Homeward bound

We'd decided that we'd take the late tide back to Shotkey on Sunday evening... it meant that we'd get the whole of Sunday in Burnham.... get a night sail back, and still be able to get away to home at a sensible time on Monday.... so about 21h00, we slipped our mooring and crept off into the dark...Leaving Burnham in the dark is great.... a lot easier than daylight... the lights are more obvious, and so we took a little bit of a plug against the tide (and wind surprise surprise!), and made our way out towards No.6 and Whittaker, where we truned left towards the Wallet spitway, which was very easy in the dark... the lights stand out brilliantly.... and then into the Wallet.... the tide turned to give us a push up the Wallet, and I stayed well offshore to avoid the worst of the pots... and we soon saw Walton headland appear....M had fallen asleep in the cockpit although he'd fought valiantly to stay awake as he was really excited about his first proper night passage where he was allowed to stay up!Harwich was a blaze of light, but i've done it enough times that it is now quite easy, and soon enough we were radioing Shotkey to be let in through the lock....We'd motored the whole way with virtually no wind... it had literally fallen to zero knots by the time we rounded Walton, so we had it quite easy....Into our berth and tied up with the engine off by 02h00....What a fabulous fortnight.... we'd had a great time despite the lack of sailing.... but thats Holland two years in a row.... god knows where we'll go next year!

Miles logged 36nm
Miles this trip 333nm
Miles this season 960nm
Miles since this blog started 2,757nm

racing or is it drifting with style?

Over Saturday and Sunday we raced aboard various boats, with C joing the crew of Vreny in class 5, and enjoying the use of a kite, M and I going on Sirenia in class 6 a white sails only class, and SWMBO hopping aboard FC to compete with Sirenia.... Sunday saw M and I aboard FC, while the girls went shopping....The general story for the two days was how to drift in style.... there was little or no wind.... we tacked back and forth, generally losing ground due to tide on each tack....never mind... it was hot.. the beer was cold, and the company excellent.... we all enjoyed it...

Miles logged 21nm
Miles this trip 297nm
Miles this season 924nm
Miles since this blog started 2,721nm

Burnham bound

After some consideration, we decided to head for Burnham, to meet up with a few other East Coasties, and to enjoy the first two days of Burnham week...Tides were civilised, suggesting an 10h00 start, to take the tide round North Foreland, up to Fishermans/Foulgers gat (dependent upon sea state for crossing the Sunk sands) and then over Sunk sands, and plugging the tide for an hour before it turned fair back intowards the Crouch...So we had a relaxed start, went for fuel, and upon getting ready to leave the fuel berth, the engine wouldn't start.... it turned over perfectly well, but wouldn't fire.... I checked the stop solenoid, and tried again, and after labouring for a few seconds it fired up..... later considering the situation, I decided that the combination of very rough seas the few days previously, along with low fuel levels had probably put some crud into the fuel pump system.... its been fine ever since....So we left Ramsgate to a much flatter and altogether more pleasant sea state.... still a bit lumpy but bearable.... and true to form, the wind was on the nose..... still it'd be OK once we turned towards the Crouch....We motored up to Foulgers Gat (i'd decided the shallower Sunk crossing opposite Fishermans Gat wasn't wise in a falling tide with a lumpy sea running) and after passing through the gat, then crept gingerly over the Sunk sands.... no problems at all.... in fact, plenty of water the whole way over.... and then we turned westish towards the Crouch.... i'd noticed as we crossed Sunk that the wind was fading... so as we turned west, i discovered that the sea breeze had kicked in, and killed the wind... we in fact had 3kts... on the nose.... sigh.... anyone want to buy a set of sails?... only very lightly used....so it was a tedious motor up to Whittaker, and down the channel into Burnham... interesting at low water.... shows the hazards that you must avoid quite clearly!at least it was hot... in fact lovely and sunny by the time we reached Royal Corinthian.... where we grabbed a buoy, blew the tender up (roll on them davits!), and the motored over to see the 'gang'... we ended up leaving the morring and going alongside Full Circle for the night where we sat and enjoyed a bottle or two of wine in the usual pleasant company........ racing tommorrow aboard various boats.... hope the wind comes back!

