Skipper's Log 24th June 2005 - Kignæs to Falmouth

                             2005 VOYAGE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN

                                                                                       

1 May		Preparations Restless was launched last Saturday, and since then we have been living aboard. Dorthe and Brian have moved into our house while we are away. In preparation for the voyage, we have replaced all the skin fittings and scraped off all the old antifouling paint. Internally, we have installed a new 50 l toilet tank and a new 150 l water tank. We have also built extra shelves in the forecabin for our clothes etc. and added to the navigation area to accommodate a laptop computer , almanacs, CD’s and DVD’s. We have ordered new rigging wire etc. and a new Furlex roller for the forestay, these will be collected on the way in Rudkøbing harbour. We have all the charts we need as far as the Portuguese border, we will pick up extra charts in Falmouth to see us to Gibraltar, and then top up again there. Our friends Telse and Knud have almost finished making us a new cockpit tent / bimini hood – may be finished Monday. Our liferaft has been serviced and awaits collection in Sweden.
7 May		The great day has arrived, and about 35 well wishers came down to see us off. We served coffee and Gammel Dansk on board from 9 to 12. We had borrowed the coffee machine from home and were hooked up to the mains electricity. Soon after noon, we set sail for Hundested harbour in a fresh westerly wind and the going was rough through the Kulhuse channel, with the wind on the nose. It was nice to see our old friend Columbus, the Kulhuse ferry again. It has just returned after 3 years away. Once out of the entrance to Roskilde fjord and in Isefjord, it was an easy sail to Hundested. The older part of the harbour was being renovated, so we lay alongside a motor yacht in the outer section. We saw no sign of the harbourmaster. Later, Frank and Susanne fetched us in their car and we drove to Claus and Kisser’s in Melby where Claus had prepared a 3 course meal. We returned to the boat around 11pm, the air was very cold!
8 May		Set off from Hundested around 9am, again in a fresh westerly and we tacked all the way to Odden harbour, where it poured with rain. After we had set up the cockpit tent, there was a hailstorm and the deck was covered in 2cm of hailstones. We bought some freshly caught plaice from a fisherman on the quay and had them for supper. We had bought 6 fish for 40 kr and had an extra 3 small ones free. It was very cold in Odden and we wished we had brought more winter clothes with us.
9 May	0900	Set off from Odden and had a good sail up to the passage through the reef (Snækkerløbet). Afterwards we motorsailed into a SW wind. Some 5 miles SW of the reef, the engine stopped- fuel blockage, and it wasn’t much fun clearing it and bleeding the whole system in the lumpy sea! Eventually, we got going again and continued across the big ship route and down the western edge of the TSS and across to Ballen, on the island of Samsø. As we entered the harbour, we saw there was another Rival there, the R34 Windross. We thought it had a German flag on like all the others, but it turned out to be Belgian. It soon came on to rain again, so we stayed under cover – it was a pleasure to eat under our new cockpit tent.
10 May		Was presented with a cup of tea in bed , and presents – it’s my birthday! There were presents from my wife, and my daughter Dilys. I had already received birthday presents from Dorthe and Brian on departure. Soon afterwards, the heavens opened and it poured with rain. After it stopped, Rie went over to the shop and I paid a visit to the other Rival. Theirs was a much later boat from 1988 – very nicely finished. I invited them over for coffee at 10 and we hurriedly tidied up our boat. The couple from Windross came over, and we had an interesting chat over coffee and Gammel Dansk. By the time they had left, it had cleared up to a bright sunny day- though with a distinct chill in the air. No wind. Ballen harbour was almost deserted of Danish boats, but many German flagged boats determined to enjoy their Whitsun holiday. We left Ballen around noon and set off under motor. I played with the newly installed computer under way (installed the inverter last night) and followed our progress with the aid of “Det Levende Søkort”. This is a cheap Danish Electronic sea chart available from Post Offices for £30, and covers the whole of Denmark. There is also a Swedish version. The whole day remained calm so we motored all the way to Kerteminde, on the island of Fyn. Kerteminde is a large marina, run by the local council, and very well organised. Again there were many German boats, the Danes haven’t really started yet. Three berths away from us lay a big German boat with 6 men onboard who behaved very badly all evening to the annoyance and embarrassment of other crews.
11 May	1005	Set sail from Kerteminde in sunshine – but still rather chilly. We goosewinged towards the Great Belt Bridge and reached it at 1255. With so little wind, the speed was down to 3 knots or so. We passed under the western bridge span, between Fyn and Sprogø where the clearance is 18m, it looked as if we would hit it with the mast! Clearance was at least 6m over our mast though. After the bridge, we set up the cruising chute, and ran with that until we were abeam of Thurø. Here we saw lightning flashes and dark clouds gathering. As it wasn’t far to the entrance to the narrow channel to Rudkøbing, we took down all the sails. Soon after, the heavens opened and visibility was down to less than half a mile. Luckily, a small ship came out of the channel so it showed us the way to the clear water mark. After we entered the channel, the rain stopped, so we could see the buoys again. Continued on and under the Langeland bridge to Rudkøbing harbour. We moored alongside Bianca’s mast crane as arranged at 1755. The director of Bianca boatyard , Anders Leth Christensen , came down to welcome us and said they would start on our rigging first thing in the morning. We took off the mainsail and genoa and cleared the mast for lifting off. Finally we had a meal and soon were nicely tucked up in bed.
