Dec. 31, 2008 - Review of 2008

2008 has been a notable year for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the season started in snow and ended in snow! Easter came early this year - last week of March and we "enjoyed" the experience of sailing in snow, before Kim had his enforced stay on the boat! The year then ended with thick snow when it came to clearing the boat out and a very treacherous journey home in the car.

Other high points were having Emjaytoo lifted out of the water in April, entertaining guests and finally going on the Kaai in Veere.

Looking back to last year's review, we identified some objectives for this season - getting to the Haringvliet and going into the Westerschelde and on to Oostende. Well, we didn't make either of those, but we did manage a weekend in Middelburg and a week's holiday with Julie & Trev where we went up to the Grevelingenmeer.

Guests this year included Mandy & Pete and Maggie, James & Zach. The set port to take guests is rapidly becoming Veere - and why not? On both occasions we had stunning weather which enables Veere to really impress.

Overall the weather seemed to be disappointing this year, but we still managed 14 trips to the boat and covered 289 miles, which when you take into account the first year's trip across the North Sea, was par for the season.

Objectives for next season? It's probably best not to set any, other than to plan for more of the same. We are a long way from getting bored with the Netherlands, so Emjaytoo will be staying put for the forseeable future. However, the current financial crisis is having a bad affect on the Euro exchange rate, making the marina a much more expensive place to keep Emjaytoo. On the other hand, we have just had an invitation from Norfolk Line to book 10 return tickets for next year at the amazing price of £38 each!

Actually, we have set one objective for next season - a repeat of last year's - to get to Oostende. So we will see how we get on.

Next planned trip? Hopefully, towards the end of January/early February. However, it is unlikely that we would go out in Emjaytoo, as although she is staying in the water over the winter, we have had the engine and water systems winterised.

Finally, a picture to sum up the year:

Nov. 27, 2008 - Packing Away In The Snow

Despite the abysmal weather forecast of high winds and rain, we caught the only available shuttle, which was at 6.05 on the Saturday morning. We arrived at the marina at about 10.30 having stopped for breakfast en route, but as the weather was not conducive to taking the boat out, we headed off by car to Westkapelle on the coast for lunch and a walk along the beautiful beach.

Saturday night we snuggled down with the fan heater on full belt and watched a film.

Because our return shuttle was not until 9 pm, we had a leisurely start on Sunday before starting to clear stuff out of the boat and load the car. The process started well then what had been forecast as rain, turned into snow - and lots of it! By this stage we had taken both the sails off and although the genoa had been loaded into the car, the main was laid out on the foredeck slowly getting covered in snow.

Eventually we got everything in the car and just about managed to cram the snow-sodden main in on top, with one end between the two front seats, dripping onto Wendy's lap!. By now it was 3.00 pm, the temperature was 0 degrees and there was about 2 inches of snow on the road - very pretty but not the easiest of driving conditions.

We cautiously made our way up to the main road, but that was thick with snow.  Progress was slow and even the Dutch motorways were no better, in spite of the snow ploughs. As a result, the first half of the journey all the way to the E40 motorway in Belgium was done at about 25 mph in thick snow. Thereafter the weather and the roads improved and by the time we got to France things were completely normal and the temperature was up to the dizzy heights of 7 degrees!  As it turned out, it was very fortunate that our shuttle back was not until 9.00pm.

All we need to do now is to find a home for all the gear until the spring. It's going to be a long winter.

Oct. 26, 2008 - A Weekend With Stewart

Headed over to the boat on Friday evening with Stewart. Norfolkline were having hiccups, so the ferry was an hour late leaving Dover. We drove up via Zelzate so Stewart could take some night time industrial photos for his college course work. Finally arrived onboard Emjaytoo at around midnight.

As it was a clear night, it was a bit cold. However Saturday arrived with bright sunshine and a moderate breeze. After getting a few things at the village Spar Shop, we headed off up the lake towards Zandkriekplaat. The forecast was for the weather to be okay on Saturday but not Sunday, so the intention was for a few hours' day sail only.

We tacked all the way there under full main and genoa, then turned round and broad reached all the way back. Got over 6 knots at one point so all in all, a pretty good sail.

When we got back to the marina, we went for a walk over to the main part of the marina and had a nose in the chandlery, but didn't buy anything.

