Far Out the Long Canal

Far Out the Long Canal (1964) is the most successful novel by Meindert de Jong.

It is set in his native country of The Netherlands. The central character is Moonta, a teenager who, due to chronic illness, has never learnt to skate. A sudden frost, the sharpest in years, gives him the chance to learn. He must master the skates quickly and undertake a long journey along the canal to the mysterious "New Church's Pipe" (somewhere mentioned by his father) before the ice thaws.