Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

We left anticipating a short trip to Vlaardingen where we will moor the boat while I return to the UK for work for a couple of days. However, this was not to be the case. We had two bridges to get through and unbeknown to us one was having technical problems. When we called up…

We went to Oud-Beijerland via the Spui canal. It was pretty windy but only strong gusts so we waited for a bit of a lull in the wind and popped out of the box berth with no problems. We had to get through the Haringvliet Bridge which is only 15 mins from Willemstad and opens…

We left Oude Tonge after stocking up with French wine in plastic bottles (good on a boat) for €2 a bottle from Aldi. We went with tide and wind to Willemstad (for a change) via the huge Volkerak lock, not too bad this time, only a 30 minute wait. Willemstad is a picturesque harbour and…

We left Ouddorp after being stuck for 3 days because of the strong winds. Although in fairness the wind hadn’t died down much, it was just we were getting a bit stir-crazy. So we left in 30 knots of wind but even though we were being pinned onto the pontoon, we soon sprung off and…

After 3 days on that islands we needed a charge up and some provisions so we headed for Ouddorp a lovely town on the most northernly part of the Grevelingenmeer. There is a nice marina and clubhouse at W.S.V. Goeree. With very friendly harbour staff and a very safe harbour for bad weather. Which was…

Well, today was not a day that we needed seasick tablets as it was a quick 1-mile journey from the marina to one of the public moorings that I mentioned in my previous post. The public moorings are scattered all around the Grevelingenmeer. They usually have toilet facilities and rubbish bins and pontoons. This one…

We left Wemeldinge about midday after spending an hour or two trying to find/work out the tidal streams and eventually giving up. We worked on the principle that the north sea comes in and goes out i.e. flow east until HW and then ebbs west. As it happens that seems to be reasonable logic. Go…

So we left Vlissingen at 8 am but for a change we decided to take a different route to the usual one through Middleburg and the Versemeer. Instead we continued down the Westershelde down to the canal at Hansweert that joins the Oostershelde at Wemeldinge. With just one lock and two bridges it’s a much…

Nothing very exciting to report. On route, we stopped at Brighton Dover Calais – Layover for tide Nieuwport Vlissingen – Micheal Di Ruyterhaven The passage from Brighton to Dover was interesting. We were with the tide so pretty quick averaging 9.6 knots (7.7 through the water). But after leaving Brighton the fog came down and…

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…

It was the final leg of our Holland adventure, but that being said it was warm, sunny, calm and easy. The journey was a tad under 60 miles but with tide with us it took just 7 hours. But when the sea is flat calm you can sleep and cook and eat with ease so…

We left Calais on the last but one bridge opening, on the morning tide which was at 7am, which meant that again we fought the last hour or so of tide, but this meant we should be going with the tide till just before Eastbourne and so it proved to be. The channel crossing was…

View Larger Map The trip from Blankenberge to Calais was a breeze, it’s so much easier and quicker when you have the tide with you! We left at 7am, about an hour before the tide turned in our favour. Once it did we carried a 1.5 knot tide all the way and it just started…

View Larger Map We left Colijnsplaat with just 17 minutes to go before the Zeelandbrug opened some 2.9 miles away. We made it but only by the skin of our teeth, actually going through the bridge when the last of the yachts were coming through from the opposite way (with the man who operates the…

View Larger Map Our raft of four boats all dispersed at 10am so it seemed logical for us to make a move aswell, so we went to the fuel berth to fill up with diesel for the first time in Holland. Now of course in Holland you only have white diesel so you know it’s…

View Larger Map Well, what started out as a simple trip to Stavenisse a couple of hours away turned into a 6 hour marathon trip. We left Numansdorp at 10:30am, intending to pop over to Willemstad to fill up with fuel for the first time since filling up in Dover. However, we saw a couple…

View Larger Map We left after a leisurely morning fitting our new 12v media player, which is most definitely the Mutts Nuts, and then having a stroll around town before leaving about 1pm, bound for Middelharnis which is somewhere new for us. We couldn’t find out much about the place so we are kinda taking…

