Day 4 - On the Boat! To Kerkdriel and then to Aalst!

We all got moving early this morning, mostly due to a lack of sleep.  We packed all our stuff and hit the road to Kerkdriel, where we got our boat.  We checked in with Dico, with whom I've been communicating for a while.  He showed us the boat (it's BIG!) and we went over the route and filled out the paperwork.  We took a quick trip to Lidl for provisions.   Then a gentleman named Case went over all the mechanics of operating the boat, and took us out for a test ride!  It all went smoothly, we loaded our stuff on, and then went for a quick, delicious lunch at Dukdalf restaurant which was at the marina.  Before we knew it we were off.  We have a reservation at a marina for tonight and I called the Harbor Master to confirm.

Our route

Our boat, the Bois le Duc - almost 49 feet long!

Adele's cocktail, with cucumber - it's a salad!

Heading out!

The yellow boat is a ferry.  It's attached to a cable on either shore.  You can only pass it when it's on one side or the other because then the cable has slack to it.

On the left is the galley (kitchen)

Our dining room table

The back of the boat

One of our 4 cabins

One of our 4 heads

Upstairs - there's plenty of seating room, along with a grill (lower right of picture) and a sink

Built in table and chairs.  There is a bimini top but we took it down as it's too tall to go under some bridges.

Some kids we saw swimming

We're in the Netherlands, so what else do you expect?

We finally arrived at our marina for tonight, where we had a reservation.  We tied up with the help of another boat owner and I went to see the Harbor Master, Nick, but a sign said he was available by phone.  I called him and he said he'd be stopping by around 8.  We had hoped to eat in a restaurant right next to the marina but they had no availability for tonight.  Nick recommended  a restaurant that would deliver and I looked at their website.  Here's part of what I saw.

When I clicked on it, it showed various kinds of "hair salons" with chicken, veggie, etc.  Obviously something was mixed up in the translation.  

David took a walk around the marina and found a little snack bar, which sold burgers, chicken, and a bunch of other things.  We ended up going there and bringing food back to eat on the boat.  We played Uno for a bit and waited for Nick to show up, but he never did.  Maybe our stay here will be free?  We also spent some time looking at restaurants for tomorrow night so we don't get shut out again!

Tonight's "restaurant"