World Port Days...

By the time I was done at the museum, I figured it was too late to attend World Port Days, with its primary activities across the river.

So I started walking to Markthal and was pleasantly surprised when I ran into a bunch of ships offering tours in front of the Maritime Museum.

Especially interesting was the steam dredging ship called the Friesland. Built in 1935, it is the oldest sailing and working steam dredging mill in the Netherlands. For over four decades, it was used primarily for deepening channels in various rivers.

It is now owned by a foundation and has been housed at the National Dredging Museum since 1989 with volunteers sailing it annually into Rotterdam for World Port Days.

 Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see this music boat in action...

 ...but did get to board and hear about the sustainable yacht Ya, which completed a two-year round-the-world sailing trip without using any fossil fuels in September 2018.

Even after all these years, it still amazes me when I spot Dutch folks wearing wooden clogs in public.