Boat Trip

The Dutch summer returned strong this week, with highs in the 80's yesterday (Friday) and today, and the high forecast to be above 90 tomorrow. While I was reading articles about cross-cultural variability in the recognition of facial expression of emotion in my desk, with the sun and warmth mocking me from outside my window, my coworker and friend Jelte asked me if I wanted to join him and some friends on a boat at 3:00pm. I accepted before the invitation was complete.

Our boat trip was just like this. Minus Horatio Sanz.

Actually, it was more like this.

I'd been remiss in waiting 15 months to take my first boat trip in Amsterdam. Boating is a real Dutch experience, with people flocking to the water whenever the temperature and clouds allow. Jelte's friend owns the boat, and Jelte sometimes borrows it for fun, or uses it to give paid tours of the city. Yesterday's plan was for Jelte, Niels (another coworker), Jelte's friend Gwen, and two friends of hers (who ended up being Philip and Olympe) to take the boat south through Amsterdam to the Nieuwe Meer, a lake on the border of Amsterdam and Amstelveen.

Being at water level gave a different perspective on apartments, on people lounging on terraces enjoying the sun, and on the other boats passing through canals and rivers. The houseboats were a highlight; they become larger (often two stories) as you get further away from the center of town.

One of many larger boats on the river. Jelte was good enough to steer us out of the way to avoid a collision, but boats like this still stirred up enough water to rough up the ride

A tram depot in the Western part of Amsterdam

This one has a slide into the water. Which might be for fun. Or to punish children.

The waterfowl were also a highlight. Gaggles of geese basked in the sun on rocky or grassy shores. The black water birds with red eyes built nests out of garbage and swarmed our boat looking for scraps of food. Ducks followed them closely. Swans rested serenely in the water during the day, but ghosted along at night, going faster than our boat.

We had to wait at a lock, which is a contained area between two bodies of water with different water levels. In the lock, the water level rises or falls to match that of the next area. Boats line up in the lock, waiting for the next time that it engages and allows passage into our out of the city. After we passed through, the waters of the canals opened up as we approached our destination. We simply went adrift for a while, letting the water carry us where it would, only using the motor to dodge buoys and the coast.

Waiting in the lock

Entering the lake

Jelte returning to the boat after temporarily abandoning ship

After time in the lake, we returned to the city, passed through the canals in the center as night approached, then went into the deeper and more open waters of the IJ after the sun set. And, around 11:00pm, the day's boat trip ended, with two more hot and sunny days awaiting Amsterdam.

A canal concert on the Prinsengracht

A water level angle at the Westerkerk