TADORNA the SHELDUCK

Vessel Name: Tadorna the Shelduck
Vessel Make/Model: Etap 32i
Hailing Port: Nieuwpoort (Belgium)
Crew: Eric & Sylvia
About:
Born on the tidal river Scheldt near the port of Antwerp, climbing mountains was not an option, so we went sailing. After exploring the Antwerp roads in a dinghy we went for a bigger boat and sailed down the estuary -just like the shelduck- to the Southern North Sea. [...]
Extra:
Having your home port at the only 65 km long belgian coast, if not to be locked on to your berth, your ship should carry some courtesy ensings. The ports of Dunkerque (France), Ramsgate Harbour (UK) and Flushing (the Netherlands) are all within a range of 50 miles. Teniendo su puerto de amarre en [...]
Home Page: https://sites.google.com/site/cvotadorna/
15 September 2022 | Port of Antwerp-Bruges
Waterbus
13 April 2018 | Nieuwpoort
The Old Sailor
11 September 2017 | Belgian Coast
Sirius
09 February 2017
Hibernating
05 April 2015 | Dover Strait
Back on Track
27 October 2013 | Zierikzee (Nl)
Zeeland
13 July 2011 | Ramsgate (UK)
Crossing the Dover Strait
12 December 2010 | Boulogne
Straight Home
04 December 2010 | Dieppe
Encounters
24 November 2010 | Le Havre
The bay of the Seine
13 November 2010 | Nieuwpoort
Port Control Closing Down
05 November 2010 | Deauville
Blind date
20 October 2010 | Fecamp
Not funny
20 September 2010 | Dieppe
At sea
26 August 2010 | Boulogne-sur-Mer
Cross roads
13 August 2010 | Dunkirk (France)
Kick-off
02 June 2010 | Burghsluis
Schouwen-Duiveland
18 May 2010 | Yerseke
Mussels and shellfish
04 May 2010 | Willemstad
Hollands Diep
26 April 2010 | Middelharnis
On the Haringvliet
Recent Blog Posts
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15 September 2022 | Port of Antwerp-Bruges

Waterbus

Last summer the former crew of Tadorna took a ride on the river Scheldt on board the Waterbus from Kruibeke (5 miles upstream Antwerp) to Lillo-Fort, the turning point of this passenger shuttle near the Dutch border. The fast passenger service calls at different locations both at the right bank (e.g. Antwerp Roads) and the left bank (e.g. the popular beach resort of St. Anneke), so it gives a broad view on the locks, chemical and container terminals and the newest tidal dock, the Deurganckdock, just opposite Lillo-Fort. As her name says, the fast catamaran has the speed of a bus, so you might perhaps miss the relaxed feeling of smooth sailing. Nervertheless we can strongly recommend the trip to all those who have a heart for being on the water (as retired sailors do) and love the Port of Antwerp. (the picture shows the entrance of the drying small yacht harbour of Lillo-Fort)

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13 April 2018 | Nieuwpoort

The Old Sailor

Older and wiser,

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11 September 2017 | Belgian Coast

Sirius

Encounter off the Belgian coast with the brand new multi-purpose vessel 'SIRIUS' the Flemish Maritime Authority put into service earlier this year. Also thanks to an audit on board this new purchase, Bureau Veritas was able to deliver the ISM-certificate (International Safe Management code for ship management and protection of the environment) to the owner.

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09 February 2017

Hibernating

Tadorna has been well put ashore and is actually hibernating. She will be soon get overhauled and put into the water again. We're all hoping for a nice season and fair winds. Sea-you on the water.

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05 April 2015 | Dover Strait

Back on Track

Thanks to the fair weather of this years' early spring, the annual overhaul after winter storage on land went on very smoothly. So since March 18, Tadorna is back on the water again, all shipshape and ready to sail the Channel and the North Sea for yet another season (she's already waving the flag of the seven seas: bright golden stars above blue water).

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27 October 2013 | Zierikzee (Nl)

Zeeland

In august 2013 Tadorna paid a visit to Zeeland, the south western most province of the Netherlands, situated between the estuaries of the river Maas (Rotterdam) and the River Scheldt (Antwerp).

Straight Home

12 December 2010 | Boulogne
-02.08.2010: Boulogne being the first fishing harbour of France, entering it you have to be aware of the fisherman and be ready to give them way because they're always in a big hurry, as you can see on the picture. In the marina we all found at last a more-or-less decent place in the usual mess at the visitors pontoons. These being right at the city centre we went ashore (after the usual extended happy hour) to have some dinner. To please everyone around we went for the 'Moules Frites' or Dutch mussels with Belgian chips (calling it French fries is pure blasphemy!), sprinkled with an excellent French white wine.
-03.08.2010: At the morning briefing we wisely cancel the initial plans to hop over to Dover and Ramsgate before going home to Nieuwpoort. The weather forecast isn't very promising for the coming days and Dover is not our favourite place to have a forced longer stay (it's a kind of sailor's bus stop, a place where everybody has to pass by but where no one likes to stay longer than it takes). 'Kookaloo' and 'NoeDeu' are going to take shelter in Calais to do some sight-seeing. 'Triton' will venture straight on to Nieuwpoort in an overnight journey, her holidays are over and the skipper has to go back to work. As to ourselves we intend to join our home port as soon as possible but with some more comfort. This means in practice: sail away in the afternoon to meet the current at Cap Gris Nez hoping to get into Dunkirk Marina before dark to have a short night sleep.
-04.08.2010: We leave Dunkirk at 6am and with the tide and the wind pushing in the back, we rush trough the Zuydcote Pass and are back home before noon. Although our holidays end a couple of days earlier than expected, we don't bother to much and the things we haven't done this year will be kept for another occasion.
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