Sunday started very sunny but also very little wind. After breakfast the crew went for a stroll in Sint-Annaland, a very pleasant, "Zeeuwse" village, with the typical windmills and church.
 |
| One of the two windmills in St.-Annaland. |
Have you ever tried to sail against a 1 kn tidal stream with wind that must have been 3 kn max?
At moments we had the genoa full, but we were moving backwards.
Not that this disturbed us. The sun was shinning, it got warmer, and the Krabbenkreek is a beautifully quiet place.
Because it is tidal, narrow and leads nowhere, it does not interest the average "cruising from A to B" crowd.
Eventually we had to accept that we had to start returning to Bruinisse. Beating down the narrow channel in light airs, more drifting than sailing, was a bit challenging. It was hard to gain enough speed between tacks to actually steer Mekicevica. In the last 200m before the harbour, where the channel narrows and does a right turn, we finally gave up and engaged the noisy help of Yo-yo Ma.
After that, the waters got a bit wider and the wind picked-up a little bit, so it was enjoyable to beat back to the Zijpe. The only annoyance were the motor boats and (even worse) sailing boats on motor, that insist on taking the middle of the channel, forcing us to either do short tacks or aggressively try to enforce our right of way as a sailing boat.
The rest of the trip was slow and uneventful. Downwind sailing on light airs, crossing the lock, and park Mekicevica on her berth.
Next weekend is a long one. Hopefully Mekicevica will continue her exploits to the South. Oosterschelde, this time?
