Scrape Metal

The keel saga continues.
While a storm is raging out there (the third in two weeks), I am in the garage working on Mekicevica's keel.
Next step is to clean back to sound metal. I start by scraping-off the bottom paint with a chisel.

The laborious process of removing the bottom paint.

This is a lot of work but avoids the toxic dust produced by dry sanding, or the equally toxic mess made by wet sanding. It is also more environment friendly than chemical stripping.

Painful Extraction

Phase I of the keel project completed. The keel was removed. This involved drilling a few holes until we could find the last three bolts. Big thanks to the people of the Grevelingen boatyard for their help.

Mekicevica's keel extracted.

The way the boat was designed, you cannot get to the three aft most bolts without breaking a lot of polyester. Moreover, two of the bolts are always immersed and therefore subject to corrosion. I guess these faults are the price you pay for the fact that the box of the centre plate does not take much interior space.

The bis surprise was that the bolts are not cast as part of the keel as I had expected (and seen on pictures published on the Manta 19 website). They are separate bolts on tapered holes. Could it be that some previous owner has done some maintenance and modifications on Mekicevica's keel?

The good news is that the bolts were in very good condition. Even the two that are always under water had rusty heads but the cores were in pristine condition.
Now the bad news: The inside of the keel was even rustier that I had feared. Large slabs of rusty metal just drop-off as you touch them.

The very rusty inside of the keel. In the background, sad, keel-less Mekicevica.

The quote I got to have a new keel made is much too high, so there will be some re-construction work on the rusty keel.

It is Winter

It is now definitely Winter!

Maybe we closed the season a bit too early, but the trouble of launching and recovering at the Bruinisse Slip From Hell put us off a bit. We are considering getting Mekicevica a permanent berth next year.
In the meanwhile we found her a place in Scharendijke, on the West end of the Grevelingen where her keel is going to be attended to.
Her keel is showing rust streaks coming from the junction with the hull, a telltale sign of corrosion of the keel bolts. To preserve our piece of mind and the joy of sailing, I am going to drop the keel.

Rust coming from the junction between the keel and the hull, a worrying sign of corrosion of the keel bolts.

While I am at it, I am planning to sand-blast the keel and give it a coat of epoxy, both on the outside and in the slot of the centre plate. Than I will have a professional re-assemble the keel and seal the junction.
Apart from that, I am having a new centre-plate done, which I will also coat in epoxy.
That should keep me busy a good part of the Winter. Watch this space!

Sailing Where The Wind Takes You - Epilogue

Mekicevica spent the night at the harbour of the Bruinisse Watersports Club. I returned on Monday morning to have her lifted onto the trailer. The fresh wind was from the NW, which means that the waves on the SE corner of the Grevelingen were surprisingly high for these waters.
The whole process went smoothly, even springing-off on my own went rather well.
Positioning tiny Mekicevica centered under the boat lift on my own was hard work. It involved setting up four lines in such a way that they could be let loose from the dock. Stepping in and out involved down or up more than one meter. But she is now safely on the trailer.
There is a feeling of approaching the end of the season. Unless there is a spell of nice weather, it may well be that the rest of the season will be dedicated only to small repairs and further tweaks of the rigging.

Sailing Where The Wind Takes You - Return To Bruinisse

Sunday morning was fine and bright. We did not rush to start, as the wind had picked-up a bit and was forecast to veer from SW to W. In order to reduce sail area, improve the windward performance and allow a better look-out on these busy waters, we changed from the genoa to the river-jib.
The beating on the channel between the islands of Hompelvoet and Veermansplaat was a bit demanding, but Mekicevica is now in such good shape that it was real fun.

For these guys, the windier the better.

After that we got even more exposed to the wind and we reefed the main sail. The reefing system is another point that benefited from all the experimenting during the season, and it is working really well.

Reefed main, using the set-up developed by yours truly.

As the wind turned more westerly and our course more easterly the exciting sailing turned into relaxed sailing towards Bruinisse.

Skipper at the helm on a relaxing broad reach.

The Bruinisse Watersports Club is really well situated, just in front of the Grevelingen lock and really friendly. Joop, the harbour master is a really nice guy, and all the members are very welcoming to visitors. No wonder that they have a 10-year waiting list for membership...
For a change we finished the weekend well on time to have dinner at home at a respectable time.

Sailing Where The Wind Takes You - Oude-Tonge to Ouddorp

Hoping for the best, we got up at 0630. The wind was indeed weak to moderate, but at least in the Oude-Tonge harbour appeared to be SW. The good news is that the terrible, propeller-eating weeds from last week seem to have a short life span (not enough propellers to eat). We motored out of harbour and sailed the short distance to the Krammer lock.

Yo-Yo Ma took taking us out of the Oude Tonge channel under the encouraging gaze of the many birds. 

At this early hour it was not at all busy and it opened just as we approached. Even though this lock uses a clever system to prevent mixing salt water from the W side with the fresh water on the E side, the passing of the lock was surprisingly fast.
It was now clear that the wind was from the SW, blowing right along the Keteen towards us. We could see a lot of shipping. Two cargo ships even got the yachts very confused by coming on to "our side" of the waters to drop anchor on the N edge of the Kramer. I hope their skippers knew that where they were anchoring would be a sandy beach three hours later.
We could see some yachts beating against the wind and dodging the shipping at the same time. To get to the Oosterschelde we would have either to dare doing the same or motor along the starboard for some four miles.
We took the hard decision to abandon (again) our quest for the Oosterschelde and sail to Ouddorp, on the opposite side of the Grevelingen.
In the Grevelingen lock, there was a young girl on a large yacht behind us who found the size of Mekicevica very amusing.
"Can you sleep in that little boat?" she asked.
"Of course." I answered.
She thought I was lying, so went to get her father to ask him if people could sleep in such a little boat.
"Of course not." said the father.
He was amazed when I told that we had just done a two-week vacation on Ijsselmeer with Mekicevica as our home. Noticing the Belgian flag, he asked if we were returning home via the North Sea. I decided to amaze him further with a lie:
"Yes, we will go out at the Roompot lock and sail to Oostende."
We will never know if he believed, because meanwhile the lock was opening.
At this point, we witnessed a new extreme of the rude behaviour so often displayed by skippers of motor yachts.
On this lock, after the gates open, sailing boats still have to wait for a bridge to lift. Motor yachts can ignore the bridge (and the red light) by going under the bridge as soon as the gates open. This is exactly what this skipper did, despite the fact that he had two sailing boats alongside. He just threw out their lines leaving them adrift in the lock. Is that inconsiderate, or what?