We had to back track a bit today so basically we did the reverse of our previous post. We were going to go on but it was so stonking hot we wanted to stop somewhere that would have a bit of a breeze (i.e out of a town) and also have electricity so that we…

View Larger Map We left just after 10, heading back to the Oude Maas river heading north towards Rotterdam. We had a good 2 knots of tide with us until we turned left onto the Nieuwe Maas river where it ran against us at 2 knots, but we only had a couple of miles to…

View Larger Map Getting out of our box berth in gusts of 30 knots of wind and turning around in a tight marina with no bow thruster, when we only had a few feet either end, gave us a few interesting moments. As did getting through the little bridge that opens up to give us…

They say “intrepid travellers never retrace their steps”. Well I guess we’re not intrepid travellers as that’s exactly what we had to do. We were completely scuppered in our travel plans because of the Erasumus bridge being out of action. So today we decided to backtrack and take the long route round. Yet again they…

View Larger Map Well we started the day going only 3 miles to Schiedam, so we left City Marina, turned left and waited for the Erasumus Bridge to lift at 10am, as per the schedule. However, by 10:15 we figured that it was not going to happen. So we called them up on the VHF…

View Larger Map We left Alblasserdam about 10.30 to a nice surprise in the weather department – it was meant to be windy and raining but in fact it was sunny and no wind, much niceness! Today was definitely a day of not wanting to watch….. Before the first bridge, we noticed we were about…

View Larger Map We left Dordrecht at 1:30 as this gives the right time for the bridge, Verkeersbrug, further north. It opened at 2:15 and not again till 4:15 and there is nowhere to wait so you have to float around on the river for a couple of hours, so timing is important. A lot…

View Larger Map We left Dordrecht at 1:30 as this gives the right time for the bridge, Verkeersbrug, further north. It opened at 2:15 and not again till 4:15 and there is nowhere to wait so you have to float around on the river for a couple of hours, so timing is important. A lot…

View Larger Map We left Willemstad about 11am, which was a bit early as we had to fight the tide a bit but nothing too strong. Basically we came out of Willemstad and turned right along Hollands deep and travelled about 5 miles to the east before taking a northward canal to Dordrecht. There is…

View Larger Map Although pretty uneventful it was a beautiful sail through lovely countryside where huge windmills prevail over the landscape. It was simply too hot to go into a harbour so we decided to anchor for the night just outside the channel to the east of the krammer lock. The Krammer Lock (Krammersluizen) The…

View Larger Map So what can we tell you about the trip to St Annaland? Not a lot really, pretty uneventful except it was hot and sunny when back home it was raining and cold, so we felt quite smug! The trip itself only took a couple of hours, we weren’t rushing but we had…

View Larger Map We left Middelburg on the 11:15 bridge opening, just!! Decided to do engine check before and realised were a tad low on oil so Paul went to Texaco garage over the road for some quickly and got back with about a minute to go before the bridge opened up. Everything was ready…

Spent 3 lovely days chilling in Middelburg which was heaven! Didn’t really do a great deal; went to the supermarket a couple of times, walked round the shops a few times and played with Lucy in her bath/paddling pool a few times in the cockpit! Also attempted my first batch of fairy cakes onboard which…

View Larger Map We set out from Dunkerque at 5am (4am UK time). Once again with gentle 14 knot breeze on our stern. Due to the red diesel issue with Belgium we had decided not to stop in Belgium and to sail straight to Holland entering the canal system in Flushing/Vlissingen and travel a few…

We left Dover at 5 am to catch the north going tide. On the way out we had to dodge a cruise liner all be it a small one that was heading into Dover. We crossed the channel about 5 miles north of Dover with wind and tide up chuff. Although motoring most of the…

Started our summer holiday with dinner at The Castle on Tuesday night which was a fantastic start! Kinda weird to think the next time we go there we’ll probably be winter-berthing in Gosport marina! Wednesday morning we set off at 7.30 and headed for Dover. Pretty uneventful trip, apart from thick fog which lasted from…