Earlier in the day we had seen Luc & Christine, who had invited us over for a drink, so Stewart & I wandered over to their boat for a couple of early evening beers. Well Kim had the beers, Stewart had Coke!

Back to Emjaytoo and a meal knocked up from the tins on board and then some TV.

Overnight the wind got up and the sky clouded over as forecast, which made for a warmer night. The clocks went back this weekend, so we got an extra hour in bed.

Thereafter, the usual Sunday drive back to the ferry. The slight difference is that I've posted this blog entry whilst on the ferry. I must do this more often, it passes the time and gets the blog entry online more quickly.

Wendy & I will probably have one more trip to the boat this side of Christmas to bring the soft items home and that will be it for the year.

Oct. 20, 2008 - On The Kaai

Went over on Saturday morning with a long weekend planned - return Monday afternoon. The plan was to go to Veere, spend all day Sunday there and see some of the sights we have not got round to seeing, such as museums, churches, etc. However, there was a more ambitious objective!

For two years now, every time we go to Veere, we stay on the outer visitor jetty as we've always considered The Kaai far too small and far too congested for us to venture in there. But, given that this was October, we thought it should be quiet enough for us to have a go.

So, in we went, with Kim on the helm. The first thing to do once inside the narrow harbour is turn round so you are pointing "out to sea". Not too difficult a job when you are only 31 feet long and the boats already inside were only rafted two deep at most. We identified a likely looking host boat to raft onto, but then Kim spotted a vacant space on the jetty. Having asked Wendy's opinion as to whether it was big enough, and being told "no", he went for it anyway! As the wind was coming over the stern and after the lesson learned last month in Zierikzee, Kim reversed Emjaytoo into the space. A kind Dutchman took the stern line and the bow gently drifted in against the jetty.

Whilst it probably looked like Kim knew exactly what he was doing, there was a degree of luck involved. In fact Wendy reported afterwards that our bow only just missed the back of the kind Dutchman's boat in front. When we had finished tying up we realised the gap we had gone into was only about 35 foot!

On a more general note, despite a rather overcast and on occasions wet journey up to the boat on Saturday morning, the weather cleared up as we headed up to Veere. The wind was brisk and we motored all the way to The Bad Hotel, but then got the sails out and had a cracking sail. By the time we got into the Kaai it was really sunny, although still pretty crisp as you would imagine for October.

In the evening we went to the Veere Yacht Club to eat and had a superb 3-course meal with wine for less than 70 Euros, which we thought was amazing.

On Sunday we had a leisurely start as we did not need to be going anywhere and were just preparing breakfast when we had an unexpected visitor along the jetty - Hans out walking their Leonberger "Bomel". We told him that we inteded to go to De Schotse Huizen museum and he suggested the museum in The Old Town Hall, as well as going to the top of the Grote Kerk, the enormous cathedral-like building in Veere.  As we bought our ticket to go up the tower at the Grote Kerk, the lady warned us that the last bit was rather dirty due to the pigeons - and she wasn't exaggerating.  In fact we even had to shoo pigeons out of the way to get up the last set of steps.  However, the views were well worth the effort.

On the way back to the boat we bumped into Hans again (Veere's a very small place!) and although we had previously arranged to meet up in the Veere Yacht Club, he suggested that we might like to go their house for a few drinks.  This then turned into a Dutch-style fish and chip supper and a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

We had planned to do a night passage back to our home marina, but in the end decided to stay the extra night.  We made an early start from Veere, leaving at 7.30  and were treated to a rather impressive sunrise with blue skies. 

Again the wind was brisk and initially in the wrong direction, so we motored again as far as the Bad Hotel, then since the wind was abaft the beam, unfurled the genoa and sailed the rest of the way under genoa only, getting back to our home berth by 9.20.

To add to the social nature of the weekend, we bumped into Luc and Christine who invited us to see their new boat.  Although we had to get cleared up in time to get the ferry, we were still able to spend half and hour or so chatting to them.

Sep. 15, 2008 - Deja Vu In Zierikzee

For this weekend, we took some extra days off work (Friday & Monday) and made a long weekend of it. We took the 8.00 am ferry on Friday morning, arriving at the boat at midday. We then just spent the rest of Friday relaxing and headed off to Zierikzee on Saturday morning, arriving there early afternoon.