It gets busy on the Grevelingen on a sunny Sunday.

The sailing to Ouddorp was very enjoyable, mostly heading NW on a beam reach. As we approached our destination the wind turned more westerly, and we had a bit of beating into the wind.

The change of wind direction also meant that if we had persisted to go to Zierikzee, after going into the SW wind on the Keeten, we would have reached the Oosterschelde and find W wind, again against us, and against the tide.

We finished the afternoon with a drink on the superbly situated terrace of the clubhouse with a view to the Grevelingen, watching other boats beating the same route we had just done.

End of a sailing day at the clubhouse.

Ouddorp was once an important fishing harbour, before the Grevelingen was closed off from the sea. Now it is mostly a destination for sailing cruisers like us. The old town offers a countless number of restaurants for all tastes and budgets.

Ouddorp town hall.

We finished Saturday with dinner "al fresco" in one of these.

Sailing Where The Wind Takes You - Prologue

When sailing a small boat on tidal waters, you seem to be subject to an uncertainty principle: you can determine when you sail, and you can determine where you sail to, but you can't determine both simultaneously.
Last weekend was a demonstration of this rule.
One sailing destination in Zeeland still missing from Mekicevica's log is Zierikzee, on the Oosterschelde. This wide, tidal river is a sailing paradise that keeps calling to us every time we pass over it on the Zeeland bridge, on the way to wherever Mekicevica is. To get to the Oosterschelde sailing from the North you have to negotiate the Keeten: narrow, tidal, and busy with shipping.

(click map for enlarged view)

The weather forecast for this weekend announced sunny, warm weather with moderate SE winds. Low water was about 1400, which meant that with an early-ish start from Oude-Tongue we would be able to get to Zierikzee, with the ebbing tide, on a beam reach to broad reach. Perfect.
It was not to be. By Friday the forecast had changed to maybe-not-so-nice-on-Sunday and S wind, even murmurings of SW wind.

Photos From Last Weekend

The good people from the Cafe De Klipper in Hellevoetsluis not only prepare delicious mussels, they were also kind enough to keep the camera we forgot.
You can now see a few pictures from last weekend.

Hellevoetsluis - Day 3: It's A Long Way Home

Morning: Running Goose-Winged In The Sunshine
Mekicevica and crew spent the night in Hellevoetsluis, under a clear sky with a bright, full moon.
So, we made it here. But now we have 30 nm to Bruinisse, where the car is, and tomorrow is working day. The wind is still westerly, so we are going to sail downwind to the Volrerak lock and from there motor, or motor-sail as far as we can.
We motor out of the marina in a bright morning and turn west towards the Haringvliet Barrier, that separates these waters from the North Sea. Main sail up, turn down-wind, full genoa out, and we start the journey back in a very relaxing way: sunshine and wind around 3 Bf from behind us. Most of the way we were running goose-winged, only putting the genoa and the main on the same tack when the downwind line was taking us too close to either margin.

Running goose-winged on the Haringvliet.

As every sailor knows, straight downwind is one of the most difficult points of sail and requires a lot of attention. Until now we had not really got the knack of it, but practice makes perfect, and we did the whole way back to the Haringvliet bridge mostly goose-winged and without a single accidental jibe.
Fearing the usual strange winds under the bridge, we passed it in a sort of inverted Z-trajectory, with one jibe on either side of the bridge, which took us close to the lock.
It must have been the pleasant journey and the sunshine that prevented me from murdering a skipper that we came across approaching the lock. In my opinion, he was of the most detestable kind of skipper you can come across: big, fat guy in an arrogant-looking motor yacht. As we approach the waiting pontoon he cuts us from the inside, leaving a huge wake behind. As he approaches the pontoon, his crew dropped a fender, so he starts manouvering to recover it. Not understanding his intentions, and since these types like to wait without mooring so they can be the first in, I start going between him and the peer. This provoked an irate whistle and gesticulation from Mr. Fat Arrogant Skipper. Oh, well. It is such a beautiful morning and we just had such great sailing. We just manouvered around him to the place we were going to anyway, well away from his big yacht, as these types also tend to give too much throttle and occasionally make a mess.
On the other end of the spectrum, in the lock we came alongside a motor-sailer, crewed by a very friendly couple that rushed to help with the lines and wished us a pleasant journey.

