Escape From the Pirates and a Young Island

What a difference a day makes! Sunday was still grey, but dry and the wind had calmed to a light breeze. Under full rig we headed for the island of Tiengemeten. On the way, we narrowly escaped the Pirates of the Haringvliet.

Tiengemeten is a very young island, that only emerged from the waters in the XVIIth century. At present it is preserved as a "nature monument", only accessible by ferry or your own boat. Even than you are not allowed to stay in the small harbour overnight.

The island of Tiengemeten: nature reserve in the middle of the sailors playground.

After a short walk on the island we returned to Mekicevica with the intention of sailing to Stellendam. The problem was, the wind had died even further. Now there was no wind at all. After sitting for a while, making no progress whatsoever, we opted for plan B (or was it C? or D?): motor back to Middelharnis. Mekicevica will stay here for another two weeks resting before new adventures.

Pushing the Limit

The weather on Saturday could be described as variable: sometimes it rained a bit, sometimes it rained a lot, sometimes it rained with wind, other times it rained without wind...
We did not feel like sailing in the rain, so stayed in Middelharnis, did some shopping and went for a jog (in the rain).

Middelharnis old harbour in the rain.

The rain finally stopped around 4pm. Even if it was still quite breezy, we had seen enough of Middelharnis, so decided to move on to the historical town of Hellevoetsluis, some four miles away, on he other side on the Haringvliet. The weather forecast said SW wind, so with careful steering we could do it all on port tack with a reefed genoa only. I prepared the main with one reef, just in case.
As soon as we got out of the Middelharnis channel we had two nasty surprises:
Surprise one: the wind was much stronger than we expected.
Surprise two: it was blowing from the W, not SW.
We carried on anyway. Even if it did not feel so comfortable at the time, in retrospective it was great sailing. The wind was well 5 Bf, with crests and foam everywhere, and the waves were higher than Mekicevica's gunwhales. In the middle of the crossing there were even breaking waves, looking more like 6 Bf wind conditions. Only a big yacht and a wind-surfer (brave soul) were out.
Manta 19 owners, you will be pleased to know that if your boat is well prepared she will take this sort of seas gallantly! It was a joy to see how Mekicevica's bow pushed into the waves, even with only some 2/3 of the genoa, no main, and close-reached.
The only thing was, we were not going to be able to reach Helevoetsluis without tacking, and I was not sure we would be able to do that under such conditions and without the main. First-Mate was adamant that we should not hoist the main with only first reef, and I did not prepare the second reef. Meanwhile, we were already a stone-throw away from Hellevoetsluis town harbor, right in front of the fishing harbour, with the lee shore too close for comfort, especially since it was likely that the tack was going to fail. And fail it did! The lessons of previous adventures were well learned (see Aan Lager Wal). I immediately decided to bear away and return to Middelharnis, despite the protests from First-Mate that she did not feel like facing the crossing again. On a broad reach things were more comfortable (still rolling a lot), and soon we were safely back in the channel to Middelharnis.
It was a great experience and we were never at any undue risk. The reefing system definitely has to be improved, so I can reef "on the fly". Oh yes, and the sealing of the port winch needs to be checked. My sleeping bag was in a pond of water.

Messin' About

The last weekend of June, and a long one for me. Thursday and Friday were spent preparing Mekicevica for a new adventure. Lots of small tasks, but the one I am most proud of is the new main sheet, with an eye splice I did myself. An easy trick to learn and makes the ropes look good and seamanlike.

The new main sheet with an eye splice made by yours truly.

On Friday I dropped the car in Stellendam, on the W extreme of the Haringvliet, by the barrier to the North Sea. This time I was with my race bike and biking gear and returned to Middelharnis without mishaps. Stellendam was to be our next destination. In the following posts you can read how weird winds completely changed our plans.

