Pictures of Amsterdam Arrival

Martin and I arrived home from Amsterdam today - here is the first installment of our photos!


Mokum arriving in the Amsterdam Harbour


The successful crew after arriving


Together at last!

Mary Shelley

Mokum - Withdrawal

Since I seem to be suffering from blog writing withdrawal I will fill you in on what is happening with MOKUM and crew here in Holland.
David Meijer is, as you know, safe and sound with wife Amanda and their children back in Canada.
Martin and Mary are lodging with friends in Wassenaar, near The Hague but spent yesterday being shown around Woudrichem, Loevestein and Heusden by Bas - JP's sister, Yolanda's, companion.
Jan Pieter, Erik and Rob (JP's other sister's husband)spent yesterday unloading the boat and motoring her over to a safer mooring in the harbour. The family here now has a year's supply of Kraft dinner and enough canned fish / tuna, oysters, mussels / to sink a ship!...here come the pun police again.
Erik is meeting Julie at the airport as we speak and Jan Pieter is off to the sail maker with the spinnaker for repairs.
This weekend MOKUM will make her way to Hoorn where Elmer lives and then on to Den Oever via the IJsselmeer (pron. "I sell" Lake).
A big Thank You to everyone who has posted comments of encouragement and congratulations to Mokum and her crew. Your input throughout the adventure was a great support not only to them but also to us, the "women behind the scenes",
Thank You from
Amanda, Julie, Mary and Lesley

It was a wonderful sight. As Mokum sped up the coast Jan Pieter's sisters Yolanda and Florinde and her husband Rob and I parked the car and raced along the beach towards the pier in Ijmuiden madly waving both Dutch and Canadian flags that are bigger than we are. We made it just in time to see them round the pier and enter the mouth of the canal. They pulled in to the yacht harbour at Ijmuiden where we were welcomed aboard.
Bas got off there and he and Yolanda drove back to Amsterdam and Florinde, Rob and I joined the crew of Mokum for the final sail down the canal into Amsterdam. We first had to go through a lock and then had a great sail - until the edge of the spinnaker caught on one of the the spreaders making a nasty tear...but seeing as this is the only damage that they have experienced during their voyage they are not complaining. I forgot to mention that just after coming through the lock we received a call from Elmer who was waving us in from the other side of the canal standing on the bridge of a large bulk container ship that he was inspecting.
As we sailed in to Amsterdam we could see Mary Shelley waving to us from behind Central station! Wonderful for Martin and Mary to be reunited! Mary was brought to Amsterdam by Frank and Marjan who are the parents of Frank (jr.)a Rotary exchange student that Martin and Mary hosted years ago. Franks jr. and his wife just welcomed the arrival of their 2nd baby only days ago.
Within half an hour another well wisher joined the group - Dennis - a cousin of crew member David Meijer.
Last night Yolanda and Bas arranged a wonderful celebration dinner for the crew family and friends of Mokum...photos of last night will follow shortly. David is flying home today for his youngest son's first birthday! Erik is awaiting Julie's arrival on Thursday....I will try to get them to post their pictures of the trip asap. I know how eager everyone is to see them.
Weather here is very warm and sunny.

mokum OVERED theocean

at 13:30 (local time)(7:30 Canadian (1&1/2 earlier in Nfld.) Mokum docked in AMSTERDAM! We were greeted by Mary with our friends, Frank and Marja Basters, as well as by Bas, Jan Pieter's brother-in-law. You may find this somewhat confusing, but we had yet one more crew change at 8:30 in the morning in Imeuden where we were greeted by Lesley, Florinda, Yolanda (Jan Pieter's sisters) and Rob (brother-in-law) (three of whom climbed on board for the final cruise down the canal to Amsterdam) Yolanda had to return to work for the morning and Bas disembarked to leave with her (so he was able to "greet" us in AMSTERDAM).

It has been the "ride of a lifetime" for me. Some very anxious times but so many wonderful memories (photos soon to come to the blog). Thank you to Jan Pieter for allowing me to share this amazing experience!

Martin

Monday 01:00 in Ontario 07:00 in Amsterdam

We just received "the call" that MOKUM is of the coast of Ijmuiden near Zandvoort and will stop at Ijmuiden and enter the North Sea Canal leaving salt water behind.
It will then take a couple of hours to traverse the canal and arrive somewhere in Amsterdam....Mokum. We have to hurry to try and see them off the coast...almost there...

Steaming up the Belgian Coast

Erik called this morning to report their coordinates -- 51.24.N 2.3E (great excitement about their recent crossing of the zero line). The crew of Mokum are so intent on their current destination of IJmuiden (the entry to the Amsterdam canal access) that they forgot to turn their radios on to the "receive" position and missed several warnings from the English Coast earlier in the day. It seems that Mokum was spending too much time in a shipping lane and when the coast guard was unable to get their attention, they sent a coast guard airplane to set them straight. After many apologies Mokum and crew have been forgiven and all is well.

