Baltic B-Log days 13 and 14 (Vlieland and Lauwersoog)
A very pleasant day off was had Harlingen. We moored in the old harbour which was a narrowish "sloot" that was tidal. The surroundings were stunning with old Dutch architecture and buildings dating back to the 1600's on both sides of the canal. Many still had the names of the trading countries they were built to serve, Java and Sumatra. The weather was just what was ordered for a day off. It must have been pushing toward 25 deg C. We did some washing and shopping chores and wandered around town, sampling cheese and the occasional beer. My photographic theme of everything 'Dutch bicycle' started here, see gallery. I had our own folding bike out and headed 5 km out of town to find the sail maker to buy some eyes for my new idea for the sail cover.
The next day we had about an 18 NM sail out to Vlieland, described as the 'jewel of the Friesland islands' by the pilot guide. The weather showed about 10knts in the morning increasing to 25 only in the late afternoon. The passage plan thus called for a departure on the first opening bridge out of the old harbour with a planned arrival in Vlieland at about 10:30, well ahead of the weather. It was a long snaking channel, well buoyed but a lot longer by distance than the "as the crow flies" route. We of course knew this and had planned for that distance. We saw a few large Dutch fishing boats and a few of those classic date box shaped Dutch sailing barges. About 2 hours in, the visibility decreased and a fog threatened. It never actually turned into a full on fog and provided us with some good practice identifying things on the radar overlay. We decided not to put the main sail up and with the running tide we were doing up to 7.6 knots on just the staysail. The wind increased to 20 and continued to climb to 30 plus gusting 35. The 3 o'clock wind had arrived nearly four hours early. We turned the last corner into the wind and tide for Vlieland harbour. With the motor clocking 2000rpm we were making 2.5 knot/hour into the wind and tide. Impressively, a Dutch date box with side keel boards was tacking across us and making the same VMG. Are we sailors or wimps?
We got to the harbour entrance. The map never gives a good impression of what to expect inside. This was going to be interesting: both the approach and the manoeuvring inside the harbour in 30 knots plus. We had some extra long lines at hand as well as our normal 6 lines that were already attached and the boat was clad with every fender we had. I went past the entrance and peered through the spume and spray and it looked super narrow. I took the bows through the wind and immediately thought this was going to be a missed approach but I just aimed the bow at 45 degrees and looked out of the "side window" as we crabbed closer to the slot. At the last minute as the bow went under the port marker light we bore off and took some protection from the wall as we went through the slot. Thankfully inside there was plenty of turning room (that would not have been the case 3 hours later), also there was a harbour master in an inflatable. There were no obvious berths available and I was hoping he was not going to tell us to go deep in between one of the fingers. He confirmed we would just have to raft up against a big steel German boat that had overtaken us and come in minutes ahead of us. They were there to help and I asked the harbour master if he could stand by to nudge us on, to which he replied, of course, that is my job. We got rafted up to the boat and got some long lines across to some independent bollards onshore so that we could take some of the weight of our boat off their boat. We were then treated to a spectacle of boat handling by the Dutch sailing barges and multi master sailing vessels that arrived in the harbour in a constant stream. Suffice it to say if I had thought this was difficult, taking a 100 plus footer through that gap was skill at its best. I would have never said there was room but by the time the harbour master had finished ticking off his list, there must have been 15 huge Dutch side boarders and beautiful multi-mast sailing boats in that harbour. We saw him with his list because he kept coming to take shelter in the lee of our boat in between vessels arriving. It is a Dutch past time where people charter these vessels and come out to the islands.
The conditions were hectic and two of the vessels got temporarily blown on to the downwind wall in the narrow entrance. For the most though it was slightly frenetic poetry in motion. The captain always cucumber cool spinning that huge ships wheel on the back of the boat back and forth as that huge prop churned water over that large wooden rudder. The giant ancient gear lever went from forward to reverse sending signals to what was no doubt a modern turbo diesel which made comforting deep throated growling noises. Perfectly timed busts of throttle and then perfectly timed "waits" before the next perfectly timed input. There was also an interesting variation of methodologies. Some had calls to put the side boards down and up and others dropped anchor in the middle of the harbour and turned around it. It truly was an afternoon's entertainment. We had ring side seats from our boat, which was straining on the ropes and tilted 10 degrees over from the windage, despite being almost totally in the lee of the German boat.
