Tuesday 14th November departed 0845 hours for Stellandam, head wind force 4. Uneventful trip, motored all the way, arriving 1300 hours. Small marina with everything closed for the winter so dined on board. Hoped to make Blankenberge the next day.
Wednesday 15th November, forecast southwest 6-7. Decided not a good idea to be out in the North Sea in a rainy 6-7 head wind so opted to try and make our way through the canals towards Flushing. Not all the locks and bridges are operating during the winter –and the Dutch Almanac wasn’t much help. Departed 0930 hours; a good two hours sail to Haringvliet Bridge only to discover that it was out of commission for maintenance. About turn, backtracking for an hour towards the Spui Canal which ultimately took us north around the closed bridge to arrive at Willemstad at 1600 hours – we could see the bridge we had bypassed barely two miles away, talk about frustrating! Willemstad is a lovely town. We were accommodated alongside the quay where there was water and 16 amp. shore power, the first time we were really comfortable since leaving Contest. Again an unenviable day of rain and 20 knot headwind most of the time. Super dinner in a quayside restaurant overlooking Franima.
Friday 17th November,7 days into the trip: departed 0900 hours for Wemeldinge, two locks no problems. Just the odd shower, but plenty of cold wind. Arrived 1400 hours, berthed in the inner harbour now converted into a small new well appointed marina; walked to village (20 minutes) for stores. Dined on board. Only two bridges and one lock to go to exit the canals.
Saturday 18th November: departed 0900 hours for the Westerschelde via the South Beveland Canal (bridges and lock no problem), headwind force 6, disturbed water. Off Breskens 1200 hours, no rain and glimpses of sun so decided to press on to Blankenberge.
Tide with us, managed to sail as far as Zeebrugge then with a rough sea and southwesterly 6 motored the rest: arrived 1600 hours.
Showers closed for the winter so were only charged £3 for electricity. Forecast southwest 6 going west 6-7-we could have been there for days!
Sunday 19th November: 0530 forecast, southwest going west 6-7 decreasing 4-5. Departed 0940 hours, slight sea for 11/2 hours then moderate to rough, showers, wind southwest 6; decided to put into Nieuwport, arrived 1330 hours. There is a very nice yacht club here which unfortunately closed for four days at 1600 hours (staff excursion) – just our luck – but we found a café/bar five minutes from the marina which served us a tasty pasta dinner.
Monday 20th November, 10 days since departure. Topped up fuel tank, much cheaper than Holland or France, and departed 1100 hours, forecast southwest 5-7. Best run so far; no rain, sailed most of the way to Dunkerque and arrived 1435 hours. Berthed in marina on the east side of channel, good facilities and yacht club where much of the food is cooked BBQ style – absolutely yummy. A party of twelve occupied the table next to us and much banter passed between the two tables. Late afternoon and evening rain, forecast for the next 24 hours quite good with south 5-6 winds.
Unfortunately the departure of the fishing boats nearby woke us at 0500 hours on Tuesday 21st so we departed at 0620. The channel marks all came up and we were soon clear of the sand banks and on our way to Dover. Good sailing for four hours then the wind headed us at 30 knots with a rough sea. Five to six miles off Dover the sea became very rough indeed with the wind gusting 40 knots. It was here that we were almost knocked down, the waves carrying away our “windy gear” at the masthead. We were heading for the western entrance and could see the cross channel ferries sheltering east of the breakwater, waiting their turn to enter the harbour with the aid of tugs. I have never been so relieved to make shelter in my life, it really was a very unpleasant experience. Rosemary also stated that it was the worst seas we’d ever been in! We spent a noisy night in Dover with the wind gusting to 40 knots in the shelter of the marina. The forecast for 22nd was southwest 9 so we stayed another night. This is a very expensive marina.
