6th / 7th June
The night remained windy with our wind generator whizzing round keeping our batteries topped up. This had developed an annoying rattle which had to wait later to be fixed. The sun was shining and the wind had eased a little when we got up. Our next stop would be at Kortgene (Delta Marina) just before the Zandkreeksluis. This was roughly a 3-hour sail following the buoys west along the Veerse Meer making between 3 – 4 knots. We could not call the Harbour Master as his radio channel was CH31. For some reason we are not allowed to have this channel on our UK radio! Therefore we tied up to the fuel pontoon and walked to the reception where we were given a mooring D12. We took a quick look at the mooring which was a box mooring.
Carole and I worked out a plan before we set off. We decided that I would go stern in. Carole was amidships ready to get a line on the windward post as I got the stern in. Carole had made a large loop in the bow lines and got the first line on with ease. However, I think that the posts moved as we went into the mooring and I felt like a ball in a pinball machine. Luckily we had our fenders close to hand and a kind lady on the boat behind us took our stern line. Carole was having some issues at the bow which we quickly sorted out and then we put the spring lines on. Very soon we were settled in for the night.
This was a nice marina with families with children enjoying the outdoors. One small boy tried to show me what he had caught with his net but when I spoke to him he looked puzzled, then his dad said we were “Engels” which he thought was funny.
Carole stripped the beds and went off to do the laundry and I sorted out the wind generator, which needed the securing bolts tightened. Later it was time for a walk into the local town to see if any shops were open. Unfortunately the local Spar was closed. However, the trip was not wasted as Chris found a road sign with Burgemeester pointing to a pub. Result! And yes, we had a burger.
Later that evening, we tried to work out our route to Amsterdam via Lisse and Haarlem. Although we have some charts, a Dutch book called Staande Mastroute and an English book for the Netherlands, it took some time to find our way through the pages. We are planning our return from Amsterdam using the midnight convoy which is a night passage through Amsterdam on convoy with other small boats. As you motor through, all the bridges are raised to assist with a speedy passage through the city of Amsterdam.