When we arrived the Havenmeester directed us to raft on to a Bavaria Mobo (29 Foot). This in itself was not a problem. The problem was that fore & aft, they were already rafted 4 deep and we going in as the 2nd boat in a raft. Or in other words, bloody difficult to get in. Kim got the bow in okay and then the Havenmeester called out to ask if we wanted a "nudge" to get the stern in. Kim's not proud! So the Havenmeester used the soft bow of his RIB to push us in - not very elegant but highly effective!.

We finished the evening up as no. 2 out in a raft of 7. That is the busiest we have ever seen Zierikzee. The view from the back of Emjaytoo - nothing but boats!

We then went out for a meal, going to a restaurant we had visited last year (Brasserie Maritieme).  After last year's fiasco, we went armed with every conceivable Dutch/UK/international payment card - only to find that, when we came to pay, their machine was out of order!  However, once again the proprietor was very laid back about it all and we agreed to call in with the cash in the morning.

On Sunday morning, it all quietened down as other boats left and we ended up having the pontoon to ourselves.

As we had a bit of time to spare on Sunday and the weather was rather magnificent (even, if a bit windy), we went for a walk - to go to the cash machine for starters! Of course Zierikzee still looks the same - classic little gable ended houses, facing on to the quay side.

The trip back Sunday afternoon was sunny and breezy. At one point we were motoring up to the bridge in 22 knots of wind on the nose.  It was very bumpy, with waves occasionally breaking over the bow - what we both love! Once through the bridge, we got the sails up and enjoyed a leisurely sail back to the Zandkreeksluis. Kim sitting back and leaving the Autohelm to do the hard work.

Once through the lock, we were on a dead run back to the marina in, now, moderating winds and we got the opportunity to try out the newly purchased whisker pole, which worked a treat.

Back in the marina, we settled down to celerbrate our home coming in the normal way.

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We then had a relaxed afternoon, well Wendy did - Kim worked like a Trojan (or so he says!), cleaning the boat (after which, of course, Wendy produced dinner out of thin air!).

Monday morning - a very easy start and then back to Dunkerque for the ferry.  In spite of miscalculating by an hour, we made it to Dunkerque for the 1600 ferry, which meant we were back home by quarter to six, which was great.

Another great weekend over 'til the next one!

Aug. 30, 2008 - The Big Clean

Predictably Saturday dawned bright and sunny and we set to on a major boat clean.  Whilst Kim and Trev did a sterling job up top, Julie and Wendy got cracking down below.  The boat was soon looking spick and span again, ready for our next visit in a couple of weeks - amazingly one of the last of the season.  Where did the summer go?

As time was a bit tight, we took some rolls with us and stopped for a makeshift picnic in Sas Van Gent.  It was scorchingly hot.  Having driven through the town so many times, Kim had been keen to stop there for a look, but it turned out to be rather more attractive from the car than in real life!

The ferry home was very busy but on time and for once it was warm enough to sit up on deck and check the ferry's route on the GPS chartplotter.  It kept us amused for half the journey anyway!

Aug. 29, 2008 - Visiting Veere Again

We awoke to bright sunshine, followed by heavy mist, then a gradual re-appearance of the sun throughout the day.  We had a leisurely start, feeding the black swans and watching the other boats leave.

We then motored up to Veere and had a wander round before heading back to our marina.  There was not much wind but we managed to sail most of the way, even "racing" a Malo for several miles.

In the evening we had a meal in 'T Kompass.  The spare ribs were excellent, though the service was a bit poor, and we had the usual good laugh and enjoyable last evening.

Aug. 28, 2008 - More Adventures In The Lock!

More thick, grey cloud.  We spent most of the day under engine, but managed to use the sails down the Oosterschelde on a good broad reach.

After our experiences on the way into the Grevelingenmeer, when we landed up broadside and then facing backwards, we thought we had had our share of lock adventures for one holiday, but the Zandkreeksluis proved equally entertaining!  As it was high water springs, the level in the lock was very high (we could see grass and flowers along the edge of the road!).

This made it very hard to latch on, as even the top row of rings was a foot or more down.  Trev managed to get the ring with the boat hook, then the end broke off!  Later as Kim was using the same boat hook to push us off, it fell into the water!

As we motored up the Veerse Meer into the wind, it was quite cold but there were a few momentary glimpses of sun to remind us that this was our summer holiday!