Afternoon: Motoring Into The Oude-Tongue Water-Gardens
Coming out of the lock, the first couple of miles are out of the shipping lane and the wind was such that we could hoist sails and sail on starboard tack, all on a straight line. After that we had to turn into the wind and the space between the shore and the enormously busy shipping lane got narrower and narrower. A couple of die-hards were still sailing, tacking about every two seconds. We decided to engage the services of Yo-Yo Ma. (That is our little outboard motor; the source of the name is described in an earlier post.) The rest of the journey was much longer than his autonomy on one tank, so we stopped briefly to refuel at the small Galathese harbour (depressing place, by the way). After a while we could get out of the way of the large ships and it would have been enjoyable beating the last few miles. Except that by now it was clear we would not make it back to Bruinisse on time to ask for a mooring for the week and we had adopted plan B: try to make it to Oude-Tongue in time to catch the harbour-master before he goes home, and borrow a bicycle to go and get the car.
We had never motored for such a long stretch, and Yo-Yo Ma was starting to sound even less musical than usual. First trouble: as we were already on the channel leading to Oude-Tongue we ran out of fuel. Oh, well. At least now we know how far we can get on one tank: 4.8 nm. There was not much wind and we had a lot of sandy bottom on our lee side, so it was not a problem to refuel while slowly drifting and get back on our way.
Just past the old lock and into the narrow channel up to town, the much bigger trouble number two stroke: the water was covered with a layer of floating weeds, with long, resistant stalks. I was never good in Botany, so I can only describe them as a cross between water-cress and vines that lives floating on the water and predates on propellers of little boats. It took us forever to cover the last mile, on full power but moving painfully slow, occasionally not moving at all. Drift for a while while freeing the propeller from weeds. Repeat.
It was really embarassing to enter this very peaceful harbour with Yo-Yo Ma screeching his worst solo ever, and moving very slowly, so that each boat we passed had enough opportunity to listen.
Surprisingly, the harbour master did not send us away but was very welcoming, gave us a mooring for the week and lent us a bicycle.

We arrived home late and really tired, but already making plans for next week-end. The weather forecast is brilliant and we have just one more important goal to tick this season: the Oosterschelde and Zierikzee.

Hellevoetsluis - Day 2: A Million Tacks On The Haringvliet

Sunday morning. After the torrential rain during the night the weather gives some signs of clearing. Yesterday we stopped earlier that planned, which means that today we still have to cross the Volkerak lock and cover the ambitious distance of 15 nm. That is, if we were able to sail in a straight line, which we won't because the wind veered more to the west, the direction we will be going. It will be a long day of beating against the wind and the bet is on whether we will reach Hellevoetsluis or not.
After a morning jog and breakfast we motor to the lock. It was not too busy, but there was an old classic boat with such a long mast that they need to lower it to fit under the bridge above the lock. That wooden mast certainly weighs more than the whole of Mekicevica, but a clever combination of a wooden A-frame and old, geared winches allowed the crew lo lower and raise the mast with relative ease. Makes us feel a bit stupid since stepping our 7 m aluminium mast that I can carry with one hand is usually a whole day job.
Out of the lock we start turning west and immediately hoist sails (in the right order) and pass under the bridge under sail, watching a J22 ripping past as if we were anchored. These little Dutch racers are really fast!
The Haringvliet is comfortably broad and beating against the wind would have been easy. Except that sometime around the XVIIth century someone decided that it would be a good idea to put an island right in the middle (Tiengemeten, read Mekicevica's previous adventures here). So to negotiate the narrow channel on the north of the island against the wind is a lot of work. It did not help that at times we had to lose ground to give way to other boats and once had to go back downwind shortly to reef the genoa.

The people going the other way had a much easier job.

The heroes of the day:

1. First-Mate who did a wonderful, hard work at tacking the genoa, while Skipper just sat there holding the tiller and barking commands.
2. The new mast trim that allowed us to point a few degrees closer to the wind, especially with the genoa taken in a few rolls and sheeted hard.

At least the weather turned really pleasant and the sun was getting low and shimmering on the waves as we approached our destination. As it often happens here, the wind calmed a bit in the late afternoon and the last tacks in the sunshine with just a tiny pressure on the tiller and not much heeling were pure magic.
Moreover, we finally made it to Hellevoetsluis!

We opted for the comfortable (but pricey) Cap Hellius marina and after (re)visiting the town had a huge pot of mussels at a restaurant by the old harbour.

Hellevoetsluis - Day 1: Volkerak In The Rain

Saturday started with a shy sunshine. The weather is a bit unsettled and metereologists are burning the circuits of their supercomputers trying to produce consistent forecasts.
We motored out to the Grevelingen lock and to the Krammer lock after that. After the Staande Mast Route, passing locks lost all the excitement of early days and everything went smoothly. However it seems to be a rule that it will be raining each time we pass these two locks.
Once on the Volkerak we hoisted sails and kept to the north side, mostly out of the shipping lane. At some point, you can't avoid the lane on this side and either cross to the south side (and cross again later) or follow on the port side of the lane for a little while. As it was quiet, with not much shipping, we decided to take the later option. We even sailed for a while in the middle of the shipping lane giving way to yachts coming the opposite direction. All went smoothly, except for the weather: It just kept on raining! As we were approaching the Volkerak lock, we decided we pretty much had had enough rain for one day. The wind was also picking up, making the sailing a bit more demanding. So we called it a day and headed for the small harbour of Ooltgensplaat.
At this point, the Skipper decided to try a new trick and douse the main before rolling the genoa, instead of the other way round. It turned-out to be a bad idea, with not much water between the yachts coming out of the yacht lock on one side and the large ships coming out of the commercial shipping lock on the other side. So after going to and fro a few times struggling with the manouver, I applied the old rule: if you don't succeed at first, try doing it the way your wife told you.
The entrance to Ooltgensplaat harbour is well hidden, and you feel that you are just sailing into the trees and either your mast will be entangled in the branches, or your keel will be in the reeds, or both. But you take a sharp bend, go through an old lock, and suddenly you are in a fairly spacious harbour with some very large, classic boats around you. How the hell did they come in?

First-Mate perfectly blending with the environment at Ooltgensplaat.

Ooltegensplaat is a typical small town of these parts, with the old harbour as the centre of life. The old town hall, now transformed into a restaurant is very impressive.

A very nautical detail on the old town hall.

The rain persisted and it got even worse during the night. We tried-out a prototype of a cockpit tent made out of a square tarp with bungee cord at the ends. Even this primitive version adds a lot of comfort to life aboard in rainy weather, and served the purpose of finding-out what the final version should look like.

