Een Ruwe Zeiltocht

I am conscious that this blog should not degenerate into a ‘what we did on our holidays’ account so, I will try to keep that element to a minimum.

A successful rendezvous at Schiphol Airport with our wives followed by a nice meal near the marina, was the right start to our sailing holiday.

Unfortunately the spectre of a 50 mile passage down the North Sea loomed over the niceties with the strong north westerly winds continuing.

With Richards wife, Amanda suffering from a bad back, they stayed onboard for the day while Paula and I took the train to explore Hoorn and Haarlem which were both very pretty.

I noted that these should be included on any future Netherlands cruise, assuming the bridges are finally repaired.

We were lucky to be able to extricate ourselves from the gridlocked Six Haven Marina and we made our way down the busy Noordzeekanaal where we locked out into seawater at Ijmuiden.

We moored for the night in the Seaport Marina to find it run down and partially derelict; it must have been a dream that didn’t take off. Searching for a beer was difficult but we finally found a bar in the eco resort behind the sand dunes. This place was curious in that it superficially looked unkempt but closer examination suggested that the untrimmed and bohemian appearance was deliberate and a result of the eco ideals.

The rainy passage south, offshore on the exposed North Sea was not comfortable with a big wind and a quartering sea inducing a corkscrewing motion which definitely didn’t suit some of the crew…  The intense shipping traffic off Rotterdam necessitated making contact with the shipping controllers who helpfully told us to maintain course and speed, confirming what shipping would pass in front and behind us.

Locking back into the protected inland waters at Stellendam, the quay at Hellevoetsluis was a welcome, if basic destination to recuperate overnight.