Oostend
Wednesday, 1st July
We woke to brilliant sunshine and a forecast of a very warm day. We said goodbye to the Veerse Meer and entered the lock at Veere without fuss. Our next stop would be at Middelburg to refuel. We duly arrived and after a short wait for another boat to go, we were tied up and filling up with diesel, which at Euro 1.25 (£0.89) was good. We then began our return journey through the Kanal Door Walcheren to Vlissingen, with the occasional wait for bridges to open and then the big lock to allow us access to the North Sea. We made good time and once through the lock, Carole rolled all the fenders up on to the decks and we put the foresail out and sailed over to Breskens. The air temperature was now in the mid-30’s and we were struggling to keep moving in the heat. Once tied up and our dues paid to the Harbourmaster, we took a slow stroll to the supermarket and bought provisions for our return to the U.K. Halfway back to the boat, Carole realised we had forgotten milk and water, but it was so hot (and we had enough to last us until Oostend) we carried on walking back to the boat.
After stowing everything away, we had showers (which a month ago had seemed only just warm and now seemed scalding) and headed up for a meal in the clubhouse restaurant. At first, the poor waitress was on her own and only just coping, so we had a good hour’s wait for our meal. Eventually she had assistance in the bar and restaurant, but it didn’t improve the service we received. However, you couldn’t fault the food which was well cooked, if expensive.
Chris programmed in our journey to Oostend into the chart plotter and then, with all of our windows open, trying to cool us down, we lay down in our beds and got a few hours’ sleep, with our alarm set for 4.15 am to catch the early tide.
Thursday, 2nd July
Our short sleep was disturbed by the patter of raindrops, which prompted Chris to jump up and close some of our windows. It didn’t seem quite so hot at 3 am, so another hour’s sleep was taken. When the alarm went off at 4.15 am, we got ourselves ready quietly, slipped our lines and motored out of Breskens with an almost full moon shining brightly in the sky. The wind was stronger than expected, at 15-20 knots, but it was right on our nose, so no chance of putting up our sails. We also had wind over tide, so our journey was a bit bumpy and we were glad when we arrived at Oostend.
We followed a Scandinavian yacht through to the Royal Yacht Club Oostend, where we hoped to stay the night and tied up on a long pontoon next to a big motor boat. We walked up the highest stairway off a marina we had ever seen but the Harbourmaster was away from his office, so Chris called his mobile and left a message. We then walked back down this stairway very cautiously and put the kettle on for a cuppa and waited for the Harbourmaster to get back to us. Within a few minutes he did and straight after appeared on his bike to help us tie up on a nice finger pontoon. He then asked us to accompany us to his office where he could give us some information about Oostend, the marina and also pay our dues.
We had read in one of the pilot books that the Harbourmaster here was a very helpful man, but we would go one further and say that he is perhaps one of the nicest ones we have encountered on our travels. He also recommended the RYCO restaurant, Harbour’s Kitchen, which is located in a lovely area above his office and we decided we would have lunch there. What a difference from our previous night’s meal out! We were greeted as soon as we approached the bar. We were served our drinks and an excellent 3-course meal (which we were told was cooked by the owner’s wife and daughter) and were even asked if everything was ok as the portions were so generous neither of us could empty our plates, although one of us made a good attempt. While we were having our lunch, a storm was happening outside and we could see the flashes of lightning and hear the crashes of thunder, so we decided to stay until things quietened down, although Carole was wondering whether she should also have put the glass door in as well as closing all the windows and hatches. As it turned out, everything was fine and dry, as the boat was pointing in the right direction – this time.
Our early start was catching up on us, so we had an afternoon nap, then after a cuppa, we took a walk to the local Lidl to buy milk and water which had been forgotten at Breskens. We were surprised to learn that they don’t sell fresh milk, so UHT it was. Chris doesn’t really mind as long as he gets a cuppa!
Our evening was spent in preparing for tomorrow’s long trip to Ipswich; Chris passage planning and chart plottering, making sure that we had alternative harbours if the weather turned bad. Carole was then writing up our blog. And preparing small packs of food to keep us going for our crossing