Inland Sailing

After our encounter with the quayside while entering the IJsselmeer, we decided to take some time to fix the gearbox, as we have come to the conclusion that this is also the most likely solution to the issue with the propeller engaging into forward gear.  Having considered this as a possibility before leaving Lübeck, Hauke had done a bit of research on our Hurth HBW15 to find out about refurbishing them as they are no longer produced. Conveniently, one of the few workshops doing just that is located just 25km from Makkum; Bakker in the small village of IJlst.

Luckily the harbour in Makkum had free bikes to rent so we were able to strap the, minimum 20kg, gearbox onto the luggage rack with sail ties and make this journey across the beautiful, farm-filled Frisian countryside. Also with no gear box we were staying in Makkum for some time so the crew was grateful to have these bikes to explore the surrounding villages.

At the workshop, we were given an optimistic estimate on the time needed for repairs of two days as the problem was most likely to be worn down clutch plates. However, as Bakker is well known for what they do they were quite busy, and an email in the afternoon told us that they would need an additional four days to have the time to do it. Having a fairly tight schedule to meet we opted instead to exchange the gearbox for an already refurbished one. So the following day we headed back to retrieve this replacement. Reinstalling the gearbox proved to be a simple task and we were able to set off that same afternoon making our way further into the IJsselmeer.

With the a light breeze from behind we were happy to be back on the water and pleased to have been able to complete some of our repairs including getting a replacement tube for the engine coolant. As the sun set the wind began to die, and we dropped anchor in this shallow sea.

The wind picked up again at sunrise and we continued on our way to Amsterdam. Passing through another lock, essentially a water bridge over the motorway, into the Markermeer, we were delighted to see the much improved capabilities of the new gearbox.  Getting closer to the wind, we enjoyed sailing all the way up the channel into Amsterdam and passing through one final lock just before the city center to arrive at the city harbour in the evening with its convenient location next to the central station.

In Amsterdam, we were able to pick-up our new fridge compressor as the old one finally gave up about one week earlier. With plans to leave early Sunday morning, we discovered we had to change harbours because the city harbour entrance included a folding bridge which only began operating for the day from 10am. So, just after noon we made our way to the other side of IJ river and docked in the larger Amsterdam Marina. Hauke continued installing the new compressor and we stocked up more provisions before the greatly welcome arrival of Nils to join the crew for our next stretch of the journey.