12 May		The morning was bright and sunny, but still cold. Rie went up to the town to do some shopping while I saw to the riggers. The mast was taken off around 11am and we carried it over to Bianca’s big shed. I then contacted DK-Sails and together we carried the old roller forestay over to them. During the day, the new Furlex furling system was assembled around a new 7mm forestay. Later in the day, we carried it over to Bianca’s. The existing genoa’s luff was too big for the new foil, so the sail was delivered to DK-Sails for modification. When I went back for it at 6pm, Søren Jansen was still working on it – collect tomorrow. We had to move from the crane berth as others wanted to lift masts, so we moved over to the new fixed pontoon which still having its finishing touches and settled down for the night.
13 May		We woke up to find that some of the neighbouring boats were dressed overall with signal flags. We were told the new pontoon was to be officially opened by the Mayor today. We went up to the town and drew money out of our bank account and paid it into the sailmaker’s account. On our return, the opening ceremony was about to begin, afterwards there followed a free lunch of sausages/ bread and beer. Soon after, the riggers had the mast ready, so we moved back to the crane berth. The mast was lifted back on without problems, but the new bottle screws for the upper shrouds had not arrived. So we moved over to Bianca’s berth for another free night. Collected the genoa from DK-Sails. The boom was mounted back on the mast and the genoa hoisted on the roller – it doesn’t fit. Something had to go wrong today, it’s Friday the 13th! The old halyard guide block was too low on the mast for the new system, ah well, we’ll move it tomorrow – a trip up the mast!
14 May		After breakfast, I walked over to Bianca’s and explained about the problem with the lead block. Anders went off to see if the new bottle screws had arrived and later on the rigger came back with them and finished the rigging work, and adjusted the tension in the rigging. Anders came over and the rigger went aloft to remove the old block and replaced it with the guide supplied with the Furlex, higher up the mast. This gave enough room to tension the luff . The rigging looks really good now, and I’m very satisfied with the service from both Bianca boatyard and DK-Sails. Around 5pm, we moved over to the main harbour where there was access to the internet via a hotspot provided by the yacht club. So we checked our e-mails, and sent a few. We had a meal at the “Neptune” harbour restaurant, a cosy little place with good food and good value. Afterwards, we watched a couple of episodes of “Matador” on DVD. This was a television series transmitted in the 80s. It is historical fiction and covers the period 1929 – 1946. I used it a lot as an aid to learning Danish, it also gives a good introduction to Danish culture.
15 May		A bright breezy day with the wind in the NE. Today, we have bottled some meat for later in the voyage, using our pressure cooker. Rie washed our clothes in the harbour’s washing machine, and I have installed the automatic antenna tuner in the cockpit locker and connected it to the new insulated backstay. The harbourmaster came round and we paid him 210kr for two nights, the other 4 have been free! Rie has sent the latest update to our webmaster, Poul Henriksen
16 May		We woke early to the noise of halyards banging against the mast and the wind howling. So got up to rearrange the halyards and make tea and coffee – then crawled back under the warm duvet. It is COLD and gusting 28 knots! In the afternoon, I set to work to install the ham transceiver, It was removed from the boat after arriving in Denmark in 1999 as I didn’t get my Danish licence until last year. My new callsign is OZ2HFR and I look forward to talking to the Danish Ham Maritime Mobile Net when we get to the English Channel. Anders came round with the bill for the rigging – around what we had expected. Then we went over to the yard together, and I bought a length of teak trim to finish off around the tiller opening. It continued windy all day.
17 May		Rudkøbing to Delfzil We got away from Rudkøbing at last! The weather was bright and sunny with the wind blowing 12knots from the West.
	1156	Left harbour and motored towards Marstsal. We did some fishing on the way, but didn’t catch anything.
	1400	Arrived in Marstal and moored against one of the old quays to top up with diesel. Later we moved to the yacht harbour, and did some shopping in the town. The Marstal and Rudkøbing channels together give a nice short cut round the back of Langeland. The Danish sea chart INT1375 shows the channels whereas the BA chart only shows shallow water. The Lillebælt route can sometimes have a strong current along the narrow sections – direction dependent on winds ( see Kommas Havnelods) We had some splendid entertainment in the evening watching a chartered 38ft German yacht trying to manoeuvre into a berth. After a good half hour, he got his nose in, only to find the berth was too narrow to get in. Even our German neighbour thought it was very funny!
18 May		Rie did some more shopping and I went out to find some gas – the neighbour boat lent me a cycle as it was a long way to the local campsite. In the afternoon, I replaced the engine control which had been slipping for some time and had no more adjustment left. I had bought a replacement earlier in Sweden, but hadn’t got around to fitting it! In the evening, I made a new surround to the tiller opening with the teak strip Anders had cut for me. The weather forecast for the morning is not too good – wind against us to Kiel and freezing point tonight! We’ll just have to see what the morning brings.
19 May		Another sunny day, but still cold and not much wind. There was frost last night!
	0845	Left the mooring at Marstal and motored down the channel, hoisting the main on the way. After leaving the buoyed channel, the wind was blowing direct from Kiel – our destination. After two hours, the wind dropped so much that we we were not making much progress close-hauled, so we started the engine again and motorsailed the rest of the way.
	1316	Crossed the border into German waters and hoisted the courtesy flag.
	1730	Arrived at the Holtenau lock in Kiel and moored up for the night just north of the locks. This is a cheap mooring at 6.10 euro in a quiet backwater. I went for a long walk while Rie prepared supper. Looking in the ship’s log, we see that the last time we were in Holtenau was 19th May 1999!
20 May		A dull miserable morning, so we had a lie in and decided we would only go as far as Rendsburg today. We went over to the Ships’ Proviant place and stocked up with beer and wine. Even with vat paid, it was vastly cheaper than Danish prices.
	1255	Entered the lock, and paid the 12 euro for passage along the canal.
	1315	Out of the lock, and we’re in the Kiel canal. It cleared up a bit during the day as we motored at a steady 6 knots (2200 rpm). At 1500 it started to rain and was not so pleasant in the cockpit.