Kim was uncharacteristically gung-ho about giving going into Bastiaan de Langeplaat a go, Wendy a bit less so, but after some tentative poodling around we eventually chose the outside of the pontoon near the picnic table, in 1.8 m of water.  We later found that the people inside had 2 m so we will be more daring next time.

We had a brilliant barbecue cooked on the Cobb on the picnic table - the first one this holiday. 

Kim even managed some sort-of-sunset shots:

All in all, we agreed that it was the best evening of the holiday so far and that the Veerse Meer knocks the Grevelingenmeer into a cocked hat!

Aug. 27, 2008 - Stampersplaat To Herkingen

The day started well with a pleasant chat to the Dutch man on the boat next to us.  It was a bit less windy but still a bit tricky to leave because of the wind and other boats, not helped by the choice of full astern instead of full ahead (by Kim for once, instead of Wendy!).  Evetnually we made our way back down the Grevelingenmeer in good spirits.  Winds were about 13 knots so good sailing, mostly on a broad reach, though the weather remained gloomy.

The approach to Herkingen is down a mile long channel and is certainly narrow (40 metres) but is well marked and clearly visible - even in the August gloom!

We chose to go into Herkingen WSV marina.  The town itself turned out to be nothing special, but was interesting inasmuch as all the roads from the old port lead downhill.  No wonder this was one of the worst hit places in the 1953 flood!

The evening saw Julie produce a wonderful chicken stir fry.  We then all had an early night as we needed to make a fairly early start the next day in order to get back to our unscheduled stop at Bastiaan de Langeplaat.

Aug. 26, 2008 - More Antarctic Than August

The day started cloudy but quite warm.  The wind seemed a bit less and we set off initially for the visitor centre at De Punt.  Once  out into the Grevelingenmeer, the wind was howling and the buoyage quite hard to follow.  The visitor centre looked deserted and the pontoon very exposed, so we decided to head towards Ouddorp.

By now it was blowing hard, very grey and quite cold, so we broke the golden rule and had a cup of tea/coffeee up top.

Having dropped the Ouddorp idea, we tightened up and headed towards Archipel.  It was now ceasing to be fun.  On a sunny day, the beat might have been described as a "cracking sail", but it was now just hard work.  Eventually we decided to give Stampersplaat a go, as both Kim and Wendy were keen to get in somewhere.

The approach was tight and the turn to raft up wasn't quite as quick as it should have been, resulting in a rapid change of plan as to which boat we were rafting up to, but all ended well.  We had a pleasant walk, saw the ponies and generally did the "touristy" thing - within the confines of a small, uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere -

before settling down to a pleasant late afternoon/evening in a lovely location, spoilt only by the manky weather!

Aug. 25, 2008 - Blustering To Brouwershaven

Monday morning and the wind had not abated. However we got off our mooring (rafted to a German mobo with very nice people) and sailed on a close reach with two reefs in the main and some genoa furled up, almost all the way to Brouwershaven. Brouwershaven in English would be Brewer's Harbour - quite appropriate!

We were regularly getting 6 - 7 knots most of the way, off 18 - 20 knots of wind, and all on one tack.

The final  run in was on engine and it was a pretty narrow channel with the wind still blowing strongly. We stopped at the Harbour Master's office, which is the control tower for the storm sluice gate and got allocated our berth right in the old harbour, rather than in the new marina, which was brilliant. Well it was, until we got into the old bit! Wendy was faced with a very tight u-turn to set the boat up to moor starboard side to in a very tight space up between two other boats, against the quay. She did a brilliant job of putting the boat straight in, first time, although, as she said afterwards, she would not have wanted to have had to have a second attempt!

The afternoon was spent wandering around the little harbour side town, initially in brilliant sunshine, but later in increasing cloud.

All the time the wind was still blowing quite strongly. Julie was in her element, because Brouwershaven was having market day!

Off to the Yacht Club for a beer and then back to the boat for lasagne & salad.

Aug. 24, 2008 - Breezing To Bruinisse

Set off on Saturday morning with Julie & Trev for a week's cruise to the Grevelingenmeer. After stopping off in Goes to get provisions, we arrived at the boat Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the day chilling out. Kim was able to pick up the small outboard for the tender which we had got the the marina to service.  The annual Protest Wakeboard contest was in full swing, so our evening was also accompanied by music and singing.

Wendy plotted us a course from the marina to Bruinisse, although was slightly surpised when double checking on the chart plotter to find that the course to steer took us via Llanelli  - a quick check of the waypoints entered, indicated that she had put in the degrees west instead of east.  Needless to say, much laughter ensued!

