Day One Hundred Sixty-Seven - June 21 Around 08:20 our ship leaves the North Sea to enter the canal and the Ijsselmeer (IJ). This one canal allows for the monitoring of seal levels as the city is located below sea level (-2 meters). All types of boats must use the canal before arriving in Amsterdam. The Amstel River flows north and south through the city towards the IJ. On our way towards the city we see small pleasure boats, ocean container freighters, on...

Day One Hundred Fifty - June 4 I am up early (05:37) to see a lonely wind turbine against the backdrop of the sunrise. Huge wind turbines line the mouth of the Nieuwe Mass channel that flows into the North Sea and our access route to Rotterdam. It will be almost another two hours before we are safely docked in Rotterdam. Rotterdam is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. However, when you take the metropolitan areas of Rotterdam and Th...