Paddling past the city of Zutphen on the IJssel River
Last weekend (my birthday weekend!) I spent two extremely sunny days paddling along the IJssel River in good company, with plenty of assistance from the currents. We encountered sandy and very muddy beaches, swirling river currents, a little bit of wildlife (including a partying kayak-polo team), and an evening circus! Read on for photos, a map, and the story.
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Why are they walking? Read on to find out :)
Last weekend a fun group of Never Dry paddlers headed out to Stellendam for a late winter (early spring?) paddle on the North Sea. If you are wondering why we are walking in the photo, read on to find out!
This photo really captures the essence of this paddle!
As I pack my bags for a paddling trip tomorrow, I realize I've forgotten to finish this post about a recent trip to Rotterdam centrum. A couple weeks ago Joachim organized a relaxing/low-key trip from the kayaking club on Kralingse Plas to the center of Rotterdam. We took a different route into Rotterdam than in previous trips. We saw a number of iconic Rotterdam sites, and ended up in the heart of the city during the peak of the Saturday market. ​Read on for a short post with plenty of photos from a wintery urban paddle!
 In this episode of winter boating, we compare the efficacy of canoeing and biking during a rare Dutch blizzard. Back in December, forces aligned to bring a rare snow storm to the Netherlands. This is my 4th winter here, and until now I'd only experienced a few light dustings. On December 10th and 11th the snow (~10 cm?) came down and stuck around for a few days. While children were making snow-people in the streets (ok, I made one too), Nathalie and I embarked on a memorable adventure: canoeing in the snow!
Iede chatting with the Port of Rotterdam, who scolded us for paddling the wrong direction and commenced stalking us...
Back in May (how did that happen?) I went on one of my favorite Dutch paddling trips so far: the Maas River in my new city of Rotterdam, with Iede, Marianne, Erik, and Adrian. The great thing about it is that you can get there from the club if you're willing to go through a small lock and carry your boat across a giant intersection in downtown Rotterdam... :D
Taking shelter on an island in the middle of Fluessen lake in a storm.
View from Ouddorp harbor, the launch site.
Just a short post today to share a few photos and stats from my first trip to Grevelingen lake - one of the four (former) estuaries in Zeeland, the most southwestern province of the Netherlands. Read on to find out why my face was caked in salt at the end of the day...
Taking out our boats in the center of Buren, where we ran into another kayak club!
My alarm went off at 7am on Sunday. At any other time of year, getting up would have been a challenge. Thanks to the long days that the Dutch latitude (52 degrees) bestows us, it was palatable. In what's becoming a weekend routine, I strapped my lunch and dry clothes on the back of my bike and swung a sizable duffle bag of kayak gear over my shoulder. It always takes a bit of extra effort to get the bike moving when it's loaded down this way. But thanks to the lack of topographic variability, the 12 minute bike ride to the kayak club is easy once you're rolling. Some aspects of Dutch life just need reframing to see the bright side.
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Welcome!This is a blog about exploring the outdoors (mostly by kayak), traveling, trip planning, and coastal engineering. It currently focuses on kayaking in the Netherlands and Belgium, but previous posts cover Upstate New York, California, and much more. See the Complete List of Blog Posts for a history of the site. Looking for something specific? Search the site here.
In addition to the blog, check out the Water Nerd section, where I write about coastal engineering and hydrology. Happy Paddling! Nena Subscribe Here!Email updates on new blog posts, about once per month.
Reader TipsClick the "Read More" link at the bottom of each summary for more photos, to see an interactive map of the route, and to read about the adventure.
Maps in each blog post: Click the icons to learn more about the launch site (amenities) and destinations. Click the square in the bottom-left corner to see an aerial photo behind the route. Archives
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