7 August 2018
To Dunkerque
.
To leave Dover we had to:
1. Call Dover Marina on VHF 80 and ask them to open the gate and the road bridge to let out out
2. Call Port Control on VHF 74 to ask them if we might enter "The Wick Channel" (which has nasty blind corner and traffic lights (because big tugs and other boaty stuff may be coming in the opposite direction)
3. Call VHF 74 a second time and ask permission to leave "by the Eastern Entrance" (this time)
4. Avoid bumping into things and looking silly.
All this involves using the VHF, which means that everything you say will be heard by the hundreds of local (and competent) seafarers who are also listening in on VHF 74.
Words like "Port Control" "Albatross" "roger" "standby" "over" "say again" and "out" have to be said calmly and with authority but without sounding like a remake of Airport II. Non-seafaring folk may not be aware that the use of Whirlybirdisms like "Over and Out" is worse than ... well, a very bad thing out of a very very bad factory.
We motored all the way to Dunkerque. The Dover Straights Traffic Separation System was fine and the journey was easy. Dunkerque has two marinas, the "friendly" recommended one and the other one. The former is always full but the later is very friendly and entirely acceptable.
Visitors' Pontoon in Dunkerque (plus tip of Right Index Finger)
The weather wasn't ideal for sailing for several days to I spent my time planning the next leg of our adventure.
I discovered the following:
1. Belgium is next door to France and lies between France and the Netherlands
2. English sailors generally avoid Belgium (for obvious reasons .. see below)
3. Holland (our target destination) is part of The Netherlands
4. Everyone in The Netherlands speaks fluent English except for a laundrette assistant somewhere a long way north.
5. To navigate the Dutch inland waters we would need:
a. An International Certificate of Competence with an inland waterway endorsement
b. A printed copy of the Dutch Inland Waterways Regulations (in Dutch) aboard at all times
c. Our VHF radio programmed for A.T.I.S. (whatever that might be)
d. A cool head and a strong heart
e. Our boat's VAT certificate
f. A basic idea of how to "berth the boat in a box mooring"
The cruising guide which we had purchased advised us that the Dutch would enforce their regulations strictly and that the end of the world was nigh.
So looking at 5. a. to f. (above), I worked out that we failed all all counts (although on item d., I thought my heart, at least, was probably OK).
Although our cruising guide may or may not have been written by an obsessional depressive with a hangover, it was not bringing me happiness or reassurance. The local Dutch (and Belgian) yotties however explained (in English) that none of the above mattered at all ... except perhaps that I really should have got my inland waterway endorsement.
Anyway, to The Netherlands without stopping in Belgium.
We arrived in Breskens (in the Netherlands).
Our guide stressed the importance of completing a "Schengen" form in triplicate. We didn't.
All the local boaters reassured us that all the above was bo!!ocks and that we should try not to worry.
12 August 2018
To Middelburg
Getting to Middelburg, our first proper inland "up a canal" place involved
1. Crossing the Westerschelde (without impeding the ferries)
2. Entering the Sea lock at Vlissingen (aka as "Flushing" to us Brits)
3. Waiting for various bridges to open
4. Finding a berth in The Historic City of Middelburg
5. Getting the boat into a "Box Mooring".
Everything went fine apart from item 5.
The Box Mooring consisted of 2 posts (which I later measured to be) precisely 4 metres apart. Albatross is 3.6 metres wide and when festooned with fenders is approximately 4 metres wide.
I went for it backwards, obliquely and at speed. We hit one of the posts and bumped on into the berth. Various nice Dutch people all of whom were nice (obviously) and spoke English fluently (obviously) came to our aid and helped us tie up. One man kindly suggested that we should have taken our fenders off before attempting this delicate manoeuvre.
Box moorings in Middelburg
More moorings in Middelburg
We liked Middelburg, its canals and watery boat parking arrangements, the harbour mistress, the architecture and everything about the place. We met and interesting man from Essex in a 50 foot power boat who had just driven over from Essex (obviously) in bad weather. His wife and his dog had both vomited much of the way. The dog was a "German Shepherd" or some such thing. Almost as frightening as our Putin (but probably in better mental health). Our faithful Putin was of course still still at home and hopefully guarding it resolutely.
Jean exploring Middelburg
Having proved that could cope with "Dutch Inland Waterways" we visited the local "Jumbo" supermarket. This was much worse. I managed to get my trolley (without fenders) jammed between a pillar and the oriental pasta. Everyone was nice and spoke English.
Jean in Middelburg city centre
14 August
To Verre and Osterwatering.
It was tricky getting out of our Box Mooring as 3 giant motor cruisers had rafted together opposite our cosy berth leaving a gap of about 12 metres within which we would need to turn. But we made it. The other boaters were very nice (and spoke English). We had an easy trip down the canal but on arrival in Verre the marina looked full (really full, fuller than.. well you know) so we went instead to Oosterwatering. On arrival, this marina also looked full but the very nice Berthing Mistress advised us to raft onto the "Blue Motorboat on the Hammerhead". There were 2 Blue Motorboats, one on each hammerhead. One contained an unhelpful Englishman but the other was empty and Dutch and altogether a better place to berth. So we did.
Martin joined us in Oosterwatering. Martin knows about sailing, doesn't feel the cold and never gets seasick. Remarkably, Martin doesn't speak Dutch very well, but this didn't matter.
A tunnel in a dyke near Veere near Oosterwatering somewhere in The Netherlands
Locking out of a canal
15 August
We decided to explore some of The Inland Waters of The Netherlands and therefore set off for Colijnplaat. Colijnplaat is interesting, no only for the gratuitous over use of the letter "j" in its spelling (not to mention the double "a" later in the word, but also because it is very nice, friendly, Dutch and because we had to sail under a motorway bridge (with a gate under it it) to get there.
16 August
Next to Sint Annaland Marina in Zeeland.
A nice marina in a slightly boring town with a nice beach. We had a swim. Martin took us out to traditional dutch meal. We had chips with dutch sauce.
17 August
We sailed to Wemeldinge.
Wemeldinge has a marina, half of which is only accessible via a narrow channel with a lifting footbridge over it. The berth we were allocated would be, I decided, impossible to berth in without divine intervention. Even with Martin on board, we had no chance of making the sharp and complex turns required to get into the berth without wrecking several (nice) dutch boats in the process.
Under Martin's guidance we therefore decided to "rope the boat in".
Martin knows about boating (and even his Dutch was improving) and so he explained how we should berth somewhere easy and then pull the boat (with a very long rope) into the berth to which we had been assigned. Probably the best thing about the next couple of hours (from an international relations perspective) was the entertainment that we provided for so many very nice Dutch onlookers.
Martin's rope throwing did improve with practice. It is good to know that no one is perfect.
Wemeldinge is situated next to the entrance to the next canal that we would have to tackle, so we went for a very pleasant walk to explore the neighbourhood and to suss out the canal generally.
Next time .. somewhere else...
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