14th - 20th July 2014. Still in Friesland. From Akkrum to Grou, Sneek, Heeg, Woudsend and Sloten again, then back to Heerenveen.

We sailed back into Akkrum next morning to collect Martin and Jenny from the station, before heading north again. Further up the waterway capsize drill was going on.

Saturday evening brought another lovely sunset, after an unremarkable day.

This stork, standing by the water's edge, was very regal.

At Earnewald we went to find the Skutje museum. It was a short walk out of town but, as always, there was a cycle path along by the road for us to use. Skutjes are the very distinctive historic sailing boats of Friesland.

This modern skutje was built just a few years ago. It is really beautiful.

The builder of the boat insisted we all sat in the stern for a photo opportunity!

We sailed on further into the National Park of Alde Feanen. As the weather was improving, we bought iced lollies from the ice-cream boat!

As the chart shows, there is a great deal of water available for cruising in this park.

There are plenty of idyllic moorings to choose from too.

The Prinses Margriet Kanaal runs along the north west side of the park, and we followed it down to Grou. It is a commercial waterway, so we are in with the big boys here. The barge Meander was the largest one to overtake us.

There was not much space in Grou, as the first Skutje race of the season starts from here this Saturday. We pulled in to the Oostergoo Hotel to moor, and to have a cup of coffee, before looking round the town.

Continuing down the Prinses Margriet for a while, we saw this railway bridge start to swing for a tall yacht which was coming behind us. The height of this bridge is 71.5 metres, and the waterway here is part of the "Mast up" route through Friesland, from Lemmer, on the Ijsselmeer, to Delfzijl, far in the northeast of The Netherlands.

There are so many hydrangeas in this area. The Dutch are real flower gardeners, and it is lovely to see.

We cruised on across several different lakes and eventually reached Sneek. The houses in this part of town are very traditional.

We moored at the first available mooring, in the central part of Sneek. Directly behind us at the mooring is yacht Mintaka, a very different boat to The Puzzler. It was nice to see some fellow Brits, and we stayed out late to chat. It was a lovely warm evening, after a glorious day.

This lift bridge in Sneek is very decorative.

Shannon is finding the weather almost too hot for comfort. It is good that she was trimmed last week.

The cruiser to our left, behind us as we come in front of the Watergate Bridge, was in a real hurry, and overtook us as soon as he could. However, most people on the water have plenty of time to enjoy themselves.

In the village of Ijlst, we took a detour through a small waterway, which was interesting, especially when we met other boats in the narrows!

This old sailing barge is a museum piece, in the centre of Heeg. Our flag is down, and the front flowerpot moved to the side, as we have just been through a low bridge.

On Heegermeer there were a great many sailing dinghies to be seen.

We climbed up inside the 't Lamb windmill in Woudsend, to look out over the town. Sadly there was not enough wind to move the sails today.

Following another cruiser through the lift bridge, we hoped that the brugwachter would let us through, before turning the lights red, to stop any more boats.  He was kind to us and we did get through on this lift!

We moored on the long stretch, leading up to Sloten. There were at least forty boats of different types here.

It was a good place for a game of boules.

This was our best head so far, with all eight boules round the jack. On this length of grass we use a tennis ball for the jack, which does make it much easier to see.

This is our favourite view down the centre of Sloten, from the end bridge.

We cross the Prinses Margriet again, so once more it is "barge ahead!"

Crossing Tjeukermeer, we pass the island mooring. To the right of the island all these cruisers are at anchor, but we can see swimmers standing up amongst them, so it must be really shallow. We are on our way to Heerenveen, for Martin and Jenny to catch their train.

&th - 13th July 2014. In Friesland.

Mary joined us in Heerenveen, where World Cup Fever is clearly in place.

While Mary and I had a quick look at the town, Andy backed The Puzzler, ready to go through the same bridge as before. The bridge down the canal to the right here, going out of town, is out of order.

We were treated to a glorious sunset that evening. It brought back good memories of Irish sunsets.

In Joure again, we visited the Douwe Egberts Museum. We learned all about coffee, tea, and tobacco there. It was fascinating.

By Thursday the weather was improving, so we had a long day, sailing along waterways and lakes to Ijlst, another pretty Friesian village.