We made an early-ish start and set off on the approx. 18 mile trip to Bruinisse.  The winds proved stronger than expected and had us on a very broad reach/run making much faster progress than expected.

We stopped at the lock waiting pontoon for an hour or so whilst we had lunch and the entered the lock. It was pretty quiet - only a few boats. We went port side to as usual and got a bow line on. Then it all went wrong! We failed to secure the stern line in time and the stern blew off. The next thing is we are broadside across the lock. We could not get back along side without the boat ending up facing the wrong way. So rather than reverse out we waited for the lock to go in the opposite direction and returned to the Oosterschelde side, span round and re-entered the lock - much to some people's surprise. This time it all went to plan and we finally tied up in the larger Bruinisse marina at about 5.00pm. 

After a "Mythos", we walked into the town to find a restaurant. On the way, Julie stopped off to check her mussels!

We went in the De Vrienden Van Bru restaurant as recommended in one of the pilot books and had a superb meal.

Aug. 13, 2008 - All Change

The original plan was for Wendy, Kim & Stewart to have a long weekend, going out Friday morning and returning on Monday, stopping off at Goes on the way back to pick up Jimbo who was going to attend a Reggae concert at Eindhoven following his trip to a Heavy Metal concert in Germany.

However, due to various hiccups in Jimbo's plans, he decided after a few days in Amsterdam, that he would skip the Reggae concert, so we picked him up in Goes on the Friday and he came on up to Emjaytoo for his first visit.

We spent Friday afternoon in the marina, after getting provisions at the super market in Goes, which was in line with our original plan to go to Zierikzee on the Saturday.

However, on the Saturday morning, as we departed the marina, Kim thought the engine sounded "odd" and then Wendy noticed there was no water coming out of the exhaust/cooling water outlet. The engine was switched off immediately, before it had a chance to overheat and Kim discovered that, when he had done the engine checks, he had not put the inner cover back on the raw water filter and thus the system would not pump any water for cooling.

The problem was quickly overcome, although, as it was pretty windy, 12-14 knots, we did end up being blown onto another boat and had to be helped to fend off by the owner. Although the engine was restarted without any adverse effects, Kim was concerned that the impeller (used to pump the water round) may have been damaged by running dry. As we headed down towards the Zandkreek Sluis the wind steadily increased, pushing 20 knots. Given that it was Jimbo's first trip out and Kim's apprehension regarding the engine, we decided a trip through the Zeeland Brug and up to Zierikzee was not such a good idea. So we turned round and headed up towards Veere (and back into the comfort zone).

The weather was generally overcast and blustery and, as is often the case when heading up to Veere, mostly well forward of the beam, so plenty of motoring.

As you can see James has his own approach to sailing.

Although, we did manage to get him up into the cockpit for some proper sailing.

When we got to Goudplaat, we found that there was plenty of space, so even though it was quite early in the afternoon, we decided to stay til Sunday morning.

Kim & the boys went off exploring the shoreline leaving Wendy to enjoy half an hour of peace & quiet.

Not quite sure exactly what Jimbo has been exploring here! 

The planned bar-b-que was replaced with a meal cooked in the oven and eaten down below due to the bad weather. We were then "entertained" if that is the right word, by a Belgian yacht who went aground on the other side of the channel from where we were moored.

They didn't seem to have much idea of what to do and sat there for a long time with all their sails up, seemingly "sailing" their boat deeper into the mud. Eventually they got the sails down and managed to attract the attention of a passing mobo, who then tried to tow them off the mud without any success. Bear in mind that the Veerse Meer is non-tidal, so there is no tide to float you off. They then started to make some very shabby attempts at a "PAN-PAN" call (or as they called it "BANG BANG") to which they got no response - which was a bit disconcerting, since there is an inshore Life Boat based at Veere, less than a mile away. It was actually unusual for us to have our VHF switched on and thus able to listen to what was going on, especially as we were moored up. In the end we phoned the Harbour Master on our mobile 'phone to advise him of the situation. Then the Veere Life Boat came on the radio. By this time the Belgians were having a second attempt at being towed off, and weren't listening to their radio. We then ended up giving the Life Boat details of the type and name of the vessel, the location and the nature of their problem.