	1630	Arrived at the Yacht Club at Rendsburg. As we moored up, the front two feet of capping rail was pulled off and fell overboard – complete with fairlead! Efforts to salvage it with a fishing net lashed to a boathook failed. Meanwhile, Rie had gone to report to the harbourmaster and discovered that his colleague was a sports diver. This was one advantage of a wife that can speak German. Later in the evening, he came swimming along the pontoon, having cleared a fouled prop for another yacht on the way. He recovered our missing toerail, complete with fairlead. It cost us 30 euro, but that was much cheaper than a replacement. We were moored up next to a Dutch Westerly Centaur, the retired couple were on their way to Denmark and would explore the Baltic for the next 6 months. I gave them my Kommas Havnelods, and they gave me the charts I missed for central Holland – fair exchange. Their boat was called “De Witte Beer” – which means “The White Bear”.
21 May		Woke up to heavy rain, but by 8 am it had started clearing up.
	1040	Left Rendsburg and returned to the main canal, “De Witte Beer” had left just before us. We continued along the canal towards Brunsbuttel. It is just a long slog under motor, but the tree lined sections are quite scenic. We saw many people taking exercise along the canal path, and lots of wild life – like a pair of courting swans swimming round in small circles. Later, we had a shower, but it soon dried up again.
	1750	Moored up at the yacht haven just by the locks. The other side of the pontoon was a paved area where a German band was playing – It brought back memories of our brass band in Bishop’s Stortford. We walked up to the nearby Aldi supermarket and bought a few things – all at half Danish prices or lower. When we came back to the boat, the harbour master was there, so we paid our 6.10 euro for the night. I found some suitable screws in the locker and repaired the toerail – it feels firm now but we’ll give the glue a few days to cure before we put any strain on the fairlead. Tonight we tried some of our bottled pork with sweet and sour sauce and it tasted very good indeed. We’ll have to do some more bottling when we get the chance.
	2030	A jazz band started playing nearby and we enjoyed it from the comfort of our cockpit tent, with a glass of wine. It was fascinating watching the big ships entering and leaving the locks. Some of the container ships are huge.
22 May		A nice warm sunny day, with just a breeze inside the canal. We found out from the harbour office that the tide continues to flow for one hour after the time of high water, so we have to wait until 1420 before we enter the lock. We had an English boat alongside us overnight – a Contest 40 from The Hamble, they were on their way to Denmark. The lock keeper answers on CH13 to “Kiel canal 1”, enter on a white light. We had to wait for a ship to enter first, then we tied up along the other side of the lock.
	1530	Locked out of Brunsbuttel into the river Elbe soon after the tide had begun to ebb. We made good progress with the tide under us. As we passed Mellemgrund, we saw a yacht high and dry, well out of the buoyed channel. At first we had sunshine, but later it got very dark and started to rain for a while. As we approached Cuxhaven, the wind picked up from the west at 29 knots and combined with the strong current made the dash across to the harbour entrance interesting – we did a perfect ferry glide across at about 45 deg to the wanted course.
	1740	Entered Cuxhaven yacht harbour and soon found a finger berth, in fact there was plenty of room. We could see it was getting very dark again, so we hurried to get the cockpit tent up and cover the mainsail – just in time before a heavy downpour. After it eased off again, I went up to the harbour office and paid my dues – 13 euro for the night. Rie had bought some thick asparagus shoots in Brunsbuttel, so we had them wrapped in thin slices of smoked ham – delicious with garlic baguette and tomato salad. We settled down tor an early night, as we plan to leave at dawn tomorrow.
23 May		Decided to stay in Cuxhaven today. We borrowed a marina trolley and went off in search for diesel. We were first directed to the BP bunkering station by the ferry harbour – but no, they only sell a minimum quantity of 500 ltrs. So, we walked further until we found an Esso petrol station. It was a long way back to the harbour, but we found a supermarket on the way so took advantage of the trolley to carry the shopping as well. Were we glad for that trolley! The weather was bright and breezy in the morning, but it clouded over again in the afternoon and cooled down, just like yesterday.
24 May	0530	Departed Cuxhaven, to catch the tide down the Elbe. The wind was SW F4, so a pleasant sail to the tip of the Scharnhorn reef. Thereafter, the wind was against us at 15 knots so we were back to motorsailing all the way to Nordeney. We took the Tief Gat channel in to Nordeney. During the day, a window had leaked and doused the inverter in sea water – it died.
	1820	Entered Nordeney yacht harbour, after a long 69 nautical miles. Since we were last here in 1999, they have built a fine building with harbour office, washing facilities, restaurant and bar. This was much more conveniently placed than the old yacht club. I had a long talk with the harbour master concerning tide tactics for going to Delfzil. Decided to wait for the tide tomorrow.
25 May		We walked up to the town area to find food and diesel. It would have been a long way back with the full can, but the garage owner gave me a lift to the harbour as he was on his way home for lunch.
	1420	Departed Nordeney 1 hour after high water, and took the ebb tide down the Schluchter channel. Again the wind was against us all the way as far as the Riffgat.
	1855	Entered the Riffgat, now we had the flood tide all the way to Borkum. It was getting late, and in the weakening light the unlit buoys were not so visible.
	2050	Arrived in Borkum – a place that seemed to have seen better days – some of the pontoons listed alarmingly. No harbourmaster, so settled down for the night.
26 May		Woke up to a lovely warm sunny day – but guess what – the wind had swung round to SE, on the nose all the way up the Ems river.