We struck up an accord with the Germans, who were very friendly and helpful. After lunch we waited to make sure the boat was going to hold. 2 and a half hours later we decided that the boat was secure and we could leave it and wander into town and into the 30 knot plus gale.
Vlieland is a forested island with hardly any cars and the Main Street is a pedestrian and cycling walk way. Despite the weather town was crowded and we pottered past shops and museums and had a beer (my one a day allowance) at a lekker little bar, while we watched the world and the bicycles go by. What I loved the most was a couple with 2 kids pulled into the bar, the kids were asleep in the "bakkie" in front of the bike. They just put a blanket over them and sat down at the outside table and ordered a beer. See gallery for pictures but .... only in Holland and how wonderful?
We got back to the boat and Frank the guy on the German boat had invited us over for a skippers weather meeting. We showed up with wine. They had a fantastic 1979 steel boat with classic woodwork and brass portholes. They had prepared snacks and the weather discussion was short and agreeable but the drinks and snacks were long and interesting. They came over with their 2 crew members for dinner on our boat. Veronica had fortuitously prepared a Thai dish that was destined for the freezer and a future meal some other day. So it was ready and enough to feed 6. It went down with about 3 bottles of wine. We agreed on a 7-8 departure. They were heading for Norway with a stop in Denmark and planned to do an overnighter. They were very interesting people and great conversations were had. It is these meetings that make sailing trips.
In the morning everybody was a lot more, bright eyed and bushy tailed than you would think. We slipped lines at about 07h30. Frustratingly, we had to back track 3 NM, so a total of 6 extra, to miss the shoaling banks. The wind from the north did not materialise until 16:30 so we had an environmentally unfriendly day motoring until we got to the Schiermonnikoog opening. We blasted down the last 7NM running on just the Solent down the channel. After some confusion about outer and inner marinas, we just managed to catch the last lock and bridge opening and got into the Lauwersmeer. Dutch people are great, helpful and friendly. A guy on an adjacent boat in the lock said, follow me and I will show you were to go in the Marina. The harbour master showed up, bicycle in hand and gave us some excellent advice about getting to Borkum tomorrow. Best of all he said don't try the shallow, following the withey's route....too difficult and best of all, he suggest we go back the way we came and don't leave before 2 pm, so you can go with the tide.....so we get to sleep in.......yay! This will however mean a late arrival in Borkum, our first port of call in Germany.
The next day we had about an 18 NM sail out to Vlieland, described as the 'jewel of the Friesland islands' by the pilot guide. The weather showed about 10knts in the morning increasing to 25 only in the late afternoon. The passage plan thus called for a departure on the first opening bridge out of the old harbour with a planned arrival in Vlieland at about 10:30, well ahead of the weather. It was a long snaking channel, well buoyed but a lot longer by distance than the "as the crow flies" route. We of course knew this and had planned for that distance. We saw a few large Dutch fishing boats and a few of those classic date box shaped Dutch sailing barges. About 2 hours in, the visibility decreased and a fog threatened. It never actually turned into a full on fog and provided us with some good practice identifying things on the radar overlay. We decided not to put the main sail up and with the running tide we were doing up to 7.6 knots on just the staysail. The wind increased to 20 and continued to climb to 30 plus gusting 35. The 3 o'clock wind had arrived nearly four hours early. We turned the last corner into the wind and tide for Vlieland harbour. With the motor clocking 2000rpm we were making 2.5 knot/hour into the wind and tide. Impressively, a Dutch date box with side keel boards was tacking across us and making the same VMG. Are we sailors or wimps?
