Skipper’s Log 2007- part 2
Guernsey
to Holland
Rie’s
condition was very painful after a fall, so it was a good thing to be in
harbour the next few days. On our second day in Guernsey,
we were joined by Vlodek and Agnieska on “Safran”. On the third day, three
boats from my old club – the Walton and Frinton Yacht Club- turned up. They
were “Nocturne” with Ian and Allison, “M’lady” with Sam and “Tortuga”
with David and Sylvia. Unfortunately Rie missed out on the socialising as she
had to lie down all the time – it was too painful to sit up. On the Tuesday,
Graham and Christine arrived on “Rebel”, they had sailed non-stop from Dover.
While in St
Peter Port, Rie heard the news that her daughter Dorthe was pregnant, which
cheered her up.
Dave Cocks
On Friday,
Dave Cocks arrived. I had asked him to help us across the channel, as Rie had
hurt herself. Whe should have left the next day, but guess what – thick fog. So on Sunday, we left St
Peter Port and sailed to Cherbourg.
We had light winds, so motor sailed all the way. At least we had no problems
with the Alderney race in the light wind
conditions. On arrival in Cherbourg,
we moored up next to “Safran” and spent a few hours with Vlodek and Agnieska.
The next morning was thick fog again so we could not see across the harbour!
Tuesday, 12th
June saw us up early and we left Cherbourg
at 0618. The wind was SW (on the quarter) but was rather light at first, but
after a couple of hours we were able to shut down the motor. We then had a fast
sail across the channel, we didn’t meet many ships. As we approached the
Needles channel, the wind piped up to F6 or so and conditions in the Needles
channel were rough. We hauled down the mainsail and rolled in on the tide with
just the genoa.
After Hurst Castle,
the sea calmed down again and we had a fast but gentle sail with the tide all
the way to Cowes.
We moored in Cowes Haven Marina at 7.30 pm. We spent a day in Cowes – it rained all day – and took
advantage of the sales. We both treated ourselves to a new pair of sailing
shoes at half price!
The next
day, 14th June, we set off cracking early at 4.20 am to catch the
tide. There was little wind , so we motor sailed most of the way. We had the
tide with us most of the way to Brighton. When
we reached Brighton, Dave’s wife, Jenny was
waiting for us and took our ropes. After a cup of tea on board, Dave and Jenny
drove home to Suffolk.
By then,
Rie felt much better and so we went shopping in Asda where we found many baby
things! I treated myself to new sailing waterproofs – my 10 year old Henry
Lloyds had lasted well but looked well worn. We stayed an extra day in Brighton because of the weather and finally set off again
on the 17th. We had SW wind, 15 knots, and had a reef in the main,
but after just three and a half hours we arrived in Eastbourne,
having sailed all the way.
We stayed just one night in Eastbourne and
filled up again with cheap diesel before the long leg to Dover. We locked out at 9 am and set sail for
Dungeness. The day started with about 15 knots but by the time we approached
Dungeness, it was blowing at least 20 knots from SW so we put the second reef
in. After rounding the headland the wind was directly behind us and down to 15
knots again, so we goose winged it the rest of the way to Dover. The tide was very strong near Dover, and Rie had a
lesson in crabbing across tide to the entrance. We moored in the tidal harbour
and went to look for our last fish and chips – but the fish shop had closed
down! We settled for a restaurant near the harbour for rather more expensive
cod and chips.
The white
cliffs of Dover
We left Dover the next day, and pushed the tide towards South
Goodwin – we made slow progress against the spring tide though and ended up
crabbing eastwards to the TSS, then crossing it at 90 degrees, while the tide
set us towards Calais.
Once clear of the TS, we set course for Dunkirk.
Now things got interesting, the strong current and shallow banks made for rough
water and we rolled our way to Dunkirk.
We moored up at the YCMN marina after 10 hours at sea. An hour later, I had a
phone call from my sister in Wales,
saying that our Auntie Peg had died and was I coming to the funeral. So next
morning we moved the boat to the inner harbour, locking in through Trystram
lock. This turned out to be a good move in that the charge here for 7 days was
only 75 €.
On the Friday,
I took a bus to Calais and a ferry to Dover, then drove in a hire car to Cardiff. Meanwhile Rie stayed on board. I
returned to the boat on Tuesday – this had been the longest Rie and I had been
apart since we married in 1999!
The weather
forecast was not inspiring for the next day, but we took a chance and headed
for Ostende. The wind was almost astern
all the way, and we made good speed over the ground – the tide adding about 2
knots to our sailing speed. It took us only four and a half hours to get to
Ostende, but boy, did we roll!
In the
Montgomery Dock marina.
I got a shipping forecast from the
harbourmaster that warned of F7 gusts, but on logging on to
“weatheronline.co.uk” saw that the wind along the coast should only be about
F3. So, at 9.30 am we left the Montgomery Dock in Ostende, and sailed along the
coast to the Westerscheldte and Holland. Again we rock’n
rolled our way with just the genoa. We crossed the river near Breskens and
dived into the the Vlissingen
lock and the Dutch canals. Just before 5 pm and four opening bridges later, we
arrived in Middelburg, and got a mooring.
