Alem, NL

view from Alem Marina This is where we started. This picture was taken from our berth one early April morning. The marina provides fuel, gas, water and overnight moorings and can slip upto 38 tonnes. It is run by Jan and his son Rick who provide a friendly welcome and a very honest and reliable service. See our observations under "happenings" for March '05. There is a good selection of boats here for sale, visit their web site for the current offerings. A bar is open from 1100-2300 from Thursday to Monday.

There is a reasonable supermarket, and a cash machine, about 5 minutes walk away in the village. A really superb supermarket (the Co-Op) can be found about 3 km away in Rossum. The Jachthaven is shown clearly on ANWB Map "L", and can be reached from the Waal by the St Andries lock or from the Maas. If coming directly up the Maas, keep a good lookout to avoid the passenger ferry.

s'Hertogenboschs, NL The Market Square

A beautiful market town.Moorings at the Passanthaven are very convenient for the town centre which is only 5 minutes walk away. Trudi, the harbour mistress is very helpful, and she speaks good English. Within the town there is a central square which hosts regular markets - (ranging from dress making materials to food) and all the streets radiating from it are full of shops. An ANWB office is situated just off the square, where we brought our maps up to date, and took advantage of their clothing sale which was extremely good value.


Weert, NL It's a long way up

A modern shopping and commercial centre. Lots of banks and cash machines, a good supermarket and most other shops are all just a short walk from the Passantehaven. The Passantehaven itself is a bit sparse and some things are not obvious (drinking water and refuse bins). It is also very expensive (14 euros a night with electricity and very little else). To add insult to injury, you have to cross over to the bridge keepers office to pay. We did visit this windmill which dates back a little over 120 years. It is currently owned by an artist and his wife who use it as a gallery to display their work. You can also examine the original workings of the mill, and the climb to its upper gallery is quite exhilarating. Perhaps the best thing in Weert is the chandlers and tool shop next to the marina, possibly the best hardware shop (for choice) that I haave ever spent money in. It is also the last chance to buy bottled gas with the unique dutch screw thread, we hope we have enough to see us through to France.


Liege, B Sunset in the city

Big, busy, sprawling city, the third largest in Belgium. We were weatherbound here for several days, but still did not have time to explore it fully. We lost count of the number of coffee shops (and that's just the ones we stopped in) but failed to find a single bookshop. There are cash machines galore, and a SuperGB supermarket just 10 minutes away from the marina (although it seems a lot further when the rain is tipping down). The marina is in the city centre and provides moderate protection from the wash of the many large ships which ply past day and night. But the marina's biggest asset is Christian, the harbour master, who lives afloat on his own boat. He is a source of knowledge on many subjects, speaks (it seems) most european languages, and always has a cheerful greeting to anyone passing. The charges are also very reasonable and they provide wireless internet connection, yet another good reason to stay at this little port.