Thereafter the Life Boat appeared on the scene very quickly, as the latest set of ameteur rescuers gave up and departed. They then attached a line to the top of the yacht's mast (via the main halyard) and heeled it right over and dragged it off the mud.

The next morning we decided that rather than have a leisurely return to the marina and head back to Dunkerque on the Monday as originally planned, we would get straight off home on the Sunday. Which is what we did. We had a cracking sail back to the marina - all the way under genoa only, doing up to 6 knots most of the way - the wind was still blowing upto 20 knots!

So, although our weekend ended up somewhat differently to what had originally been planned, we still managed to pick James up, he got to spend a couple of days on the boat, we spent Saturday night at Goudplaat and had a great sail on Sunday.

So all in all, a pretty good weekend.

As a post script, it is now Wednesday evening and the weather continues to be atrocious. We are heading back to Holland on the 23rd August for a weeks cruise up to the Grevelingenmeer. That is only 10 days away, so hopefully this weather system will blow over and we will get some decent weather. Otherwise, we will be off to Greece in September to try and get some sun!

Jul. 28, 2008 - More Hawaii Than Holland

In spite of all Kim's travelling and ridiculously early starts for work recently, he managed to get home a bit earlier which made our departure more leisurely than of late.  Mandy and Pete were joining us for their first trip to Emjaytoo and although all exhausted, the adrenaline and excitement kept us all up and chatting till gone midnight.

Saturday morning dawned a bit cloudy but very warm.  By the time we had returned from the usual trip to the Meermarkrt, however, there was barely a cloud in the sky and it was lovely to get out on the water and cool off a bit.  As there was more wind than originally forecast, we were even able to sail "properly" for a mile or two, with both the main and genoa, albeit somewhat in slow motion!

Predictably, the whole of the Veerse Meer was heaving with boats but we were lucky enough to find a boat to raft up to on the visitor pontoon at Veere and were soon joined by another boat on the outside.  Part one of the stroll around Veere provided lots of photo opportunities - even for us!  Kim achieved his aim of getting to the end of the breakwater opposite the Campveerse Toren and took some different views of the Kaai.

Upon returning to the boat, we found that the boats on either side of us in the raft had gone, leaving us beautifully tied up directly onto the pontoon, with lines fore and aft and even bow and stern springs.  Pretty impresssive.  So with the skipper reassured and after some refreshments and a rest, we set off to see the rest of the town.  The bells from the town hall are always a feature of Veere, but on Saturday evening we were treated to an hour-long rendition.

Once back on the boat, Kim got the Cobb going and we had an excellent meal, accompanied by Mandy and Pete's bottle of champagne and much laughter and frivolity (the exploding sausage being followed by a an overly zealous BBQ briquette which smoked profusely and would not go out until finally dipped in the water!).

The night's sleep was not the best with the bells every half hour, the heat, the ducks and even an interlude of the slappers, but we nevertheless started Sunday in good spirits, with breakfast in the cockpit in temperatures of 32 degrees in the shade!  Kim bumped into Hans on his way back from the showers and apparently the rest of the Netherlands had had thunderstorms and torrential rain, so we were very fortunate.  Having opted to get the later ferry back, we were able to have a leisurely start and lap up the holiday atmosphere.

Even after a relaxed lunch in the cockpit back at our marina and cleaning the boat, we had time in hand so were able to drive up to the Neeltje Jans visitor centre to see the enormous tidal barrage:

and then to stop off at Vrouwenpolder for an ice cream (thank you Mandy!) on the beach.  It was staggering to see so many people there - like Camber Sands on a bank holiday!

As ever, the journey back seemed quite long but we still managed to enjoy ourselves and arrived back here about 9.40.  It was a great weekend with lots of laughs and some amazing weather (don't listen to the forecasters!) and we hope that our guests will be up for joining us again in the future, for Pete to hone his roving fendering skills and Mandy to have the chance to swim from an island.

Jul. 15, 2008 - Black Swans & Haringvreter

Due to work pressures, Kim had to put back the Friday night departure to Saturday morning. Once we arrived at the marina, we found they had their annual Havendag Festival on, so Saturday afternoon, after getting provisions from the local shops, Kim set about the jobs on the list whilst Stewart & Tom amused themselves around the village before returning to the boat to chill.

Kim got all the jobs on the list completed except for the wiring to the binnacle for the Garmin - which was always likely to be a job too many. So all in all, a successful afternoon.

