The Netherlands

 Ellie had her second birthday party in mid-May. The sun shone and we all enjoyed being out in the garden. The next day we went to Sal Darago and sat on the mooring in the River Deben for the next three nights, while a gale force 8 and a severe gale 9 raged in the North Sea. It was very cold. We both wore thermals and several more layers of clothing. Jeremy discovered a porthole was letting in the rain. He was able to seal it before we went out to sea.

The outer harbour, Scheveningen

The overnight crossing to Scheveningen (The Hague) gave us variable winds, mainly light, except in the odd squall. We motor sailed all the way. There were a few ships and ferries coming in and out of Felixstowe/Harwich, which we avoided quite comfortably. Then there was a wind farm, which we expected, but it seemed to have been extended by several miles, so a change of course was needed. The major hazard of the trip was crossing the Noord Hinder Traffic Separation Zone. It’s 10 miles across. The ships have to keep in specific lanes for north or south going vessels. We have to cross at right angles. By now it was dark and all we could see were lots of navigation lights to port at first and then to starboard. Our AIS receiver told us how close each ship would be when it passed us. We were on a collision course straight away and slowed down to let a ship pass by safely. Just as the end was in sight, another ship was on a collision course and we slowed down again until it had passed. Most of these vessels would be travelling in or out of Europort (Rotterdam) and we would have to cross their path again when we reached the Inshore Zone. At least it would be light by then. We called Maas Entrance as we approached and crossed at the designated place for small craft. A few hours later we called Scheveningen Harbour on VHF, found the GEO fuel barge, filled up with diesel and tied up in berth 8 at a very full yacht club.

Later, we found out why. The yacht club was hosting an offshore North Sea Regatta long weekend, starting the next day. We could only stay for one night. This just gave us time to shower, shop and welcome Vix and Abigail aboard for tea and biscuits. Sadly, we’d missed Robin. He was working away and could only join us by mobile phone.

We left at 5.00am the next day in order to take the tide up to Den Helder. The wind was up and down in strength, so we motor sailed again. It was cold at first. A message came over the VHF in English and Dutch announcing live firing would begin soon. We checked our position and, to our horror, found we were in the area. Jeremy called the warship and we were given the go ahead to proceed. About 10 minutes later we heard the boom of rapid firing close behind us.

The lighthouse at Vlieland

As we approached Den Helder we worked out that the tide was almost right for a passage through the Molengat. This is a silted up channel north of Den Helder leading to a passage north of the Friesian Islands. The weather was good and all went well, except for encountering a few extra yellow buoys on the wrong side of the channel.

Dutch sailing barges

The sun came out; our thermals came off. We motored in light winds with NECO, our autopilot steering and Jeremy and I taking turns on watch. A chicken casserole was prepared ready for our arrival at Vlieland. First, we had to follow the twisting channel of the Strortemelk. It was well buoyed. We anchored one mile from the yacht harbour, beyond the ferry port at 8.20pm. It had been a long day.

No visitors' cars are allowed on Vlieland

We stayed at anchor for a day. Several Friesian horses were grazing in a field nearby and I wanted a closer look. There seemed to be something going on in the marina and we needed some groceries, so there were lots of reasons to go ashore. We launched the dinghy and landed on a small beach at the village. There was a Dutch sailing barge festival at the marina. We had seen these majestic ships sailing earlier and it was a treat to see so many tied up together. After a walk to the lighthouse, we went to see the horses and then returned to our dinghy. The tide had gone out but we were prepared. We put on our water shoes, put the wheels down on the dinghy and pulled it over the reasonable firm mud. Once in the water the mud changed to squisy squashy but we were soon heading towards Sal Darago, cleaning the mud off our shoes and avoiding the ebbing tide.

Friesian horse and Sal Darago in the distance

Tomorrow, we hope to be in Germany.