Our Month in Lelystad, Netherlands Aug 29 - Sept 28, 2013

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September 28th 2013

Published: October 5th 2013

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s v Tsamaya

Another Lock

On our way to Lelystad from Amsterdam

When we left Amsterdam we headed toward Lelystad on the Ijsselmeer to have some repair work done on Tsamaya. The Ijsselmeer is the largest fresh water lake in the Netherlands and in fact of western Europe. It is a shallow lake that was the result of the construction of the 32 km. Afsluitdijk (dyke) in 1932. Before the closing of the dyke in 1932 the water here was salt water and was part of the North Sea called the Zuiderzee. In 1975 the Ijsselmeer was further divided by adding another dyke which created the Markermeer.

Lelystad itself is located on an island that was created in the recent past. After WWII, work continued to reclaim land in this area and by 1950 a few construction islands had been created. Flevoland was one of these islands. By 1955 this island was connected to the mainland and its only inhabitants until 1957 were engineers and workmen from the reclamation project. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named for Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdijk, making the reclamation possible. Lelystad is approximately 3 m (9.8 ft) below sea level, and is dependent on the dyke system for its

Going Through a Storm

of gnats! They were amazing as they stuck to everything like our windows and seats

existence. Cornelius Lily’s original plan was to fill in most of the Zuiderzee and turn it into land for development. This plan was significantly reduced by a public outcry based on environmental and recreational concerns. People felt that the development of two extremely large freshwater lakes would create an excellent recreational area. The communities along the Zuiderzee had economies based on saltwater fishing, predominantly herring. It was hoped that the jobs lost due to the end of fishing would be replaced by an increase in tourism and industrial development. The success of this plan can be easily seen by the large number of extremely large marinas filled with boats from Holland and Germany (a short drive away).

Whenever we meet Dutch sailors they always mentioned the Ijsselmeer and stated it is the sailing area in Holland. It reminded us of Lake Ontario, a very large lake which gets lots of wind, but also has very interesting harbors and villages to visit. It is also connected north to the Waddenzee, an area full of islands with small traditional fishing villages. We hoped to get up to the Waddenzee, but the repairs on Tsamaya took much longer than we had anticipated.

Waiting for the "big guy"

to come through the lock first before entering is a good idea

Our current plan is that next sailing season (May 2014) we will be able to return to the Netherlands to explore the northern portion of the country on our way to the Baltic.

When we met people in the marina, one of the first questions we were asked was “how did you ever get to Lelystad?” not a particularly popular tourist stop. Fortunately for us it was one of the marinas that our friend, Fons recommended. After calling a few of the marinas, we decided to come to Flevo Marina. When we arrived, the crane operator, Erwin, was ready to lift us out of the water. He did such a professional job we knew from the start that we made the right decision.

There were a few reasons for getting repairs done while in the Netherlands - we could buy all the parts we needed from companies based here, the quality of workmanship at the marina was highly respected and last but definitely not least we were starting to have water come into the boat every time we started the engine. Fortunately it did not last too long and our bilge pump would handle it, but it was

Another Bridge Opening

to wait for - traffic lights are a great idea!

nevertheless quite nerve wracking and was something we wanted fixed before going to London. We had been told that although the workmanship in England is first rate it is very expensive and we really didn’t want to wait any longer.

We were able to order the necessary parts and had one of them delivered to our friends house and the other one we were able to pick up ourselves by taking a train from Amsterdam. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and by Friday morning, we had talked to the shop at the marina and arranged for some work to be done. List of things that needed to be done were:

1. Replace the bellows on the dripless seal which had been damaged when the prop shaft became disconnected from the transmission. (Bob)

2. Replace the split coupling that holds the prop shaft to the transmission. (Bob)

3. Have the prop shaft welded, repairing the old keyway and dimples for the set screws.

4. Replace the cutlass bearing. (Bob)

5. Align the engine.

6. Get the boot stripe repainted. Our boot

Taking Advantage of the Calm

The stainless always needs cleaning so Janice doing some now

stripe had been painted in Trinidad but did not adhere well. In Portugal we had a quick fix done with vinyl but that lasted a much shorter time.

7. Replace a bad halyard for the main and repair the topping lift. (Bob)

8. Change oil, re-winterize the water maker and install a new GPS antenna. (Bob)

9. Sand and refinish teak. ( Janice and Bob)

10. Wash and wax the boat (Bob)

11. Make breakfast lunch and dinner climbing up and down the ladder to wash the dishes. (Janice)

12. Re-inventory all food stores (Janice)

13. Reorganize garage, second head (Janice)

14. And get Bob tools and whatever else he needs while doing all that other stuff (Janice)

One of the repairs that was added to the list here was fixing our rudder. We knew when we were in Portugal that our rudder was shrinking (it has a foam core) and had been in touch with the boat manufacturer about it. They assured us that there wasn’t a safety issue so we didn’t

Coming Out of the Water

in Lelystad at the Flevo Marina for repairs.

worry about it. When talking to the shop here in the Netherlands we found out that they had people that could fix the rudder at a reasonable price. The only thing that could be a problem would be the weather. We keep telling ourselves, “It is only money”! Just like any house, at times you need to put money into it to keep it well maintained and looking good.