	0830	Went up to pay the harbourmaster my dues.
	0925	Departed Borkum at HW +1. There was a strong current across the pontoons, which made it difficult to get out. The day became warmer and warmer – something we are not yet used to. The tide gave us a good push up the Ems.
	1130	Crossed the channel to Dutch waters, so replaced the German courtesy flag with the Dutch flag.
	1215	Arrived at the Delfzil yacht harbour, the heat really hit us as we motored up the long harbour approach. After some lunch, I went off in search for a new inverter. Also bought Chart B which covers from Liewarden to Lemmer – the old one seems to have disappeared. Rie did some washing and I installed the inverter. The inverter powers the computer from the ship’s batteries. Have spoken to two more Dutch skippers on their way to Denmark! The harbourmaster came at 5pm so we paid our dues and bought 40 ltrs of diesel. The German motorboat in front of us filled up with 350 ltrs! We had a quiet night in Delfzil.
		Delfzil to Amsterdam
27 May	0826	Left the yacht harbour and motored to the lock. It is so hot that we have put up the bimini hood over the cockpit!
	0910	We have locked through to the Ems canal. We made good progress until we came to Groningen at mid day. The bridge would not open until one!
	1610	Passed through the Dorkwerksluis, but the Platvoetbrug will not open. Heard on the VHF that the bridge was broken down and there was an engineer on the way – but when?
	1750	The engineers came and opened the bridge for us. We then carried on to Garnwerd where there is a yacht station just before the bridge.
	1900	We moored alongside a pontoon, behind a Burnham registered boat called “Beagle IV”  It has been a long day, and my legs and arms are sunburnt. Rie stepped on a cushion in the cockpit and fell, badly bruising her arm and leg.
28 May		We’re two days behind schedule, but the weather is fantastic again. At 0800 it was already hot.
	0945	Slipped our mooring, and passed through the bridge. This section was clearly a river that had been canalised, with great oxbow bends, and is still very natural. There were some shallow patches here and there, and fishing nets on the bends. Buoys appeared on the approach to Zoutkamp lock and bridge. We had heard that yesterday the lock was under repair, with restricted openings, but we were not delayed. The lock gates had been removed, and the bridge opened on demand.
	1230	Stopped at a mooring place, not long after the lock and topped up the fuel tank.
	1300	Moved off and continued along Lawersmeer against a strong breeze. A Swiss Halberg Rassy 34 caught us up and followed us.
	1420	Entered the Dokkumer Diep via the Nieu Dokkumer Sluis and continued all the way to Dokkum The Swiss boat stayed behind us all the way and let us open all the bridges for them! We stopped in Dokkum to do some shopping.
	1650	Moored in Woudpoorts Gracht, where there is a long line of moorings just before the bridge, close to the town centre. The fee here was just 5.50 euro. Supper turned out to be pieces of cod in batter – we thought we had bought chicken nuggets! Suddenly there was a screech – a pigeon had flown into our fast turning wind generator! It seemed very bewildered, but soon flew away again. We found we could access the internet here via a wireless LAN, so I spent the evening typing up the skipper’s log and sending it by e-mail to Poul, our webmaster. We also downloaded all our pictures from the digital camera to the computer and burnt a copy on CDRom. Later, we can edit the files on the computer, and send them to Poul.
29 May		Another fine, sunny morning, but thankfully cooler. We checked our e-mails and discovered that at 0700, Poul had already updated the website. The first bridge opening was at 0900, so we had a leisurely breakfast.
	0921	Slipped the mooring and the bridge soon opened for us. This stretch of the canal between the town’s two windmills is very pretty, and there are many mooring possibilities. At the next bridge we had to pay 4.20 euro to pass, and had to wait for the bridge keeper to come from the previous bridge on her moped. The fee is collected by lowering a wooden clog, tough if you don’t have the right change! Some moles further on at Burdaard, another bridge payment – this time 2 euro. We realised we didn’t have more coins, so we moored up between the two bridges and Rie went up to a nearby café to change a note. The next stretch had many interesting gardens and some new houses with thatched roofs.
	1230	Approached the first of the Leeuwarden bridges, it was closed until 1300. We could not come in to the bank to moor as there were overhanging trees, so we went alongside a Dutch motor boat. After passing through Leeuwarden, we came to the HRM railway bridge, which would not open. We called them up on the VHF and they said it would open at 1500. So, we went alongside the bank and tied up to some mooring posts. I washed one side of the boat, which now looks distinctly yellow. Then I started to scrub the decks, but heard a bell. The bridge would open after all!
	1430	Passed through the bridge, and the next few bridges opened on demand, but we met a large commercial barge at one and had to wait for him to come through.
	1630	We were now in the Princess Margriet Canal and meeting many large barges.
	1630	Found a mooring place on a small island, just before the widening at Grou. The last time we came this way, we stopped at a small marina in Grou and thought it was a lot of money for few facilities. I tried my luck with the fishing rod, but no luck.
30 May		We arranged with our Dutch friends, Marianne and Henri, that we would meet them tonight in Enkhuizen.
	0920	Left our little island, which we had all to ourselves all night. We set off in the direction of Lemmer. Here the canal widened to a series of meers, such as Sneekermeer. The weather was cold after early morning rain, and we left the aft part of the cockpit tent up. Later in the day, we were very glad of it as it gave the helmsman good shelter from the rain.
	1220	We came to the railway bridge at Spannenburg, not far from Lemmer. There were no light signals and there was the CEVNI sign showing “bridge not passable”. We called to a couple of workmen who were building new moorings nearby, and they told us the bridge was being repaired and would not open until Wednesday!!  Out came the chart, and we discussed alternative routes. The slight diversion to the east and back to Lemmer had a fixed bridge with only 14m clearance – too close for comfort. We decided to go back to the Johan Friso Kanaal, and thence via Heeger Meer  to Stavoren. Stavoren is an alternative entry point to the Ijsselmeer, but is shallow in places. The rain poured down and it became cold and windy.
