a shop on the main street of Harlingen, not far from the harbour, as we were looking for full sized gently used bikes. There was a good selection to choose from and we bought two female models from Bevatus, referred to as a granny bikes. The trend in the Netherlands is that most men now ride the more convenient low instep female bikes, abandoning the classic male bike with high crossbar. Our two Batavus bikes have now become part of the standard equipment on Zonder Zorg.

In this picture is the local bicycle club in Rotterdam around 1920. There are a few drop handle bars showing, but the rest are standard bikes. In the centre of the picture, with a bushy moustache is my grandfather and the boy to the far right is my father. Several of the men are my uncles.

Harlingen Friesland

This is our fourth visit to Harlingen and we love the compactness of the old city and its active harbour. We are starting to feel comfortable here, as we find our way around the gabled houses, old brick streets, bridges and canals. Now that it is almost summer, flowers and plants in pots and baskets are making their debut.

Harlingen is located on the coast of the Waddenzee, opposite the West Frisian Islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. The city was founded in 1243, and its harbour was important for trade for centuries, with export of mainly Friesian products. Imports were coal, timber and other industrial raw materials for the local shipyards, woodworking factories and fish-processing plants.

Much like other towns in the coastal region, this one was also built on a terp. Terps  are manmade mounds in the tidal flats upon which a few houses would be built above the high-water line. In more established terps, churches were often located on the highest point. The area would be expanded by connecting three or more terps with dikes and then draining the enclosed area. Dykes were extended and strengthened over time, drying more of the surrounding land.

Harlingen, Texas was incorporated in 1910 as an area settled by Friesian farmers and it was named after the harbour city of Harlingen. 

In the photo is a row of sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century houses along the Noorderhaven, the canal in the heart of the old city. The Harlingen Historical Society has funds available for the restoration and maintenance of many of the old buildings. There are hundreds of these, and because of the European economic crisis, many are now listed for sale.

Dutch Food

Dutch geneticists have concluded that the reason the Dutch are the tallest nation in the world is protein. The daily consumption of a high protein diet with dairy products, fish and fresh produce, combined with home cooking, has made them the tallest nation in the world. Along with this comes a daily dose of cycling, not on an exercise machine, but a real peddle to the food markets.

Through my travels in South America I became much more aware of food, the lack of it and the manipulation of it. I also found the region to be a dumping ground of foods that are no longer popular or in favour in North America. Items such as highly-sugared cereals, instant coffee and heavily perfumed products, to name a few. I also became aware of the simplicity of foods such as fresh eggs, fresh tomatoes, fruit and green vegetables. Most meat is uninvitingly displayed in the markets as hacked carcasses, with few recognizable cuts. There is a very poor selection of cheese; protein does not invite there.

In the Netherlands there seems to be a balance and an availability of a broad variety of fresh produce. On the highways, one can not help but notice the the heavy truck traffic moving foods from Spain to Poland and everywhere between. In Spain we found fresh breads from the Dutch Baker in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.

Today we had a busy day trying to organized Zonder Zorg with racks, hooks, shelves, storage boxes and bins. At the end of the day we picked up some grocery items, displayed in the photo. We spent €35 on the following items.

Two bottles of Alsace wine

Jar of Spanish olives

Trimmed Brussels sprouts

Chicken fillets

Huge pot of fresh Basil

Raisin buns

Half loaf of specialty bread

Ginger cake

French Brie

Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese

French Goat cheese

Breakfast sausage

Crackers

Dutch cookies

Whole wheat rusks

Back in Vancouver, just the wine and bread would have cost more. The cheese and bread on their own would have been more. I think we will stay here awhile.

Friesland

We have finally arrived back in the Netherlands and we are delighted to be here. Our skûsje, Zonder Zorg's refit is nearly complete and upon arrival, we were able to immediately move aboard. Of course, everything was in chaos as we unpacked our 156 kilos of luggage and tried to sort and stow it in the new surroundings. Gradually we will make her our home.

Last year after we had rounded Cape Horn in Sequitur and were making our way along the seemingly interminable Brazilian coast, we started looking at Dutch barges for sale. Just looking. The looking became more frequent and soon we were scouring the online sites of brokers in France and the Netherlands. By the time we arrived back in Vancouver we had a substantial list of boats that we wanted to see in the Netherlands.. 

Near Schiphol airport, in the Aalsmeer area and secured between the tulip fields and hothouses was Nieuwe Zorg, our skûsje. She was a hand-riveted iron barge built in Friesland in 1908. Her purpose had been to provide freight access between the Zuider Zee and smaller villages in the mashes, lakes and small canals that were reachable only by water. The flat-bottomed skûtsje was used for general hauling of food, cattle, peat, sand and eel, much like a small truck today. The Vaandriks family pooled their resources, savings, and along with a small bank loan, they commissioned the building of this skûsje. They then lived aboard with their children, all participating in the loading, unloading and hauling. For the family it was a "new concern", a "new worry", which is the translation of Nieuwe Zorg. At that time there were many such boats with mortgages, so it was a common name. 

