Blue Star Fiasco

We rented a boat this afternoon.
Two hours of fun on the lake Oldambtmeer, near Winschoten.
Well, that was the plan...

We arrived a bit early, and our boat, the BLUE STAR, wasn't ready yet, it was still out on the lake. No problem, we were early so we waited. It was supposed to be back at 14.00 hours. We rented from 14 - 16.00 hours.

14.00 came and went, no boat. No problem yet, just be patience....14.10 there it was! Two people stepped out and had a rather long talk with a guy from the boat-rental. Once they were gone we could step in. A quick introduction of how things should work and we could go! Oh no, a refill was needed because the gastank was almost empty. Another wait....
All and all it was past 14.30 when we took off. I took place behind the steering wheel. No problem.

Aye Aye cap'n!
I started the engine and gave gas. Nothing... More gas.... nothing.... oh yesss, more sound from the engine erupted and we were moving.
I turned the steering wheel and immediately we turned over 45 degrees. What?? I steered the other way, and a full 180 degrees the other way around followed, while the engine had fun and seemed to give more and more gas by itself.
Long story short: We swabbed and zigzagged over the lake. This boat was just unmanageable with a motor that had a will of its own.
I made me so grumpy, mainly because the rest of my crew dared to think I was doing things wrong. I WAS NOT!!

To prove that, I gave Daan the steering wheel. He went in circles as well, and finally we all came to the conclusion that this was no fun. The tour we were given through small canals and under bridges just wasn't possible. It would be suicide.
So, as soon as I was able to turn this boat around, I gave full gas and went back to the yard. We zigzagged our way back. My arms are still hurting!

Within 40 minutes I was in the rental-office with all my complaints.
The man behind the desk admitted this boat was a bit nervous on the steering part and the engine had its own manual too...... aaaahhhh!!!

After a very short discussion we were refunded and we went back to the car, with a steering wheel and engine that listen to me.
What a disappointment! Luckily the boys took it well. We already had a laugh about it.

We then went to Termunten and had a coffee and cake on a terrace.
The cake we ordered turned out not to be available anymore....... well that fits the day. Another cake, problem solved.
Until it was time to pay. The original cakes were still on the note and it took some discussion to get them off!

Once home, we decided to make it easy for ourselves on the dinner part. We ordered spare ribs online, to be delivered around 17.30. So far so good.
At 17.45 (no problem!!) it was delivered. Wait a minute! Is this all?
I ordered 4 portions, I received only 2!! I could stop the deliverer just in time (he raced through the street already).
At that point he suddenly could speak hardly any Dutch anymore, but eventually the called his boss and after a long talk in Arabic, the conclusion was he would get the remaining two portions as soon as possible.
Within 30 minutes he was back and handed me the 2 portions, accompanied with lots and lots of excuses.
Dinner at 18.30: 2 cold and 2 hot spare-ribs.

After dinner Annemarie and I went to Groningen to get some things (a desk) from IKEA. On our way there we wondered what would go wrong.
Luckily nothing. Murphy must have decided to go elsewhere.