Windmill Tour

This is the Molen van Sloten Windmill that was a block away from our first Airbnb on the outskirts of Amsterdam. A light breeze is all it took to for the sails to start spinning and get the windmill working. The corkscrew at the bottom pushes water up from the lower canal that was about 2 meters below sea level to the upper canal that was about a half meter below sea level according to the measuring sticks they had on each side. In the center of the windmill is a single extra long log that connects the gears in the cap down 4 stories to the corkscrew in the canal. The cap of the windmill is the original wood and reed construction from 1847 set atop a reinforced base of stone and wood. A Miller, like the man in blue with the rope, was tasked with putting the sails up each morning and taking them down each night. He showed us how to stop the sails so he could climb up and take off the sail cloth - he said he rarely needs a harness when climbing the tall sails. The entire cap can be turned into the wind using the giant steering wheel and there are doors on either side of the deck so that the Miller can rope off the area where the sails are spinning and still get to the steering. Inside the windmill there's plenty of room for the Miller's family to stay and often Millers would setup fishing nets in the canals. They had some great model windmills where we could see the inner workings of the breaks and gears that are still in use more than 150 years later. The engineering was fascinating to see in motion. (see https://molenvansloten.nl/ for more info)