2023 - The summer cruise that wasn't - Grevelingenmeer at last!

 Monday 7th to Thursday 10th August 

Esmé is enjoying time with Mum at the moment so she decided to join Monique and I waiting for the tent to arrive and driving up to the Grevelingenmeer. We decided the 9am bridge was too much of a struggle and of not much benefit due to tides on the Oosterschelde, but even so it seemed pretty full on getting as much of our kit  as possible off the Lynan so that our Dutch friends could fit theirs on.. We finally watched them back out of the box and then walked round to watch the rest of the gang go through the bridge.

Esmé, Monique and I then chilled out in the house before heading into town for some lunch and to pick up a Diablo for the Dutch kids. (Esmé and then AJ had already bought one each but all kids were enjoying them and we knew there was one left in the shop!). Esmé had an amazing hot chocolate where she mixed cream and chocolate pieces into hot milk herself.

Meanwhile we were getting photo updates on the other's progress as well as us tracking them using their phones - no need for AIS!

We finally left Goes (with my driving for the first time in Holland)  to pick up the tent and carry on to Camping Den Osse which was right behind the marina. We made good time and I didn't make too many mistakes driving. The campsite was really friendly and right behind our pitch was a gap in the bushes which led to the Marina. Esmé insisted on proving the tent instructions wrong (it  it was a 2 person job) and pitched it on her own leaving Monique and I to chill out. The air beds borrowed from Dutch friends who had bought them for the kids to use in the Goes House only just fit! It was going to be a cosy night.

We then headed round to the marina to book Lynan in, and then still had time to do a tour of the campsite and check out the pool. The rest of the gang had had a lovely sail although a little lumpy at times and once they arrived it was awesome to be together again.

What followed was a lovely few days of  eating out, dinghy sailing, swimming, sailing Lynan and for some, horse riding on the beach. A  lovely second half of the trip!

2023 - The summer cruise that wasn't - Alternative transport and accommodation!!!

Back on  Laurin our focus returned to watching the weather and we became increasingly frustrated at the unpredictability of the weather and ever disappearing possible weather windows to cross to the Netherlands. We started looking at alternatives both for getting to the Netherlands and for where to stay when we got there. This wouldn't be the first time (and probably won't be the last) that we made crazy plans in order to meet up with our fantastic Dutch friends. We costed out Ferries vs Le Shuttle, checked car insurance and argued with the RAC about the cost of European cover,  and in the meantime our Dutch friends came back with an accommodation solution. 

They borrow Martijn's Dad's boat which is based in De Werf in Goes. The club also rents out it's tiny harbourmasters cottage to members and their close families so the solution was for them to move into the house (kids on newly purchased airbeds) and then we could use the boat. We'd figure the rest out later!

Ran round packing and getting stuff for driving in Europe.... both of us feeling surprisingly nervous about this but accepting that it would be good to see how we felt about this if we were going to seriously consider leaving Laurin in Holland. In the meantime we had met a lovely Dutch family who were stuck in Burnham and swapped advice on the UK East Coast for ideas about potential low cost marinas to keep Laurin in over the North Sea.

Early start Thursday up to Harwich to get the Ferry to Rotterdam. It was a bit rocky and rolly (hence why we weren't sailing over).... no flying crockery but I counted at least 3 young children running into walls as they stumbled along walkways. Esmé found a comfortable seat near the window.

It took us over an hour to get through customs and out of the port in Rotterdam and then about an hour 40 minutes to get to Goes where we were warmly greeted by Martijn, Monique, Dyland and Jazz. They helped us unload essentials and then ordered us take away. It was sooo good to be with them in Goes!

The weather wasn't forecast to be anything special until maybe Monday so we spent time catching up, playing games, shopping (kids bought diablos) and swimming and paddle boarding, all the time hatching the next part of the plan. We all really wanted to go up to the Grevelingenmere but accommodation would be an issue. Although the Lynan is technically 8 berth, as with all yachts, filling her to capacity would be a squeeze. We looked for accommodation up there close to a marina but the only options were camping which required a tent. Not to be deterred we found a tiny  tent that could be delivered Saturday and ordered it...... only it was delayed until Monday! Monique was busy researching beach horse riding for the girls, the fact that some of us would stay behind to collect the tent and then drive to the Grevelingenmere actually meant that getting to the horse riding would be less of a problem. Despite the challenges it was amazing to be together again.

2023 - The summer cruise that wasn't - Wittering!

 Having realised we weren't sailing anywhere for the next few days we turned our attention to what we COULD do instead. We very rarely see Patrick's family as his sister lives in Hong Kong and his brother lives on the South Coast which is a VERY long drive from Leeds, however it is only about 3 hours from Laurin so we got in touch and arranged a meet up. It was lovely to see them and also lovely to return to where Patrick grew up.... it's been about 8 years since we've been back. We enjoyed some lovely meals together and a very windy walk on "Daddy's Beach" before heading back to Laurin.

2023 - The summer cruise that wasn't - Ramsgate!