Miles logged 47nm
Miles this trip 276nm
Miles this season 903nm
Miles since this blog started 2,700nm

windy in Ramsgate

We'd been looking at the forecast and watching a big high coming in which was obviously good news, but unfortunately, it was also squeezing a low out of the way, threatening some very strong winds for a day or two...The trick for us was to avoid doing the crossing back to the UK during those two days, but also to try and avoid getting stuck in one location for too long...As we'd arrived Saturday afternoon in Nieuwpoort, and the wind looked like it was going to come through Wednesday and Thursday, we decided to head back towards Ramsgate on Tuesday..... this was a bit of a shame as Monday had been particularly wet, and we'd not got the chance to ride our bikes out through Nieuwpoort and along the sand dunes.... but if we'd stayed it would have possibly been until Thursday, and more probably, Friday.... So we cast our lines at 08h15 on Tuesday, and motored out into a very light North Easterly, at just 5 or 6 kts, matched with a decent sized running sea.... not a great combination!As our course was down the Belgian/French coast, is South West, the wind was right behind us... we contemplated sails, but then watched a couple of other boats with their rigs slapping and making just 2 or 3 kts over the ground.... we couldn't afford to go that slowly, so we motored... We made good progress, past Dunkerque, then Graveline, through the rade de Calais, and then out towards Ruytingen, marking the start of the Dover TSS.... still no wind, so still we motored.... as we turned a little further north to cross the TSS, the wind died further still.... by my count that means that we've thus far sailed for 2 hours this holiday in total..... not good....The traffic was kind, although very busy.... and we made one slight alteration for a ship in the North East lane... not a problem, as it helped us to get some more west in our course to reach SW Goodwin buoy.... and it made for a better course through the lumpy sea... we were now getting 2m waves... while there was no wind here, there clearly was some somewhere!As we exited the TSS we set course for SW Goodwin, again the very light wind right behind us and soon reached it.....As we rounded the buoy, the skies started to grey over, and the wind picked up.... now 12 or 13kts.... but bang on the nose!!!!!!!So we continued motoring for a while, and decided that if it stayed like this, then we sail and tack in a bit..... but 10 mins later it was blowing 20kts, and the sea, already lumpy, had started to build.... the bad weather was arriving....Half an hour later, and with 8nm to Ramsgate, the conditions had deteriorated further... we were now heading directly into and riding up over large waves and slamming off the top of them into the troughs.... spray everywhere, and not very comfortable... I was starting to get very nervous.... not with the current situation.. Morgana was fine..it wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't troubling.... I was more nervous that as we approached the Ramsgate entrance, we'd be beam on to this sea, and some of the waves were getting very large, and starting to break at the crests.... not ideal across the beam... we'd have to wait and see what it looked like as we got closer...I steered the course as close to the shallower inshore water as I dare in order to minimise the cross sea leg.... and as we reached Ramsgate entrance, the one thing i'd hoped for followed through.... the shelter from North Foreland was reducing the sea somewhat.... so while the entrance was rolly, it wasn't dangerous.... and after radioing for permission, we gratefully motored into the flat water of the outer harbour...... Update at 23h00..... 35 kts in the marina... boat being rocked about a bit, and all the boats in the marina surging against their lines.... extra lines added before bed!

Miles logged 59nm
Miles this trip 229nm
Miles this season 856nm
Miles since this blog started 2,653nm

