Monday the 20th of August 2018. Emmer-Compascuum was left at 9:17AM. We cruised only 1½ hours and moored at Barger-Compascuum’s Sint Jozefvaart at 10:47AM, in front of another barge, named ‘Rachel’. This mooring space is situated adjacent to the open-air museum ‘Veenpark’, a museum mainly dedicated to the history of peat-extraction in this region.

During the afternoon we visited this highly interesting and entertaining museum extensively. Our first interest was drawn by the sod-houses where the poverty-stricken families lived in.

‘The peat-hump of Rooie Geert’. Another interesting item was a pile of peat presumably destined for heating/cooking. It was, in reality, a hideaway during WWII, created by the couple Geert (‘rooie Geert’, because of his ginger hair) en Lide Saelman. They took a great risk. Genuine heroes!

The interior of a peat-worker’s home, now inside more recognisable housing – not being a sod-house.

An old-fashioned forge, equipment for horseshoeing included.

Nieuw-Amsterdam, where Vincent van Gogh once lived, was reached after 4 hours and 25 minutes of cruising, at 1:15PM. It’s a spot with all possible facilities, like shops, electricity and water. We’ve written more extensively about it last year already. Our second dog-box was oiled here, among other necessary little jobs.

Two nights/days later, therefore on the 23th of August, we left Nieuw-Amsterdam at 9:38AM. We could pass the first two bridges unhindered but had to wait in front of the third one – a train-lift-bridge. This picture shows why.

On Thursday the 23rd we realized a new ‘record’: we moored at Baarlo just before 7:00PM, so cruised for amply over 9 hours. First we tried Zwartsluis, but that was completely ‘sold out’, forcing us to return to Baarlo, some 12 extra kilometres. The mooring space is situated just in front of a lock and it’s impossible to step onto the shore. That’s why this pic doesn’t represent our little ship in full. The picture-maker was too hen-hearted to be on the required distance by walking on top of the construction between ship and land. (No, it's not what you think, there was not a single drop of alcohol involved.)

When still at Baarlo we felt dumbfounded when a huge container-ship passed that was navigated from the front! The colossus showed a relevant name: Uniqueship.

On Friday-morning at 9:14AM Baarlo was left. We passed Zwartsluis again and entered the river Zwarte Water, going upstream in the direction of Hasselt/Zwolle. A glorious day and glorious cruise alike, that’s what it was. Here’s the view back when cruising on the river. The lift-bridge at Zwartsluis, leading onto the Meppelerdiep, is visible in the centre distance.

One always feels a bit anxious when arriving in Zwolle’s centre. Would there be a space for a ship of our size? There are dedicated spaces for boats ‘over 12 meters’, but it is our experience that those spaces most of the time are occupied by shorter boats, seemingly owned by plain brainless pricks. (We got that from our chest…!) This time, however, we miraculously noticed an empty pontoon and without any hesitation took possession of it and stopped the engine at 11:44AM. Not even a quarter of an hour later two other ships arrived and we generously allowed one of them to breast up with us. That’s how we are. Of course our slightly resentful male half, helping the temporary neighbours while mooring, took the opportunity to point out that he knows for a fact that a cruiser like this one would never invite us when we would be in reversed positions. A blank look was his reward…. (For the Dutch insiders: our neighbours' flag indicates their membership of KNMC. Well, well…)

Today, Saturday the 25th of August a sponsor-swim around the old inner-city of Zwolle was organised by ‘City Swim Zwolle’ with the sympathetic goal of raising money for cancer-research. The start- and finish-line were close to where we are moored – see the hoisting crane on this and the former picture. (The same crane indeed.) It’s the sixth edition, last year raising over € 16.000,00.

Three of the heroes in action. At the starting point we read on a notice-board that the water temperature was 20.6°C. Hmmmm.

An illustration of today’s weather. Sometimes a severe shower, immediately followed by a blue sky, decorated with large white clouds. The sun has not left us. Not yet anyway. Bye for now.