The last spuddle of the year

I’ve been a bit remiss with my blog again, but in all honesty, there hasn’t been much happening here in the Flatlands. Winter is always limiting, and this December is proving to be either very wet and windy or bitterly cold, neither of which encourages me to spend much time outside. Even Zoe prefers looking out rather than being out, as you can see from the photo below.

However, it might surprise you to learn that we did manage one last, short spuddle. It was last Thursday when it finally stopped raining long enough for us to start up the Hennie H and take her on a trip to where Vereeniging is moored. Okay, I confess I wanted to use her as a pontoon for cleaning Vereeniging’s side panels and wooden rubbing rail (berghout in Dutch) because I can’t reach them easily from the hatches, but it was a great excuse to get out on the water one last time. 

The day was cold and blustery and we needed to wrap up warmly. Even Zoe had a jersey on, although she was still cold. I don’t think she liked it very much; she looked distinctly anxious and was either shivering or trembling in protest. 

However, despite enjoying it ourselves, time wasn’t on our side and we soon had to head back to home port. I only managed 45 minutes of de-greening before Koos decided we should get going again. The days are so short now, aren’t they?

Koos wrapped up against the cold
I do like watching the wake we leave
A much faster boat than the HH!
See that anxious little face
It’s hard to remember that just a couple of weeks earlier, it had been bright and sunny when we had a good clean up at the Hennie H, but the photo below proves it.

The only other news is that I’ve published another boating travel book. This one is about our journey south from Rotterdam with Vereeniging. It’s in three parts: the first being the preparations and trip to Oudenbosch, where I kept her for 18 months; the second covers the Oudenbosch period; and the third is about our journey south to Sas van Gent. Followers of this blog will already be familiar with some of it, but this is now the full story. If maybe you’re interested in reading a sample of the beginning, you can have a look at it here.

In actual fact, I didn’t really mean to publish another book this year, but it sort of took over and wrote itself. Books have a way of doing that. It’s also quite serendipitous as it coincides with my 25th anniversary of boat life, which I rather like, especially as Vereeniging was my first real home in this country. 

 So that’s it for this week allemaal. I hope you’re all warm wherever you are, and that you’re looking forward to some festive fun. I’m hoping to do another blog before Christmas, but for now, enjoy the rest of the week, and I’ll catch up again soon!