	1525	Locked through at Stavoren and faced a grey, lumpy Ijsselmeer. There were many large sailing vessels about, and we rolled our way across to Enkhuizen, with a following wind and genoa.
	1750	Arrived in Enkhuizen Compagnie Hafen, where a man with a red umbrella waved us over to a berth. It turned out to be Ton, a friend of Henri’s who has a Nordship 35 moored nearby. We expected our guests to arrive at 8pm, so we set to tidying up ship after the rolling experience from Stavoren. While on the canals, things stay in their place but this was like being at sea and we were caught off guard – not having stowed everything away properly – what a mess! We had a very pleasant evening with our guests Henri & Marianne, and Ton & Marianne – yes, two Mariannes. I gleaned a lot of information from Ton about the next stage of our journey to Vlissingen, particularly the night passage in convoy through Amsterdam and the route via Gouda and Rotterdam.
31 May		It was very wet first thing this morning, and we decided to stay in Enkhuizen today. We were getting low on clean clothes and had a huge bag of dirty clothes to wash. But first, coffee with Ton and Marianne on their boat – and more advice on Amsterdam etc. – very useful. Afterwards, we went up to the washing machines with our heavy load and spent the next hour or so doing the laundry – two machine loads. Later, after some lunch, we walked up to the town and stocked up in the supermarkets. In the reed beds along the pontoon, it teems with wildlife. The crested grebes had young ones or were just sitting on eggs. We saw one mother with several very young chicks on her back – she covered them with her wings – fascinating. The water hens were busy feeding their young red faced chicks and there were also many young ducklings about. We also found that the herons will take ducklings if they get the chance.
1 June	1030	Left Enkhuizen, after having filled up with diesel, and motored to the lock.
	1100	Left the lock, and we were now in Markermeer. The weather was sunny and flat calm so on with the iron topsail today again.
	1340	We passed the distinctive Marken lighthouse and continued to the channel leading to the Oranjiesluis. We had a short wait for the bridge to go up before we could continue to the big lock. Another wait here for boats to be locked through in the opposite direction. We got the green light, and all six of us went into the port hand lock. After the lock, we continued along the Ij to the Sixhaven marina. There have been many changes here since our last visit in 1999. They are building a metro where the houseboats used to be, and the facilities have been moved to the other side of the little lifting bridge. The fee here was 13 euro, including electricity.
2 June	0700	We woke up to the noise of the big machines driving in piles for the new Metro. We had a lazy morning, we then took one of the free ferries over to Central Station to see a bit of the city. We stopped for lunch at a café, then took a cycle taxi tour. We negotiated 30 minutes for 20 euro. The “driver” was rather cheeky in traffic and jumped several red lights. He showed us many buildings, including the Anne Franck Museum. This is a glass fronted building set up around the attic where Anne Franck and her family hid. He agreed to drop us off at the station, but when he stopped, a cycle mounted policeman came up and gave him a summons for traffic offences – not surprising. The driver said he would get a fine for about 25 euro, so he didn’t make any money from our fare! He seemed quite calm about it – probably not the first time. We crossed back on the ferry and went in search of a supermarket, where we topped up with stores. We are constantly surprised at the low prices compared to Denmark.
	1600	Slipped our mooring at Sixhaven and motored up to the bridge in Oude Haven, and went up to the office to pay our dues for the night passage through the bridges – it cost 7 euro. The first bridge would open at 1800 so we could go through to the lock. Here we would wait until 0130 for the railway bridge to open and our convoy would then proceed past Schipol and southwards. A Dutch boat lay alongside us to pay his bridge dues. They had overwintered at Port Napoleon and gave us their brochure.
	1800	The first bridge opened, as promised and we moved into the open lock before the railway bridge and moored up. We had a light supper, and tried to sleep for a few hours until the bridge opened. Having Set two alarms for 0030.
3 June	0030	When we looked outside, we saw that our little convoy had grown to six yachts. Also there were two tugs manoeuvring a group of four barges (in two pairs) which had a complete chemical plant mounted on top. There were three wide reagent tanks on their side, and three slimmer storage tanks mounted vertically. The whole arrangement was huge.   The bridge operators came round and told us the barge should go through first, but when they went under the bridge at 0130, they became stuck! After a lot of pushing and pulling, they got through – having taken over 30 mins. When they were clear, the bridge operators hurried us along because the railway company were complaining about the huge delay. For the next few bridges we again had to wait for the monster to inch through, but eventually they pulled aside to let the yachts pass. Good, we thought, now we could catch up on the time lost. But when we arrived at the next bridge, we had to wait for the monster to catch us up. And so it went on through the night  and morning until we reached the rail bridge at Gouda. After leaving Amsterdam, we passed through several lakes and saw many boatyards and large marinas. Also there were horticultural areas just above water level and boats everywhere.
	1150	We arrived at the Gouda rail bridge which we thought would open for the monster barge, but no, we all had to wait until the prescribed opening time at 1315. Soon after the bridge, we turned to port into the Nieuwe Gouwe canal and through a series of small bridges and one lock into the heart of Gouda. We found a box mooring about half way along the Kattensingel, the mooring fee here was 7.85 euro. We had looked down the Turfsingel but it didn’t appeal as it looked run down and parts were being demolished. Having been on the move for 12½ hours through the night and morning. We were tired and did nothing for the next couple of hours. We looked to see if we could come on the net, but no luck. Around 4 pm we walked into the town centre, and saw the market building where they still bring the cheese on horse and cart to Thursday’s cheese market. The cheeses are still weighed on the original scales and national dress is worn. We also saw the old town hall which has a clock tower which chimes two minutes after the hour and half hour. We found Sct Janskerke and wanted to see the famous stained windows, but it had just closed to visitors. A bride and groom came out of a side chapel and got in a car – the guests just got on their bikes, as the Dutch do. We had a heavy thunderstorm and the heavens opened. We had earlier bought a big umbrella and soon dived into a bar for shelter and a drink. After we came back to the boat, the heavy rain started again – it absolutely poured down.
