We decided to make a long day of it, tackling the 56 kilometres all the way from Sneek to Giethorn: there really didn't seem to be much to detain us on the way.
There was quite a lot of traffic on the canals throughout the day, including a number of sailing boats, which was fun to see. On the first of the two big lakes we had to cross, they were doing some serious dredging:
Sail boats were out on the lakes too:
Naturally enough, there were windmills aplenty, though not many turning. At this bridge, a group of boys were propelling small boats with oars, evidently on an expedition of some sort:
The second lake was even bigger than the first, and although apparently it is very shallow in places, the channel was buoyed, and with good visibility and the GPS, crossing was not a problem.
And, of course, there were plenty of cows, usually announcing their presence with a powerful, pungent whiff:
Giethorn is where I bought Saskia back in 1999, and on our way into the village, we passed the shipyard where they did initial jobs, including changing the engine. However, it didn't seem to have visitor berths, or to be very conveniently located, so we sailed on by, finding a mooring in the municipal visitors' harbour.
We will spend a couple of nights here and explore the village tomorrow – described in our guide book as the prettiest village in Holland. I'm not sure what criteria they use to make that judgement, or indeed, who makes it. But it sounds intriguing.
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