Hellevoetsluis - Prologue

Hellevoetsluis is a delightful town on the north coast of the Haringvliet. It has a rich history as an important harbour, both military and commercially. We first visited the town over one year ago, when we were looking around the harbours in the south of the Netherlands for a small boat that we liked. It was a sunny day, and I remember standing at the end of the harbour looking at the sailing boats on the Haringvliet with dreamy eyes and wondering if I dared to sail a small boat on what seemed for me back then a huge expansion of water.

Entrance of Hellevoetsluis old harbour.

A few weeks ago, Mekicevica failed to reach Hellevoetsluis, due to heavy weather (and insufficiently experienced crew to cope with it). Check that story in an earlier post.
We have a three day weekend ahead of us and the wind is blowing from the SW, so we decided to have another go at Hellevoetsluis. From Bruinisse it is about 30 nm each way, which include three locks. A bit ambitious for Mekicevica and crew.
Friday was spent putting Mekicevica back on the water (with the boat lift again) and readjusting the mast trim. (This is a continuing story. I will post more about this soon, but be warned it will be a voluminous text on tabernacles, shroud tension, mast trim, and related issues.)
We had a drink at the Sailor's Inn and dinner aboard. We are ready to go.

The Holidays Are Over

We are back home. Nice to sleep in a bed, and have fresh, clean clothes.
But we are already missing Mekicevica and looking forward to a long weekend in two-weeks time. We will sail in Zeeland again.
Before that, I have to get Mekicevica onto the trailer, lower the mast, and get her back to Bruinisse, for a round of small improvements.

Mekicevica Speed Devil

Last day of this trip, and we plan to sail to the marina of Muiderzand, where Mekicevica will be met during the week by her side-kick: Trevis the Trailer.
The weather is still grey, and there is a 4Bf wind from the NW. Just perfect. We have learned how Mekicevica likes to sail, so out of Edam we immediately take a broad reach on port tack, passing a comfortable distance away from the shallows in front of the Marken lighthouse. The waves were pretty big, but by now we are used to the disproportion between wind strength and wave height that apparently is a characteristic of these waters. Moreover, waves and wind often come from different directions, like on this day. We were getting the waves on the starboard beam and rolling a lot. Still, Mekicevica was doing good 5 kn.
We used the GPS to monitor the bearing to Muiderzand, and when it got to about 60 degrees more westerly than our current course, we jibed and headed straight for our destination. Now we were on a broad reach, on starboard tack with the waves coming right from behind. Mekicevica was flying!
As a result we arrived to Muiderzand much earlier than expected. We had the time to tidy-up, check the local chandlery, know for the good bargains, and start the land journey back to the car, left at Papendrecht two weeks earlier.

Great Sailing Towards Edam

On Friday morning we continued our return South. The Enkhuizen lock was very busy, so we tried to make room for larger yachts by staying in the middle. The problem was the yacht we were coming alongside botched the manoeuvre and started being blown away from the lock walls. Next thing we know, there was a confusion of boats of all sizes trying to avoid each other and going more and more into each other. Eventually the whole situation settled, just as the other gate started opening and out we go.
Back on Markenmeer, we had as plan A to sail in a straight line to Edam. While most of the other boats stayed on the navigation channel close to the coast, Mekicevica and the sailing ferry to Hoorn headed out to hoist sails. Away from land the wind was blowing harder than we expected, so we reefed sails. The latest variation of the reefing system worked a treat and reefing while sailing was not a problem. After that the sailing was much calmer. The weather forecast warned that the wind would freshen further during the day, so the over-cautious skipper decided to take a more westerly course, to sail in the relative shelter of the Hoornse Hop. Once in this bay, things calmed even too much. Full sails again, and moving slowly.

One of the sailing ferries between Hoorn and Enkhuizen.

Approaching Edam, we got more wind again and had put a  few rolls in the genoa. We would have even reefed the main, if we were not so close to our destination.
Entering the small harbour of Edam is really tricky. A channel between shallow waters leads to a narrow entrance with side winds. No wonder that the harbour only takes small yachts. We found a good place for the night in this modest but very neat harbour.

The XVIIth century Edam town hall.

Canal leading to the centre of Edam, once used to carry merchandise (not only cheese) to the market.

Edam is of course associated with the local cheese and the cheese market. It is one of the obligatory stops of the bus tours of Holland. Somehow it manages to preserve the beauty of an old town that is alive and not just a tourist attraction.

Starum in Fryslân

Stavoren is on the East side of the IJsselmeer, in the province of Friesland. This part of the Netherlands was an independent kingdom until the XVIth century and had once a different language, as close to Scandinavian as to Dutch. As in many regions in similar circumstances, considerable effort is being made to revive the language.

Rush hour in Stavoren

The heyday of the town was in medieval times, before most of the land around was taken by the sea forming the Zuiderzee, now IJsselmeer. Now it is a modest but very charming town, especially in this bright, sunny morning.
After visiting the town we made a late start to our return to Enkhuizen. Sailing downwind, into the horizon again, in a sunny day with moderate wind. Bliss!
The wind was too much behind us, so again we found it more efficient to do a series of jibes. Mekicevica did a really good speed and we were back in the Enkhuizen Buyshaven in time to go for a run before a drink and dinner out.

Sailing Into The Horizon

On Wednesday we finally sailed on IJsselmeer.
The day started sunny, but still not much wind. We motored out of the very busy Krabbersgat, got out of the navigation channel as soon as possible, hoisted sails, and mostly drifted in the wake of the busy traffic, hardly moving forward. It took us mealy half hour for the first hundred meters.

Motoring along the Krabbersgat, past Enkhuizen town centre.

We finally got some wind and got going. Only to be completely stuck again in a lull about noon. It was hot in the hazy sunshine, and millions of insects seemed to be attracted to Mekicevica's white sails. We tried all sorts of tricks to get wind on our sails, including having skipper holding the boom out, as a sort of human whisker-pole. All around other boats were struggling to move.

IJsselmeer in light airs, every boat hoisting as many sails as they have.