4 June		We had a lazy morning and slipped our mooring at 1205 and passed through the small bridges and lock back to the main canal.
	1230	Passed through the lock into the Hollands Ijsel, this stretch was very industrialised.
	1450	We arrived at the Algebrabrug, but had to wait for the day’s Amsterdam convoy to arrive before it would open at 1530.
	1715	We passed through the big bridge just after Dordrecht, after which we were in the Hollands Diep. Here the wind picked up to 25 knots and kicked up a nasty sea and made the going tough.
	1900	Eventually we turned around and headed back to Strijensas marina, which lies on the north bank. This was a fine marina at the end of a narrow channel between two training walls. The evening continued wet and windy and we were glad we had nor tried to carry on to Wilhelmstadt. We were snug in our cockpit tent.
5 June	1100	Departed Strijensas and continued along Hollands Diep. Conditions were rather better today, but it was still hard going.
	1300	Arrived at the Volkeraksluis and ploughed through the short sharp seas , until at 1545 we passed through the big lock into the Osterscheldte. Here it got worse, but there was nothing for it but to keep going and motoring through the waves. The wind was 20 knots on the nose. Eventually we could turn south towards the Zandkreeksluis and conditions eased with the wind almost on the beam.
	1835	Arrived at the Zandkreeksluis, which opens into the Veerse Meer. We decided to spend the night on the moorings just before the lock. Here it was sheltered and quiet – just what we needed. During the evening, Rie saw a seagull catch a large crab. It ripped off all the legs and threw them away, Then, it hammered on the shell to break it open for the meat.
6 June	0930	We were just getting ready to go when a Dutch yacht came up to the lock, so we hurried behind him into the lock. This was a deeper lock than we had seen before, it was near low water so we rose several metres to the freshwater lake of Veerse Meer. We motored the short distance to the Delta Marina to buy diesel, top up the water tank and dispose of rubbish. It was not necessary to enter the actual marina. From here, we were able to sail without motor almost to Veere. On the way, we hove to to watch a pair of black swans with last year’s young.
	1230	Passed through the lock at Veere into the Walcheren canal.
	1325	Moored alongside the shopper’s pontoon on the edge of Middelburg.. We found the Albert Hejn supermarket, here we asked if we could buy bread that was unsliced. The baker promptly baked two loaves specially for us! What service! Meanwhile we were directed to where we could get free coffee while we waited. It turned out to be very nice bread and kept well – until it was eaten up.
	1530	Continued down the canal towards Vlissingen through several bridges, and finally the sea lock. The bridges were very slow opening. When we came out into the Westerscheldte, there didn’t seem to be much current, but by the time we had crossed over to Breskens the ebb was up to full speed.
	1755	Crabbed into the entrance at Breskens. We had read that it was possible to buy fresh fried fish and chips here, but after a long walk into the town found that everything was closed on Mondays. So, we went up to the yacht club where we had a fine meal of baked fish casserole and a fine view over the shipping in the estuary.
7 June	0848	Departed Breskens just after low water, and got a fine push from the tide all the way to Zeebrugge, We were able to sail most of the way as we had a NE 5.
	1100	Already moored up in Zeebrugge yacht club and tidied up the boat.
	1500	Jens fetched us in his car, and drove us all the way to Brussels where he and Lone live. Here, we had internet access and were able to wash all our clothes. Lone served a fine evening meal and we saw the news on Danish TV for the first time in a month. Lone and Jens are Rie’s former neighbours from Jægerspris.
8 June		We had both slept well in the big bed and the morning was bright and sunny. After breakfast, we went into the centre of Brussels by Metro, where Lone showed us around the city. We saw a fine cathedral, amazing restaurant streets, the Manneken Pis, and finally had a guided tour of the European Parliament building. Then home to Lone and Jens for an evening meal before Jens drove us back to Zeebrugge and Restless. We had walked a great deal during the day, and were glad to crawl into bed.
9 June		Another fine, sunny day and we would like to have left at 0800 (Dover HW +5hrs), but we had to wait an hour for the harbourmaster to come. This turned out to be an expensive marina at 40.58 euro for two nights.
	0930	Finally left the marina, the main sail went up while still in the harbour but when we had cleared the entrance we found little wind. We ended up motor-sailing most of the way to Nieuwpoort.
	1130	We arrived at the Belgian Air Force Sailing Club after a strong push from the tide again. We soon had a visit from the police who inspected our boat papers and passports. The FTLF registration certificate is a great help, because it has photos of the boat and us on it. Later, I went up to the harbour office and checked in. overnight fee here was 13.70 euro, with showers and electricity included. In most places in Holland we also paid 0.50 euro extra for 100 litres of water as well. In the afternoon we cleaned and tidied up the boat and packed away all our clean clothing, and then just relaxed. Another Danish yacht came in – “Bonita”- but we could not be next to each other. In the evening, Steen and Trine from “Bonita” came over and had drinks and a chat on Restless.
10 June	0830	Slipped our mooring in Zeebrugge and put up the main sail on the way through this big harbour. On leaving the entrance, we found there was not much wind. We took the inshore route and it was not long before we were at the Calais entrance where we had to wait for a string of ferries to come out and for one to go in before we could enter harbour.
