Category: Holland 2013

From Boulogne we went across channel to Eastbourne, Brighton and the finally Itchenor in Chichester harbour. We are not going to mention the British ports as we have already covered them in previous post. Except to say that crossing from Boulogne is great because you miss the dreaded Dungeness point which is just horrible because…

The trip from Dunkirk to Boulogne was much faster that I had the tides right and we flew down the French coast doing 9 knots SOG pretty much all the way. We passed Calais and headed straight for Cap De Gris-nez. The marina is well equipped and easy to navigate with plenty of moorings for…

The trip to Dunkirk was straight forward run down the Belgium coast. However, as usual the wind was on the nose and the wind over tide made the trip a bit lumpy so we were quite pleased to tie up and relax. Because we arrived on Sunday of course everything was closed. However I managed…

After yesterday’s debacle with the tide times I asked the harbour master when the tide set in the east going direction he said 2 hours after low water which made it about 7 am. I compared this with the Navionics app on the IPad which said the tide started running at 5am. But after yesterday’s…

We left Middelburg on the 10:15 bridge knowing that we had 3 more bridges and a lock to negotiate before we could catch the last couple of hours of daylight going with the east going tide (according to the Navionics app on the IPad) about 5 pm hoping to make Oostende. However when we finally…

Position : 51°30.02N 3°37:27E We have once again returned to Middelburg for our return leg of our journey. I fly home on Tuesday to do three days work and return Thursday night. It’s a great place to leave Kath and Lucy it has everything they need and it has a fairly direct train journey to…

Position: 51°32:99N 3°40:105E We new the day was going to be very hot and sunny 30°+ so we planned to go somewhere where we could swim and cool off so the islands opposite Veere were our preferred option however when we got there they were very busy and the water was full of small jellyfish…

Position : 51°33:04N 03°43:74E We have covered Delta marina before this year see previous post. This time however because we had been to Port Zealand we got a 25% discount when we showed the receipt. We also took advantage of the free bikes from the marina office so we got 4 bikes with 3 children’s…

Position : 50°29:84N 4°03:265E We left Oude Tonge at lunchtime and headed through the Krammer lock, which means we are back in the salt water. It was pretty uneventful and in fact a lot easier than normal as we had plenty of crew. We had quite strong winds on the nose so we motored all…

The trip was only a few miles with no locks or bridges so pretty uneventful. We returned to Oude Tonge so we could meet our friends Rob & Heidi Woodgate and their two boys Ben and Sam who were arriving by car on Monday. On the Sunday night we got a Chinese takeaway on the…

Position: 50°40:97N 4°21:16E This tiny little harbour is a delight if you want some peace and quiet. It is situated up a tight little canal but a 2m boat should just about make it. Your browser does not support the video tag There’s not much in the town but there’s a good supermarket about 5…

It was due to be very hot today so we decided to spend the day at anchor before heading on to Hellevoetsluis for the night where we are going to leave the boat whilst we return to the UK for a couple of days. We anchored on the north bank opposite the entrance to Middelharnis.…

We upped anchor at 9am as our friends left the ferry at Calais at 8am and were arriving at 11:30am in Hellevoetsluis. We had a lovely sail in gorgeous weather and arrived literally a few minutes before them. The boys drove to a supermarket in town to stock up on supplies, leaving the girls playing…

Your browser does not support the video tag We left Oude Tonge at midday and took a gentle trip through the Volkeraksluizen but by the time we got through we had missed the 3:30 bridge into the Haringvliet. So we anchored and waited for the 18:30 bridge. During this lazy time Kath cleaned the coach…

Position 51°47.80N 03°56.02E We intended to go into the marina when we reached Ouddorp, just 2.8 miles on from the pontoon we spent last night at. However, on arrival we discovered that the harbour was full. So as we were meeting our Dutch friends, Walter and Yvonne, there we decided to drop anchor and tender…

Position 51°46.76N 3°53.02E Just a simple pontoon attached to the shore. But there is a nice beach here with sand which Lucy wasted no time in building a sand castle including a mote.

Position 51°44.50N 3°53.49E The best way to describe Port Zelande marina is it is very like Port Solent in Portsmouth. It is a modern marina with all the facilities you could need including launderette, supermarket (in the nearby Centre Parks). As part of your morning fee you can get a free bus to nearby towns…

Position 51°44.75N 3°55.666E We left the island mid morning, travelling to virtually the other end of the Grevelingenmeer, to a pontoon near the village of Brouwershaven. The pontoon was just under a mile from the town but, according to all our documentation, the marina in the town does not accept visitors. However, we now know…

We left Goes on the 10am bridge heading for the Grevelingenmeer which is the lake above the Oosterschelde. After leaving Goes there is just one lock into the Grevelingenmeer. It’s a big lock, and the only entrance and exit to the area, so it is very busy with everyone trying to get in so it’s…

Got up fairly early to avoid the major rush of boats that we knew would be jostling for a space in the Zandkreeksluis lock. Went in the massive lock with just 4 other boats so there was no hassle! 2 locks and 2 bridges later we were in Goes (pronounced Hoos). Got to the last…

Position 51°32.466N 3°51.611E We left Delta marina early and decided to anchor before the Zandkreeksluis there is a pontoon here but we thought anchoring would be nice as the conditions were lovely. We decided to take the bikes into Goes which was only 4 miles away and we needed some provisions. In particular we needed…

Position 51°33.052N 3°48.715E Just a couple miles down the Verse Meer is a well equipped marina on the north bank called Delta Marina. The marina has a couple of restaurants, a kids playground (slide, swing, trampoline, sandpit, bouncy castle thing), a good chandlers, washing machines, tumble dryers and great showers and loos. It is only…

We left Veere on a rainy damp early afternoon with the promise of better weather in the afternoon. We were heading for a pontoon on one of the islands on the Verse Meer at 50:31.53N 03:43.04E. Your browser does not support the video tag I am sitting in the cockpit this morning listening to the…

Position 51°32.977N 3°40.037E The town of Veere is a step back in time. In fact to the Middle Ages when we were there as they had a festival of the Middle Ages on. There is no supermarket in the town so we had to cycle back down to Middelburg to get provisions. It’s a fair…

Position 51°33.392N 3°40.547E We left Middelburg and traveled the couple of miles to the lock at Veere. The island is just a couple of lilies from the lock. This little island is in the middle of the Verse Meer between Veere and Kampaland both of which we visited by tender. There is a supermarket in…

Position 51°29.952N 3°37.502E Middelburg is a delightful town with all the facilities you could need. The Albert Heijn supermarket is a fair walk from the marina. We sorted out our mobile data sim here and once again vodafone has the best deal but data is still very expensive here in Holland. We pay €17 per…

25€, leccy, water, washer/dryer, supermarket We left the buoy outside Calais marina around 9am. Journey pretty uneventful apart from running aground just outside Calais crossing the shallows by buoy C4 where according to the chart we had in excess of 3m but we were at very low tide. Weren’t sure whether we would make Holland…

We locked out of Eastbourne at 6am and carried the tide pretty much all the way to Calais, arriving about 1:45. Unfortunately we missed the last bridge opening for that tide and had to wait till 9:30pm for the bridge to open again. We picked up a buoy outside and relaxed for the afternoon and,…

We headed for Goose first thing in the morning. Lots to do on the way, like collect new chart plotter and do a shed load of shopping! Headed for Eastbourne which would have been a calm trip and would have been uneventful if it hadn’t been for thick fog for about 7 hours. Fortunately we…