 

Arrived on board Saturday afternoon having had a very early start, breakfast at the Beefeater at Cambridge, and then a very lovely catch up with friends Lisa and Marc in Bishops Stortford to borrow their electric outboard to try out. Tesco delivery late afternoon and then time spent getting Laurin ship shape. Early hours of Sunday departure was no - go due to bad weather but we were hopeful for Monday. 

Sunday we had a nice surprise as our old friends Bru and Jane brought their boat up to Burnham from Fambridge so we had a nice catch up and also got a chance to go on board and look round a Royal Navy training vessel that was spending the night in Burnham.

Early Monday start - all going well until Patrick noticed the engine was running hotter than normal and we had a little more white smoke than I remembered. Luckily we'd chosen to have a temperature gauge rather than just an alarm when we re-engined Laurin and Patrick is great at monitoring it after occasionally volunteering as assistant engineer on Tall Ships. We considered carrying on but decided (as always) that we'd rather be cautious. Back in Burnham we checked the impeller, water inlet and thermostat before accepting that we would have to pull the heat exchanger out to see if that was causing the problems. Embarrassingly a call to a vert friendly Beta Marine Customer Support  enlightened us that cleaning the heat exchanger should be done in the annual service. How we missed this I do not know. Anyway, we rose to the challenge, with help and advice from Matt in the Boatyard and by the end of the day we'd got things back together, although we were kicking ourselves though as we had missed by far the best weather window for crossing to Oostende.

Tuesday morning we left to head for Ramsgate, possibly hoping for Dunkirk but knowing it was unlikely due to stronger winds forecast in the channel for later. We also couldn't see much of a weather window for later in the week but we really wanted to get moving. Everything was going really well both engine wise and timing, and we were seriously considering pushing on to Dunkirk, had changed our heading but also were waiting for the next weather update to be sure. Almost simultaneously the shipping forecast gave a strong wind warning and the wind picked up and was right on the nose. We diverted to Ramsgate and had a lively last hour into port.

Moored up, hit the arcades and decided on eating out at the Thai Cafe we'd visited in a previous, younger, racier life.

Thursday was too windy for anything yet we were surprised by a rather sporty boat backing in to the berth next to us to pick up a young man in a wheelchair for a spin round the harbour. I don't know the full story but he was carrying a bunch of flowers and the care and "can do" attitude of the crew was amazing to watch. By now I was being driven insane by the snatching of the mooring lines despite us having bungee shock absorbers to reduce this. We had a potential weather window to get to Dunkirk but only by setting off at midnight if we wanted the tides right. It really didn't look like the wind would drop enough and we were struggling to get enough sleep, but we set an alarm for 11pm and got up for a look. Maybe we're too cautious but it was still blowing nearly 30 knots in the channel and we were sleep deprived so we decided not to go. It was an even bigger blow as there was no real sight of another weather window and there was no space in the inner harbour to escape the snatching. Set alarms for 6am and headed back to Burnham. 

Hard to see but the wheelchair is strapped down at the back. Notice the amount of heal under bare poles in the harbour!

Friday 

A quiet motor sail back to Burnham left us feeling extremely frustrated and questioning our decision not to head to Dunkirk at Midnight but it was still pretty breezy in the channel. A tearful Esmé and much time for discussion about the possibility of keeping Laurin in the Netherlands rather than the UK. We love love love the Netherlands and really resent missing out on one of our precious last summers with the kids.

11/08/22 - 13/08/22 Stampersplaat - Den Osse - Brouwersdam

Thursday

Another lazy day on Stampersplaat, with Patrick and I finally getting round to servicing the port headsail winch. It's not been turning as freely as it should since before we went to the Med but Patrick had stripped both down and found a broken bearing that we were struggling to find a replacement for. The replacement has now been on board a few months and now I finally got round to fitting it. BUT, when I stripped the winch the bearing was intact! The broken part must have been on the functioning winch. Unfortunately I couldn't completely strip the winch without removing it from the deck so we did the best job we could and put it back. Some improvement but think we'll need to try again and remove it from the deck to do the whole job as it still felt a bit "sticky". Maybe we should by some superior Harken Winch Grease rather than the standard stuff we have on the boat.

Once the winch was put back together the swing came out again and the kids had fun alternating between swinging, swimming and paddleboarding before hiding down below with electronics to get out of the hot afternoon sun.

In the late afternoon Patrick and I found a shady spot ashore to get some respite from the heat before we ate a very late evening meal.

Friday

Now we were really scraping the bottom of the barrel (or fridge) in terms of food supplies we decided to head to Den Osse as recommended to us by a motor boat we rafted alongside on Archipel. An earlyish departure from Stampersplaat and we were in Den Osse not long after 10am.

AJ stayed on board whilst Patrick, Esmé and I went to find out what was what. Paid for one night (just under 24 Euros) and got the keys to borrow some bikes. Unfortunately they were way too big for Esmé (a bit of a stretch for me) so she headed back to the boat whilst Patrick and I went on a shopping adventure. The bikes were not only huge but had no brake levers on the handles... just needed to back pedal which only took a little getting used to.

Anyway, off we went, me tiptoeing to reach the pedals and Patrick saying "that's how it should be". (When I stood next to the bike the handles were almost at my neck height!).