Eventually, some people lost patience and started their motors, creating waves on the flat waters that made life even more miserable for others still trying to sail.
Finally in the afternoon the wind picked-up and we had a few fantastic hours of sailing. Our aim was Stavoren, on the W of IJsselmeer and for the first time we were sailing towards the horizon, with nothing but the compass to show us the way. That did not last long and soon Stavoren was in sight.
Entering Stavoren we randomly opted for the new marina. We didn't know it, but it is aimed more for large yachts. The harbour master directed to a box where four Mekicevicas woul have fitted. Getting out onto the pontoon involved climbing up more than one meter.

Little Mekicevica in a huge box in the new Stavoren marina.

Everything was spacious and comfortable, including the cafe where we celebrated our arrival to IJsselmeer with enormous beers.

Rain, Cold, Little Wind

That just about describes the day. Our next destination was Enkhuizen, where we would cross the dyke that separates Markenmeer and IJsselmeer proper. An easy distance of 12 nm, that should not have taken more than three hours, including crossing the lock. Except that the weather did not help. It was grey and cold, with frequent showers. Each of the showers would turn the weak wind in unpredictable direction.

We eventually made it to the  Enkhuizen lock, wet and cold after six hours of sailing.
Being the SW access to the IJsselmeer, Enkhuizen is a busy place with several marinas. We discarded the busy Companiehaven, where yachts moor in rafts, sometimes six abreast, in favour of the much quieter and comfortable Buyshaven.

Entering Enkhuizen in lousy weather

Enkhuizen is a beautiful, lively town. The rich past as an important harbour is well visible in the impressive, well maintained monuments.
We had dinner on the terrace of a cafe... under an umbrella, as close as possible to a patio heater and wearing sailing jackets.

Hoorn

When I worked in the Netherlands, I used to go with my colleagues on day-trips on one of the classical IJsselmeer boats. We did that once a year, and always started from Hoorn. We never really bothered to see anything of the town besides the harbour. A real shame, as I just found out that Hoorn is a beautiful city with a rich history.

Hoorn harbour.

It was one of the most important towns in the Dutch Republic and its ships and population played an important role in the fight against he Spanish. Later, it became a very prosperous town, one of the posts of the United East Indias Company. The past prosperity is still visible in the many rich buildings.

The old town hall.

The building of the old scales. Every old Dutch trading town has such a building where merchandise was weighed. Like this one, they are now often transformed into restaurants.

Mekicevica's crew had a drink in town and headed back for dinner aboard.

Sailing Again At Last

By Monday morning, the wind finally calmed and the day started sunny and bright. Not much wind, though...
Our next goal was Hoorn, ca. 12 nm to the North. We motored out of Monickendam, and struggled to get any wind at all. The first mile, in the Gouwe sea was really slow, and occasionally we had to start the motor to get us out of complete lulls. Once out on the open Marken sea, we got some wind and finally got going. The remarkable thing was the wind was blowing exactly in the direction we wanted to take: 350T. We tried to run goose-winged, but with such weak wind, the genoa was not setting well. (Hey, Santa! A cruising chute would be nice.) We found that taking a course 20 degrees from straight downwind and doing a series of jibes was much more efficient.

First Mate at the helm, trying to keep us moving in light airs by steering not too much downwind.

When we entered the bay in front of Hoorn the wind became weaker again, and we made the slowest approach to a harbour on record. We eventually made it and headed for the Grashaven. Although not right in the town centre, it is more comfortable.

Still Sitting-Out The Storm

The wind and the rain continued Sunday all day. With this forced break it is obvious we will not make it to the Wadden Sea.
To make the wait a bit more bearable, we took the bus to Amsterdam for some retail therapy.
I am always surprised what a nice town Amsterdam is, despite all the mass, cheap tourism.

Sitting-Out The Storm

Saturday morning was very wet but still with some decent periods of sunshine between the showers. We rented two bicycles and went for a ride around the Marken peninsula.
Marken town itself is a traditional village, a bit too picturesque. "Tourist trap" comes to mind. It does have a delightful.well preserved church.

Classical boats in the Marken harbour.

Even on land the wind was so strong it was difficult to cycle. We went to see the lighthouse, this time from the land side and returned to Monickedam with the ferry.

The "Paard van Marken", the landlubbers view.

During the night the gales came out in full force. Even in the most protected corner of the very sheltered harbour, Mekicevica was swaying all night, with the wind whistling furiously on the rigging. I was convinced that something on the mast top was going to break.

Running For Shelter

The weather forecast for Friday was not encouraging: the wind would freshen-up further, and it would start raining. For Saturday and Sunday the forecast was even worse. It seemed unavoidable that we would have to sit-out the bad weather for a couple of days.

Mekicevica's route (simplified) from Amsterdam to Stavoren (red) and return to  Muiderzand (green).

Optimistically, we left Vollendam marina with a reef in the main  in the hope it would not be too bad and we could head North to Hoorn, or at least Edam.
Just after the marina channel trouble started. Trying to compensate for the baggy sail of the day before I had tightened the clew too much and this made it impossible to hoist the main. I had to release the clew, hoist the main, and tighten again. All this in a rather fresh wind and rough seas.
As we came out of the protected Gouwe sea, it got even rougher. At that point we decided that the reasonable action would be to turn back and take shelter in Monickendam, at the SW end on the Gouwe sea. I started turning downwind and in the last moment I realised that to take the desired course we would jibe. Not a good idea in such wind. So, we headed up to the wind again to do a "chicken jibe". Even that was not easy. It took three attempts until we finally got Mekicevica's bow through the wind. But as soon as we entered the protection of the Gouwe sea, sailing on a broad reach things got much calmer. We even unfurled a bit more of the genoa. The final approach to one of the several marinas in Monickendam, Waterland Yacht Harbour, was straight into the wind, so we motored this last bit.
The weather forecast is warning of wind force 7, or even 8 over the weekend, so it seems we will have to wait in this harbour for three days.
At least Monickendam is a nice town, and we had a delicious dinner of grilled fish and mentally prepared ourselves to sit out the bad weather.