Belgium bound

By 08h50, we slipped the box... very easy given that we'd gone in backwards, and motored round to the first bridge... if we'd thought the chaos we'd previously seen was madness, then this trumped it.... at least 20 boats waiting, but in a tiny space.... phew... really really hard work keeping clearance... and repeated at each of the 5 bridges as the 'armada' worked its way down the canal... by 10h45, we'd reached the Vlissingen lock and tied up to be let back out to sea for the first time in over a week... it was a little later than i'd have liked for the tides, but we didn't have any choice as we'd taken the first lifts of the bridges anyway...by 11h00, we locked out. It was good to be back out in open water.... the forecast was for a South Easterly 4 to 5, going variable 2 to 4, so I was dissapointed to see the wind firmly in the South, meaning our course was tight on the wind.... reagrdless, I'd had enough of motoring. It had seemed almost acceptable in canals, but not for open sea, so up went the sails and we sailed tight on the wind, slightly offshore of the ideal course, but non-the-less, sailing.... in 15 to 18kts of wind, and with the strong tides in this part of the world, we were making 8.5 to 9kts over the ground.We sailed happily for 2 hours, and then as the course came round to port, the track we were able to make became so far from ideal that it looked like we would have to tack... this coincided with the wind dropping to about 6kts, and the tides starting to turn, so on came the engine again.... at least we got a couple of hours of cracking good sailing....The course led us past first Zeebrugge, then Blanckenburge, past Oostende, and finally, we wiggled our way around the sandbanks towards Nieuwpoort. As we approached the coast again, the rain started, a shame as it had been quite good up until now.... and soon I was alone on the helm in full oilies while everyone else sensibly retreated below or under the spray hood...The entrance to Nieuwpoort became obvious, and the traffic lights led us in easily.... a quick call to the Airforce marina saw us with a berth allocated... it was by now just 16h00.We motored into the marina, identified the berth, and went towards it.... we were pleased to see the marina, as previously had been the case, send someone to take out lines... hindsight would prove this delight misplaced...As we entered the berth, SWMBO passed the willing helper the bow line, and walked back to handle the stern line.... I motored gently forward and suddenly came to a crashing halt... the stupid numpty had taken out bow line and made it off on the outside end cleat on the finger.... ****.... our momentum instantly spun the stern out.... what a bloody mess... I yelled to get the line realeased, and SWMBO ran forward and retrieved the situation by putting the stern line on, to stop the stern swinging too far.... eventually, the bow line was released, and with a bit of gently fending off from the neighbouring boat, we got in, and settled the boat down.... turns out the 'helper' was a work experience student, and didn't have the first idea what she was doing!Never mind... we walked upto the marina office, and settled up for two nights... a mere snip at 37 Euros, including electrics etc.... while we were there, SWMBO spotted a service delivering fresh bread and croissants to the marina first thing... so fresh goodies for breakfast in the morning!Finally, it came to eating.... as is ever the case, its rare for us to eat a full meal at sea, and we'd just snacked... so a good feed up was needed.... and here's the magic bit.... i'd been hassling SWMBO for the last 3 years about the virtues of Fray Bentos pies... which she'd decided were the spawn of satan, but had relented. and bought one for this trip.... it was duly cooked... and the verdict.... she very begrudgingly had to admit that they are delicious!... a result if i've ever had one!Its now pouring with rain... we luckily put the cockpit tent up, so we have space to move about.... but an evening on board, and a late and relaxing start is on the cards...

Miles logged 36nm
Miles this trip 170nm
Miles this season 797nm
Miles since this blog started 2,594nm

back in Middelburg

The plan for the next day was to head towards Middelburg again as a precursor to heading off down the coast towards Belgium and France... This meant going to Middelburg on a Saturday... given the amount of boats about, we realised that we needed to be in Middelburg early to have any chance of getting a berth... it was therefore fortunate that it is only 4nm!We exited Veere by about 10h00.... a little later than we planned, but it was easier to wait for the rafts to disperse, than to start moving boats around.... so by 10h30, we locked back into the Walcheren canal, and headed the very short distance to Middelburg... as we approached the holding pontoon, the harbourmaster directed us to a box mooring in a great location... outside the bridges, and in a quiet corner, yet close to all the facilities.We'd previously planned that if we ended up in a box we'd try to go in stern first... its a long way down from Morganas bow to a pontton, and there's a decent sized lump of heavy ironwork hanging off the bow.... so we passed the box, and started to reverse back... as we got ready to turn in towards the box, another boat squeezed past us.... abort.... try again... this time, with a clear run, we lined up nicely, and reversed between the posts.... not bad... somone ashore took our lines to make life easier... it wasn't perfect, but not bad.... lessons learned... once the stern is through the posts, keep going to avoid the bow being blown off, and secondly, remove the fenders... they catch the posts!After a quick wander around Middelburg, including a couple of beers in a cafe, we relaxed on board for a quiet evening.... off to Belgium tommorrow, as soon as the bridges start opening, which isn't until 09h00 given that it'll be a Sunday.

Miles logged 4nm
Miles this trip 134nm
Miles this season 761nm
Miles since this blog started 2,558nm

