This is in response to a request from Palen Q. It is not advertising.

My son owns the Excelsior, which sails from Harlingen. They cover the Waddenzee, Ijsselmeer and Friesland inland waterways mainly but can go anywhere within Holland. They are not allowed to sail to the German Friesian Islands.
You can read about them on the website of their skippers cooperative, currently only in Dutch and German (must get that translation finished!).
www.historischezeilvaart.nl If you e-mail them they do speak English.
Others who do somenthing similar include
www.zonnewind.nl - my son started as a mate on one of their ships.
www.dezeilvaart.nl - one of the biggest, but quite expensive as they have lots of extras.
and http://www.t-s-c.de/ but there are many many others.

My son usually caters for groups but does do occasional mid-weeks for individuals. if you contact the co-operative they will help you with finding a trip if you are interested.

I celebrated my 50th birthday on his boat, sailing to Vlieland for the weekend with family. It was wonderful. I can recommend it as a different experience of Holland!

That's a good website for anyone planning a longer stay in the Netherlands. I had no idea that you can actually sail those big sailboats inside the Friesland waterways. My neighbor just came back from celebrating his birthday in Holland sailing with friends out of Rotterdam. It seems like a great idea for family reunions or birthdays.

yes for something different from the usual Delft day trip!

ttt good info on something different and oh so Dutch

hetismij - do you know any barges for cyclists - i've heard Holland has barge trips for bikers who can bike when they want and return to the boat. thanks

Have a look at http://www.boatbiketours.com/

Or try http://www.gouwzee.eu/.
There are others but they don't come to mind right now.

I first went to live and work in The Netherlands in 1998. That first year, the company took us to Friesland to go Skutje sailing....I highly recommend it. It is really nice and a lot of fun.....certainly something different than the standard tourist fare of seeing Amsterdam (not that there's anything wrong with that!)

You can also sail on a botter from Bunschoten-Spakenburg. There are a couple there which do day trips - you could combine that with a bike tour through Eemland, using the "fietsboot" from Amersfoort, cycling back or vice versa. You can even take the bike over to Flevoland on one boat. I can look up the details for anyone interested.
Eemland is the area along the Eem - the only river to rise in the Netherlands, and not be part of the greater Rhine/Maas delta. It stretches from Amersfoort and NIjkerk to Eemnes bounded by the Eemmeer and the Utrechste Heuvelrug. The polders are full of birds and lovely to ride through. Spakenburg is a nice village where some of the women still wear "klederdracht", their tradtional costume. There are several cycling routes available for the area.

hetismij - thanks for all that

Spakenburg raises my interest - i've read about it and always looking for new day trips from Amsterdam - is it easy to get to by public transit - and is a nice old town or a museum town like marken, which i also find nice, especially its setting. thanks

To get to Spakenburg by public transport you need to get a train to Baarn or Amersfoort (they are on the same line from Ams, but you can also get to Amersfoort from Utrecht direct), And then get a bus (72 from Baarn, 76 from Amersfoort). I only live 10 minutes away so I go by car I'm afraid. I'm not sure Spakenburg is worth a day out on it's own, but you could combine it with Amersfoort or Naarden maybe, or stroll through the woods by Baarn (looking out for me and my dogs!)and have a look at Paleis Soestdijk. If you want to go in you must buy a ticket online. You could then if you are feeling keen carry on through the woods towards Hilversum and either walk all the way or get the bus to the station to get back to Ams. Or do a circular walk back to Baarn station.
Or go over on the ferry to Flevoland.
During the summer months Spakenburg has Spakenburg days on some Wednesdays which can be interesting. www.vvvspakenburg.nl.
www.paleissoestdijk.nl

hetismij - thanks for all that. I love going to places like Spakenburg sounds - i've done the amersfoot palace thing but the walks you describe sound lovely. To me an excellent day trip from Amsterdam as i have done all the other more major ones several times and always looking for something new. That's why i went to Kampen a few years ago - loved the sideline train there and the unique little station. There was an antique car and motorcycle thing that dominated the town that Sunday - really nice.

thanks for info. a.u.b and Tot Ziens

Hi hetismij,
Is Chris your son? It's a very nice skipper and the Excelsior is a beautiful sailing vessel. We are always happy to be in the same harbour with them...
Kind regard from Holland (Monnickendam),
Pilou
Sailing vessel Zuiderzee http://www.zuiderzee.eu

Yes Chris is my son! Nice to hear from you. Always trying to get visitors to explore further than Amsterdam

Yes indeedy

Well, the translation is done, not all my work it's true, but most of it. There are a few errors from the other translator that I must correct sometime, but it is understandable.

http://www.historischezeilvaart.nl/
is now available in English.

t

dank u very wel for this!

Tot ziens

Your always welcome PalenQ. Next time your in our kouwe kikkerland let me know!