Yo-Yo Ma The Outboard Motor Gets a Check-Up

No sailing this weekend. Lousy weather and too much wind, up to 7Bf (yachtman's gale) even 8Bf at sea (real gale). With Mekicevica still resting in Middelharnis, Yo-Yo Ma the outboard motor came home for a check-up. Soon we intend to take the Standing Mast Route to Amsterdam and the Ijsselmeer. This involves negotiating a lot of rivers, locks, bridges, and canals through cities in intense traffic, so Yo-Yo Ma will have a lot of work to do.

Zeeland and Beyond. Epilogue: A Tale of Two Towns

Middelharnis is a nice, small town with a no-frills yacht harbour smack in the town-centre. The harbourmaster directed us to a place right in front of his office, so he can keep an eye on Mekicevica while we are away.
All we had to do, was tidy-up and go and get the car. Err, where was that car park again?
As it turns-out there are two neighbouring towns: Middelharnis, which is an old town, and Sommelsdijk which is mostly modern and planned to have the same structure as Middelharnis, town-centre harbour and crazy one-way system included. Without realising it, I had left the car in Sommelsdijk, not Middelharnis.
So it came that to compensate for three days mostly siting in a boat, I finished the weekend with a jog to go and find the car.
Mekicevica will have a rest in Middelharnis for two weeks. Next trip: round tour of the Haringvliet, exploring the interesting towns around. Hopefully in nice weather.

Zeeland and Beyond. Part 3: Happiness Is a Set of Well-Trimmed Sails

Whit Monday started, and remained, wet and windy. Overcast, SW 4-5, with frequent showers. We planned to sail towards the E under the big bridge, into the Haringvliet. We motored out of Willemstad harbour, which was already a real mess at 10:00 (nearly got rammed by a motorboat reversing without looking). Across the shipping lane, only a couple of ships that we could easily avoid, and sails up. With one reef in the main and a couple of rolls in the genoa we made fast progress towards the bridge. I must admit I had to mentally reassure myself several times that I had read the pilot-book correctly and that we had enough clearance under the bridge.
Past the bridge, there is no more shipping to look-out for and we could just enjoy the sailing. My newly-designed reefing system works wonderfully, and we got it just right for the conditions. Fast, but perfectly in control, we could follow the ideal course passing N of the Tiengemeten island, on a windward shore, briefly close-reaching towards the S of the Haringvliet, again to a windward shore, and make the last couple of miles towards Middelharnis. Still following along the shore we turned downwind to roll the genoa and than up-wind to douse the main and motor into the channel towards the town. Perfectly planned and executed! Did not have to do a single tack or jibe. If only the weather had been any better this would be a serious contender for the best sail ever.

Zeeland and Beyond. Part 2: Dipping into Holland

The second leg of our journey was up the Volkerak, with moderate SW wind, becoming weak later. The Volkerak is a very busy shipping route, part of the connection between Rotterdam and Antwerpen. Sailing along the N edge we could stay out of the shipping lane for most of the time. About half-way we had to decide whether to cross the shipping lane (and cross back later), or sail for a bit on the port side of the shipping lane. It turns out that the commercial shipping takes the short route along the S side, and sailors have the N side to themselves. We arrived to the next lock, the Volkeraksluis without problems, except for the wind dying to close to nothing.

Goose-winged trying to get the most out of light-airs.

Negotiating the Volkeraksluis was another nerve-racking affair with wind from the back. Luckily the wind now was weaker than in the previous lock, even if again a shower came down as we were entering. We managed to get by with only some scratches on the pulpit and nearly ramming a Bavaria 34.
On the other side of this lock is the Hollands Diep, which is very, very busy with huge ships. Most of the time we could keep well out of their way, but to reach Willemstad, our next destination, we can't avoid crossing the shipping lane. With Yo-Yo Ma doing his best, we crossed with our eyes pinned to the front of a huge container ship that seemed to grow bigger by the second.
Willemstad is a very nice town that retains the star-shape structure of the XVI century walls. Part of the former moat is now the very busy yacht harbour, where boats as small as Mekicevica, old gaffers, and huge gin-palaces jostle for space.

Aerial view of Willemstad.

After a stroll in the town, and tasting some new herring (raw, of course) we settled down for the night.