We sat up late watching a DVD of the Godfather whilst listening to the live music from the festival outside the pub.

Sunday we set off for Veere, but as is often the case with a westerly wind, we chose to motor most of the way. The plan had  been to stay on the outer visitor jetty, but it was packed out with dinghys, so we had a few futile attempts at anchoring, before heading off to find an island jetty. More about anchoring (or not as is the case) on another occaision.

We were fortunate to find space (and sufficient water depth) on the island of Haringvreter. Another one to add to the list of jetties we can use.

This is a large island with cattle and even deer on it. The boys had great fun exploring by foot and by tender.

We had a very sucessful Cobb "Bar-B-Que" on Sunday night and a relatively early night. All too soon it was Monday morning and time to head back to the marina. The wind was blowing off the jetty, so whilst we fired the engine up, we actually left the jetty entirely under sail - genoa only. Sailing back in the opposite direction from Sunday we were able to do a bit of sailing, but as is often the case, the clock was against us, so we finished off charging back under power at 6.5 knots!

Got packed away, after cleaning up ready for the next contingent of guests and caught the 6.00pm ferry from Dunkerque.

The Black Swans?

Here they are. They came to visit on Monday morning before we left Haringvreter.

Jul. 7, 2008 - Electrical Panel Upgrade

Many months ago. we got a letter, first from Clipper Marine, then from Lombard Marine and finally from our insurers, all alerting us to a recall on part of the electrical panel. Despite several calls to Clipper, nothing much happened, no doubt due to the boat not being in the UK. Finally Clipper have agreed to post the panel to us  so that Kim might take it over to Holland and fix it himself.

A 'phone call today, confirmed that it is being posted out tonight, so we should have it for this weekend.

Kim will be going over with Stewart & Tom for a boy's weekend and hopefully to do the following jobs:-

• Adjust all the doors so they open & shut properly
• Change the electrical panel
• Connect up the new 240 volt socket in the saloon
• Connect up the new 12 volt socket in the saloon
• Run the secondary wiring for the Garmin chart plotter to the binacle

The ferry is booked for Friday night out and Monday night back, so hopefully all the work will get done and we'll get a sail.

Jul. 4, 2008 - Oil Leaks?

Last Sunday, after we had got back to the marina, Kim had a good look around the engine compartment and discovered that there was a bit of oil under the sump. After cleaning it up with kitchen towel, we then discovered the presence of some red liquid in addition to the grey oil. Quite where the red liquid had come from was not clear, it was only evident on the kitchen towel and on Kim's hand - then of course, on Kim's T-shirt, on the bed linen etc, etc  !!

A phone call to Volspec - a UK Volvo dealer, suggested the red liquid might be transmission fluid, but in any case, on a year old engine with only 110 hours on it, there should not be any leaks at all.

A 'phone call to the marina technical department and a conversation with Peter has resulted in arranging for them to have a look at the engine next week. We are next over to the boat the following weekend, so hopefully it will not prove to be anything major.

Jul. 2, 2008 - Another Great Weekend

We got an early shuttle over on Saturday morning and Wendy, Maggie and Zach walked/waddled/trotted respectively to the village for some essential supplies while Kim and James got ready.  Zach was then kitted out in his life jacket, which he took to immediately without objection and we got ready to set off.  The wind was much stronger than forecast (a good F6 out on the lake), so we motored all the way , losing count of how many times Zach looked around him, with a big grin on his face, and said, "We're on a boat"! 

There was also quite a swell on the water and we even got a bit wet as some waves broke over the bow, but nevertheless we made it to Veere in record time (1 3/4 hours), choosing to moor up to the visitor pontoon, which was surprisingly empty.  As the pontoon was on the windward shore, Wendy brought the boat in faster than usual and at a steeper angle, only to have to change approach completely in the last few boat lengths as we came into the lee of the land and totally different conditions.  It was scorchingly hot in Veere and we were grateful for the breeze by then.

A walk around the town proved that even after so many visits, this beautiful little place still holds some surprises.  Zach was very taken with the fortified Napoleonic tunnel and we never did make it to the cannon.

Dinner was, predictably, a bit late, especially for our little pirate who almost fell asleep in his sausages, but it had been an excellent day with everyone enjoying themselves.  Interestingly, as the day went on, the boat changed from being Grandad's boat, to our boat to Zach's boat!

