The Sixhaven Marina has a small entrance that opens up into a very cozy location that is just 5 minutes away from the Amsterdam Central Station - in the heart of Amsterdam. Initially he did not have good reports about this location, but Jill & Joren (Ticora III) said it was great, so we took their advice - again local knowledge has been helpful for us.
We have stopped here for 1 week to look after some things that needed to be done and to continue with our general boat maintenance program. This time it was lubricating the steering system and checking on the sails as the stays needed adjusting. Everything is good here.
We did have one tense moment (Too tense to take any interesting photos) as a lose mooring line got caught in our bow thruster. It could have been more serious for our manoeuvring capabilities, but it was noticed almost immediately. We were helped back to our berth by passing a mooring line to a lady on the dock side - who heard Ingrid's cry for help and a little later Australian Peter from the boat next to us hung out of his dingy, head and arms under water and cut the rope free. A little reverse bow thruster and the remaining rope was blown clear. Dingy still on the list of items to be purchased, but a good lesson learnt in a safe location with help at hand.
Hannah Weerheijm is a travelling sail maker and comes for 2 days a week to the Sixhaven to offer her repair services. As the windows of my spray hood needed changing, this was an ideal opportunity to get the work done without having to travel anywhere. Without a car, any "work" that needs to be done is quite an effort - A combination of her entrepreneurial and technical skills did a great job for us and I am very happy with the end result - I can now see where I am going.
We head off towards the UK on Monday with a scenic route along the French Coast before we cross over the the Isle of Wight. Got to see my mum as it is her birthday this month, so we will cruise into Cowes for the visit and say for a few weeks to clear quarantine and make our plans for the next step.