It is not every weekend that we get a forecast of southerlies on Saturday and northerlies on Sunday. Ideal for a trip north, but since we've been to Ouddorp last weekend, now we opted for Scharendijke. We've not been there this season.
Friday 3 October
Friday was warm and hardly any wind, so I went on a bike ride to check the harbour of Bommenede for future trips. It has pontoons for public use but no shore facilities. The nearest village, Zonnemaire, is a pretty "Zeeuwse dorp" well worth a visit. Maybe next season...
Saturday 4 October
After dinner aboard we got up late on Saturday, as the mornings are getting a bit chilly. As forecast there was a gentle SE breeze, and around 1045 we were happily sailing along under blue skies on the very calm and quiet Grevelingen.
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| Autumn skies with July temperatures, and a following gentle breeze. Perfect! |
Most of the trip was on a broad reach, except for a little bit when we were running goose winged. Too short to bother with the whisker pole, as soon we had to turn east and reach past Den Osse and towards Scharendijke. We never needed to tack, but approaching our destination the wind got a bit gusty, going from nearly nothing to 3 Bf and back in seconds. Since we were close hauled, and the gusts were not strong that made the direction of the apparent wind change wildly. Mekicevica approached harbour in the fashion of a stumbling drunk, following a wobbly douse, and going from flapping sails and swinging mast, to heeling under the gusts of wind.
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| Shrimper nr. 243... |
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| and Crabber nr. 3, both a long way from Cornwall. |
In all it was a rather fast trip: three hours harbour to harbour, covering 11 NM. We had plenty of time for a walk along the coast, finishing with a Belgian beer at the club house.
The forecast storm arrived just as we were about to go out for dinner and it was worse than expected, with heady rain, thunder, and strong wind gusts. We arrived to the restaurant completely soaked.
Sunday, 5 October
On Sunday, true to the forecast the temperature plummeted, the wind veered north to northeast, but was stronger than expected. We put a reef in the main and sailed out, first close hauled and then on a broader course.
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| The racers were out early. |
As the day progressed the wind got weaker and gradually veered east, so that while keeping a straight course of 120 we went from a broad reach with reefed main and three rolls in the genoa, to approaching Bruinisse in a close reach with full sails. Again a fast trip of three hours harbour to harbour. That was a good thing because despite the sunshine it was a bit cold: thermals, two fleeces and sailing jacket.
Another great weekend of sailing. A brilliant way to close the season?