Word from the Crew

Martin has just called to relay their position. For the interest of his friend Terry, they have just passed Bognor Regis! The coordinates are Lat 50.4N,Long.051W. They should be at Dover by nightfall. At this point their ETA for Amsterdam is "early Monday morning". More as we hear it ...
Mary Shelley

On her way "HOME"

Just moments ago Mokum once again set sail for the final leg of her journey "home".
For those of you who haven't cottoned on yet the name MOKUM is a familiar term for the city of Amsterdam. The word has hebrew origins and means town / city or place. People from Mokum are Mokummers. Groot / Big Mokum is Amsterdam and Klein / Small Mokum is Rotterdam.
Apparently there are 5 men on board now including Bas. Martin spent the night with his friends in Portsmouth and was able to have breakfast with his mother before they sailed today.
They seem to be depending on Bas' cell phone to call around and have been in touch with Elmer regarding times and point of entry.....unfortunately they have stopped calling home.
---I am biting my tongue here--- sailors!
The information we have I have received by calling JP's sisters in Amsterdam.
Apparently it is a beautiful day and the crossing would take 24 to 26 hours but under these great conditions it will take less. They are eager to get to Amsterdam as bad weather is on it's way.
Mary and I both leave Canada today and will arrive in Holland tomorrow.
We will keep you posted and hopefully photos will follow sometime soon!
It's not over yet.

MOKUM HAS LANDED!!!!!!!!

I WAS JUST ON THE PHONE TO FLORINDE IN AMSTERDAM WHEN THE OTHER SISTER YOLANDA CALLED IN THE CELL TO SAY THAT MOKUM HAS LANDED AND BAS HAS FOUND THEM. THEY ARE HEADING FOR THE SHOWERS!
I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO A FLIGHT SWITCH AND WILL BE IN MANCHESTER ON SUNDAY AND WILL GET TO AMSTERDAM ASAP.

Last Minute Update

Just had another call - they have heard from our friend Terry Young in England who has sailed for years in the area and he has arranged dockage for them-the powers of modern technology! They will now be arriving about 8:45-9:15. All is well, but the harbour is very busy with all of the boats arriving for the Cowes Regatta. The plan is to spend one night in Portsmouth, then cross to Vlissingen on the coast of Holland. David will leave the boat there and fly home and the rest will bide their time until Lesley arrives to greet them in Amsterdam. More later...
Mary Shelley

Portsmouth Harbour in Sight

Just had a call from Martin - at 8:00 am our time, they were about 1/2 hour from Portsmouth Harbour. They were unable to get in the Marina they wanted, the best they could do was a mooring (#HF54) at the first Marina on the Gosport side of the Harbout. I don't know if the Web Cam will pick them up at that location, but if it does, they should be arriving about 8:30am our time. Stay tuned..........
Mary Shelley

Beautiful Starlit night on England's south coast

The crew of Mokum are enjoying the most beautiful evening of the trip as they sail along the south coast of England toward Portsmouth with the stars finally looking down on them. Their coordinates are 50.24N, 2.44W. Their ETA at Portsmouth Harbour is between 1400 and 1600hrs GMT (that's between 0900 and 1100 Kitchener time)tomorrow, Friday. Martin will confirm that in the morning. They plan to spend the night in Portsmouth tomorrow, do some tidying of the boat, get provisions and then will continue on to Holland on the weekend. Not sure if the Web Cam will catch them, but if not, it sounds like there will be lots of greeters at the wharf and even more of us there in spirit!
Mary Shelley

Well into the English Channel

I spoke with Martin at 8:00 this morning and he was pleased to report that they were well into the English Channel. The wind had come up and they were once again ahead of schedule expecting to arrive at Portsmouth Harbour sometime tomorrow morning. With any luck, family and friends will be there to meet them. They first saw land around 0400 hrs UK time this morning (he wasn't sure the exact time as he was asleep!) They will have an entertaining few days as the Cowes Regatta, one of Europe's biggest, is being held this weekend just off the Isle of Wight, across from Portsmouth. It is not clear how long the crew plan to stay in Portsmouth. It sounds like they are so close to the end they want to carry on to Amsterdam. Then again, once they've had a cold pint in Portsmouth, the plans may change! Those of us travelling to Amsterdam to meet them hope they slow down so that we arrive before they do! They will be in touch again around 8:00 pm our time tonight to update their ETA. We'll post the information to the blog for all of you Web Cam Viewers. Amazing technology.
Mary Shelley

Within 40 miles of Scilly Islands

Just had a call from Martin - they are still becalmed and motoring, but are slowly making headway. They are not far off the Scilly Islands,(ironically called St. Martin's and St. Mary's). Coordinates are lat 50N long 8W. The crew are trying to find which port has the nearest Customs Office, so locating that will be my challenge for today! Everyone is well and happy and enjoying the sunshine. I've added a link (top right)to the Portsmouth Harbour Web Cam (thanks Ted) Don't let the $ sign deter you - it's free! With any luck, we may see them arrive!
Mary