We are starting to believe in the Celtic superstition that things always come in threes!

Off we went from Papenburg, unhindered by bridge problems or sea lock closures, speeding north with the push of the outgoing tide! Yipee! We were on our way again! Our euphoria was cut short by the shrill beep of the bilge pump alarm, letting us know that not all is honky-dory! While I was taking over the steering, Austin’s head disappeared ‘down under’ and, oh, horror! The bilge was full of water. Being a very stormy and rainy day didn’t help either! Luckily, before we were in danger of sinking, Austin found the cause: a pipe clamp to the new seawater pump had not been tightened. That was problem No. 1!

We kept going for a bit while Austin tightened the clamp. After a further check in Lodi’s underbelly and pumping out some of the water, there was now seemingly oil in part of the bilge, too! We decided to turn around and head back to Papenburg. We were fed up! The trip back against the tide would have taken us about 2 hours. Yet, after seeing that the fluid in the bilge was not increasing, we established that residual oil had now mixed with the water, so there was no oil leak from the motor! The oil had escaped via a poorly seated dipstick while cruising when we first set off this year. Problem No. 2! 

Luckily, we were close to the town of Leer. We tied up to the waiting pontoon of the sea lock and, while waiting, pumped out and soaked up a lot more water! Austin did a fantastic job removing the oil using old towels and rags. Two and a half hours later, the lock opened on the turn of the tide. Even though it was nearly 7 pm by now, the lovely harbour master from Leer, who remembered us from the previous week, opened the bridge and let us into the harbour.

The next day was sunny and calm, and except for a pile of oily rags, there was no further evidence of our troubles. We arrived in Delfzijl in record time and carried on the following day in the direction of Groningen. In the lock between the Ems Canal and the city, we smoothly went up with a commercial barge, and then, pulling in the ropes to leave, we heard a big clunk, and we weren’t going anywhere. To me, it sounded like the propeller had fallen off! Hailing the lock keeper, he quickly called in a motor boat waiting on the other side. We tied up to the smaller boat of a Danish couple, and they managed to tow us out of the lock to a waiting pontoon. And that was Problem No. 3, a thick plastic sheet tightly wrapped around our prop!

Now, I am not talking about how Austin, against my pleading and medical advice, went into the murky water and dived down, gradually cutting the tarp away! There is somehow a great stubbornness to Mancunians!

That evening, we stopped at a beautiful lake called Burgumer Meer between Groningen and Leeuwarden. This green mooring was so peaceful that we recovered quickly from our ordeal. Aaah! The serenity!

We were back at Prinsentuin in Leeuwarden for what looked like a very busy weekend. A “Kermes” (fair) was in full swing on the main square. The Saturday food market and cafés along the old gracht (canal) attracted further crowds.

We made our way through the people, stalls and criss-crossing bicycles to "De Blokhuispoort". Built in 1499 as a kind of fortress, it was transformed into a prison in 1661. Until then, prison sentences were uncommon, and crimes were dealt with by corporal punishment, exile or the death penalty. Over the years, the prison was expanded by three more wings, forming a square with an inner courtyard. Nowadays, the “inmates” are restaurant patrons, atelier and shop owners and guests of a hostel that still uses the old prison cells as rooms. A library is neatly divided into categories by the prison walls, and offices occupy other sections. The thumping of an outdoor dance venue shook the old prison walls in the courtyard.

On our last visit, the leaning tower of Leeuwarden, "De Oldehove,” was closed. They were working on making the tower safe for public access and building a viewing terrace on its roof. Now, we could climb to the top on a nice and clear day. We did cheat a little: We took the lift for part of it and then took it nice and easy for the residual 133 steps. The view over the city was beautiful—we could see right to Harlingen on the Ijsselmeer! 

At the bottom level of the tower, several glass windows on the floor exposed archeological treasures and even some of Leeuwarden's late inhabitants, who were buried in the former churchyard below.

They looked only a little worse for wear than a group of youth spread along the grass close to our boat that day. Their faces were quite pallid, and their eyes stared into nowhere, having inhaled dope and booze in equal measures. They only got more “lively” and regained colour when a huge argument broke out, lasting for 20 minutes!

It didn’t spoil Leeuwarden for us, which has become one of our favourite cities. But it's time for us to move on to quieter shores...