Veere

Despite planning for Colinjsplaat, the mood took us upon waking to head towards Veere instead....This proved to be a good decision...Exiting Goes wasn't anywhere near as challenging as i'd suspected it would be, as the boats rafted in the spots in front of, and behind us, decided to ledave too, so we had a realtively simple departure.... getting out of the bridge and lock was nowhere near as straightforward... we waited for ages for the bridge... in a very narrow river with a group of 10 or so boats.... hard work keeping clear of each other.... and then again at the next bridge... the one that had threatened to close on us just the day previously... so we motored through nervously when it eventually opened... but it stayed open for a while... obviously not automated as I had previously suspected... and then finally the lock... wind straight up the chuff, and again, just bollards set into the lock sides... anyone who wants to brush up on their close quarters handling should come to Holland for a few days... its constant!We motored the 1.5nm to the entrance lock to the Veerse Meer (no wind at all - still no sailing), and then into the Veerse Meer itself.... it was an amazing sight when the locks opened to let us out.... at least 50 boats waiting, and all very tightly bunched, and pointing in completely different directions.... chaos reigned.... especially when we noticed that some of the boats were big, old, heavy and not very maneouverable!Up the Veerse Meer, the wind returned at just 5kts... but bang on the nose (still no sailing), and so we motored the 12.5nm to Veere.As we approached the entrance, it certainly looked pretty, with wooden piers jutting out from a castellated building marking the entrance channel... we passed through them, and an amazingly pretty little town emerged.... a very narrow channel though, and the harbour master was directing us to turn around before coming alongside a boat already on the quay.... oh dear... would we overcome the fear from the previous days disaster?.... yes... a perfect rotation in a slot not much wider than the boat is long, and alongside neatly and easily.... great!Veere is fabulous.... tree lined avenues, stuffed full of traditional Dutch gabled front architecture..... but only small.... we loved it, but decided that leaving the next morning was sensible, as there wasn't two days worth of sightseeing.... We went for a walk, and when we got back everywhere was 3 boats deep... we were in, and staying in.... a quick poll discovered happily, that everyone was also leaving the following morning however.The only downside we could find to Veere is that the Dutch clock chimes were rigth next to the quay, and rang out loudly for a good 30 seconds, every half hour... great during the afternoon, in fact added greatly to the atmosphere... but less appealing at 03h00!

Miles logged 14nm
Miles this trip 130nm
Miles this season 757nm
Miles since this blog started 2,554nm

Goes pinball

Given that we were well ahead of plan, and that we had no intentions of rushing, we decided that another night at Baastian de Langeplaat was a good plan.... as it happens, this worked out well for us, as the morning forecast suggested less than ideal weather, with South or South-west 6 or 7...So we stayed put... ansd gradually as the morning dissappeared, so did the sun, and before too long, there was a constant cover of cloud, and the wind had freshened to about 20kts.... throughout the day it got windier, and eventually, and unsurprisingly, started to rain... we'd had the sense earlier in the day to put the cockpit tent up, so nothing too serious... however, the wind now touching 32kts in the gusts had us well pinned against the pontoon, so extra fenders, check the lines and all was well.... the boat was well healed over, and the wind created waves made an annoying slap against the side of the hull as they were right on the beam....We however, slept soundly, despite the noise... and rose in the morning to an altogether different day..... still windy, but not so much, reaching 25kts in the gusts, and veered a little so slightly less on the beam.... but more importantly, the cloud had cleared to show blue skies....I'd spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon with Alan Watt's book, 'instant weather forecasting', and was delighted that my own predictions had proved spot on... a fine book, and worth getting if you haven't come across it before....We decided to leave, and head towards Goes, a nice easy passage... but sadly straight into the wind for much of the journey again, with the only bit really worth sailing, just 10mins duration.... the lock out of the Veerse Meer was straightforward, other than some prat coming in way too fast, and hitting out stern anchor roller.... no bother for us, but he did put a nice gouge down the side of his boat... he also caught our outboard... no harm done as it simply moved on its mounting bracket, as he only just touched it.....We soon locked into the Havenkanal, the run into Goes, and set off... This is a canal a scale smaller than we have previously used, and was very narrow.... so we kept in the centre, and saw no traffic coming the other way... we did however catch one small motorboat up when we reached the first bridge.... this was only a tiny one, and with no room to turn around, and nowhere to tie up and wait we crept forward verfy carefully at a respectful distance, slowly creeping towards the bridge... we were pleased to hear the opening bell ring as we got close.... and watched the motorboat go through... we followed... as we got entered under the bridge, the lights turned red.... I slammed Morgana into reverse, but quickly realised that we weren't going to stop in time, so gunned her ahead, and shot under the bridge as she started to close... phew!A couple of miles further on, we started the run in to Goes, and saw the large bridge that we needed to pass under to get to the two marinas in the distance... it was open... but we didn't make it... just before the bridge was a short commercial quay, so we grabbed a slot and waited for the bridge... it transpired that the bridge only opens on the hour.... so we had a wait.... eventually we were through, and directed by the harbour master to the further marina... which was a concern as I wasn't sure of the depth being enough.... but we had no choice... the first marina was full... and this bore out as we motored by.... we had a further bridge to pass through, again shut, so we tied up alongside a boat and waited... only for a few mins.... and then were told to head to the very far end of the marina, which we did, creeping slowly along being unsure of either the berth situation, or the depth... a lot of boats already in and tied up... rafted 2 deep on one side, and every box full on the other... eventually we saw a boat at the very end of the marina, along the end wall, and decided to go alongside them... as we got closer we realised that it was getting very shallow... the boat we had seen was a southerly... and must have lifted his keel!Emergency stop, and emergency about face... the aisle being no more than 2 feet wider than Morgana is long.... we got 90% of the way round, but I couldn't avoid the outboard just (and only just I hasten to add!) pinging against an anchor sticking out.... again no harm done... but a little embarassing, and I feel sorry for the outboard... its had a rough day!We crept back 3 or 4 boat lengths and tied up alongside another boat.... they had seen our drama, and were ready with full fenders, and extra hands.... I suspect they were terrified as we came alongside!!!!Engine off, deep breath, and a coffee... wow....Time to take a first proper look around us.... fabulous location... right in the middle of the town... wonderful gabled architecture, very traditional look and feel.... and wonderfully sheltered.... there's another front coming through!