Shortly after arriving in Lelystad, our friends, Louise and Fons, came over for a visit and dropped off the package of parts that had been delivered to their house. Having been cruisers for many years they understand the importance of getting provisions and how useful a car is to do that. They very graciously took us to a couple of the local shops so we could do our “heavy” shopping. It was really great to get to catch up with them again. We really have made so many great friends while cruising – Louise and Fons definitely fit into that category.

The work done by the marina was started right away and the boot stripe was completed very quickly. They also started on the rudder, but found that the

Sunsets are Still Nice

even when out of the water

rudder was wet so it needed to be dried out before they could continue work. That sounds easy, but of course, the weather changed and we had many days of heavy rains. Finally a tent was put around the rudder with a heater and dehumidifier working overtime to dry out the rudder.

As the rudder job was going to take longer than planned, we were able to cross off quite a few more things that had been on the “to do” list. One involved Bob going to the top of the mast to install a new mainsail halyard (rope).

Janice was kept busy with sorting through the stores on the boat, doing some of the major cleaning jobs, making all the meals and doing the dishes (which takes a little more time when you have to take them up & down the ladder), and taking the bus into town to do the shopping. Even the shopping took a few hours to do as the bus only runs once per hour, but fortunately there was one that came out to the marina. Blog updates was also a time consuming project that was on Janice’s side of the ledger to

The View we Had

for 1 month while on the hard in Lelystad.

do.

Most of the month was made up of work (with Bob doing the lion’s share), but we did take time when the weather cooperated for a few bicycle rides. The marina is quite a distance out of town, but there is an excellent bicycle path in Lelystad. Once we figured it out it worked out well to go into town for shopping. We also got a chance to take rides for pleasure exploring the area. This is not a popular tourist area, but they do have a replica of the Batavia located here. Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East IndiaCompany (VOC). It was built in Amsterdam in 1628, and armed with 24 cast-iron cannons and a number of bronze guns. Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, and was made famous by the subsequent mutiny and massacre that took place among the survivors. We never took the time to go through the museum here, but did take an evening ride near it to view the boat itself. The museum sounded like it would have been similar to others we have seen such as at Mystic, CT with areas showing how the boat was built and all the other areas that

The Climb Up to Home

This is how we got in & out of Tsamaya as we lived onboard while out of the water.

go into it (wood carving, making of rope, etc)

One day we heard that there was going to be live music at the marina bar so we went over to check it out. We were glad we did, it was two singer/musicians that put on a great performance with a variety of music which included Otis Redding, the Eagles, and other artists. What a treat it was to have a chance to dance to a few! We talked to them and told them how much we enjoyed their music so after their break they made sure they did a few of the songs by the Eagles for the New Yorkers in the audience. Earlier in the month there was a jazz event held at the same location. We could hear quite a bit of the music from the boat.

Well exactly a month to the day, we were ready to be launched again. The wind was quite strong that morning, but by 2PM we were floating again. Fortunately no water was coming into the boat! We decided to stay overnight and leave the next morning. While Bob was putting things away in the lazarette that evening he noticed

The Dyke at Lelystad

Hopefully trying to capture the height of the dyke just behind the marina.

quite a large pile of “dust” that was right under the steering column. Decision was made to talk to the shops in the morning. Fortunately they were able to send someone over to look at it and about 11AM and it was decided that the steering cable was loose and aluminum against steel was causing this. Not even an hour later the work was done (by a small mechanic that was sent over to crawl around in the small space in the lazarette). We still had lots to put away so stayed Friday night and were able to leave Lelystad on Saturday, September 28^th.

It was a long time to be on the hard, but we got a deal of work done on Tsamaya and feel good about what was accomplished. We can’t say enough good about the people we worked with at the marina. They were professional in the work that they did, took pride in their work, but also were very personable and made us feel welcome. A boat with a home port of New York is quite unique for Lelystad apparently, people were regularly stopping by to ask questions about our trip from the US. This

Anyone for Golf?

There looks like there is a nice golf course nearby.

led to several very pleasant conversations and a wealth of information about other places to visit.

Would we recommend Lelystad to others? Definitely! It has excellent facilities, the people are very skilled and they have a well-stocked chandlery.

It was great to be back to being a sailboat again. We know it is getting late in the season, but figured we would take a couple of days to explore another town that has been highly recommended by everyone we talked to so we are off for a few days to Eikhuizen.

Additional photos below

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