| Crew : | Andy, Pam, Brian, Paul, Hugo, Luis |
| Detinations : | Ramsgate, Dunkirk, Middleburg, Zierikzee, Roompot |
| Distance : | 303 mile |
55 miles
An early start before dawn heading for Oostende, planning to get in in the early afternoon. As we were on our way to the Sunk light ship we picked up the 0710 forecast, which was talking about strong winds and the possibility of a NE gale later. That’s not the sort of weather to be making an entrance to Oostende so we decided to divert down the Black Deep to Ramsgate.
On passage to Ramsgate the forecast was upgraded to gale 8 perhaps severe gale 9 later, which at least made us feel that diverting was the right option.
As usual when the forecast is bad Ramsgate was busy and we ended up in the east marina next to the fishing boats. On a rainy walk around town some of the crew ended up in a “Belgian” bar, so at least we found the sort of beer we were planning for.
50 miles
The morning forecast gave a weather window for today so we decided to get over to the continent then keep an eye on the forecasts for a window to get home. Slipped just before 0900 and headed out past the East Goodwin lightship and over the TSS then north east up the French coast. We’d been considering various destinations, including Niewport and Oostende, but by the time we got to Dunkirk it was clear that carrying on would give us a late arrival so we headed in.
From the sea Dunkirk is an unappealing frontage of heavy industry but the old town is actually quite pleasant, though we were caught out in the marina not being able to find any jettons for the showers.
61 miles
An early call for some of the crew around 5:30 in the morning to let the German boat that we were rafted on leave, then back to bed for a more civilised start, slipping at 0830. A wind from the south west and a following tide gave us good speed up the coast, running with a preventer on the main and polled out genoa for most of the day.
We put the Belgian courtesy flag up as we crossed the border in the morning, and took it down again as we entered Dutch waters in the afternoon, making Vlissingen harbour by 1800.
Locking into the canals went smoothly and we decided to press on to Middleburg. All the way to the town the bridges opened as we approached, but the final bridge in Middleburg itself was on a half hourly schedule so we had to hang around waiting for that before making a very busy town harbour around 2030 and rafting up on a boat that turned out to be from Titchmarsh then heading off to the friendly yacht club for some beer and Dutch gin and a nice warm shower.
33 Miles
Forecasts of gales again today, but we’re in the inland waterways so we don’t care!
Time for a wander around the town before setting off in the late afternoon. After a few miles of canal we locked into the Veerse Meer and had a good sail in gusty conditions while the teenagers cooked lunch (well heated up some pasties!).
Locking into the Oosterschelder we made our way to the lifting section of the road bridge then through to a busy Zierikzee where the harbour master directed us to a 6 deep raft (with another boat berthing outside us later that evening).
5 miles
A windy morning with the forecast suggesting strong south westerly winds decreasing later. We decided to wait until the boat inside us wanted to leave then decide where to go. With a strong wind blowing up the river and a tight exit with deeper rafts either side Andy took the helm (everyone else seemed happy with this…). The skipper of the inside boat, who’d never seemed particularly happy, offered to help with our lines then just cast us off before we could let the bows blow out, but a few manoeuvres and the use of plenty of throttle at the right moment got us out.
In the Oostershelder the wind was on the nose as we headed for the sea lock, and even with the short fetch there was a large chop, so we dropped in to the marina at the delta exhibition. Unfortunately we arrived just as the exhibition was closing. A short trip over to Roompot marina found us a secure berth for the night (and for the first time since Ramsgate we were not rafted out). After getting away from a drunken English sailor who wanted to tell us his life story we took advantage of the restaurant.
99 miles
Last night’s forecast was for a quiet spell with yet another depression to follow, so we made an early start, slipping at 0540 local time to make the first locking of the day. After sharing the sea lock with a fishing boat and another yacht we were on our way. The wind was on the nose so we motor sailed for several hours before trying some close hauled sailing, sadly we weren’t making enough progress under sail so it was back on with the engine and with George on the helm we settled in for the crossing.
At the new “roundabout” at the Sunk lightship we went out of our way to stay out of the precautionary area an cross the various TSS’s as right angles, with the result that we ended up rather close to the deep water anchorage in the dark, not the best place to be so a further diversion took us around this. I’ll think about other routes around this in future.
A rainy entrance into Harwich harbour and finally home at Shotley at 0230.