We took a stroll the other day to the big Volkerak Lock that we came through to get to Willemstad. The Volkerak is another former tidal river that has been closed off to the sea by Holland's massive Delta Works project, begun in response to the North Sea Flood of 1953 that killed almost 1900 people and caused massive property damage. There are three locks that can handle sea-going vessels, each 320 meters long and in operation 24 hours a day, and another, smaller lock for pleasure boats. Impressive.
Wie die Wasserratte schon 1908 zum Maulwurf sagte: "Glaub mir, mein junger Freund, es gibt nichts, absolut gar nichts auf der ganzen Welt, das auch nur halb so viel wert wäre, wie einfach mit Booten herumzubummeln … Ob du dich davonmachst oder ob du es bleiben lässt; ob du dein Ziel erreichst oder ob du ganz woanders ankommst oder niemals irgendwo, beschäftigt bist du immer und etwas Besonderes tust du nie."
Aus "Der Wind in den Weiden", von Kenneth Grahame.
As the Water Rat said to the Mole already in 1908, "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats …Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular."
From "The Wind in the Willows," by Kenneth Grahame.
Donnerstag, 15. August 2019
Besuch bei den Schleusen
A look at a lock
We took a stroll the other day to the big Volkerak Lock that we came through to get to Willemstad. The Volkerak is another former tidal river that has been closed off to the sea by Holland's massive Delta Works project, begun in response to the North Sea Flood of 1953 that killed almost 1900 people and caused massive property damage. There are three locks that can handle sea-going vessels, each 320 meters long and in operation 24 hours a day, and another, smaller lock for pleasure boats. Impressive.