Miles logged 11nm
Miles this trip 116nm
Miles this season 743nm
Miles since this blog started 2,540nm

Baastian de Langeplaat

When we'd arrived at Middelburg, the harbour master had stuck us on the short term pontoon for the night, which is outside of the bridge.... it had power so we were quite happy there, but he'd told us that we'd have to move when a 4m box became free the following day... however, by 18h00 on Sunday, we'd suspected that he'd decided to leave us where we were... which suited us just fine... and it proved to be the case...So we got the folding bikes out, and rode them around Middelburg for a while before eventually ending up in a small cafe.... a large Duvel beer later on an empty stomach, and riding back proved more interesting!Another early night and we arose by 08h00, fully refreshed from the crossing by now, and ready to move on.... so by 08h45 we slipped and headed to the fuel pontoon, which is run by the chandlery... while we were there and while I filled her up, SWMBO had a quick peek around.... which was fortunate.... inside they had the last pair of Vetus Davits reduced to 195 Euro from nearly 500 Euro..... a heavy cast Aluminium set that mounted directly onto a vertical surface.... perfect... and less than we'd been bidding on eBay for a secondhand pair of far less quality.... well done SWMBO!!!!!!!Soon we slipped, and motored up the remainder of the Walcheren canal and then waited 20mins for the lock, slowly circling while the number of boats waiting steadily increased.... as the lock opened, the now expected mad dash to be in first (why don't the Dutch have more world class F1 drivers?), left us a port too spot (hoorah!), but right into a recess, making the exit challenging (boo!).... but we made a fine job of both arrival and departure, and popped into the lovely Veerse Meer...The wind had appeared at about 12kts, but given that we only had a mile to go, and that it was pretty fine on the nose, and we would be heading yet further into it just round the corner, we elected to not bother putting the sails up (i'm beginning to wonder if we'll sail at all this holiday!), and within a short while had reached the entrance to the little island that we enjoyed so much last year, Baastian de Langeplaat.The island is horseshoe shaped, and another island closes the loop bar two small entrances either end and we crept in through the shallow entrance, reading just 0.4m below the keel at its shallowest... good job we're east coasters, and used to it!The pontoon we'd earmarked is at the centre of the pool in the middle, and we could see that it was free... and the only one free... as we motored towards it, we saw another boat enter the other end... so throwing caution to the wind, and ignoring the shallow water, we gunned the engine to get there first... it was a drag race... and we won!Soon tied up, the engine off... the sun shining, and all is good with the world.This evening, after a day of thorough relaxation, including a swim off the back of the boat, a gentle walk round the island, and quite a bit of reading, SWMBO really topped off the day perfectly by producing a full roast beef dinner.... which complemented the excellent bottle of wine sublimely.... how much better can life get?