Next it was back through Sneek, where we saw the famous Watergate. Our route is through the lift bridge, seen to the right here.

There are sailing schools all over Friesland, and these sailing dinghies are rafting up for some tuition.

As we crossed the Prinses Margriet Kanaal, this barge was bearing down on us. Andy was the only one not to be nervous about this!

Both Mary and I thought it was a little close for comfort!

We moored on an island on Sneekermeer, moving on to visit Terherne in the morning. This pretty village is said to be the centre of the Friesian lakes, and is built on an island.

Moving on to the North East, we came to Akkrum again, but had a long delay at the lift bridge, due to a problem with the bridge. The weather has been so hot today that the metal bridge has expanded and jammed! Eventually it was opened and we all got through safely.

Coming out into the Wijde of Peanster Ee, we spotted a likely mooring on the far side of the lake. The little sloop boat moved up to make room for The Puzzler. What a peaceful mooring, we thought.

There are all sorts of boats on the lakes. The skutjes look marvellous in full sail. These are the racing boats of Friesland.

However, at 8.30 pm our peace was destroyed on the mooring, when seven small sailing sloops arrived, with over sixty children and a few adults too. They went to the other end of the mooring and through into the field for tug-of-war and other games, going home when it started to get dark, at about 10.30pm. It was good to see them all enjoying themselves so much.

Some of the waterways between the lakes are quite narrow. These are very pretty, but can create traffic jams!

On Mary's last evening, we moored opposite this windmill on Jansloot, just off the main lake, having had another extremely hot day. The man on the next boat told us that it had been the hottest day ever in Friesland, and we could well believe this.

Sunday was cooler, and Mary took the tiller, on our run down to Akkrum for her train.

Later on, before we left Akkrum, the railway bridge had a problem with opening. Over twenty boats were queueing, by the time it eventually opened. We moved out of town to a country mooring.

29th June to 6th July 2014 from Akkrum along The Turfroute.

Debbie and Matt left us by train from Akkrum, where there is a large rail swing bridge. Here it is opening, with the side pieces lifting up too.

When open the boats can go on both sides of the bridge. This bridge opens three times every hour, so is quite a contrast to the Dublin rail bridge on The Royal Canal, which opens once a month for passage of boats!

The classic farm design is seen here, with the house being built on the end of the barn. This must make care of stock in the winter much easier for the farmer.

We are now on the Turfroute, coming into Aldboarn. There are three swing bridges through the centre of the village, and the Bridge watcher cycles on with us. We had to wait at the second one, while he called all his friends out to see this strange boat in their village!

Everywhere there are orange flags and bunting, showing support for the Dutch team in the football World Cup in Brazil. They are doing very well, so we are now supporting them, instead of England.

We stayed in Aldboarn for two days, playing bridge at the local pub. It was a good turn out for summer bridge, with 11 tables. We did not win, but were given two sausages, as a consolation prize!

On to Gorredijk next, which is a larger place.

We paid at the sluis in Gorredijk, for our passage of the Turfroute. The locks are worked for boats, but have no balance beams. so the lockkeepers have to push or pull them open and shut, using an extremely long pole.

We have seen quite a few houses of this shape, here in The Netherlands. We are told that it dates back to the time of sailing boats, and the shape represents the sails of a boat.

On the Turfroute there are several swing bridges, which you work for yourself. However in practice, you don't, as the children of each village open them for you, for a fee of 50c. This young girl has the classic clog on a fishing line to collect her fee, though Granny did all the work!

Parts of the waterway here are very like being on an English canal.

The wide open fields are much bigger than in England though, stretching away into the distance.

As the name, Turfroute, suggests, the water here is very brown from the peat in the ground. The lock coming up to Appelscha village was the deepest on this waterway.

In Appelscha we managed to fit half of The Puzzler on to the end of the jetty, with the boat in front moving up for us. People were very friendly here.

A bike ride away from the canal was the Friesian - Drenthe wood, which is a large area of mixed woodland. There are proper hills here, and Shannon loved the freedom!

Deep in the wood was this splendid open air theatre, with seats for 450 people. Access to the theatre was on foot or by bike only.

The waterway on the way back across the turf route was not as interesting, mainly being a long straight canal, with few villages to see.