Door: Bela Evers, zie ook de blog op TeamOcean. (met foto’s!)
Preparing for a mini adventure
They say getting to the start line of an ocean rowing expedition is hard work, but to get to the start line of our Rhine expedition was also as challenging. Weeks before setting off we were busy with getting the boat and trip prepared – including the boat wrap, the PR and social media planning, the campaign (living on 6 liters water per day pp), the route, the logistics, the kit and the food on board. It was worth every single moment. We look back on an eventful trip rowing nearly 700 km from the source of our natural water supply (close to
Basel), all the way towards the sea (in Rotterdam).
Setting off – different than planned
July 1st we set off from Holland towards Basel. Wilco with the van and boat on the trailer, together with Ruurd Dasselaar, a reserve rower taking part in the first few days. While Bela and her husband Vincent, took a lift with the social media team, Bo and Meyke. On the way to Basel, Wilco picked up Sara from Frankfurt airport. Sara was returning from Hawaii where she spent a good 3 weeks with her friend Alyssia for a break and for prospecting for Team Ocean.
After a long journey, we all got to Basel around the same time in the evening where we were united as a team. It was lovely to see each other and be as one team including the support crew. We were parked up in the Industrial Harbour where we made friends with a Dutch crew of an inland vessel. They were very interested in our adventure and spent the evening chatting away. It was getting late so decided to get to sleep – 2 in the van, 2 in the car and 3 in the boat. The adventure had begun.
In the morning we gathered our stuff and made our way to the city center ramp where where we could launch the boat in the water. The streets were narrow, however Wilco’s mastery of driving through this maze of one-way streets proved successful. We got to the ramp with the boat ready to be launched, however we couldn’t help noticing the high-water level of Rhine and the fast current. A week before there had been torrential rain and flooding not far from Basel. Just to be sure we could leave safely, Sara and Bela checked in
with the Rhine police who were located about a kilometer down the road. At the office it soon became apparent that as an unmotorized boat we would not be able to go through the locks. To be sure, we called the locks themselves whom confirmed ‘no motor, no passage’. The only option would be to start further down the river after the locks, starting at Iffezheim. We discussed this with the team and decided to launch further down the river. A pity, but we managed to stay focused and positive. In the meantime we got noticed by local Basel radio station and had an impromptu interview with them. If your German is good here
is the link to the interview.
At Iffezheim we managed to find the harbour where we could launch our boat. We got ourselves ready for the trip and said goodbye to the land crew knowing we would see them again at the next agreed harbour 20 kilometers away. Bela steered the team out of Iffezheim and got a feel of the current which was still fast but maneuverable. It was impressive to be on the Rijn, wide with fast currents, and the first big vessels looked impressively big. It was just a matter of being switched on and responsible on the water. The person steering was usually in command with a co-assistant, and we rotated
so that everyone got a chance to steer. Our first stop was Neuberg am Rhein, a quiet little harbour just off from the Rhine. And because the Football European Championship was on, we decided to take a bite to eat and drink in a sports bar in the nearest town. Our luck was good, Holland beat Romania.
Continuing our Journey
Following morning we said goodbye to Vincent who drove the Van and trailer back to the Netherlands. Bo and Meyke would continue their car journey along the Rijn with the focus of taking photos and videos for press and social media along the way, and generally as land support. They were absolutely amazing and we enjoyed their company every time we were back on land. It felt as one family, one mission, for water awareness. We continued our rowing journey to Mannheim where we once again met up with Bo and Meyke. We even
had a fan meet us at one of our stops. A student living in Germany and following our journey on the app. We made his day when we invited him for coffee and a look around the boat.
The following days our harbour stops took us to Mainz and Rudesheim
Just before the harbour of Rudesheim, we had a little mis-hap. To avoid the passing vessels, Sara who was steering, decided to steer out of the shipping lane. Given that the water level was higher than normal it was assumed that it would be possible to pass, however that was not the case. ‘Crrrrrrrackkk’ – our daggerboard broke off probably being hit by a stone in the
water. That hurts, but luckily that was the reserve daggerboard and we continued the journey with our main daggerboard in. We need to be cautious with this one now.
At the haven of Rudesheim we were greeted by the harbour manager who was a splitting image of Mr Iglo, an old sailor man who only spoke German. He kindly offered us beers and wine, and offered Bo and Meyke to overnight in an old ship. The welcome was very warm and were grateful for the hospitality and support in our mission. We closed the evening with some snacks and consumed the beverages.
The Lorelei
The following morning we were ready… to take on the most interesting and challenging part of the Rhine, known as the Lorelei valley. The myth was that a ‘woman of the valley’, a spirit, sang and distracted the sailors who past this area, which resulted in a sunken vessel. We weren’t to be distracted. In fact, being a small ocean rowing boat in this narrow but beautiful valley we needed to be alert. Because this part of the Rhine was narrow, meant the current was rushing through and maneuverability could be a challenge. But it went quite smoothly, and we even managed to reach 9 knts which was 18 km an hour. This majestic
area was beautiful with big hills, fauna and not to mention 38 castles which we passed in this part of the journey. The rhine has many different parts. Today we were lucky. However, the days after we only got to see some big industrial places that churned smoke pollution and smells that we were not aquainted with.
Unfortunately it was Ruurds last day with us. We arrived at the harbour of Nieuwd where Joost would meet us and especially meet Sara for the first time. Joost was recruited to the team (taking over Bram’s place) while Sara was on vacation in Hawaii. So the two of them had only met via videocall. It was quite exciting for us all as it would be the first time together as a team. Tim and xx, who are the documentary makers, also met us in the harbour and captured this first meeting on camera. It was kind of a celebratory moment, and by chance we were invited to have drinks on a yacht that evening, by a young wealthy man Christof. Bo, Meyke and Ruurd even got a place to sleep in his luxury yacht making a great change to a roof tent or boat cabin. He was kind enough even to offer a ride in his speedboat the following morning to the media/documentary team, so they could take shots closer to our boat. Thank you Christof!
