Return to Tidal Waters
27 July 2019 | Vlissingen, Netherlands
Michael Devany
Launching the boat in Dunkerque provided a dramatic reminder that we were back in the tidal Atlantic. Looking down from the pier and the travel-lift, it was a drop of almost 6 meters (20 ft ) to the water. It was pretty obvious that we would need to launch towards the top of the tide.
The boys and I got the boat prepped, while the riggers were hard at work getting the mast and rigging together for the launch. It was very impressive to watch the team at Bleu Marine re-step the mast as the boat was hanging in the straps of the travel-lift. I’m glad that these guys knew what they were doing, as they juggled the 18 tons of our boat.
The boat went in the water quickly, and we had to scoot out of the lift as the tide was rapidly falling. We planned to lock through to the Dunkerque basin, but had missed the 1630 lock opening. We moored at a waiting platform upriver, the first of many waiting spots on this trip. Later that evening, we went through our first lock and were lifted about 5 meters up to the basin where we would moor behind the Bleu Marine shop. Nice spot to moor and continue to prep the boat for the voyage north. I also had time to work out the navigation plan, and tides for the following day. Final purchases included paper charts for the North Sea, some required sailing guides, and courtesy flags for Netherlands and Germany.
We had plans for an early start to make the first lock opening of the morning, but I had misread the schedule, so we were a bit delayed past our plan. We also needed to fuel, and I had made arrangements to fuel at the yacht club on the tidal side of the lock. My abrupt reminder of the consequences of being in tidal waters was being aground 3 meters from the fuel pier for an hour. Not to worry, it was all mud, and apparently a daily event at the fuel pier.
Soon enough, we were off and heading north up La Manche (what the French call the English Channel). The channel was well marked, though I was glad that I had purchased the additional paper charts to see the buoy layout. The channel zig zags through the Zuide Coot passage, and it is not wise to wander out of the channel as we saw a similar size boat aground as we transited through. We had light winds so we motor sailed the distance to Vlissingen. With the current we were making 9 knots, so we made up for the delay at the fuel dock. Beautiful day, with lots of boats out on the inshore channel. I was hoping to make the flood tide, as the ebb current can get quite strong in this river. We were fortunate to catch it just before slack, so made good time up to the locks. We made it to the locks at Vlissingen about 7 PM, and were soon tied up at the local marina in the Netherlands.
Tracy and nephew Connor had flown in that date, and their train arrived about 15 minutes after we tied up. Great timing! Soon they were aboard and we had our full complement for the trip through the canals. We spent the next day looking around and restocking the boat with provisions for the next few days. Vlissingen was an interesting town to start our travels in, and was topped off by a festival in the town square.
The next day, we headed through the first of many bridges and locks on our way through the rivers and canals of the Standing Mast Route. We spent a night in the town of Zierikzee, which was particularly fun as the Women’s World Cup match between Netherlands and USA were playing that night. The boys were the only ones cheering in the bar that evening, and we were glad that the Dutch patrons didn’t set us adrift in the night.
We traveled next to Dordrecht, where we had a cozy berth inside a side canal for the night. Beautiful town which we explored a bit the next day. The leg north from Rotterdam requires timing due to the many bridges, and we managed to get stuck behind a slow barge and ended up mooring for the night at a waiting float. We continued north the next day to arrive at the south end of Amsterdam in the early afternoon. This gave us some time to look around the city before the night convoy through the thirteen bridges to the marinas on the north side of the city. We made time to enjoy the Rijk Museum and the Heineken tour, before heading back to the boat.
The convoy was called just before midnight, and there were seven boats lined up for the transit through town. Kieran chose to make the trip up on the mast spreaders. It should have been a Birdseye view, but as the canal is lined with apartments, he was mostly seeing into second story apartments. The bridge tenders did a nice job of timing the bridges for us, though we all ended up milling about smartly in the small pool before the last bridge, waiting for it to open. Then we were into the main channel of Amsterdam, and we motored over to the Amsterdam Marina and tied up for the night. Great spot, and the ferry is nearby so we can go visit the city.
It has been fun going through the canals, seeing the extensive farmlands, natural areas, and the little towns lining the sides. We have all gotten quite a bit of practice handling lines and maneuvering the boat in and out of the locks. We are looking forward to exploring Amsterdam before we continue our voyage north to Germany.