Week 41

Heard a couple of nice quotes during the week, coming out of America, where things seem to be going from bad to worse...

"I'll see it when I believe it..."

...and one I liked because of the boat reference and the similarity to one that I have used to describe the Netherlands -i.e. that I sometimes get the feeling that "we're all in this (boat) together". - ie as a society.

"You should take no comfort in the fact that it is my side of the boat that is sinking"...

More on Gas Prices 

Fears about gas supplies for the coming winter have further boosted gas prices, with the price breaking €100 for a megawatt hour for the first time on Tuesday, the Financieele Dagblad reported. 

 Bills 

In the meantime, France has frozen gas prices and Spain has slashed value added tax on energy bills. In the Netherlands, the caretaker government has set aside €500m to offset the price increases but, the FD said, this will only amount to small cut in energy bills which could be hundreds of euros a year more expensive. The FD said last month that a number of small energy companies in the Netherlands are starting to feel the pinch because of rising gas prices and may be ‘hoping for a mild winter’. Some may even go bust as has happened in Britain and Belgium, because they have not hedged against the increase in prices, the paper said. The Dutch energy market was liberalised in 2004 and there are now more than 25 suppliers licenced to offer gas and electricity to domestic consumers.

Not at all sure about how this will affect us, but it may provide some relief to our residents...

The cabinet is cutting energy taxes by an average of €400 per household per year, to compensate for the sharp rise in energy bills, ministers decided at Friday’s cabinet meeting. In addition, some €150m is being set aside to boost home insulation. The money will be distributed by local authorities in the form of vouchers which people can use to buy draught excluders and install smart energy meters. A further €500m will be used to compensate small firms in the form of lower energy taxes. In total, the measures will cost some €3.2bn.

 The tax cuts will come in on January 1 and run for one year. The rise in gas prices had threatened to put up some household bills by up to €50 a month. Between 8% and 10% of Dutch households have an energy contract which will expire in the next three months and a further 44% have a flexible contract, which means their payment rises and falls in line with energy prices – usually twice a year, in January and July. The rest pay a fixed monthly fee which has been fixed in advance for between one and three years. 

Around half a Dutch energy bill is made up of government levies – a basic energy tax, a tax to boost sustainable energy production and value added tax. Transport costs also account for a large proportion of the total bill. The government has been steadily increasing energy taxes, particularly on gas, to stimulate consumers to cut back and make their homes more energy efficient.

Around the farm...

Just from our show and tell talks in the morning, the clients have said that they have been warned to "cut down" their gas useage if they can. 

Firewood has also jumped to €100,00 per cubic metre. We have about 40 cubic metres in reserve, but we have already started using it this year.

Tjeerd was back from 2 weeks holiday - so I had to work harder...we work well together, but I try not to leave it all to him. Luckily, he can work alone if I have something else to do - although I'd still rather be working outside than doing the bookkeeping!

At this time of the year, we have to "winterize" everything - outside water taps shut off and the pipework drained

Our underfloor airvents get closed...

The outdoor furniture and sunblinds get put away...

About a week's supply of firewood gets brought inside every monday- to get just a little bit drier. I've tested a fair bit of it to check the water content - has to be between 10 - 20%. Most of it seems to be ready to go.

The outdoor tractor machinery gets put inside usually, but I have to wait until we get the new garage door, in December.

We laid a new path for Daniel - it went easier than we thought and turned out perfectly - without any real planning...!

These are called "grass blocks" - designed for the grass to grow through, without getting muddy underfoot.

Our driveway lights stopped working for some reason - so we pulled them all apart - to find ants nests and moss growing inside - no wonder they were shorting out!

Trip to France called off...

We had everything just about planned - car serviced, maps ready, alcohol tests ready (it is compulsory in France to carry your own tests - for the Police to use if they pull you over) hotel (in Maastricht on the way) just about booked, niece lined up to babysit the house and the dog... but Janny simply had too much on her plate - so we called it off as we sat in Drachten for lunch - we both felt so relieved to have the pressure off - it wasn't going to be as enjoyable as we we had been hoping.

Frank came up with an alternative plan - that we could all meet in Maastricht at the end of the month, just for a few days - it's about a 5 hour drive for both of us. Sounds like a plan!

In the meantime, we both felt a bit down about not going, so we decided to do something with the boat - for probably the last time this year, even though our boat season has been extended by the installation of a heater.

We know that we can get to Dokkum without needing any bridges opened, so that was it. Janny bundled up her outstanding work, so that we can keep up to date - she can get on-line with the laptop. Ankie will look after the business; the niece will look after the house (and  be company forJanny's Mum). Tjeerd will do any number of odd-jobs - he finds things to do without having to be asked. We asked our newest client not to come this week - he is a bit of a handful - too much for Ankie to do on her own - and Lucas can drive his own car - Peter can light the fire as he is usually the first to arrive. So, all bases covered and not too far away if we're needed.

So, I'm writing this again on the boat in Dokkum.

Our favorite mooring, but we could have gone just about anywhere. Wind force 8 expected on Wednesday - coming from right behind us in this photo - so we'll be moving into the central canal in the middle of the city.

On the trip up, we stopped at the northern end of the Burgummermeer (Lake Burgum). Boeke always takes a while to get used to the boat - we need doggie breaks on the way.

There were 3 other boats here - one named Corrona! - it had a wood stove on board and a rather ugly chimney...

Which reminded me of the wood stove built by the owner of the Staverse Jol Aimee...

I've since had contact with him about his website and told him how much I enjoyed reading about his boat-building and subsequent travels - quite often on his own.

https://www.staverse-jol-aimee.nl/

I enjoyed reading it in Dutch, but I did the right-click "translate to English" for some of it. Jack is about my age and has a nice sense of humour. He said his English is not very good but he had a look through one of my blogs - the Voyage of Jacoba 2018. He lives near one of the places we went through - Echten - and sent me a photo of a grand house in the area (not his!)

The home made wood stove

  I think it is "the" grand house in the area, but we didn't see it (or know of it) when we were there.

Back to this week...

Next day was a 3 hour run to Dokkum. We had previously marked our paper chart with "good poop spot" and so it was - for Boeke.

We filled up with diesel in Heerenveen before we left, so I was able to do my most accurate diesel useage calculations to date - after how many years!? Well, in 2014 the new motor was installed, so at least since then.

A shade under 3 litres per hour, with our most used RPM around 1600 - or 1800 if we're really pushing. But 1600 is peaceful and gives us around 9 kms/hour. But, we also had the heater running for a few hours - they say that it uses 0.24 litres/hour - and we had it running for most of the day and evening once we were in Dokkum. It is ever so cosy on board when it is warm - especially when considering the alternative.

I also remembered that I had a (little used) electric heater on board which is great to use when our electricity is only ever going to cost 2 euros a day!