The next
day, we woke up to the sound of the wind in the rigging and heavy rain. The
weather forecast on channel 23 said gale force winds, so we stayed a day. But
at least we were now in the Dutch inland waters for a while. The 30th
June was another rainy day, but we left at 10 am. It rained on and off during
the day. We sailed some of the time on Veersemeer and stopped for lunch on a
little island there – Sabingeplaat.
hen finally
into the Oosterschelde and motored to the entrance of the canal leading to
Goes. We spent the night in the city marina in Goes.
Goes
The next
day started wet again, but by the time we were back in the Oosterschelde, it
dried up again. We motored all day, locking into the Volkerak and finally into
the Hollandsdiep.
A busy
lock!
We stayed
the night at the lovely town harbour
of Willemstat, this was a
delightful place, we moored just below the windmill.
We stopped just the one night before
continuing to Dordrecht and through the
Hollandsijsel to Gouda.
Here we locked into the town harbour again, as we had done in 2005. And just
like last time, we had a thunderstorm just after we arrived.
We left
again the next day about 9 am and negotiated the three bridges and a lock out
to the main waterway. The rail bridge just outside Gouda opened at 1013 am, and a small flotilla
gathered there. We sailed with them northwards and through Bannermeer before
turning left into the ring kanaal Haarlem.
We had decided this time to take the Haarlem
route instead of the night convoy to Amsterdam.
We all came to a stop at Sassenheim where the bridges do not open between 1328
and 1828 – we missed it by half an hour. So we moored up and had a quiet
afternoon – except for the thunderstorm and torrential rain!
Eventually
at 1828 precisely the railway bridge opened and our little flotilla of six
boats continued northwards. In the approaches to Haarlem, we encountered many rowing boats going
in both directions, and sometimes across the river. We arrived in Haarlem centre about 9
pm, so decided to moor up to the quay there, like the others. Around 10 pm, we
were visited by a pair of swans, with six cygnets, begging for food – they got
a few slices of our bread. It was a wet night.
The next
morning at 9.45 am, we set off again. The first bridge opened for us but the
next, a footbridge, didn’t - we had to wait until a few more boats arrived at
10 am. We paid our dues just after bridge no. 4 and carried on until we reached
the Spaandam lock, where we had to moor up and wait alongside some others that
were already there. The lock opened at 12 am, and once inside, I had to go up
to the office to pay lock 3.50€ dues. Once out of the lock, the bridge opened
for us and we continued out to the Noordzeekanaal. This we then followed
eastwards, through Amsterdam
to the Oranjesluis where we locked out to the Markermeer.
By now it
was blowing about 20 knots from SW, so we let out the genoa and had a fast sail
all the way to Hoorn
– we reached 7 knots at times. It was a sea captain from Hoorn
that gave the name to Cape Horn, there was
once a well known navigation school here. It was also a busy harbour for
shipping before the Ijselmeer silted up. We arrived in Hoorn just after 6 pm and moored in the
binnenhaven, right in the town. There were many sailing barges in the outer
harbour.
We went out
for an evening walk around the town and had a drink at a local bar before
turning in for the night. Many of the buildings in Hoorn leaned into the road at various angles
(we saw them before we went to the bar)!
Leaning
houses in Hoorn
In the
morning, Rie went off to the supermarket to do some shopping and I went off in
search for gas. We then moved over to the watering berth and filled our water
tank, and we eventually left at 1030 am. We had a gentle sail again with just
the genoa to the lock near Enkhuizen. However, when we tried to roll the genoa
in, the reefing line was jammed in the drum. So we hurriedly took the sail off,
tied it to the guard rail and rushed after the others into the lock. We decided
not to stop and spend time on sorting out the roller and motored instead across
the Ijselmeer to the Princesse Margarietsluis near Lemmer.
A stowaway.
It was a very rolly trip, the Ijselmeer can
throw up a short sharp chop when the wind blows. The lock didn’t open for at
leasthalf an hour, but we eventually followed three large barges into the lock.
When the lock gates opened, the barges sailed out and motored under the
motorway bridge, but we had to wait a while for the bridge to open.
We
continued along the Princess Margarietkanal in company with a Norwegian boat,
until just before the Wester-brugsloot, where we found a quiet place to moor up
in amongst the reeds. Several small landing stages were placed around a small
island, each long enough to take two boats. After a meal, which Rie had
prepared while under way, we cleared the jammed reefing line on the roller and
put the genoa back on. The next day it poured with rain and blew a gale – we
recorded over 30 knots of wind – so we stayed put!
Horrible
weather!
We spent the day tidying up the boat,
refuelling and doing engine checks and so on. The local forecast on VHF at 1305
gave a warning of gale force winds until after midnight, later at 1905, these
were extended to 8 am tomorrow. A few motor boats came past, but their crews
were snug in their enclosed steering houses. We were being pinned to the
staging by a broadside wind so it would have been difficult to get away anyway.
