Rockhopper’s Cruise in 2018
Week 1
Saturday 28th July 2018
On board for the out-bound passage to the Netherlands: skipper David, ably aided by Jonathan, Carol and Tim. For the return passage we are unsure who will form the crew, as Jonathan, our experienced watch-leader and co-skipper, is not yet certain he can return for the in-bound passage to Burnham around mid-August. Similarly, Tim may have to return before we sail back.
Initially we had in mind a passage from Burnham on Crouch to Breskens, the Netherlands’ southern-most harbour. With a passage of that length, about 115 NM, we were expecting to be sailing for about 24 hours coast-to-coast.
The initial forecast was for dry conditions, though with strong winds, F6 to F8 mostly SW, but S for a while. In the further outlook heavy rain and further strong winds were expected for the UK, while things should be better in NL. So we had rigged the mainsail to allow us a third reef, which we used all the way. Our genoa, a new sail with foam luff, proved more than equal to the challenges, and was also well reefed-down.
The passage begins .. first crossing the Thames estuary
Making good progress well reefed down, in SWly winds Force 7 to 8
When crossing the Thames estuary there are several sand banks, rather like the fingers of a hand, stretching from the SW to the NE, that have to be negotiated. Perhaps the trickiest of these is the SW Sunk sand lying between the Middle Deep and the Black Deep, both of which are deep ‘big ship’ channels. A narrow unmarked gat allows the SW Sunk to be crossed; to access it we had to motor a couple of miles into the strong S’ly wind, an intrinsically ‘wet’ procedure - see the movie! Once through the gat we could resume our E’ly course and sail without engine.
Approaching the SW Sunk - a wet and splashy experience for the crew on watch!
Under sail now, we leave the Thames estuary - this shows the view looking back at the wind farm on Long Sand against the setting sun.
Sunday 29th July 2018
In fact thanks to the robust S - SWly winds, we made much better speed than anticipated, and reached the Scheldt estuary by about 1100. We therefore decided to skip calling in at Breskens or Vlissingen, and entered through the sea lock into the Kanaal door Walcheren, with the possibility of a berth in Middelburg in mind. We made it to Middelburg by about 1500.
Safely moored in Middelburg, Walcheren Island with the former E India Company warehouse in the background
The first treat that greeted us on our arrival in Middelburg was a failed fresh water pump. We do have a hand pump for cold water, so no one was going to die of thirst, but hot water for washing etc depend on the pressurised system. The failure was actually in the pressure switch (see Technical in the menu above), specifically a micro-switch, whose contacts had failed. Unfortunately there was no switch available on board or locally. In any case there were indications that the old pump had begin to leak, dripping water onto the microswitch, so simply replacing the switch would not be a long-term fix.
However, the excellent Jos Boone chandlery, 5 minutes’ walk away had a good range of replacement pumps available at reasonably competitive prices, so we obtained one, and Monday morning was spent fitting this and drying out the bilges. All works well now.
Worn out pump at top and newly installed Vetus replacement
Monday and Tuesday 30th & 31st July 2018
Middelburg Town Hall and Market by night
Mosseln en frites in the sunshine at Middelburg
Wednesday 1st August 2018
Farewell to Middelburg
We had two good days in Middelburg seeing the sights, including the Zeeuwse Muzeum, Lange Jan’s Tower, and attended an enjoyable organ recital at the Nieuwe Kerke (sound snip coming soon).
Under way along the Kanal door Walcheren
The Groote Kerk at Veere as we enter the Veerse Meer
In the Krammersluizen Lock
Manoeuvring in the lock
We covered a lot of water today, getting through 4 major locks and bypassing myriad places that we resolved to come back and visit. For now, we were aiming for Willemstad as a good stopping point with an easy onward passage to Dordrecht, which we decided would be our northernmost port of call this time. We are fond of Dordrecht - it has pretty much all facilities, including being on the main railway line.
At Willemstad we decided to try out the newish Het Batterije harbour. It has new and well organised facilities, but does not take Visa :-(.
We had a pleasant overnight stay at Willemstad and an enjoyable meal out together at t’Pumpe Restaurant by the quayside.
Just arrived at Willemstad
Thursday 2nd August 2018
From Willemstad, our next port of call was to be Dordrecht. Jonathan was to take train from there to the Hook of Holland and home by ferry. We were a few minutes delayed in starting, and that made a big difference later! The trip along the Hollandsdiep was uneventful, but the run up the Oude Maas to Dordrecht was far busier than I remembered from last time (quite a few years back). And as we came in sight of the big lifting bridge at Dordrecht, at about 1315, it was of course just closing - so there would be a two hour wait till the next opening at 1512. Fortunately there is a good waiting pontoon (Wachtsteiger) in the Afgedamde Malegat canal about half a mile S of the bridge. In the mean time we discussed which dock to try in Dordrecht, and settled on the K D R & Z V in the Nieuwe Dok. We phoned them, they were very laid back and advised us simply to 'come in and we will find you a berth'. Just as well - Maartensgat (where we had been before, in the shadow of the Groote Kerk) was closed owing to civil engineering nearby.
K D R & Z V were very hospitable, however their internet was a bit slow! Within a few minutes of arrival we were hailed by the crews of Lusty Wench, Bird and Doris, all Burnham boats which had sailed over via Rasgate and Dunquerque some days before us.
We are planning a train trip on Saturday to Antwerp, which Tim has requested, in order to visit museums etc there.
Some sights at Dordrecht
The Nieuwe Havn
Friday 3rd August 2018
We relocated from our temporary mooring to a box/pontoon hybrid a bit further into the dock. With the blazing sunshine we were sorry to have lost the shelter from the trees and nearby buildings, but you can’t have everything!
Owing to the temperature, which reached 34+ degrees, we could not muster much energy, so we washed, visited the market, strolled from shady patch to shady patch, and ate Bitterballen/Bittergarnitur at the nearby Eetcafe de Passant. At 1800 we said farewell to Jonathan at the railway station. Tim and David shopped at AH (Albert Heijn) and brought back a tub of ice cream which the three of us remaining polished off in one sitting, with strawberries.
Doris and Bird - Burnham boats at Dordrecht
Lusty Wench from Burnham entertaining crew from Doris and Bird
We are planning a train trip to Antwerp on Saturday, the start of our second week of vacation. After that we plan to move south once again, to explore some paces and waterways we overlooked on our earlier visits.
Please click on Week 2 in the menu at the top to view the details.
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