A Day-Trip to Bommenede Turns Into an Overnight-Trip to Brouwershaven

The weather continues to be miserable. The forecast gives hope of a dry and warm Saturday, but that is all we can expect.

Friday was rain, and more rain. I patiently waited for it to clear. Finally in the middle afternoon it stopped raining and I jumped on my motorbike and got to Bruinisse. First-Mate was in Leiden for work and joined me in the evening for a drink at the Veerhuis and dinner aboard.

Saturday, 21 of May

After a very calm night we woke up to a shy sunshine and a weak south-westerly wind. Soon we were getting out of the harbour and hoisting main-sail and jib to sail up the Grevelingen on a beam to broad reach. The wind gradually picked-up to just the strength Mekicevica likes and she was flying. It was barely noon when we pulled into the small Bommenede piers.

There are still corners of the Grevelingen new to Mekicevica, like Bommenede.

From there we went for a walk towards Zonnemaire, through typical, rural-Zeeland landscape.

Typical Zeeland landscape: 100% artificial, but pleasant none-the-less.

After a light lunch we returned to the boat with the intention to return back to Bruinisse before the weather window shut. We found that the wind was a bit more southerly and had picked-up a lot. It was now a good 5 Bf and against us. With a few rolls in the jib and a reef in the main we prepared for a hard fight... which we lost.

Mekicevica was still heeling a lot and often I had to ease the main-sheet, which made progress upwind slow. It became obvious we would have to do several tacks. In these conditions, to avoid having First-Mate leaning over the low side of a crazily heeling boat, I bring the boat level during the tacks. In the narrow space we had here that would make progress even slower. We gave-up. Turned around, rolled the jib, sailed down-wind past Bommenede again, and finished with a cowardly motoring to the shelter of Brouwershaven.

To make the best of it, we finished the day with a delicious fish dinner at a local restaurant.

Sunday, 22 of May

As forecast, the rain returned during the night, topped-up with occasional showers and wind gusts. But in the well sheltered harbour of Brouwershaven Mekicevica and crew slept peacefully. And long. There was no hurry, since we needed to wait for the squalls to pass.

Eventually they did, and we had a light westerly breeze pushing us on a run along the Geul van Bommenede, than on a broad reach down the Grevelingen that turned again into a run as the wind veered more northerly. Unfortunately we had only the briefest glimpse of sunshine and occasional light rain.

As we were settling Mekicevica in Bruinisse, the rain became heavier and more persistent. I had a very wet motorbike ride back home and has I write this, Monday mid-morning it is still raining uninterruptedly.