Vollendam

Vollendam has a very clear identity. It is a tourist town!
The waterfront is lined with cafes for all tastes, and souvenir shops are aplenty. In the town itself, the narrow streets with the little bridges over very narrow canals are too cute to be authentic.
It is home port to many of the ships of the "Bruine Vloot", classic IJsselmeer vessels, some over 100 years old, that are now to be chartered (with very experienced skippers).

The majestic ships of the "Bruine Vloot" at Vollendam.

The Vollendam marina is extremely comfortable, luxurious, and not expensive at all. We spent a nice and relaxing evening there.

This Is What We Came Here For

On Thursday morning there was a bit of wind, just enough to get us moving, but from the wrong direction. Our destination is Vollendam, 16 nm to the North, the longest trip we have ever attempted. Moreover, beating against the NE wind will add a lot to the distance.
Out of the harbour, we still have to avoid the shipping traffic, and partly sail, partly motor until we have enough free water to start a series of long tacks. On the port tack we would go out until the shipping lane, than on starboard tack until the proximity of land started to turn the wind even more against us. In the weak to moderate wind, the going was easy, and there was about 20 min to half-hour between tacks. First Mate even managed to fall asleep in the warm sunshine.

Sailing out of Durgendam in a light breeze.

During the day the wind gradually increased and backed to N. As we came around the Marken peninsula the sailing got a bit more challenging. It could not have been blowing harder than 4 Bf, but on these open waters the waves are bigger, and it feels rougher than under the same conditions in Zeeland.

We kept the long tacks, now in view of the beautiful Marken lighthouse.

The sailing got more interesting as we passed the Marken lighthouse, strangely named the "Paard van Marken" (Horse of Marken).

Away from land it started to feel rougher and we took Jenny in a few rolls. As we turned W around the peninsula, we even decided to reef the main, in part to make the going easier, partly to try reefing "on the go" with my newly designed reefing system. The outcome is that it does work, but needs some further improvement. It was too hard to get the right tension on the clew, and the sail was too baggy.
Anyway it was good enough to get us to Vollendam marina in perfect control and thoroughly happy. Relaxed sailing in perfect weather with just enough of a challenge in the end. A perfect sailing day!

Rest Day

Falling asleep on the Amsterdam canals sounds very romantic. Until 6am when we were violently woken-up by the fast and frequent trains on the bridge nearly above our heads, and Mekicevica started to be shaken by the boat traffic on the canal.

Mekicevica waking-up on a canal in Amsterdam.

With only a few hours sleep, a pretense of breakfast and lacking the comfort of a bathroom, we headed out of the Amsterdam canals and into the busy IJ. At least it was a beautiful morning and as usual with big cities, the bustling gives you a feeling of being part of something big. With all the shipping, ferries, and boat tours, there was no chance of sailing, so we motored to the Oranjesluis, under the Schellingwoud bridge and that is it. We are on open water with no more bridges and locks to negotiate for a while.
Only we feel knackered from the previous night and there is not enough wind to sail. So we pull immediately into the yacht harbour of Durgerdam for a rest.
Durgerdam has a of split-personality: part tourist town, part alternative suburb of Amsterdam, where people live in boats. In any case, the modest yacht harbour is very, very friendly.
It was sunny and warm and we spent the day resting, washing ourselves, Mekicevica, and our clothes. We also changed the head sail, from the river jib to Jenny the genoa.
Tomorrow we head into Markenmeer and a new chapter in this saga will begin.

Amsterdam By Night

The official leaflet of the "Staande Mast Route" describes the crossing of Amsterdam during the night as a memorable experience. They are absolutely right!
Shortly before 1am, a radio message warned all yachts to get ready. Motors and navigation lights go on all around, and the boats position themselves in front of the first bridge or go slowly in circles. Finally the lights go red green, and soon after green. We move under the first bridges and into a lock.

In the lock, starting the crossing of Amsterdam by night.

The next two hours were spent motoring through the canals of Amsterdam, passing bridge, after bridge, after bridge. After each one, the fastest yachts would move ahead. They would be followed by a large, wide classic boat that due to her beam had to slow considerably to pass the bridges. The convoi was closed by Wørk (a 24ft-ish with inboard motor) and finally Mekicevica and the Volksboot struggling with their little outboard motors with no reverse.
We passed the last bridge just before 3am, after which yachts are allowed to moor until 10am before moving out of Amsterdam and into the busy IJ. So it was that Mekicevica and crew had a short night's sleep on an Amsterdam canal.

Calm Rivers Under Busy Skies

Tuesday started sunny with a gentle breeze blowing. Very much needed to dry Mekicevica and ourselves. After a leisurely start we went for a small tour around Brassenmeer, full sails in the sunshine.
But we wanted to get to Amsterdam by the evening so we could not linger too long. We took the Oude Wetering, mostly sailing, sometimes motoring if the lulls were too prolonged. Here and there the river opens into lakes, a paradise for small sailing boats.

Ahh! Finally some sunshine.

The journey was very relaxing, and even the occasional wait for a bridge to open added to the sense of calm.
Except that this approach to Amsterdam passes right by Schiphol airport, and the noise of airplanes got louder and more frequent as we approached our destination.
Finally we reached the last bridge before Amsterdam, a motorway bridge. As you can imagine, the Dutch waterways authorities are not going to stop the traffic on a six-lane motorway leading the capital for every yacht that approaches, so they gather a large group first.
We were the second boat to arrive (after a yacht that had passed us hours earlier). During the long wait that lasted the rest of the afternoon and evening, the group grew to some twenty boats, ranging from a 50ft yacht to Mekicevica and a Volksboot, that although longer was even more minimalistic. We all waited in front of the bridge, close to the motorway, right by the Schiphol runway. Despite the noisy surroundings, the atmosphere was peaceful. People were reading, dozing, or having diner, and kids were going around playing in the tenders.

