Wedding day

June 30, 2007

Huizen - Maarssen: 6 hours


What can I write more about the Utrechtse Vecht, than in my earlier blog-contributions

http://mylinssenexperience.blogspot.com/2006/11/team-assessment.html

http://mylinssenexperience.blogspot.com/2006/12/up-or-down.html

and the article in recent issue of Linssen's magazine My Serious Pleasure? The Vecht with its numerous house boats and Golden Age estates is a river one has to do at least once. If done once, probably one wants to do the river again - never boring.

Let's focus now on some specific experiences this day, on our route from Huizen to Maarssen.



First, we have never experienced and seen so many wedding parties on one-day. On party boats, on lawns before large estates, at restaurant terraces alongside the river. Must be about 10 in a few hours. No special date as far as I know, just a Saturday. Quite sure that in some wedding albums passing Cómplice is acting as background - with of course the just married couple and their family on the foreground!


Just after passing one of these wedding party boats - very slowly progressing, seemed like ages, probably otherwise being too early for the church - we faced another experience. From other side a Zodiac, nearby one of the two-some crew standing up. Stop, police. I was stopped for speeding!


The policeman claimed my speed must have been over 10 km/hour, where only 6 was permitted (which is for most part of the Vecht, also because of the houseboats). No way, I argued, I cannot possibly go any faster than 10 which is the calculated hull-speed, so what are you talking about? (Frankly, I was doing 8 (because of just having passed the party ship). He wanted to verify himself my max speed, so be my guest. They could not have proven anything anyhow this time, coming from the opposite site and just guessing (no serious measurement), but that is different matter. But be aware: sometimes indeed they have radar-measurement on this river, really!


End of afternoon we find a nice mooring just before Maarssen, at a public mooring quay of Goudestein, one of these old merchant estates with public garden. Until recently it was used as town hall, but currently only for .... weddings. So even when moored we could assess the wedding gowns, as guest walking by on the footpath adjacent to the mooring quay.