The busy yacht harbour of Willemstad.

Zeeland and Beyond. Part 1: Lock Hell and Bird Paradise

Saturday started with some showers but nothing like the rain of Friday night. We had a lay-in, as First-Mate joined really late last night. Today we are going out of the Grevelingen lock and into the tidal waters of the Krammer.
I am a bit nervous about the lock, the tidal waters, and the shipping traffic. In order to have one less worry, I planned the start for ca 1200 to sail the Krammer at slack water.
Passing the Grevelingen lock was almost too easy. It is just outside of the harbour of the Bruinisse Water Sports Club. A brief wait for the opening and we went through with a handful of other boats. All of them much larger, except for a beautiful Volkboot with German flag. We hoisted sails and up to the next lock: Krammersluis.

First close view of commercial shipping. We were to encounter much, much larger on the Hollands Diep.

The Krammersluis separates the salty, tidal water of the Krammer from the fresh water of the Volkerak. It is a piece of clever engineering, as it manages to prevent any salt water from getting through. As we were going in, the heaviest shower of the day started coming down, with the usual wind. Moreover, the high walls of the lock seemed to funnel the wind blowing from behind us. This complicates things a bit as Yo-Yo Ma, our outboard motor, does not have reverse. To put it in reverse I need to turn it around and press down hard while it tries to jump out of the water and turn in all directions. At the same time, I need to steer with the tiller between my knees and try to look where we are going. We entered the lock in a sort of bumble-bee flight, with the motor running as hard as I could hold it and still going forward pretty fast. And guess what happened as we were passing the lock gates: the motor stalled. Now we were not going pretty fast, we were going VERY fast and uncontrolled into the lock! Luckily there were only two other boats in, both on the starboard side. I still don't know how I managed to do it, but I somehow I could steer parallel to the port side wall and lasso a cleat as we were ripping past. Saved!
Until the 1967, the Volkerak was salty, tidal water. In order to allow nature to recover from the ecological havoc created by the change to fresh water, most of the banks are nature reserves and completely out of bonds for any creatures on two feet except the birds. And birds of many varieties are aplenty here! Even flamingos are regular visitors. The channel leading up to Oude-Tonge is particularly interesting. We took advantage of the S wind to sail up this channel very slowly and quietly, with only a tiny bit of genoa out.
At the end of the channel is the small, lovely town of Oude-Tonge with the tiny harbour, right in the town-centre.

Entering the small harbour of Oude-Tonge

Zeeland and Beyond. Prologue: A Wet Start

Three day weekend! The weather forecast is not brilliant, but at least the worst of the rain will be Friday evening. We are going out of the lock into the harsh world outside. The plan is to sail around the island of Goeree-Overflakee to the small town of Middelharnis. This will take us out of the Grevelingen, though the Krammer, Volkerak, Hollands Diep, and Haringvliet. Plenty of sailing but finishing less than 20km from the starting point by land route. It will also bring us out of Zeeland and into the provinces of Noord-Brabant and Zuid-Holland.

(click image for enlarged view)

On Friday afternoon, after preparing Mekicevica for the weekend, I planned to drive to Middelharnis to leave the car and return to Bruinisse on a little commuter bike. Easier said than done. The weather forecast was spot on and it was chucking down as I drove through unfamiliar roads. It didn't help that I also forgot to bring a map or a GPS. After what seemed like hours navigating the most complex one-way system ever conceived by human mind, I finally came to a long-term car park.

Finding the way back was not much easier. Judging from the indifferent looks of the local residents, it seems that a dude in oilskins and sailing boots riding a commuter bike in pouring down rain and passing the same street several times is nothing unusual around here.
I finally recognized the little harbour of Battenord, on the NE side of the Grevelingenmeer, and my troubles seemed over. Than I had a flat tyre. The last 6km were hard pedaling with a flat. Apparently, a dude in oilskins and sailing boots riding a commuter bike with a flat tyre in pouring down rain is also not unusual around here.

