Back in Ossenzijl the engineers couldn't find a problem with the cooling leak so suggested we go for a long cruise for 3 hours or so and we could test things then. This we did and the coolant level duly had dropped when we got back. Their solution was to give us 20 litres of coolant and send us on our way. I agreed at first and then hesitated. Gert Bos made a few phone calls to people more experienced with DAF engines and was told that if you could touch the fluid in the coolant tank the level was too high and all that would happen would be that under load it would be expelled out of the overflow pipe. I was a bit dubious but agreed to go away for a few days and see what happened. So on Tuesday afternoon we set sail for Steenwijk in drizzly rain and two hours later arrived there. I checked the coolant level and it was down a lot. What to do? Start to head North or go back.
We decided to head North along the Drentse Hoofdvaart that runs from Meppel to Assen. A straight canal with a few locks - a rarity for Holland. That night the coolant had gone down to a finger below the top.
The next day we pushed on up the Noord Willems Kanaal and stopped just short of Groningen, the major city in the very North of the Netherlands. The coolant level was no further down. Perhaps the experts were right after all! By now the weather was glorious again and we cruised along the Winschoterdiep taking us East towards Germany before turning off South to Veendam and the start of a long series of canals that would eventually take us over the border to Germany. Talk about bridges in this area. We had a a team of 3 men whose jobs were to cycle ahead and open the bridges for us. In one stretch of 6km they had to open 30 bridges for us. Along day motoring at slow speed with many more bridges and a few locks brought us to the border town of Ter Apel where we had to spend Sunday tied up as all the bridges and locks are closed in this part of the Netherlands on Sunday. That was fine with us as we had worked long hours to get here to try and make up some time. Everything seemed fine and we were going to do a few maintenance tasks and go for a bike ride before departing for Germany on Monday.
The next day we pushed on up the Noord Willems Kanaal and stopped just short of Groningen, the major city in the very North of the Netherlands. The coolant level was no further down. Perhaps the experts were right after all! By now the weather was glorious again and we cruised along the Winschoterdiep taking us East towards Germany before turning off South to Veendam and the start of a long series of canals that would eventually take us over the border to Germany. Talk about bridges in this area. We had a a team of 3 men whose jobs were to cycle ahead and open the bridges for us. In one stretch of 6km they had to open 30 bridges for us. Along day motoring at slow speed with many more bridges and a few locks brought us to the border town of Ter Apel where we had to spend Sunday tied up as all the bridges and locks are closed in this part of the Netherlands on Sunday. That was fine with us as we had worked long hours to get here to try and make up some time. Everything seemed fine and we were going to do a few maintenance tasks and go for a bike ride before departing for Germany on Monday.But alas! I was emptying the raw water strainer when I noticed some water in the engine room. Not a lot but fresh! The only thing that had been in opersation was the shower pump which emptys the shower and bthroom basin of water. I opened the taps in the basin and soon the pump came on and it started to spray water everywhere. Oh dear. SO I set to work and stripped it down and discovered that the diaphragm in it that is used to do the pumping work had cracked and broken. SO we need a new diaphragm before we can leave. At least we have cheap internet now as we can pick up my German mobile provider over the border so I hav managed to get the Dutch distributor's phone number and just hope that I can get them to courier a spare to me overnight.
Sunday afternoon was warm and sunny so we went for a bike ride in the woods around Ter Apel. Very pretty indeed. Lovely houses and beautiful gardens. wild flowers and well formed bicycle paths. After about an hour of wandering I noticed that cars in the drives had German number plates so we knew we had crossed into Germany.
See picture of David riding right on the border. Back to the boat for a cup of tea. But alas again, when I rolled the bike along the pontoon to get outside the boat I fell into the canal. What a shock. Luckily two strong men from a couple of neighbouring boats heard the commotion and helped me out - soaking wet, cut and bruised but mainly shaken.A rollercoaster week but lets hope everything is sorted in the next few days....