Joost on board
The morning of 6 th July was a milestone for us – the first time the team would row together. We thanked, hugged and said goodbye to our jolly Ruurd and Joost took his place on board. He was eager to row and learn the ropes. A quick short course of instructions and then we were off. The speedboat with the media team sped along next to us making waves, while at the same time that Joost was trying to follow the technique.
The different faces of the Rhine.
We had 2 days to get to Dusseldorf where we had press meeting arranged with Grohe International our head sponsor. Joost got used to the rowing and even took his hand at steering. Luckily the Rhine was not at its busiest. The Rhine has different sides to it. Sometimes beautiful areas like the Lorelei with a lot of passenger boats full of tourists and sometime big industrial areas with big industrial harbours and containers. The industrial area can sometimes span 2 to 3 kilometers along the Rhine, with an aura of coldness and unacquainted smells. Unbelievable to see the different faces and interactions of the Rhine. And the boats varied from smaller river maintenance vessels, to massive passenger boats and double container ships of more than 160 meters long. The triple barge vessels attached next to each were also imposing as they created massive waves behind them. Being relatively small in comparison felt a bit overwhelming at times but we got generous waves and acknowledgement from most of the traffic we passed.
Photo shoot and campaign
Because we were a bit ahead of schedule, we had one day in between where we rowed just half a day and stopped in Cologne for a photo shoot. It was a needed stop to get some great photos in courtesy of Bo from elements-productions. The sun was beaming hot today and that meant also a photo shoot in the fountain. Of course we had not showered the whole journey – as we would only live of 6 liters of water a day. We’d instead wash by taking a plunge at the harbours, or like a day today in Cologne, we’d play around in the fountains.
Besides not showering we also utilized a decomposing toilet on board that would separate our urine and poo. The poo we would dispose off with decomposing bags and the urine we would responsibly filter before releasing this into the Rhine. It is suggested that this filtered urine is even purer than the than the water in the Rhine itself. In this way we were saving each time a flush of water – sometimes upto 20 liters each time. We were pleased at how it went with using only 6 liters of water per day. We only used water for our freeze dried food and drinking (dehydration). So it is possible if you can be creative.
Dusseldorf
Grohe our title sponsor, headquartered in Dussledorf, organized a stop for us at the Dusseldorf Yacht club for a mini press conference. We arrived well on time and were welcomed by the Grohe media team and fresh water from their taps. Journalists were drippling in and we kicked off the joint presentation and Q&A on time. The message of water scarcity and better uitilisation of this precious resource really came over. Showcasing the boat to enthusiast jounalists really put our water usage into perspective. Only by sharing the story we can only make more momentum, since ‘Individually we are a drop, together we are an ocean’.
Our last leg
Our last leg took us into the Netherlands to Lobith and we had to get into the harbour on time to avoid being caught in a thunderstorm. Luckily we got there well on time, and even had time to do a man overboard drill. We didn’t always succeed in getting our team crew out of the water abd back in the boat, but the learnings we’ll take with us into a next practice.
En route to our last harbour, we were warmly surprised and cheered on the sidelines. At first we could not see who it was… but it appeared to be Adrie a friend from Bela. And further down the river we had Joosts friend also cheering us along. Its always a buzz to havesuch fine support from the side lines.
Jachthaven Gorichem, our last night together proved to be a memorable evening with the focus on the last leg. We had Alberto from Live Stuff meet us at the harbour to get us kitted out to take live Go Pro footage during the trip. It was a pretty spontaneous initiative which really paid off. We got some great interest from the public who got to experience life on board with us on the last day. Oscar our team coach and Richard from Attema BV (our sponsor) also met us at the harbour and gave us a briefing of the arrival. We had to get to Rotterdam at 2pm so had to time it perfectly. Once everyone left, we took one last drink in the canteen of the yacht club to eventually see Holland loose to England in the European Football Championship semi-final. But that didn’t dampen our focus for the next day. We were all fired up.
Arrival
At 6 am the following morning our alarm went off, got ready, started filming and set off to Rotterdam. We had to navigate at cross points and sometimes had to pass the busiest of crossings. All worked out well and sometime had to reset the Go Pro but we captured most of the trip for live viewing besides the end due to human error. But a great test for maybe on the Pacific. The trip was longer due to more current and unfavorable wind, but we managed. By 13.30 we closer to Rotterdam. Sara, who was steering could see the Erasmus bridge and before you knew it we had a rib boat next to us who had the media team and Grohe management on board. It was cool to be greeted this way and already get in the
mood for arrival. But we had to stay focused. The traffic with all the container vessels, water taxis and strong wind under the bridge, and a go pro that wasn’t working, made it that more challenging. But we kept the focus and Bela steered us into the harbour. A euphoric moment after having rowed for 10 days, rowing from foot of summit (Basel) towards the sea in Rotterdam.
It was a dream of ours to do… to follow this natural water source as a statement for our
mission. We did not know how it would go and how the challenging and busiest waterway of Europe would treat us. But all in all it worked out really well and could not have done this without the help of so many, from the media team, the PR team, the documentary team, the Grohe Germany and Netherlands team, the harbours, our Rhine advisor, our logistic team and more. Most especially a big thank you to our sponsors and also the warm welcome from family and friends who were waiting to welcome us on this sunny but windy day in Rotterdam. Once on land we popped a champagne, hugged our nearest and dearest, gave a short presentation together with Grohe and took a plunge for the last time of our Rhine trip. We will miss each other and are already looking forward to the next big training.
