And falling on a long weekend, moreover!
After studying the tide tables, and wind forecast we decided to try to sail Mekicevica to Veere and back. This involves sailing a large bit of the Oosterschelde, almost the whole length of the Veerse Meer, and then return the same way.
Thursday, 5th of May: Sailing (Most of the Way) to Kats
All our trips out of the Grevelingen start with negotiating the lock. We were lucky to go in immediately, without waiting, but the lock was crowded as we have rarely seen it. After the stewards directed all the boats into place, there wasn't even space for a rubber duck in that lock.
Once on the other side we sailed along the Keteen, with a light easterly wind, enough to push Mekicevica against the weak tide. On the Oosterschlede it would be a different matter altogether, so we made a beak in Stavenisse to wait for high-water at 1540, so we could continue with the ebb.
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| Waiting for the tide in Stavenisse. |
Sailing with wind and tide, we made good progress, until the point we had to turn south and against the tide. Now on a close reach, we were making good progress over the water... but soon we were moving backwards over the ground. No other option but continuing on motor. We still arrived in Kats in time for a stroll to the village and a delicious dinner of fish on the marina restaurant.
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| The church in Kats. The pretty village was once an artists colony and the inhabitants retain a taste for arts. |
Friday, 6th of May: The Veerse Meer Zig-Zags
On Friday we only had to do a short stretch in tidal waters, before getting into the Veerse Meer. Still, we didn't want to leave too early before low water, to avoid going against the tide. In the early morning there was a lot of activity in the harbour, as lots of boats were going the other way and were rushing to leave as early as their felt comfortable with. Once they left, everything was quiet, until low water when all the boats that were going the same way as us cast off almost at the same time. The southeasterly wind was very light and we were glad to have changed the head-sail from small jibby to the Big Genny. First we sailed away from the coast and then in a few tacks reached the Zandkreek. From there was plain sailing with wind and tide to the lock. The only annoyance were the many stinkpots and their wakes.
The Veerse Meer has a strange zig-zag shape. Add to that shores that are either lined with trees or empty salt marches, a gusty wind, and heavy traffic and you get very eventful sailing. We made a break along the way to rest and eat something, and after that I managed to impress First-Mate by leaving the peer under sail without using the motor.
As in all the days during this cruise, in the early afternoon the wind veered, increased in strength and became gusty, so soon after the break we were close hauled in a rising wind. Seeing boats ahead of us heeling a lot, we put a few rolls in the genoa, which turned to be the right decision, because we were soon hit by strong gusts. Just before Veere we checked the marina but it was a sad affair: exposed to the wind and wake of boats, out of town, and no facilities. So we headed for the Stadshaven, where we were welcome by a very friendly harbour master who found us a nice, sheltered spot.
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| Veere Stadshaven, right in the historic centre. |
The only surprise was that there are no food shops in Veere. Plenty of tourist souvenir shops, but no food shops. Not wanting to eat out again, we had to make do with what we had on board. But we did manage to buy a bottle of cheap wine at the clubhouse. And we had dinner outside, in Mekicevica's cockpit.
Saturday, 7th of May: Long Beat Back, Confused Winds and Crew, and Evening Sail to Colijnsplaat
Having successfully reached our destination, we need to plan the return. Considering the tides and wind forecast, we would like to reach Stavenisse today, leaving the Veerse Meer shortly before the 1711 high water. That means a rather long day.
As we left Veere, in a light southeasterly, it was very quiet. But as we tacked towards Arnemuiden it became increasingly busy. At the narrowest point we had to tack in between several sailing and motorboats, a flotilla of lasers, and a cruise ship.
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| Leaving Veere in a quiet morning. |
We zigzagged along the Veerse Meer to Wolphartsdijk, where we stopped briefly to re-provision and have a little break. We first tried to stop at the harbour of the Royal Belgian Yacht Club, but were very unfriendly shooed away to a pier reserved for short stops.
Around 3pm we set sail again towards the lock in very erratic winds. Although there was a lot of traffic coming in, there very few boats going out.
Then started the big struggle. In the original plan, we would have to sail against wind and tide for a bit, before turning and riding wind and tide to Stavenisse. The first problem was that the wind died and we couldn't make much progress. So, we motored until the turning point. Then a bit of wind came up... from the wrong direction: NE instead of SE. We soon realised we were never going to get to Stavenisse that day, so we turned around, sailed the stretch we had so painfully motored and headed towards Kats. At least now we had a light wind just aft of the beam and the tide helping us. Easy sailing in the falling light and quiet waters was pure bliss.
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| Delightful evening sailing on the Oosterschelde. |
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| The setting sun plays on the Zeeland bridge. |
Sunday, 8th of May: Getting a Good Beating Back to Bruinisse
The reason we wanted to reach Stavenisse on Saturday was that the easterlies were forecast to increase in force, and we know from bitter experience that strong easterlies over a flood tide can create havoc in the Oosterschelde. With this is mind we left Colijnsplaat about one hour before low water. The SE wind was light and at first it was a bit of a struggle to make progress against the last bit of the ebb, but gradually the tide turned in our favour and we started approaching the east end of the Oosterschelde away from the water that become choppy in easterlies against flood-tide.
As were approaching the end of the Keteen, what we usually call "the windy corner", the wind started backing and building-up; first in puffs, that as a moderate east wind with strong gusts. Soon we had to put a few rolls in the jib and a reef in the main. Even like that in some of the gusts I had to ease the main-sheet until the boom nearly touched the waves and Mekicevica dug the toe-rail in the water. Moreover, the narrow Keteen was incredibly busy with yachts and cargo ships. The first part of the Keteen was one of the most difficult things we have done with Mekicevica so far. But as we approached Bruinisse, the wind calmed from its fit of rage, we turned a bit more downwind and everything became peaceful.
Passing through the lock was uneventful and soon Mekicevica was clean and settled to wait for our next adventures.
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| Easy sailing along the Oosterschelde, before all hell came lose. |
Passing through the lock was uneventful and soon Mekicevica was clean and settled to wait for our next adventures.
