Netherlands - Den Helder Naval Dockyard & Museum

Another gem of a find! This was on recommendation of a fellow Dutch 'motorhomer' we met at the previous stop. The historic dockyard and marine base of WILLEMSOORD in Den Helder. The large town of Den Helder is the northern most area of the province of Noord Holland. Napoleon referred to it as the Gibraltar of northern Europe and as such instructed WILLEM 1, King of the Netherlands, in 1812 to build a naval facility there. The Netherlands was virtually occupied by the Emperor of France at the time and the idea was to deny the English any influence in northern Europe. Of course after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 all this changed. The Dutch continued with the construction work and it became known as WILLEMSOORD, today a veritable historical dockyard as is the case with Portsmouth in England. It comes highly recommended.

En route to Den Helder this beautiful old Dutch barge sailed along the canal

Entrance to the Naval Museum Willemsoord in Den Helder

Aerial view of the dockyard - photo of a photo

Credit: Marinemuseum

Part of the many and varied exhibits at WILLEMSOORD in Den Helder, were these visiting ocean going race yachts. They are about to depart on the last leg of the 2011/12 Clipper Round the World yacht race from Den Helder to Southampton. A beautiful sight it was, bringing a splash of colour to the naval dockyard.

2011/12 Clipper Round the World race yachts

The Naval Museum housed some interesting oil on canvas paintings, the one below showing the HMS Monmouth engaging with the Dutch ship HNLMS Alkmaar. The scene is described as the imminent surrender of the Alkmaar with the Delft in the background already disabled. The collection of art and other memorabilia of the bygone years of Dutch sea fairing prowess, were impressive. A highly recommended visit.

Credit: Marinemuseum

We stayed for two nights on the designated motorhome parking area within the dockyard. This means you can walk around at leisure any hour of the day or night, enjoying the smells, sights and sounds of a working harbour. Fresh air, choice of harbour cafes to suit all pockets, shoppes, ocean racing yachts and the cosiness of Fifi makes for a great combination.

Also see the following link for more pictures of the exhibits in this dockyard:-

http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4794