I thought I’d tested Lady Christina’s crew sufficiently on dealing with inclement weather: high wind, rain; General Gloominess ( a pal of mine, actually), so I wanted to see how they coped with hotter weather. Unfortunately, the weather dial was jammed, so I couldn’t change anything for a few days.
Their wet weather gear is excellent though. Despite the fact they were moored for three days in Harderwijk, within sight of the showers and a restaurant for the first evening, I’d made it rain so heavily that they didn’t leave the boat.
I’m able to report though, that the Crew dealt competently with a Wind Surfer who was in the water, after his mast broke. The offered him a lift, to the next town, wisely not offering to take him to the nearest shore as the water was too shallow for the vessel. He said he reckoned he could ‘swim for it’, so the Crew said they would ‘stand by’ and ‘keep eyes on him’ which they did, until he got into shallow enough water to stand up. Took a while though. They also phoned the Surf School, who sent someone on a Jet Ski to the rescue, but by the time it arrived, the surfer was already safe.
So offering assistance module now signed off.
I set them the task of assessing the library faciltiies. They report that Hardewijk Public Library, like all libraries here, is excellent. Although there is a subscription fee, it works out at less than one Euro per day and for that, subscribers can borrow books, videos, read magazines and newspapers, get information on just about everything; there is a coffee, shop, comfortable sofas and chairs grouped around low tables, plenty of space for students or anyone else to access the internet and work. That library is now on my itinerary if I ever get to pick up my ‘Accessibility of lamp posts in Europe’, project. There is also, wait for it ..a pretty large section of ENGLISH books and contemporary novels. I’m forwarding this report to my pal, Biblio-Ziens back in Blighty, with a stern, ‘Must do better!’
After much internet searching, I’ve now found out how to turn the weather dial to ‘hotter’ and I opted for ‘with biting insects’ too. We’ll see how they get on with that! Ha!
Survival/language tip for if you ever venture out here; ‘alstublief‘ means ‘please’. Useful to know. It ALSO means ‘here you are’ as when someone brings you a drink or some food. BUT, when you pay a bar tab in cash, if you say ‘alstublief’ it’s interpreted as ‘keep the change!’
Graag gedaan (you’re welcome!)
TZ Admiral RN (retd etc etc..)