We got to the harbour entrance. The map never gives a good impression of what to expect inside. This was going to be interesting: both the approach and the manoeuvring inside the harbour in 30 knots plus. We had some extra long lines at hand as well as our normal 6 lines that were already attached and the boat was clad with every fender we had. I went past the entrance and peered through the spume and spray and it looked super narrow. I took the bows through the wind and immediately thought this was going to be a missed approach but I just aimed the bow at 45 degrees and looked out of the "side window" as we crabbed closer to the slot. At the last minute as the bow went under the port marker light we bore off and took some protection from the wall as we went through the slot. Thankfully inside there was plenty of turning room (that would not have been the case 3 hours later), also there was a harbour master in an inflatable. There were no obvious berths available and I was hoping he was not going to tell us to go deep in between one of the fingers. He confirmed we would just have to raft up against a big steel German boat that had overtaken us and come in minutes ahead of us. They were there to help and I asked the harbour master if he could stand by to nudge us on, to which he replied, of course, that is my job. We got rafted up to the boat and got some long lines across to some independent bollards onshore so that we could take some of the weight of our boat off their boat. We were then treated to a spectacle of boat handling by the Dutch sailing barges and multi master sailing vessels that arrived in the harbour in a constant stream. Suffice it to say if I had thought this was difficult, taking a 100 plus footer through that gap was skill at its best. I would have never said there was room but by the time the harbour master had finished ticking off his list, there must have been 15 huge Dutch side boarders and beautiful multi-mast sailing boats in that harbour. We saw him with his list because he kept coming to take shelter in the lee of our boat in between vessels arriving. It is a Dutch past time where people charter these vessels and come out to the islands.
The conditions were hectic and two of the vessels got temporarily blown on to the downwind wall in the narrow entrance. For the most though it was slightly frenetic poetry in motion. The captain always cucumber cool spinning that huge ships wheel on the back of the boat back and forth as that huge prop churned water over that large wooden rudder. The giant ancient gear lever went from forward to reverse sending signals to what was no doubt a modern turbo diesel which made comforting deep throated growling noises. Perfectly timed busts of throttle and then perfectly timed "waits" before the next perfectly timed input. There was also an interesting variation of methodologies. Some had calls to put the side boards down and up and others dropped anchor in the middle of the harbour and turned around it. It truly was an afternoon's entertainment. We had ring side seats from our boat, which was straining on the ropes and tilted 10 degrees over from the windage, despite being almost totally in the lee of the German boat.
We struck up an accord with the Germans, who were very friendly and helpful. After lunch we waited to make sure the boat was going to hold. 2 and a half hours later we decided that the boat was secure and we could leave it and wander into town and into the 30 knot plus gale.
Vlieland is a forested island with hardly any cars and the Main Street is a pedestrian and cycling walk way. Despite the weather town was crowded and we pottered past shops and museums and had a beer (my one a day allowance) at a lekker little bar, while we watched the world and the bicycles go by. What I loved the most was a couple with 2 kids pulled into the bar, the kids were asleep in the "bakkie" in front of the bike. They just put a blanket over them and sat down at the outside table and ordered a beer. See gallery for pictures but .... only in Holland and how wonderful?
We got back to the boat and Frank the guy on the German boat had invited us over for a skippers weather meeting. We showed up with wine. They had a fantastic 1979 steel boat with classic woodwork and brass portholes. They had prepared snacks and the weather discussion was short and agreeable but the drinks and snacks were long and interesting. They came over with their 2 crew members for dinner on our boat. Veronica had fortuitously prepared a Thai dish that was destined for the freezer and a future meal some other day. So it was ready and enough to feed 6. It went down with about 3 bottles of wine. We agreed on a 7-8 departure. They were heading for Norway with a stop in Denmark and planned to do an overnighter. They were very interesting people and great conversations were had. It is these meetings that make sailing trips.
In the morning everybody was a lot more, bright eyed and bushy tailed than you would think. We slipped lines at about 07h30. Frustratingly, we had to back track 3 NM, so a total of 6 extra, to miss the shoaling banks. The wind from the north did not materialise until 16:30 so we had an environmentally unfriendly day motoring until we got to the Schiermonnikoog opening. We blasted down the last 7NM running on just the Solent down the channel. After some confusion about outer and inner marinas, we just managed to catch the last lock and bridge opening and got into the Lauwersmeer. Dutch people are great, helpful and friendly. A guy on an adjacent boat in the lock said, follow me and I will show you were to go in the Marina. The harbour master showed up, bicycle in hand and gave us some excellent advice about getting to Borkum tomorrow. Best of all he said don't try the shallow, following the withey's route....too difficult and best of all, he suggest we go back the way we came and don't leave before 2 pm, so you can go with the tide.....so we get to sleep in.......yay! This will however mean a late arrival in Borkum, our first port of call in Germany.
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