It felt strange not wearing a helmet but I consoled myself with the fact that we were in the Netherlands and there are cycle paths everywhere... our Dutch friends were horrified that in England we ride on the roads with cars! However as we went along I suddenly became aware that we were no longer on a cycle path and that we seemed to be on quite a "fast" road (luckily not too busy). A brief (wobbly) assessment of our surroundings and I realised that we had missed the cycle path which was down a grassy bank to our left. Shouted to Patrick and slowed to a wobbly halt. Waited for a gap in traffic, U-turn and headed back to the point where the cycle track separated from the road. Back heading in the right direction it really wasn't that far until we reached Scharenijke marina and then the "big" Plus supermarket.

 Much to Patrick's dismay the shop was heaving and so I did the best supermarket dash possible, collecting enough food for a couple of days with the intention of returning the next day. 2 rucksacks and a little use of the bike racks later we were loaded up and on our way back. Only a minor close shave on the return (stopping really isn't my strong point on these oversized, strangely braked machines) and then we were back.

Stashed the food and had a very late breakfast. After a rest and a tidy up we headed to the marina office to do laundry and arrange free hire of a Pico for AJ, the rest of us enjoying an ice cream in the shade whilst he sailed. After a brief sail in the marina he headed out of the harbour with some other kids to get some better wind.

A slightly challenging course needed to sail in and out of the dinghy dock but no problem for our boy.

Saturday

Up early for another supermarket run... I wanted a bit more flexibility than 2 days supplies but didn't fancy the bikes again so took Esmé to the closer Spar supermarket in the holiday village next door. Our attempt at a short cut got us lost in the maze of holiday bungalows so it was a 20 minute walk there, and 7 minutes back! Looked like a nice place and Esmé took time to enjoy the playground before we returned.

On our return Patrick was just finishing some hand washing of the stuff that got missed the previous day and was keen to tell me that the boat opposite (a Contest 32CS like ours but with a Pilot House) were happy to have us look round before they headed to the beach. The family were using their friends boat as a caravan whilst they enjoyed the beautiful surroundings ashore. A solid pilot house is something we have been considering as our second spray hood is looking old and tatty and we never take it down anyway. It would also give us a bigger area to mount a bigger solar panel. It was really interesting to see. The windows were bigger (and taller) which meant that I had much better visibility than on our boat. Certainly something to consider. Patrick had also been talking to a guy at the end of the pontoon about the marina and costs. He had a Contessa 32 and it cost him just 1500 Euros per year to moor there. It is a private club with a 2 year waiting list. Quite tempting! 

We headed to the marina office to say goodbye and purchase another ticket for the Grevelingenmere before dropping lines and heading out. On the way back to the marina we bumped into the owner of the Contessa 32 and he pointed out some of his favourite spots on the Grevelingenmere for us to try.We enjoyed a gentle drift towards Brouwersdam but eventually had resort to the engine. Our aim was to explore some of the public moorings close to Marina Port Zealand. I wanted to visit the beach and see if this was possible without spending money on an expensive marina. We looked into a lovely small harbour but it was hot, I wanted a swim, and there were LOTS of jellyfish so we headed back out and motored towards Brouwersdam watersports centre where we could see a collection of boats anchored. We dropped our hook for the first time since the Med and were a bit gutted to realise the holding was pretty poor. As we motored  astern the anchor was definitely dragging, however as the priority was lunch and a swim rather than an overnight stop, and it was light airs we decided it was good enough. Before the swim I paddleboarded over to the watersports area to check out the price of Catamaran hire and to have a better view of the massive waterslide. Although next to Centreparks this is a separate enterprise and we could pay 85 Euros for 3 hours catamaran hire or 17.50 Euros for an hour on the waterslide. I went back to the boat and in turn both kids came to look at the waterslide. We didn't have time that day and the jury's still out on if we'll return. Looks kinda cool but also kinda scary!

As this anchorage wasn't a good overnight prospect, come 5ish we moved on. Back to a series of pontoons outside the little harbour where we found a small space for Laurin. The Dutch opposite were very welcoming as is fairly normal for the Grevelingenmere and we got chatting before breaking off to cook tea. I really fancied a walk to the beach but was disappointed to find it was rather further than it looked due to having to walk up to a bridge to cross the busy road. AJ didn't fancy it so we reluctantly left him behind. Patrick, Esmé and I tried a slight shortcut which left us walking along the grass verge next to a railway track..... we've never seen a train go along it so might have to do some research about it. Eventually after about 1/2 hour we got to the beach, to find live music and LOTS of people. Patrick was looking less than convinced but Esmé and I were delighted with the prospect of an hour at a lively beach bar. AJ rang us and wanted to come.... but it was too far and we didn't have time to go back for him and still have time for a drink before it got dark. Patrick opted to head back to keep AJ company and Esmé and I enjoyed a drink and an ice cream, enjoying the atmosphere for a girlie evening!

It was a tough call, leaving it until the very last minute to leave but still ensuring we'd have some light left to find an alternative route back. In the end we got it just right and enjoyed the sunset and a lovely stroll "home".