The long wait for the motorway bridge by Schiphol airport.

It was after 9pm when the bridge finally opened and the whole flotilla motored the last two miles to Nieuwemeer, last stage before the crossing of Amsterdam.

The Skipper Has a Bad Day

Monday was always going to be difficult. We had 13 bridges to negotiate, including crossing a town (Alphen aan den Rijn) over a distance longer than the autonomy of Yo-Yo Ma, with no obvious possibilities to stop to refuel.
The weather was miserable and windy when we left Gouda. The first two bridges are just outside Gouda, and after a short wait in the rain we passed them without too much trouble. After that we slowed down to let other yachts pass us, so we could save fuel by hoisting the jib. The one thing going well was that we had S/SW winds for most of journey North.

Motoring up the Gouwe and letting the rest of the convoi pass so we could use wind power.

The problem was that this way we arrived to the next bridge alone and instead of being allowed through immediately, we had to wait in the increasing wind. First nasty incident of the day: while making a u-turn to point to the wind and come alongside the wanting pontoon, I misjudged the wind, took longer to get the bow into the wind, and a wind gust pushed poor Mekicevica nose first hard into the pontoon. Ouch!
The rest of the day continued in heavy rain, wind that made it difficult to manouver to wait for the bridges to open, but mysteriously calmed down whenever we tried to sail. When we finally arrived to Brassenmeer, our goal for the day, we were feeling tired, cold and miserable.
On the margins of this lake there are many small harbours, but we liked the look of the Brassenmeer Water Sports Centre and aimed there. The harbour was deserted, but I finally managed to find the harbourmaster who directed us to a box right in front of the club house. Very nice of him, unfortunately this was facing downwind. In a tight space and strong wind I decided that instead of turning the motor around into Yo-Yo Ma's idea of reverse it would be better to put him in neutral well in advance and control the approach by catching one of the pillars of the box with a line... but failed. Mekicevica went again with the nose hard into the pontoon. Double ouch!
A day to forget!

Gouda

We entered the little harbour of the Gouda under the rain, and it was immediately obvious that as far as luxury of harbours go, we were still going downhill from the peak in Bruinisse. Here we were in a narrow canal, between out-of-town warehouses, with facilities that although clean were very basic.
All it took was a walk through the historical town centre to make it all worthwhile. The town square (town triangle, would be more accurate) is dominated by the beautiful town hall, and surrounded by delightful cafes. The main church, where a service was about to start, has imposing stained glass windows. Just the streets with canals are a pleasure to walk along.

The beautiful Gouda town hall.

We had a delicious dinner in one of the cafes with very friendly service and headed back to Mekicevica for the night.

Sailing Up the IJssel

Sunday started still grey and wet, but we had to get going to ride the tide up the IJssel. The Maas was already busy, even on a Sunday morning, but as we turned into the IJssel we left most of the shipping behind. First mission: passing the Algera bridge, the first construction of the Delta Works, a huge Dutch project to protect the country from floods, initiated after the tragic events of 1953.

Passing the Algera bridge.

The passing of the bridge went smoothly and from than on we could sail with both wind and tide, in improving weather. Next destination: Gouda.
Before that, however, we had to negotiate the Juliana lock. We just missed one opening, courtesy of inconsiderate "yoties" who cannot possibly be left behind and give full throttle leaving little Mekicevica bobbing in their wake.
The Juliana lock was the busiest affair we have experienced so far. With one cargo ship and dozens of yachts of all types, there was little water that was not covered by one boat or other. People were mostly courteous, the general mood was agreeable, and the process went smoothly. Only the weather decided to spoil the fun by turning nasty again.

Ghost Harbour, Boring Town

The yacht harbour of Krimpen aan den IJssel is modestly situated behind an industrial estate, partly hidden from view by large trees.
In this grey, wet, and windy afternoon it did not look inspiring.
It was completely deserted. On the small visitors pontoon there was a box with instructions (and a take-away menu). But the facilities were clean and there were bicycles for free use. This way we could get to town to buy some dinner.
Krimpen aan den IJssel is even less inspiring than the harbour. The centre of life is a tacky shopping centre, sixties style. For the readers who know South-East England, it suffices to say that Harlow in Essex looks like a posh place in comparisson.
We returned to Mekicevica completely soaked in the worsening weather. Spirits did sink a bit, and were only lifted by a dinner of delicious smoked fish washed down with Chardonnay.

Island Hopping, South Holland Style

Our planned route for the day will take us up the Noord to the vicinity of Rotterdam, where we will try to find a harbour for the night.
The river Noord will be flowing in that direction (North) from ca 1030 to ca 1630, so we had a leisurely start. The "Wateralmanak" (sort of the pilot book of the Ductch waterways) recommended taking a narrower branch of the Noord, the Rietbaan, supposedly more interesting for leisure sailing. We followed that suggestion and discovered that the author of the Wateralmanak has a taste for post nuclear disaster scenery: the Rietbaan is the site of many ship breaking yards, and the landscape consisted of various vessels (including warships) in differing stages of decay.
After returning to the Noord we passed under the Alblasserdam bridge, with comfortable two meters between the top of Mekicevica's mast and the bottom of the bridge.

The skipper trying to look cool after passing under the Alblasserdam bridge. 