	1430	Picked up a mooring outside the marina lock for the night. I brought my journal up to date and Rie baked a couple of loaves of bread. (I did the kneading). During the afternoon, the wind picked up to 13 knots and we started swinging and pitching on our mooring. “Bonita had also picked up a mooring and I think they were rather concerned about the motion.
11 June	0900	Slipped our mooring and headed for the outer harbour but the lights were red and a loudspeaker voice told us to return to the waiting buoys. A ferry was coming in to the middle harbour. Earlier we had seen a Danish ship come into harbour – she was Peter Faber, a cable layer. After more than half an hour, we got the green lights and we motored out with “Bonita” behind us. We soon had the sails up and sailed out to the CA6 buoy. From there, we changed course to cross the Traffic Separation Zone at a right angle. However, this was too close to the wind for us to sail so we rolled in the genoa and motor sailed across the traffic lanes. For once we did not have to change course or wait for shipping and eventually we cleared the TSS and headed for Dover. We called up Dover Port Control on CH74 to advise them of our intentions and were told to report in when near the entrance. This we did and were cleared to enter the western entrance and towards the marina. Here we called up the marina on CH80 and were allocated a berth so we could go direct to the berth without having to look around for a free one. We chose the tidal harbour so there would not be any delays from the lock or bridge in the morning.
	1340	We moored up at 1340 ( Danish time). Soon after, we moved all our clocks and watches back an hour to British Summer Time. “Bonita” was given a berth nearby.  After some lunch, we took a walk up into town and stocked up at the Somerfield supermarket, and on the way back stopped for some fish and chips – great! Later in the evening, was spent aboard Bonita with Steen and Trine. They gave us some photos they had taken of Restless during the day. Heard from my son David, he’s back in the UK from Australia, on holiday. He will join us in Falmouth n the 20th.
12 June		After hearing the 0535 weather forecast, we decided to stay in harbour today. It blew up to SW F5 during the morning and continued all day. We were very glad of our decision to stay in port. We walked up to the town and did some more shopping. Also we visited the lifeboat station where we bought some note pads that are so handy by the chart table. We heard from Andy and Les by SMS, we hope to meet up with Les and Carol in a few days, possibly in Lymington. I have been complimented several times on my English! I usually reply that I had spent some years in England (only 30 yrs).
13 June	0850	Having first refuelled with red diesel at the fuel pontoon, we left Dover and motorsailed towards Dungeness. After this point, the wind increased from the west and kicked up a nasty sea. The wind continued to increase until it was blowing 25 knots, so we decided to make for Eastbourne ( Sovereign Harbour) instead of Brighton. At one stage we noticed water rising in the galley, so we hurriedly pumped out. We continued to pump out periodically and assumed it was because we were taking heavy seas over the bow and the water rushed down the side decks and flooded the engine air vents at the stern.
	1800	Arrived at Sovereign Harbour and the peace on entering the lock was overwhelming. This harbour has been extensively developed since our last visit in 1997, particularly on the housing front. The new shower facilities were excellent.
14 June	0710	Locked out of Sovereign Harbour and motor sailed towards Beachy Head. The wind was SW about 12 knots. Just before Beachy Head, we noticed we were taking in water again! So again a hasty pump out session! On rounding Beachy Head we were able to sail and the water stopped coming in. We tacked inshore (which was a mistake) while Bonita continued offshore. The wind did not go round to the south as forecast, and continued SW so we had to tack out again near Newhaven. When we were well out, the wind freshened and we had a cracking sail all the way to Brighton. I had come to the conclusion that the stern gland must be leaking, so we sailed all the way into harbour, finally under main only and used the engine just for berthing.
	1200	Arrived in Brighton. In the afternoon I had a look at the Deep Sea Gland and saw that the rubber boot had slipped back on the shaft so that the pressure on the faces was minimal. It did not take long to adjust. I suppose that all the pounding in Holland and the last couple of days had moved it. We shall keep an eye on it in future!. There was no evidence of wear though. We went out to look for the chandler I knew in Brighton only to find that it had just closed down.
15 June		On hearing the early weather forecast, we decided we were not going anywhere and went back to bed. We discovered later on that there was another chandler at the other end of the marina. We bought a new autopilot to replace the ageing Autohelm 1000 which we had been using for motoring. The new unit was made by Simrad in Denmark, and is more powerful. We also bought a cheap hand held GPS unit for back up purposes. We also replaced our RORC pack of flares and disposed of the old ones Later, the autopilot was fitted and then we went out to the Chinese restaurant for a meal.
16 June		The strong wind continued from the south west, so we had another lie in. Later, we struggled to transfer pictures to e-mail and eventually gave up despite help from Trine. Finally, we burned the whole lot on a CD-Rom and will simply post it to Poul. We had downloaded Winzip from the net to package the pictures, but Hotmail advised us there was a virus in it, so we dumped it quick. We did a big shop at Asda’s – we took the trolley all the way back to the boat (I did return it). In the evening, fog rolled in from the sea. The forecast is for a change to light winds tonight. We realised it would be the weekend before we could come to Lymington, so arranged with Les that he would collect our EPIRB from ACR tomorrow and we can meet up on Sunday.
17 June		A misty morning but dry. The wind dropped a little during the morning. We did a last shop at Asda’s and topped up with fuel and gas
	1245	Finally left harbour and motored against the wind and tide towards the Looe channel. The idea was to push the weak tide here and go with the current through the channel and along the Solent. It brightened up in the afternoon but we still had about 10 knots of headwind. The new autopilot worked well and the bilge remained dry. We came through the Street buoys off Selsey Bill just as the tide turned, so there was little current. After that, we could sail a while but as we approached the shipping channel, the wind dropped off and we motored again. Our intention had been to sail to Cowes, but Les phoned to warn us that the “” Round The Island Race” was on tomorrow and there was little chance of finding a berth there. The race would have 1600 boats!