In this stage in our lives we did not want to pursue a New Concern, so we changed her name to Without Concern. After her refit, she emerged with a new name, Zonder Zorg. When I asked about the process of changing a boat's name in the Netherlands, the quick answer was: with a paint brush.

Monday - it must be Brussels.

With our arrival in and quick departure from Brussels, we took no time to tour the area. We have always found Belgium rather bland and the only thing outstanding that comes to mind is being previously stuck in mayor traffic snarls. Maybe those occasions had been on Tuesdays, and we were caught behind the unending line of tour buses. This trip it was Monday; perhaps there is hope for Brussels sprouts.

Belgium had once been the Roman province of Gallia Belgica and the forerunner to the modern Brussels sprouts were likely cultivated in ancient Rome. The sprouts belong to the same species as cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, kale and kohlrabi. As an adult, I rather enjoy Brussels sprouts, but I have strong childhood memories of their bitter taste and their pungent odour when being cooked. Plant breeding research conducted in the Netherlands focused on a reducing the compound responsible for the bitterness. With today's better-tasting, not bitter-tasting hybrid sprout, there has been an increase in production and consumption. The Netherlands is now the largest producer of Brussels sprouts in Europe, followed by Germany.

European history is complex, with its meandering borders and numerous wars often re-arranging them. Belgium is no exception; at some point it became part of the Netherlands, but after the Belgium Revolution of 1830, the independent and separate Kingdom of Belgium was established. Sixty percent of Belgians speak Dutch, mainly in Flanders, the northern part of the country and forty percent speak French in Wallonia, towards the south.

This trip our destination is Harlingen, Friesland and will have to take a rain check on the bus tours, waffles and chocolates for now.

The Jade Canoe

Prominently displayed on the International Departures level of Vancouver International Airport is Bill Reid's Jade Canoe. This striking sculpture is positioned on a highly polished marble floor, giving the illusion that the canoe and its occupants are silently gliding past you. The overloaded canoe, with thirteen mythological Haida figures, appears to be heading in an unknown direction.

The original sculpture, the Black Canoe is on display at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC. Vancouver International Airport commissioned a twin, with a green patina, to evoke the dark emerald green jade found in British Columbia. The Jade Canoe was completed and installed in 1994.

Bill Reid's legacies include the fusion of traditional Northwest Coast indigenous art with modern ideas and forms of expression.

Vancouver Airport now ranks as the number eight in the world and as the top airport the Americas.

Craigslist

Throughout the years I have had great success with my listings on Craigslist. Before we went sailing, we sold both our cars there. Over the years we have sold kayaks, a kiln, some paintings, pottery creations, numerous pieces of furniture, plus several one-of-a-kind obscure items and have even advertised garage sales. Back from sailing and preparing to barge into Europe, we have recently sold our satellite phone, folding bikes, un-needed luggage, a bistro table with eight chairs, and so on.

We have witnessed the slow disappearance of small secondhand furniture shops, antique stores and pawn shops. There are still some left, but many fewer. Replacing them are online places like e-Bay, Craigslist and Kijiji. 

In the past I used buy-and-sell or placed short ads in the classified sections of local newspapers. Every letter counted and had to be paid for. Abbreviations, often obscure, were used to condense it as much as possible. A photograph to accompany the ad was too costly. Newspapers relied on advertisements for for most of their revenue. The many small classified ads for buying and selling, for job hunting and housing have migrated to online sites. The papers are left with little else besides birth and wedding announcements and obituaries.

Now with Craigslist and other such sites we can easily list our items for sale, with full text descriptions and many photos, all at no cost. A quick search will find us what we seek, and we can often choose  from several. We can opt for the nicest, the least expensive, the nearest, the friendliest-sounding seller. There are housing and job listings, both available and wanted. There are even are free items, needing only carting away. An immense variety is available to be scanned at a glance. 

Still, precaution needs to be taken. I normally sell from my garage and move the item there with the garage door open for viewing. Otherwise a coffee shop or a apartment lobby. When I do sell from the home I am never alone. So far, we have met many interesting people, had some laughs, swapped stories about other items they have just bought. We have often assisted in moving the item. One young girl came to buy a Queen Anne chair, sat in it to try it out, stayed for two hours chatting then pick it up and left. We waved good-bye, close the door, count our money and smiled.

In the picture are some not-for-sale items, remnants from Michael's grandfather's secondhand furniture shop of the 1950s and early 60s, where the owner had first picks.