Mr and Mrs C

Up and at ‘em! Or maybe not so much. We’ve both been suffering since we arrived in Cherbourg and today was my day for feeling really shabby. Fortunately, Mr C was having a good day and the conditions were absolutely ideal for a cross channel passage. Flat sea and from lunchtime, a westerly wind and a great sail. Visibility was not so great … we couldn’t see things on AIS which were 3 miles away … but in fairness, there was nothing to see! We came within 3 miles of a slack handful of yachts and within a similar distance of one container ship in the east bound shipping lane and the same in the westbound. Back “home” in an extremely impressive time!

5:30 alarm this morning, boil the kettle, make cup of tea, cast off and out through the harbour by 6am. Glorious morning! Just enough wind to gain wind assistance from the main as we motored out beyond the “pot area” and far enough out to turn north and go fairly hard on the wind towards the Point de Barfleur. With tide assistance we had a cracking sail up to the ‘corner’ to meet the west going tide which would take us to Cherbourg. The sunrise was spectacular. Within sight of the Barfleur lighthouse the tidal chop was quite intense for a few minutes, but we were soon through and easing slowly west. After that point I can no longer comment … I went below… we might have been making 8 - 10 kts over the ground but what wind there was was behind us and the boat speed through the water was less than 3kts. I’m not a lover of slop! Mr C woke me half an hour out from the Cherbourg breakwater- by now he had engine assistance although the tide was ripping us along. Sails away, the entry to Cherbourg was fairly unremarkable and we found quite a few empty spaces on pontoon Q. Remarkable!!! We took Q28. Berthed, all the lines sorted and tidied, electric on, shorts on (it’s bloomin’ 🥵). … then I remembered to turn SailTies off!

Flat calm for a visit undertaken on the Tatihou III. Out by wheel, back by boat - and all the same vessel. Driving out at low tide through the acres of oysterbeds to the island of Tatihou which for the best part of 500 years has housed the various installations that have protected the bay of St Vaast de la Hougue

Darn it!!! We’re at least 4 days away from St Vaast - but we could make it 1 day away if we set off lunch time and just keep on going. We’ve been holed up in Boulogne-sur-Mer for 4 nights … as have all the sailors of Western Europe(so it seems). A few hearty souls tried to leave yesterday, most returned (to find their berth taken by a rafting boat from the fairway!) shaking their heads, wet through and announcing chaotic seas outside the breakwater. Predict wind was showing settling seas from midnight Tuesday … we decided to make a break for it. Wednesday morning it seemed like everybody had a similar plan. marine watch was showing loads of boats on the move and the marina rapidly emptied. It would take us around 24 hours to get to St Vaast where the entrance lock would open on Thursday around 11:30am - so no need to move from Boulogne until noon. A cracking journey with friendly seas although the relatively light wind was in our faces. From time to time it moved enough for a good motor sail, but was never enough to turn the engine off. The watches worked well, food was plentiful as we’d pre-prepared chicken casserole and Barry had popped out to the Boulangerie in the morning. We didn’t scrap or fight and we arrived here just after 10:30 to anchor, waiting for the lock. Interesting sailing past the wind farms at night and a fair bit of shipping to avoid. Although a full moon, a lot of cloud cover - but it gave an atmospheric photo! That’s where I stopped sailties. Then we had porridge… bloomin’ fantastic. Struggled to get the anchor up as the parade of yachts started to exit the marina … the electric motor will need to be refurbed or replaced … but it meant quite a lot of boats managed to to get in before us so we missed the chance of a finger pontoon … we’ll end up being rafted on, but not to worry. We’re in, and the restaurant of choice for the meal tomorrow night have just confirmed a table for two at 7pm - awesome, ‘cos after all, that’s why we’ve put in the miles to get to St Vaast today, oysters for the anniversary of 44 years since the creation of Mr and Mrs C

What a beautiful morning as we slipped away from our berth in Dunkirk just before 4:30. We’d set an alarm for 4, but it wasn’t needed due to the arrival of the boat on the other side of the pontoon at 3:45. Who knew you needed to keep your engine running all the time you threw ropes around ….🤨🤨 Had a lovely stop over in Dunkirk - visited the operation Dynamo museum and the beaches on the hottest day of the year. Found a cafe serving a late lunch near the eglise for a superb fish cassolet. The sea this morning was calm, just light wind as we motored west past the miles of Dunkirk docks and petrochemical works. After a good hour or more the eastern horizon started to pink up and we had a beautiful sunrise. Basically, the journey should have ended there. The wind picked up … right on the nose make for awesome wind over tide conditions, the visibility dropped to a few feet and no more. Shorts and tee shirt gave way to trousers and light jackets … then the full foul weather kit. Horrendous. Heigh ho … it was great to play the spot the yacht through the fog game as we approached Boulogne sur Mer, proving that we’d timed our arrival perfectly with the end of the west going tide as the procession of boats going eastwards intensified! The marina is (possibly) functional - but extreme tired … as am I. BTW: do please ignore the weather given on the overlay. The waves were at least a metre … as well as being choppy and confused and the head on wind was blowing a good 16kt true. Once heading south we were hard on the wind, again 16kt true. Visibility was somewhere between 20 and 100 yards for a lot of the time, so much so that VTS were constantly broadcasting warnings and asking for live updates. And if the temperature was 18-19C then we were both sadly overdressed in longs, layers, waterproof and woolly hats.

