As the school holidays and our tour through the Netherlands come to an end, a late summer heatwave has suddenly emerged in Europe. Getting the headwind while cruising is probably the best way to stay cool, and so we put in a couple of long days on the move. 

After Hattem, we turned into the "Hoogeveensche Vaart". (I think I am gradually getting the hang of those Dutch names - a bit late in the day, as we are already back in Germany now). This canal had quite a lot of floating weed patches, and we had to slalom around them carefully. We stopped for the night at a free mooring with coined electricity at the halfway mark in Echten.

At Nieuwe Amsterdam we turned into the Stieltjeskanaal to Coevoorden. “Coevoorde", meaning "cow fort”, came into existence shortly after the year 1000, initially as a wooden fort surrounded by a moat. The bishop from Utrecht commissioned the fort. Subsequently, the bishops could use the fort to collect taxes from passing merchants. Gradually, a settlement developed south of the fortification. Coevoorden became one of the most important strongholds in Western Europe as it lay along the trading route between the northern cities of Holland and the town of Münster in Germany. The old Arsenal, which now houses the town museum and the restored part of the castle, still exist today.

Another long day cruising in 29-30 degrees heat following the German boat Seline caught us both short of our destination of Ter Apel. At 4:30 pm, the bridges and locks stopped operating. Luckily, there was mooring just near the bridge at a place called Emmer-Compasscuum. I wonder, which old Roman had given the town this name!? Compasscuum, translated from Latin, means "common grazeland”, which is quite fitting for a town surrounded by grazeland and all kinds of agricultural fields. All evening until late at night, huge agricultural vehicles passed by, indicating that the autumn harvest was in full swing. We couldn’t see much of interest in town. Then again, we were too hot and tired to go further afield, but we found a nearby Aldi with great air-con and spent a pleasant 30 minutes cooling down while browsing the middle isles.

Wolfgang and Rita on the German boat took the lead again the next day through bridges and into tight locks on the Haren-Rütenbrock-Kanal. They were very considered and great travel companions. Once in Haren marina, they presented us with a so-called “Anleger”, two small bottles of Schnapps. These are normally reserved for lockkeepers or helpful people at the ports. We had a parting drink with them, as they were leaving the next morning while we stayed for another day. The following day, Austin got quite excited seeing an English boat mooring next to us. A nice couple from Hampshire joined us later for 5:30 pm drinks on the Lodi. They needed the drink more than us having dealt with a blocked- toilet for most of the day - a very common boat problem!

Our last stop before reaching our winter harbour was at the Marine Emstal at Walchum, where our friends Meryle and Helmut live. Unfortunately, we couldn’t catch up with them, because they were at Saint Jean des Losne in France to pick up their new boat. Lovely people, like they are, they offered us to stay at their home berth and even raid their garden for ripe berries and silverbeet. We had a very pleasant afternoon with a walk along the Ems and coffee and cake at the marina's restaurant.

With a heavy heart, we started our last trip for this year to Papenburg. Our timing, taking the tide and locks into consideration, was just right, and we made it to the 2 pm opening of the Papenburg sealock with 10 minutes to spare. The Meyer Shipyard had another one of their big Cruise Ships ready to go in the side canal. With Mickey Mouse on the funnels it had to be a Disney one.

Arriving at Hennings shipyard, we were relieved to find another Linssen boat to raft up to! All pontoons were already taken up with some boats double parked. More boats arrived during the next two days. I guess, we are not the only ones who finished their boating season for the year.

Currently, we are getting ready to leave Lodi and head back home. But not before spending a few days in Ahlen with my brother and sister-in-law. We will be there for my brother Thomas’ big birthday before heading to Frankfurt for the flight home.

Cherio for now, and thanks to all the Dutch lock-keepers, bridge operators and friendly harbour masters who made our boating season so pleasant!

See you next year!