Not Always Sunshine and a Botched Maneuver

During Saturday night the weather changed completely and Sunday started dull and wet. Time to bring Mekicevica to the marina of the Bruinisse Water Sports Club and head home. This is just a short distance across the lake N to S, so we decided it would be nicer to do it lazily under genoa alone.
We unfurled the genoa immediately out of the harbour, sailed along the exit channel and around the small island (Mosselenbank). Short but pleasant, despite the weather.

Ghost ship. Is that the Grim Reaper at the helm?

Coming alongside at the marina on the weather side of the pier was a display of my improving maneuvering skills. Slow approach, turn parallel to the pier and with a burst in reverse (i.e. turning the motor around, because it does not have reverse) stop Mekicevica about 20 cm from the pier, letting the wind gently push us into place. Perfectly done. Shame there was no one watching.

The rest of the maneuver, after the harbourmaster assigned us a berth, was a different story. We decided that the best way to approach the berth was to poke each of Mekicevica's ends into each of the corners of the marina, at least twice, while the harbourmaster and a dozen passers-by gesticulated and shouted unhelpful, contradictory instructions. In fact, the harbourmaster gesticulated so hard, that his heavy bunch of keys ended-up in the bottom of the four meter deep harbour. I would have said "serves him right" if he was not such a nice fellow. I plan to buy him a floating key-ring next time I go there.
Even with a slightly unglamorous end it was a brilliant weekend. Next one is a three-day weekend again, and Mekicevica will sail into new adventures.

Best Sail Ever

It might have appeared that yet another round tour of the Grevelingenmeer would be a poor substitute to exploring new waters on the other side of the lock. As it turned out, we had the most pleasant day of sailing so far. The wind was moderate, increasing to a fresh breeze during the day.
We sailed out to the public anchorage on the W of the largest island (Veermansplaat). There we had a short break, reefed sails and headed E again.
The reefing setup I made-up works really well. Close-reaching, Mekicevica rhythmically pitching into the waves but without too much helm pressure. The sun shinning and windy enough to discourage the crowds you get some days. Absolute bliss!
It even inspired us to make a short movie, although I don't think it will get nominated for the Oscars.

The sailing day finished with exploring a different marina: Herkingen, on the NE side of the lake. The approach involved a series of long tacks, and then motoring up a long, marked channel between shallows.
The marina was nice, but the town does not have much to offer. The only "entertainment" seems to be a cafe, but it was closed (on a Saturday night!).

The Skipper Gets Cold Feet

When we made the plans for the weekend, the weather forecast was moderate NE wind. Perfect to go through the Grevelingen lock into the (strongly tidal) Oosterschelde. Just outside of the lock is one of the busiest shipping routes in Europe, but in the right weather and wind, and timing our exit to the right moment of the tide, we should be able to do it.
By the time we arrived to Brouwershaven, the wind felt more than moderate, and increasing. The updated weather forecast confirmed our suspicion: now the prediction was for fresh breeze (5 Bf), with a warning of strong breeze (6 Bf) later. Do we dare to dodge supertankers and monstrous cargo ships under these conditions? We had the journey back to Bruinisse to decide, since to get the right tide we would not pass the lock until 5pm. After a few tacks along the channel in front of Brouwershaven in the lee of Dwars in de Weg, the rest of the journey was a beam or broad reach. With a few rolls in the genoa, that was really pleasant. Fast, as well!

The Waarschip, another Dutch classic. One of these went to the Azores and back twice.

During the couple of hours it took us to return to Bruinisse, we decided that the wise course of action would be to postpone our foray into the Oosterschelde to another occasion with less wind.
We spent another pleasant evening and night at the luxurious Bruinisse Yacht Harbour.

Brouwershaven

When the Grevelingen was still open to the North Sea, Brouwershaven was an important port. Today it is a picturesque tourist town with a medieval feeling and a marina.

Brouwershaven town hall.

Brouwershaven old harbour, right in the town centre.