What fun this morning watching all the boats trying to untangle themselves. The visitors’ pontoon (4 boats stern to bow) was stacked 3 boats abreast - as was the parallel pontoon, and what do to know, the one in the corner at the back wanted to leave first! We left as soon as our (2nd) outside number returned, as agreed, between 12 and 1. What wind there was just enough to hold the main and Genoa under engine - the sea was flat and the sun shone. Passing Nieuwport we could see that the big wheel had been completed since our time there in May … All around us were slow moving yachts, some gybing downwind with spinnakers various, some going well upwind, others giving up and traveling under engine whilst others opted for motor sailing. Arriving at Dunkirk the visitors’ pontoon was full, so we came alongside a Dutch yacht. We’ve tried to blag a berth for tomorrow so we can set off early Saturday without fear of someone rafting outside us … but we’ll have to try again in the morning …

After our wet and windy stop over in Breskens (which has very little to recommend it other than a large boat park and a very bizarre “fishing” museum) we had a quick run to the shop this morning before departure. More wind than anticipated … and our in-mast reefing system has given up the ghost so we started off under engine into wind. As we exited the Netherlands we were able to put out the Genoa for a bit more directional stability (and a fair bit more speed) and towards Blankenberg the wind speed and direction had changed sufficiently to bring the main out of hiding for a great sail to Ostend - where the sun is shining and all is well.

Up and at ‘em this morning … going to escape to the big bad sea! A gentle trip up the Veersemere to the Veeresluis into the Middelburg canal. So many scouts/guides camp sites along side the Mere, we recognised so many of the boats that had been towed past us over the weekend. Just us and one other boat in the Veeresluis, we are getting quite professional at this! a slow amble down to Middelburg to fuel up and pop into the Chandler for yet another quick release shackle for the gate in the guard wire. Eight other boats then streamed out of the marina to join us in the ‘blue wave’ down to Vlissingen. Don’t believe the hype … this really does not go as smoothly as they tell you it does. Sticking to 5kts does not mean that each bridge magically opens as you approach. We waited a good 10 minutes (at least) before the last bridge into Vlissingen. And in the short space between the two bridges in Middelburg we put lines on! Anyway, the commercial sea lock was open in Vlissingen for us to drive straight in and within a short space of time we were out at sea … for the 3 miles across to Breskens! We’ll stay here 2 nights … there’s a very lively blow coming in tonight - 24 hrs of mayhem…it’ll make a change to be in mains power after just over a week in the wild. I’ve even got a load of washing hanging out to dry .. hopefully he rain will hold off until 7 as promised … it is not looking at all likely ….

.. the story continues … arriving on the pontoon at Springersdiep the steam train went whistling past so we decided on a quick bite of lunch and a fast march to the RTM rail museum as there would be a train departing at 1:30. What a great afternoon, no 🚜s however (that will only mean something to someone who has read all these reports), but a traction engine was a fair substitute. Late afternoon snack and a beer at Twins … very acceptable! Later, after meeting the German couple ‘next door’ we walked over the dunes to watch the sun set over the N Sea and then celebrated Ule’s birthday with a cake and a bottle of wine back on SW. The following day we cycled to Ouddorp, which had been on the plan C list as a possible marina. The town is absolutely given over to tourism … will not return (the marinas (old and new) look small but perfectly formed. In the way back we explored the De Punt bunkers - wow!! Quite an experience … and the called at Twins for a few beers and an afternoon snack … Today … well, we need to move as the wind is due to change - radical idea, it’s going to blow a fair bit and throw it down, so why not spend all day moving to somewhere nearer to going home … so here we are, parked in the Veersemere, west of Kortgene, on a public pontoon called “public dock”. That’ll do! The journey was wet, very wet, flippin’ 💦. It blew quite lively, but we got some cracking sailing in. In fact, so much sailing that we’ve not recharged the batteries fully. The solar panels are currently as much use as a chocolate fire guard. We had quite a wait at the Brunissesluis, with plenty of time to chat with the two Belgian chaps on Skal who kindly suggested we didn’t return to The Netherlands next year if we planned to bring this sort of weather with us (we’ve had a lot of those type of moments) and also wanted to know if it was politic to be flying the red ensign in view of the Dutch/England football result of Wednesday evening. Out of the Grevelingen it was strange to be in the fast-paced world of commercial traffic again. The rain persisted; wetter than a wet thing on a wet day. The wind blew. Eventually we arrived at the Zandkreeksluis, it was just emptying so ready for us to drive in and have a few minutes respite from the wind. As we left, it blew old boots and threw it down while Mrs C retrieved fenders and ropes … flamin’ typical. 10 minutes later we passed Kortgene Marina and another ten minutes on, we found ourselves here … and Mr C could finally go for a pee. Bless. Right, time for a glass of wine or something similar, I’ve just about dried out.

Very short trip that took a long time for several reasons A - blowing old boots B - couldn’t get parked C - forgot to turn SailTies off! Had a lovely wet and windy time on Ossehoek. Last night’s wind and rain was quite extraordinary. Phenomenal cloud formations, fork lightning, sheet lightning, quite incredible. Quite scary too as we were hit by the downdraughts as the system suddenly changed direction and came directly over us. Today the wind is from the SW … so no protection at Ossehoek so we have decamped to Springersdiep where there is room for a couple of boats on a single walk ashore pontoon which faces SW and there is a snub of land to the south of us. We should be good. (I have to say, the weather is certainly starting to lose its magic … but I guess that is the same whether we were back home or here) Anyway … 🚂 this afternoon … and one has just gone past …