Tribute to the Dumbusters

For weeks we had been considering a visit to Steenbergen. This is a harbour town accessible from the Volkerak by a three mile long canal. When Yachting Monthly published a small article about Steenbergen, we thought "That's it! We're doing a tour to Steenbergen."

Off to Bruinisse on Friday evening, and to put us in weekend mood we went out for a beer. We found a real authentic place frequented by the local fisherman, drinking beer and chatting in "Zeeuwse".

The weather these days is affected by the Azores High, which seems to have come on a city break to the Netherlands. So we are having Azorian weather: lots of cloud but little rain and occasional sunny spells. Only maxima of 18 - 20°C, instead of the 25°C year-round that are standard in Azores. On Saturday morning we had a perfect wind for relaxed cruising: 3 Bf and from the SW, so broad- to beam reach all the way out. The Grevelingen lock was much quieter than in mid-Summer and we sailed the short distance to the Krammer lock. The only drawback of the out-of-season sailing is that some not-too-large ships start to use the locks that in season are meant for yachts. So we had some big monsters with us, both in the Grevelingen and Krammer locks. In the latter we were even blown away by their propeller wash making the manoeuvre in the lock a bit complicated.
All the way we were in the company of Joris, a 19-footer sailed single-handed by an elderly gentleman. Both boat and skipper had that look of more care for function than looks that is a sign of experience.

Once on the Volkerak, we continued the relaxed sailing. The crux of the trip was going to come after the Nordplaat. Here we would need to cross the shipping lane to get to the South side of the Volkerak to enter the Steenbergse Vliet, leading to our destination. We were lucky to have a lull in the intense shipping traffic and could make a fast, straight course, close-hauled in the moderate SW wind.
Than it was a matter of motoring, past the lock and the automatic pedestrian bridge, through fields and farms towards Steenbergen.

Waiting for the pedestrian bridge at the entrance to Steenbergse Vliet.

Approaching Steenbergen.

We found the Steenbergen harbour in party mode. The local sailing club was having a party that included a paddling-the-tender race in the harbour. We pushed our way through all kinds of small boats to come bow first to the pier and look for the harbour master. It reminded me of the approaches to Hvar harbour. After settling down in a berth not too close to the loud music, we went to join the party and watch the tender races.

Sunday morning was grey with occasional light rain. While we waited for the morning grey to clear (it never did) we went for a run and explore Steenbergen's claim to fame. This is where the famous RAF pilot Guy Gibson crashed his Mosquito plane and lost his life. Guy Gibson was the young commander of the operation Chastise that attacked several German dams during WWII. The squadron is to this day known as the Dambusters.

Street named after Gibson. Nearby there are a Mosquitostraat, Warwickstraat (named after the co-pilot), a Dambustersstraat, and a Lancasterstraat (after the planes used by the Dambusters).

The exact spot where the plane crashed is marked by a simple monument in front of an industrial building.

Shortly after noon we started our motoring up the Steenbergse Vliet. The wind had veered to the West, and again we could sail across the Volkerak shipping lane with ease. Than came the beating up the narrow channel. With full genoa, this was such hard work that we hardly noticed the only shy outbreaks of sunshine of the day. But we made good progress and soon we were on wider waters for the last couple of tacks before the Krammer lock. We were lucky that the lock master waited for us, and then again at the Grevelingen lock. They wouldn't have done this in a busy mid-Summer Sunday.

A very pleasant trip to close the Summer in Zeeland.