	2100	Decided to try Portsmouth Harbour instead, and found a berth at Haslar Marina, in Gosport. It was very busy and there was an air of excitement concerning the big race.
17 June		A fine sunny morning and many boats left between 4 and 5 am for the race.
	0845	Sailed through the entrance to Portsmouth and hoisted sail on the way to Spit Sand Fort. A harbour patrol vessel was hovering around to make sure we didn’t take the short cut the ferries take. After rounding the fort, we could sail with a beam wind. How relaxing not to have the engine on! We could see a wall of sails across the Solent – the late starters in the race. We thought they would disappear over the horizon, but we came much closer – we later found that the fleet was becalmed between Yarmouth and Hurst Point. We saw T.S. Royalist, the Sea Cadet ship, under full sail. A huge container ship came up behind us with an escort launch, we were told we were fine if we held our course.   As we neared the approach to Lymington River, a fleet of high speed motor cruisers came thundering by with attendant wash. We dropped the sails and motored up the river and turned in to the Lymington Yacht Haven. Just as Rie was putting mooring lines in place on the foredeck, a fast motor boat came by creating huge wash and threw Rie off her feet so she landed in a heap on the foredeck. We found motor cruisers in the Solent very inconsiderate. I later spoke to a local yachtsman that came in just before us who said they had been plagued by motor boaters all morning. The fleet we had seen had driven at high speed right through the racing fleet! We were allocated a berth on the south eastern edge of the marina where we could see out over the saltings, with their rich bird life. During the afternoon, the mud became covered as the tide came in and we could see right over to Yarmouth and up the Solent. The weather remained sunny and warm all day with a promise of 30 deg C tomorrow from the forecasters! Bonita remained in Gosport, hopefully we will meet up again on Monday morning.
19 June		Had a relaxing morning, then set to work sewing the broken seam on the sprayhood, which took a long time. We cleaned the cockpit area and tidied up generally. Les and Carol came at 4pm and we chatted in the cockpit and had tea and cakes. Later, they drove us to a pub where we had a meal. It was great to meet them again. I hadn’t seen Les since we last sailed this way on our way to the Azores in 1997. Les had collected our EPIRB from ACR after recoding.
20 June	0830	Left Lymington Yacht Haven. We had arranged to meet Bonita in the Solent, they had moved down to Yarmouth yesterday. The sea was calm as we sailed past Hurst Point and took the North Channel into Christchurch bay. Then we sailed a direct heading to clear the firing range south of Anvil Point. There was a great deal of R/T traffic as the range boat escorted many boats away from the area. We stayed well outside of it, we could hear the heavy guns firing.
	1630	We arrived early in Weymouth and moored near the harbour office, opposite the Cove. In the evening Steen adjusted the tension in our rigging, as the wires had stretched. It has been dry and sunny all day.
21 June	0920	Left Weymouth to arrive at Portland Bill 4 hours after High Water Portland.
	1030	Arrived off Portland Bill, this timing was crucial if the passage close to the Bill was taken. Even in today’s calm weather, the race was starting to build up a nasty sea. We came past safely and set out across Lyme Bay. The boat sailed much better after the rigging adjustments. We sailed as far as 3 deg west, then motored the last three hours as tide, wind and time were against us. It was a lovely calm evening as we approached Dartmouth. As we came up the river, the harbour patrol told us that our friends were already on the quay, and we could moor in front of them.
	2100	Moored to the quay, Bonita had arrived an hour before us. This has to be one of the most beautiful harbours in the south west of England. The houses are built up on the sides of the hills on either side and the valley is so green. It is also very well protected due to the winding, steep sided entrance.
22 June		A beautiful sunny morning, with hardly any wind. Rie and Trine went up to the nearby supermarket and filled their trolleys, only to find the tills didn’t work and they couldn’t have the goods. They had to look for another shop, but could only find a little shop open which had only a restricted selection.
	0845	Moved off the quay in time for the tripper boats to come alongside. A beautiful Italian square rigger had come in earlier this morning, the “Americano Vespacci”. She was due to take part in the fleet review in the Solent on the 28th and in the Tall Ships Race. After winding our way down the river entrance, we tried sailing in the fickle wind with cruising chute until we reached Start Point. On this stretch, we caught a mackerel. After Start Point, having failed to catch more, we started the engine and motored a steady 6 knots towards Fowey. The day became very hot. We had to alter course twice for fishing vessels on their way home with their catch, one of them clearly didn’t keep watch.
	1815	Arrived in Fowey and picked up a visitor’s mooring on the east side. We shared the mackerel we had caught for supper. Fowey was a delightful stopping place, set amid steep, wooded valley sides.
23 June		We motored out of the river and set up the genoa at the entrance, but there was only a gentle breeze. We put up the cruising chute and fished as we sailed at 3 knots. We caught two good sized mackerel. The wind soon died and we had to motor the rest of the way to Falmouth. We moored at the Visitor’s Yacht Haven where we paid £18 a night. We shopped in Tesco’s where we thought the prices were very reasonable compared with Denmark. I went to the chart agent and bought charts for Bayona to Gibraltar.
24 June		Did odd jobs on the boat today. Dave arrived at 3pm with his friend Jo. We went back to Tesco and did a mammoth shop and Jo drove the shopping back to the boat, which was a great help. Andy came just as the restaurants were closing, but we managed to get a meal in the end. We got everyone sorted with a berth and bedding and got to bed around 0130!