In addition to the old buildings and harbour, Brouwershaven retains the lock that was once used to close off the harbour if the water level got too high. Nowadays, you enter the harbour by a very narrow passage between the stone walls of the old lock. There is a traffic light system controlled by the harbourmaster from his modern office on the top of the wall. As we approached we were asked via a clear loudspeaker if we were coming to overnight or do the shopping.
- OVERNIGHT! - We shouted at the same time and at the top of our voices, not realizing there are also microphones in the lock.
The poor man must have got some ear damage from our yelling. He was still kind enough to assign us a berth. The problem was that in that moment Yo-Yo Ma The Outboard Motor, realized the interesting acoustics between the lock walls and launched into one of his renowned solos.
So, stop at one of the pontoons, walk the maze of the harbour, climb onto the old dike and enter the harbourmaster office with hat in hand to ask if he could repeat the number of our berth.

Brouwershaven new marina, where we spent the night.

Another Brouwershaven claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Jacob Cats, a famous Golden Age errrr... darts player?

Statue of Jacob Cats, famous XVI century darts player born in Brouwershaven.

No, actually an important artist, poet and diplomat during the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic. The town is so proud of this illustrious son, that they have a Jacob Cats square, a Jacob Cats street, a Jacob Cats walking route, ....
The rest of the afternoon was spent tidying-up the boat, relaxing, going for a jog along the dike, and finishing with a gigantic meal at a very pleasant restaurant called (would you know?) Jacob Cats Steak House.

Aan Lager Wal

Sailing and the sea have always been an important part of the Dutch culture. A sign of that is how much sailing jargon is used in everyday Dutch language. For example, whenever the Dutch come unstuck they say that they are “aan lager wal” - on a lee shore. Mekicevica has recently come unstuck in exactly this way.

It was a long weekend, and rather than facing again The Slip From Hell, on Wednesday we got Mekicevica put on the water with the boat lift. That was €115 well spent! Quick, safe, no hours of struggle and anxiety, and no burned car clutch.

We left Bruinisse Marina on Thursday late-morning under a blue sky and a NE moderate wind pushing us towards our destination: Brouwershaven, an old harbour on the W side of the Grevelingenmeer. Mekicevica keeps getting better, and on a beam reach we were maintaining 5 kn.

The Grevelingenmeer is mostly used for water sports, but occasionally you come across some professional fishing.

The entrance to Brouwershaven is protected by a small island with the descriptive name of “Dwars in de Weg”, which means more or less “Across in the Way”. Coming from the E, we had to enter a narrow V-shaped channel where we would start the motor and douse sails to enter the harbour.

Two Kolibris, wonderful and small sailing boats  popular in the Netherlands. All wood.

Into action comes Yo-Yo Ma The Outboard Motor. He got this name because although the name of his manufacturer sounds like the name of the famous cellist. However, the sounds he makes are much less pleasing to the ear. In fact, Yo-Yo Ma did NOT come into action. More than that, he positively refused to come into action and play his cacophonic music, no matter how much we yanked the starting cord. By that time we were passing the entrance to the harbour and going into the other side of the V-channel where we had to make a quick sequence of tacks against a freshening wind in order to have sea-room to check what was wrong with Yo-Yo Ma. We almost made it, but not quite. Close to the exit, tacking just some three meters from the shore, and in our eagerness (I am sure it was not panic) we sheeted the genoa too early, it got backed sending us aground. So there we are, stuck on a lee shore, aan lager wal indeed!

Well at least now I had time to check what was wrong with Yo-Yo Ma: we forgot to open the fuel valve!

Feeling a bit sheepish, we motor towards Brouwershaven.

Entrance to Browershaven protected by the island Dwars in de Weg. With fresh winds and a stalled motor, source of much excitement.

Lots of learning material here. Obviously, think of the triangle of fire needed for a motor to work:

• Fuel: is the fuel-valve open?
• Air: is the air-vent open?
• Ignition: is the clip on the stop button on?

Then, sailing strategy: rather than persisting on the panicky series of tacks we should have just turned downwind, sort-out the motor, douse the genoa, turn up-wind, douse the main, and peacefully enter the harbour.

Always learning…