These waters are mostly too busy to sail, and due to the short range of Yo-Yo Ma, we are forced to frequent stops for refuelling. We made the first short stop at the Alblasserdam Water Sports Club.
After this break we found the waters wider and the traffic less intense, so we hoisted the jib and sailed up until the junction of three rivers: Noord, Lek, and Nieuwe Maas.
We though we had already seen busy traffic. We hadn't seen nothing yet! Here there is a jumble of sailing boats, motor yachts, long inland waters freight ships, huge sea-going container vessels and various tourist river-cruiser boats. Nearby is the Kinderdijk, a sort of Dutch windmills Disneyland that provides opportunities for many holiday photos and videos. Mekicevica, being the cutest sailing boat, now features on a few of them.
Second short stop, at the Water Sports Club De Lek and on to the last leg for the day towards one of the yacht harbours where the Nieuwe Maas and the Hollandse IJssel meet. With the weather getting bad and the forecast even worse, we opted for a harbour close to Rotterdam, keeping in mind the possibility of spending a day of lousy weather (re)visiting the city. I actually lived nearby for a few years and started to learn to sail on a lake in Rotterdam.

Approaching Rotterdam in foul weather.

We cheerfully entered the harbour of IJsselmonde, only to be told that they don't want any small boats in their harbour. Is that unfriendly or what!? Do me a favour: if you come to these waters don't stay at the IJsselmonde Water Sports Club. They suck.
So we are back on the water, now in pouring rain and lousy mood, going back to where we just came from, to try the harbour in Krimpen aan den IJssel. Hopefully they will not be so snotty there. We never found out, as you can read in the next post.

Start of a Long Journey

Two weeks vacation during which Mekicevica will be our floating and travelling home. And we do plan to travel a lot. We are heading to the IJsselmeer, hoping to get as far as the islands along the N coast of the Netherlands. We will be following the "Staande Mast Route" which allows sailing boats to reach the IJsselmeer from Zeeland by inland waterways without lowering their masts. It does however involve many moving bridges and rivers busy with shipping. One of the highlights will be crossing Amsterdam by night.
For a large part, Mekicevica will have to rely on Yo-Yo Ma, the outboard motor and his tiny 0.9L tank that gives us a range of not much more than 4 nm between stops for refuelling.
The weather forecast does not look brilliant: unsettled weather with showers.

The "Staande Mast Route" that we followed from Papendrecht to Amsterdam (click image for enlarged view).

We left home/work (lazy Luis/hardworking Sandra) about 6:30pm to avoid traffic. Papendrecht yacht harbour was calm as usual and the evening pleasant. We had a drink on the terrace of a cafe overlooking the river, light dinner aboard and into the sack.

Sailing Into the "Randstad" - Epilogue: Lifting-Out For Repairs at Papendrecht

Papendrecht, is situated across the water from Dordrecht, where the Noord meets the Oude Maas. It is already in the "Randstad" a vast megalopolis that includes the cities of Amsterdam, Roterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. This area boasts one of the World's largest population densities. In the middle of all this, the little yacht harbour of Papendrecht is an oasis of tranquility.

Mekicevica in the quiet yacht harbour of Papendrecht. In the background: Dordrecht with the towers of the railway bridge.

A surprising variety of birds take refuge here and their chirping almost masks the roaring of the frequent ships that pass in front of the harbour.
The people in the club are very friendly, and they helped me make some repairs.
On Sunday, just out of Oud Beijerland we had the problem that every Manta 19 owner will experience at one time. The centre plate got stuck and while giving it a good yank to release it, First-Mate was left with the loose chain in her hand. The only way to solve the problem is to lift-out and re-attach the chain to the plate. The good people of the Papendrecht club not only agreed to lift-out Mekicevica (for a very reasonable fee) they all helped in the operation and the repair of the chain. It is now a much better job than what I had done earlier and will certainly do the rest of the season.
Mekicevica is as ready as she could be to continue heading North towards Amsterdam, the Ijsselmeer, and maybe beyond.

Sailing Into the "Randstad" - Part 3: Big, Busy Rivers

Sunday morning was bright and the wind had calmed further. Mekicevica is heading up the Oude Maas! This romantic-sounding name hides the fact that it is a wide but very busy river, start of the connection between Rotterdam sea port and... well, pretty much the whole of Europe.
We timed the start to have the tide pushing us up-river for most of the journey, and we planned to sail as much as possible. I still don't know how much Yo-Yo Ma the outboard motor can do on his tiny 0.9L tank. Drifting with no wind and no fuel in a river used by huge and fast container ships is not a good idea.

They come fast and furious on the Oude Maas.

For the first four or five miles we had what little wind there was behind us, so we could sail keeping well to the starboard margin and mostly out of the navigation channel. After that, the river narrows and turns S, leaving us on the lee of the trees and constructions on the margin. After a while bobbing in the wake of passing ships with sails going mad, we decided to put the motor on and have our initiation in the dubious practice of motor-sailing. Since I am a pedantic skipper, trained by pedantic instructors, out came the motor-sailing cone.
At Puttershoek (silly name) we made a break in the small "harbour" of the Waterlelie Watersports Club. (More like a handful of home-made pontoons in a small inlet of the river.) To enter it we had to cross the strongest wake of a ship I have ever seen.
After topping-up the fuel tank and a short break (the tide would be turning soon) we continued on motor. Soon we could see the towers of the Dordrecht railway bridge that we would have to pass under.
Before that, we had to cross the entrance to the Dordtsche Kil. It felt a bit like crossing a six-lane motorway: look well left and right and than cross as fast as possible to the starboard margin of the Oude Maas, with the bridge in full view.

Motoring up the Noord, towards the Dordrecht bridge.

 With her air-draught of hardly eight meters, Mekicevica can pass under the fixed part of the bridge. (I still checked the air-clearance scale about ten times.) This involves going into the middle of the river, in front of the closed, lifting part of the bridge, with the eyes pinned on it like a bull-fighter in the arena looking at the gates of the corral.

Passing under the Dordrecht bridge.

After the bridge we could return to the starboard margin and motor in front of the impressive city of Dordrecht.

Motoring past the Dordrecht belfort.

One more nerve-wracking crossing of the river and we entered the small harbour of Papendrecht. For a change a trip that went exactly as planned!