Miles logged 8nm
Miles this trip 105nm
Miles this season 732nm
Miles since this blog started 2,529nm

Vlissingen

Well, what a trip....The forecast had promised light to non existant winds, and thats what we got...We set alarms for 01h30, and arose to a glassy sea, and a warm night.... it took us little time to prepare for sea as we done most tasks the night before, so by 02h00, we slipped out of the lock to perfect calm...As we exited the Stour, we passed the BBC celebration of the pirate radio station, an old light ship broadcasting for a month... all lit up like a christmas tree!As with previous trips, leaving the Harwich area in the dark is a challenge, with the nav marks quite difficult to pick out against all the background light... but a lot easier when you've made it past Landguard cardinal...We set course for Cork Sands Yacht Beacon, and as has happened regularly, had actually passed it before we saw it.... in my opinion, this mark is downright dangerous... it marks a very shallow area, and is virtually impossible to see in the dark.... if it weren't for the plotter, this would be far to risky to undertake....Round Cork Sands and off towards Rough Towers... two Cardinals, a westerly and an Easterly, both of which could be seen from a long way off, and then to port slightly towards Long Sand Head... we would normally have headed much further North than this, but with the new traffic systems and TSS's round Sunk, this seemed a more sensible route...We'd had the tide with us, and with zero wind (literally reading zero on the gauges), we'd motored... and so, we were well ahead of plan already... i'd passage planned at 6kts, and we'd averaged over 8 so far... so arrived at Long Sand Head 6nm ahead of plan.... all good!Following LSH, it was towards the TSS, some 12nm distant.... and still we motored... the wind had finally arrived... all 4kts of it... and to rub salt into the wounds, dead on the nose!As we approached the TSS, I sighed at the usual procession of traffic... in fact it was worse than usual... as we popped into the system, I'd altered course slightly to cross at right angles, and counted 11 ships that needed watching.....It was however, truly remarkable... we threaded our way straight through them without altering course or speed!The North bound lane wasn't so busy, as the tide was still against them, but still we saw two, and had to duck one....Nevertheless, we were still miles ahead of plan, and as we left the TSS we put more north back into the course to head towards Vlissingen, and the tide turned to support us again... perfect!... so the 30nm to the entrance channel shot by at an average of 8.5kts....I'd previously decided to try a new way into Vlissingen... marked on the charts was a narrow, but buoyed channel, alongside the inshore one from the north... looked perfect... avoided the big ships, but didn't involve a large detour... the pilots didn't mention it....As we approached it, I started to realise why!The first mark was barely visible... it was a red can, but in the shape of a pillar... it eventually made itself visible, but the next was a mile away, and could hardly be seen... it took the use of binoculars, and careful attention to the sounder to find our way in.... there were eventually 5 such marks, all about a mile apart.... into the main Vlissingen channel, and things became a lot easier... just dodge the big ships, and make our way down to the lock....We eventually reached the lock... a bit of a plug, as taking the benefit of the north flow assisting our North sea passage, meant taking the pain of the ebb... which isn't to be trifled with in the Westerschelde....We called up the lock, and were let in, along with 5 other boats... we were last in, and tied up port too.... the lock kepper held the gates open, and we wondered why..... 10mins later, a darned great big trawler turned up.... so we had to shift over to starboard side too, alongside the other boats.... we then had to all shuffle forwards to give him enough room to get in behind us.... now this is easier said than done... the Vlissingen lock doesn't have pontoons, but bollards set into the walls... they are about 30' apart, so you can't just drop one and grab the next... you have to push your boat along the wall by hand, slipping the lines, and then lasso the next bollard, and drop the previous one... so for a few minutes, the lock was full of white fiberglass hermit crabs, scurrying their way along the walls...Eventually we made into the inner harbour area, at the fabulous time of 16h30.... a full 7.5hrs quicker than last time we made the trip in Maggie, and while heading towards the marina, realised that the bridges were still lifting or swinging.... we hadn't factored this in, given the last time arrived it was the middle of the night... so a quick onboard conference, and we decided to head towards Middelburg instead.... 5 bridges later, and we had reached the marina in Middelburg... the harbourmaster was just going, so he chucked us onto the holding pontoon.... fabulous..... 19h00, and a full day ahead of plan... better than last year, where the weather made us 3 days behind!!!!

Miles logged 97nmMiles this trip 97nm
Miles this season 727nm
Miles since this blog started 2,521nm

decision made

Holland it is.... with the light winds forecast, and then stronger winds mid week, the CI doesn't seem the sensible option....The forecast is for 2 to3 Northerly, swinging South Esaterly later tommorrow... hope it doesn't swing SE too soon... but we should be pretty much there by the time it swings too far..... looks like plenty of motoring ahead!I can't wait....Plan is to enter at Vlissingen, through Middelberg, into the Veersemeer for a few days of solitude, and then make it up as we go along... perhaps Goes, perhaps into the Grevelingmeer.... who knows... who cares!Updates along the way if I find wireless, but suspect I won't!