It is always the same with sailing adventures: no matter how long you spend preparing and planning, there are always issues that wait till the last minute to pop-up and try to delay you.
I will not delve in the details. Friday was a bit hectic, but by the time First-Mate joined for dinner aboard in Bruinisse everything was as ready as it could ever be.
Saturday 12th of July 2014
The start of the adventure on Saturday morning was not very auspicious: grey and windless. The new sail got hoisted just out of the Grevelingen lock, but no luck: not enough wind.
It did not get any better in the Volkerak, so we stopped at Oude Tongue to do some last-minute provisioning and wait for some wind. It did eventually come, along with a shy sunshine, so we set off to sail towards Dinteloord, which included some of the scariest dodging of ships to date. |
| New main sail and good, old, little jibby goose-winged towards Dinteloord. |
Sunday 13th of July 2014
Wet and miserable! Motor across the shipping lane (Yoyo-Ma still on duty) and under sail towards the Volkerak lock. After a break for some warm soup it took a lot of determination to put the wet oilies back on and sail West along the Haringvliet. We did get some sunshine and really enjoyed beating along the S side of Tiengemeten... until a squall came down which made-us set a new record for the time it takes us to put a reef in the main sail when very scared: about five seconds.
Just a few minutes later we were becalmed and had to motor the last bit to Middelharnis.
We had a delightful dinner in the Greek restaurant. First-Mate has left, the rest of the world is watching the final of the football world cup, and I am tidying up Mekicevica in preparation for the second part of the adventure: solo to Amsterdam.