Sunday was a bit cloudier but with much less wind, so we were able to sail back some of the way with just the genoa, though we did put the engine on a few times to speed things up.  Our arrival in the berth was marred by Wendy over-compensating for the wind and hitting the bow on the pontoon.  A classic case of needing to trust instincts rather than do everything by rote, but no damage was done and still more lessons were learned.

The trip back to Calais was uneventful but rather spoilt by a long wait at the tunnel.  Predictably Zach was an angel and just took it all in his stride, though by the time he got his takeaway pizza back here in England he was too tired to eat it!

All in all a lovely weekend with Maggie, James and Zach and we look forward to doing it all again next year!

Jun. 16, 2008 - A Tiring Weekend

Another short and frantic weekend break. This one was particularly tiring Friday night, after both Wendy & Kim had had busy weeks, with Wendy only finishing work half an hour before departure and little time to prepare properly.

We set off on Saturday for Middelburg via Veere and the Walcheren Kanal, without having been shopping and thus not properly victualled. Lunch was the sandwiches bought for the ferry crossing, but not eaten and the plan was to go out for a meal Saturday night in Middelburg. After walking around Middelburg, which was very pleasant, we discovered there was no suitable restaurant near to the mooring that had any space, so it was back to the boat for Fray Bentos, tinned veg & Smash (again!).

After some heavy rain overnight, Sunday dawned rather cloudy, but soon cleared up into a bright sunny day. We had noticed on arrival yesterday at the Havenmeester's office, that there was a holding tank pump out facility, easily accessible so decided to try pumping out. After moooring up, we then found it didn't work, so the mysteries of pumping out the holding tank remain.

We then had a very pleasant trip back up the Walcheren Kanal to Veere Sluis.

The lock , however was not such a pleasant experience. We were first in and went for our customary "port side to". The lock at Veere has an offset bay to port and we were right up the front staring at a brick wall on the nose. We decided, when exiting, to let everyone else out first - there were a lot of boats packed into the lock. We then motored back a bit to give us enough room to make a dogleg turn to line up with the exit gates. However, we didn't reverse back enough which, together  with the wind, made the turn all too tight and some frantic use of fenders was required as we bounced our way through the lock gates. Going through on Saturday, we had been on the other side of the lock which is not offset. Anyway the lesson for Veere lock is to let at least 4 boats in first and then raft up to someone.

The trip back home was mostly with the wind abaft the beam so we got lazy and just used the genoa. Even so we still got speeds up to 4.8 knots. The weather remained warm and sunny, except for when the sun dissappeared behind a cloud, Kim still managed to get a bit burnt and all the usual suspects were present.

Got back to the marina at about 2.30pm, went down to the campsite shop to get some rolls, ham & cheese for lunch, had lunch, packed up and were away by 3.50pm - a bit later than we would have preferred, but still arrived in Dunkerque with time to spare.

Norfolk Line have recently introduced a table service restaurant that is not really any more expensive than the cafeteria, so we tried that and had a very nice meal which made the crossing so much more pleasant than it usually is.

Finally back home by 9.30pm - knackered !

As a result of this weekend, we are begining to think that, out Friday night and back Sunday night is a bit much at "our age" and perhaps we should use some holiday so we can have long weekends. That way we could go out in the morning which would be a lot more relaxing.

The next trip is in a fortnight's time with Maggie, James & Zach. That will be a real short taster for them as we are going out Saturday morning on the shuttle and back Sunday evening.  Let's hope for some good weather so that little Zach can get off and have a run round while we cook his favourite sausages on the BBQ!

Jun. 14, 2008 - Live Report From Middelburg

Amazingly it is 8.30 pm on Saturday and we are moored up between piles in a lovely, peaceful little spot.  After a few thundery showers this morning, it has turned into a beautiful day/evening.

Middelburg is a beautiful place to visit lots of 17th century houses along the many quaysides.  Sort of Goes does Zierikzee with a touch of Veere.

There are miles of these quaysides and numerous opening bridges with some old but still fully functional "Victorian" ironmongery:

We had a great sail to get here, with lots of short tacking (sorry Kim), some deft lock work and close-quarters boat handling (nothing phases Wendy now - not even a 40+ foot racing boat full of Belgian men getting in her way just as she wants to turn between the piles!).  Roll on tomorrow for part 2!