Saturday - We Arrive, Jayne Hurls

We're finally acclimated to Holland and seem to be over jet lag after spending most of the first two days asleep.  Though boat boarding is set for 4 pm, Gerhard and Siward are scheduled to meet us at 2 pm to deliver our bikes, so we drop by the dock to check on the boat.

Despite gray skies and cold wind, the crew is busy loading provisions and the Cycletours staff is going through a training course (this will be the first tour of the season).  We meet our guide Armand, who shows us to our cabin.

The Wending was originally built in 1921 as a cargo hauler and was later renovated into a tourer.  She is 6.3 meters wide, 41.5 meters long, and sports 15 two-bunk cabins.

The boat's crew consists of: our captain, William; a mate, Thomas; and a cook, Noe (who is also the captain's wife).

Captain William and Guide Armand

At 2, our bikes arrive: Jayne's Flevobike Oke'-Ja and a Nazca Explorer for me.  To keep out of the crew's way, we decide to take a short spin through Amsterdam...  

About the Weather...

We knew that an early season trip to Holland would offer iffy weather - Weather.com's historical data indicated that highs should be in the low 50's and lows in the 40's with scattered rain.  Of course, your mileage may vary - we may have seen 50 degrees once or twice, but most days were in the low 40's for highs.  We ended up wearing virtually all of our clothes all the time, and Steve never really warmed up.

Most days started off promising, with the sun breaking through the cloud deck for an hour or so, but usually by 10 am the clouds had returned, along with rain.  Though it rained almost every day, it was generally a short shower.  We did experience short bursts of sleet and snow.

As we returned to the boat, it began to rain, then sleet - oh, joy!

We board the boat at 4, retire to our cabin for dry clothes, then go to the lounge for hot drinks and to meet our companions for this adventure.

The group is diverse - mostly Americans (from Wisconsin, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York), two couples from Canada, and a family from Norway.  The Canadians would leave us on Tuesday and be replaced by a couple from Florida and two expatriate New Zealanders.

At 6, we are served dinner, then we all go out on a short ride to see a bit of Amsterdam and check out the bikes.  The ride is a bit damp and cold, but the bikes seem to work well (though for some reason we lose 3 riders - Armand is not concerned and assures us that he is allowed to lose up to 10% of any group - the Drewes family does eventually make it back to the boat).

We collapse in our bunks around 10 and fall asleep to the sounds of the harbor.  

Jackson Pollack would be proud...

It seems that on every trip we take, Jayne has at least one episode of illness characterized by projectile vomiting.  She's redecorated the interior of the fabled French TGV trains with her colorful splatter paintings.  Around 3 am, she begins another artistic endeavor in the toilet of our cabin (and I must say, she really outdid herself with this one).  Through a valiant effort of will, I am able to sleep through the worst of it, knowing that she will be better after 24 hours or so (though she won't be biking with us tomorrow.)