We left Grou and headed South to Terherne. On our way we passed a sailing yacht with motor trouble and so could practise our towing skills for the second time this season! Without a working motor and the wind blowing in the wrong direction the sole sailor was grateful when we finally delivered him to a side canal, where the wind was just right for him to sail on.
To go to Terherne wasn’t my idea! We ended up at a big yacht harbour with boats “for sale”! I had wondered why Austin rejected all my attempts to get him a Birthday present! “Just in case”, we had our boat appraised to get an idea of it’s value but then Austin got real google eyed looking at a 13m cruiser with the lot! The sales price was “only” 229,000 euros. I had to drag Austin away!
After a Birthday breakfast including Austin’s favourite: fried black pudding (I think I should get a medal for cooking it) we left still in our old Freshwater heading south.
And then it was our turn to get into trouble. After snaking carefully through two sailing regattas our motor slowly died. Luckily Austin had done a diesel engine course and found the cause being a blockage in the fuel line. He switched over to another of our three tanks and the engine purred to a start again. So we made it to Joure, ‘Yowray' pronounced, and celebrated with a nice birthday dinner, hip, hip, hurray!
Another “Hurray” came the next day, when we had a surprise visit from my old hometown friend, Carsten and his wife Mareile.
It was just lovely catching up and sharing afternoon tea with them. Us four never made it to the Joure Museum as we had planned. There was too much to talk about!
So we owed it to Mareile and Carsten to check the museum out the next day. The coffee we had been drinking called "Douwe Egberts” and which is distributed world wide, originated from this very location. The museum’s ticket office was the former company building. The old house also incorporates a small shop filled with Douwe Egbert coffees and teas, and a café.
The actual museum is in the back and contains the old coffee roasting machines, grinders, a tea-bagging machine and some very fine tea and coffee china. I was quite astonished to see the variety of teas made by the company. I even hand -made my own teabag filled with Moroccan Mint Tea at a station set up for this purpose.
In recent times the family company has merged with Mondelez International and the local factory just produces teas, instant coffees and tobacco, while all the normal coffees and pods are produced in Utrecht. By the way, the Douwe Egberts instant coffee is also exported to Australia for the well known “Harris Coffee Company".
But wait - there is more: the history of the town’s metal work and printing industry is accommodated in separate cottages as part of the museum. There is a printing press, a copper foundry, a silver smith and a clock maker’s cottage.
In those workshops early 20th century machines and tools are put to work and explained by expert craftsmen. We spent about two hours in the museum and found it well worth a visit.
Joure has a nice marina with clean and plentiful facilities. Just a warning to all boaties: you need to take your own toilet paper!
Behind the Joure marina is a lovely park to roam around in, and we found the restaurant near the bridge, “The Tollhuis”, original in decor with friendly service and very palatable food.